Overview
808 Plates Maui is a casual Kahului food-truck stop in the Lowe’s / Ho‘okele Street area, best understood as a plate-lunch and Hawaiian-fusion takeaway spot rather than a sit-down restaurant. The baseline Google record and the current menu sources agree on the core identity: it is still operational at 214 Ho'okele St, with the same phone number and website, and it appears geared toward quick lunch or dinner service for locals and travelers alike. (restaurantji.com)
For a traveler, the appeal is convenience plus hearty portions: this is the kind of place people go for a fast, filling Maui meal that is easy to take back to a car, hotel, or beach stop. The strongest evidence points to a menu built around grilled meats, shrimp, katsu-style plates, poke, and combo plates, with a reputation for generous serving sizes. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
Cuisine & Specialties
808 Plates Maui’s food sits in the Hawaiian plate-lunch lane, but with a broader comfort-food and Asian-fusion mix than a strict local-plate shop. The menu sources show ribeye steak, garlic shrimp, garlic chicken, chicken katsu, teriyaki beef/chicken, poke bowl items, sushi/sashimi, salads, and sides like rice and garlic rice. That makes it a practical stop if you want a hearty mixed plate rather than a narrow specialty menu. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
- Overall menu style: plate lunches and combo plates with grilled meats, shrimp, fish, poke, katsu, and teriyaki, plus salads and simple sides. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
- Notable items with support: ribeye steak / ribeye plate, garlic shrimp, garlic chicken, chicken katsu, garlic ahi katsu or wasabi-glazed ahi katsu, furikake fried poke / anikake fried poke, and poke bowl. These show up across menu data and review summaries. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
- Spend expectations: Google’s price level is 2, and secondary sources frame it as a budget-friendly-to-moderate lunch stop rather than a splurge meal. Think “solid plate lunch pricing” more than destination dining. (restaurantji.com)
- Dietary usefulness or limits: there are salad options and seafood choices, but this is not a deeply specialized dietary restaurant. The menu is heavily centered on meat, rice, fried items, and sauces, so vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-sensitive travelers may find the fit limited unless they can customize. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
Notable Features & Ambiance
This is a practical food-truck setup, not a polished dining room. The strongest source evidence suggests it sits in a Lowe’s parking-lot setting in Kahului, and that the experience is optimized for takeout, eating in the car, or grabbing food on the move. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
- Service model and seating style: quick-service food truck / takeout-first. Review summaries and guidebook references both point to easy ordering and a grab-and-go experience rather than formal sit-down dining. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
- Atmosphere and decor: functional, low-frills, parking-lot casual. The appeal comes from food and convenience, not ambiance. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
- Amenities or practical features: QR-code ordering is specifically mentioned in the menu summary source, and the location is convenient for travelers moving through Kahului or heading toward other parts of Maui. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
- Best fit: a fast lunch, an easy dinner pickup, or a road-trip meal where you want filling food without a long wait. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
- Weaker fit: travelers looking for ambiance, table service, a long linger, or a highly refined tasting experience will likely be underwhelmed. This is an inference from the food-truck/takeout setup rather than a direct review complaint. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
History & Background
Very little verified background material surfaced beyond the restaurant’s established Kahului food-truck identity. The available sources do not give a clear founder story, chef profile, or relocation history, so the safest conclusion is simply that 808 Plates Maui is a locally rooted Maui plate-lunch operation with a stable presence at the Ho‘okele Street location. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
Review Sentiment Snapshot
What People Love
Recurring praise centers on generous portions, quick service, and the comfort-food appeal of the plates. Review summaries on Restaurantji specifically call out ribeye, garlic shrimp, garlic chicken, and wasabi-glazed ahi katsu as favorites, while other sources frame the place as a reliable, satisfying stop for travelers who want hearty local-style food without much hassle. (restaurantji.com)
Common Gripes
The downside signals are real but mixed rather than overwhelming. One review summary mentions some customers finding seafood overcooked or sauces not to their taste, and a separate recent Restaurantji review snippet alleges food poisoning after a shrimp plate; that is serious but currently looks like an isolated complaint rather than a broad pattern. Overall, the negative evidence is lighter than the positive pattern, but it is worth noting because seafood-heavy plate spots can vary in consistency. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
Practical Visitor Tips
- Hours: Google lists daily hours of 10:30 AM to 9:00 PM, while the menu mirror shows 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM. The one-hour opening mismatch is worth confirming before you go, especially if you are planning an early lunch. (restaurantji.com)
- Reservations: no strong evidence of reservations; this reads as a walk-up / takeout place. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
- Best time to go: earlier in the meal window is likely the safest bet if you want the shortest wait and the best chance of full menu availability; that is an inference based on the quick-service model. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
- Parking / location: it is in the Lowe’s parking-lot area on Ho‘okele Street in Kahului, which makes it convenient but not scenic. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
- Ordering tip: menu summaries mention QR-code ordering and takeout-friendly service, so expect a fast-casual workflow rather than table-side ordering. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
- What to order if you want the safest bet: ribeye plate, garlic shrimp, garlic chicken, or a combo plate are the most consistently supported highlights across sources. (restaurantji.com)
Verification Notes
- Official and Google-identical identity anchor is stable: 808 Plates Maui, 214 Ho'okele St, Kahului, HI 96732, (808) 757-5920, http://808platesmaui.net/. (restaurantji.com)
- Google Places lists the business as OPERATIONAL. (restaurantji.com)
- There is a small hours drift between sources: Google says 10:30 AM–9:00 PM daily, while the mirrored menu source says 10:00 AM–9:00 PM daily. (restaurantji.com)
- No major evidence of a relocation or name change was found; the main caveat is the hours discrepancy and the fact that secondary sources describe it as a food truck in a Lowe’s parking lot. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
Sources
- Google Places record for 808 Plates Maui —
https://maps.google.com/?cid=7578710574810681856— Retrieved 2026-03-31. Most useful for canonical identity, address, phone, business status, rating, price level, and current Google hours. - Menu mirror PDF for 808 Plates Maui —
https://wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu/storage/media/companies_menu_pdf/68827491/808-plates-maui-kahului-menu.pdf— Published 2025-11-??, retrieved 2026-04-01. Most useful for menu structure, specific dishes, food-truck/takeout framing, and the alternate opening-hours signal. The publication date was visible as “4 months ago,” not a precise calendar date. - Restaurantji listing for 808 Plates Maui —
https://www.restaurantji.com/hi/kahului/808-plates-maui-/— Updated 2026-02-12, retrieved 2026-04-01. Useful for review-pattern summaries, popular dishes, takeout orientation, and the isolated recent negative review snippet. - Sunny Maui Vacations guide PDF —
https://sunnymauivacations.com/eBook/Ultimate_Guide_To_Enjoying_Maui.pdf— Published 2024-10-??, retrieved 2026-04-01. Useful as a traveler-facing secondary reference for location context, hours posture, and menu highlights such as garlic ahi katsu and spicy poke bowl. The publication date was visible only as “1.6 years ago,” not a precise calendar date.
