Overview
Casanova Italian Restaurant is a long-running Upcountry Maui restaurant in historic Makawao, with a casual, sit-down format that mixes Italian cooking, pizza, seafood, and a bar/lounge component. It appears to be a real local institution rather than a one-off tourist stop: the restaurant’s own site says it has been there since 1986, and both the official site and reservation platforms place it at 1188 Makawao Ave in the town center. (casanovamaui.com)
For travelers, the appeal is practical as much as culinary: it is an established dinner option near the Haleakalā/Upcountry corridor, with a menu broad enough for mixed groups and a setting that seems built for lingering rather than quick turnover. The main caution is that it functions partly as a nightlife venue on some nights, so the mood can be busier and noisier than a purely quiet restaurant. That’s an inference from the official events/dinner pages and traveler reviews describing it as lively and noisy at times. (casanovamaui.com)
Cuisine & Specialties
Casanova’s kitchen is best understood as upscale-casual Italian-American with a strong pizza-and-pasta core. The official menu emphasizes housemade pastas, wood-fired pizza, seafood, and a number of richer red-sauce and cream-sauce dishes. It also leans into Maui ingredients and a few island-specific touches, such as Maui Gold pineapple on the “Makawao” pizza and local produce in salads and pasta dishes. (casanovamaui.com)
- Overall menu style: Italian, pizzeria, and seafood in a casual-dining format; broad enough for groups with different preferences. (opentable.com)
- Notable dishes/specialties:
- Wood-fired pizzas, especially Margherita, Tartufo, Quattro Formaggi, Romana, Makawao (with Maui Gold pineapple), and Americano. (casanovamaui.com)
- House pastas such as Bucatini Bolognese, Lasagne Bolognese, Linguine “Seafood” Pescatore, Linguine alle Vongole, Filet Mignon Fettuccini, and Rigatoni Chicken Vodka Beverly Hills. (casanovamaui.com)
- Starter and side items like homemade focaccia, polenta al gorgonzola, calamari fritti, homemade meatballs, and salads with local produce. (casanovamaui.com)
- Desserts including tiramisu, chocolate mousse cake, crème brûlée, and affogato. (casanovamaui.com)
- Price expectation: Google Places rates it around $2, while OpenTable lists it as $30 and under, so travelers should expect moderate pricing rather than fine-dining pricing. (casanovamaui.com)
- Dietary usefulness / limitations: There are gluten-free options, including gluten-free pasta on request and a gluten-free crème brûlée; vegetarian-friendly choices are supported by items like eggplant melanzane, salads, pizzas, and several cheese-forward pastas. The menu also notes that its homemade pastas contain egg, so vegan and egg-free pasta needs are more limited. (opentable.com)
Notable Features & Ambiance
This is a sit-down restaurant with a bar/lounge feel layered onto a casual dining room. The official and reservation listings point to table service, reservations, a full bar, takeout, and an indoor fireplace; reviewer descriptions suggest a large, fairly open room that can feel lively and sometimes noisy rather than intimate. (opentable.com)
- Service model and seating style: Full table service with reservations available; OpenTable also lists counter seating, bar/lounge seating, and takeout. (opentable.com)
- Atmosphere and decor: Casual, spacious, and social; one traveler described it as having an “old world vibe,” while another noted a large dining hall feel with exposed timber and concrete/wood flooring. That latter detail comes from a traveler review and should be read as a firsthand impression, not a confirmed design fact. (tripadvisor.com)
- Amenities or practical features: Free off-street parking is repeatedly mentioned, OpenTable says Maui Bus stops at the parking lot, and the restaurant advertises live entertainment and Monday karaoke/pizza nights. (tripadvisor.com)
- Best fit: Dinner after a day on Upcountry Maui or Haleakalā, a group meal, or a casual celebratory night where people want a broad menu and a lively room. (opentable.com)
- Weaker fit: Travelers seeking a quiet, highly intimate, or minimalist dining experience may find the room too lively, especially on entertainment nights. This is a cautious inference supported by review language about noise and the venue’s event programming. (tripadvisor.com)
History & Background
Casanova presents itself as an Upcountry Maui fixture dating to 1986, and the official site highlights that it was Maui’s first wood-burning oven. OpenTable’s listing adds a local-history angle by noting its placement at the main crossroad of historic Makawao and its long-running role as a stop after Haleakalā. Beyond that, there is not much deeply sourced ownership history in the materials reviewed here. (casanovamaui.com)
Review Sentiment Snapshot
What People Love
Travelers repeatedly praise the wood-fired pizza, house pasta, and the range of menu options beyond pizza. Service is often described as friendly and efficient, and there are recurring positive comments about the place working well for post-Haleakalā dinners, larger groups, and visitors who want a classic Maui-meets-Italian experience. (tripadvisor.com)
Common Gripes
The most common cautions are about noise, price/value, and occasional service inconsistency. Noise appears to be a recurring, moderately supported complaint because the room is described as lively and large, and at least one review explicitly called it noisy. Price complaints are present but mixed: some reviewers find it fair or “very reasonable,” while others feel it is overpriced. Service criticism also shows up, but it is less consistent than the praise. (tripadvisor.com)
Practical Visitor Tips
- Hours posture: The restaurant’s current posture is dinner 7 nights a week, 5–9 pm, with a separate café service for breakfast and lunch Monday–Saturday, 8 am–2 pm. Google Places, however, only shows dinner hours in its business hours field, so the café is worth verifying if that matters to your visit. (casanovamaui.com)
- Reservations: Reservations are available and may be wise for dinner, especially on weekends or if you want a particular time. OpenTable showed the restaurant booked heavily on at least one recent date, which suggests demand can be meaningful. (opentable.com)
- Parking: Parking appears to be a strength, not a headache; the reservation listing specifically calls out a large parking lot and free off-street parking. (opentable.com)
- Best timing: If you want a quieter meal, earlier dinner or a non-entertainment night is likely the better bet. Monday karaoke and pizza nights are a clear signal that the atmosphere can become more social and noisy. (casanovamaui.com)
- Dietary planning: Gluten-free pasta is available on request, and there are vegetarian-friendly choices, but vegan or egg-free pasta options are not a strong point because the house pastas contain egg. (casanovamaui.com)
- Payment caveat: The menu says a 4% processing fee is added for credit card use unless paying cash, and outside wine is restricted with a corkage fee. That is operationally important for visitors. (casanovamaui.com)
Verification Notes
- Official name, address, and phone match across Google Places, the restaurant website, and OpenTable: Casanova Italian Restaurant, 1188 Makawao Ave, Makawao, HI 96768, (808) 572-0220. (casanovamaui.com)
- The website is currently live at
http://www.casanovamaui.com/, and the restaurant is shown as operational. (casanovamaui.com) - No major verification issues found. The only mild drift is that Google’s hours snapshot does not show the café service that the official site currently advertises. (casanovamaui.com)
Sources
- Casanova Makawao official home page —
http://www.casanovamaui.com/— Retrieved 2026-04-01. Useful for current hours posture, address, phone, longevity claim, wood-oven history, and Monday karaoke details. - Casanova Makawao dinner menu page —
https://casanovamaui.com/dinner/— Retrieved 2026-04-01. Useful for menu structure, standout dishes, dietary notes, corkage/credit-card caveats, and the café/dinner split shown through internal links and menu language. - OpenTable listing for Casanova Italian Restaurant, Makawao —
https://www.opentable.com/r/casanova-italian-restaurant-makawao— Retrieved 2026-04-01. Useful for dining style, price range, reservation posture, parking/transit notes, entertainment notes, and popular dishes. - Tripadvisor listing for Casanova Italian Restaurant, Makawao —
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60635-d495108-Reviews-Casanova_Italian_Restaurant-Makawao_Maui_Hawaii.html— Retrieved 2026-04-01. Useful for traveler sentiment, recurring praise for pizza/pasta/service, and recurring cautions about noise and inconsistent value/service.
