Overview
Da Kitchen is a long-running Maui plate-lunch and local-comfort-food restaurant in Kīhei, aimed at travelers who want a straightforward, filling, distinctly island-style meal rather than fine dining. The current Google Places record matches the restaurant’s own website: 1215 S Kihei Rd Suite E, Kīhei, with the same phone number and website, and the business is shown as operational. (dakitchenkihei.com)
For a visitor, the main appeal is the combination of local favorites, very large portions, and a menu that leans into Maui-style plate lunch staples. The place also has enough history and name recognition that it is not just another casual eatery; it is a known local brand with a comeback story after pandemic-era closures. (dakitchenkihei.com)
Cuisine & Specialties
Da Kitchen’s menu sits firmly in the Hawaiian/local plate-lunch lane, but with a wider mix of Pacific and Asian-influenced comfort food than a simple “Hawaiian restaurant” label suggests. The menu emphasizes rice-and-mac-salad plates, katsu, teriyaki, kalbi, fish, poke, and breakfast-ish comfort items, with portions that are explicitly marketed as generous. (dakitchenkihei.com)
- Overall menu style: plate lunches, mixed plates, bento-style combinations, pupus, and a handful of bowl and noodle dishes; more casual comfort food than a sit-down tasting-menu experience. (dakitchenkihei.com)
- Notable specialties: chicken katsu, loco moco, fish tempura with mahi-mahi, teriyaki chicken, kalbi mix plate, Hawaiian plate with lau lau and kalua pork, and the Da Kitchen bento plate. The Google summary also highlights breakfasts, fish tempura, teriyaki beef, and a signature chicken katsu. (dakitchenkihei.com)
- Other commonly surfaced items: Spam musubi, deep-fried musubi, garlic chicken, garlic shrimp plate, ahi poke bowl, fish & chips, and shoyu ginger opakapaka. (dakitchenkihei.com)
- Price range / spend expectations: moderate-to-upper-casual by plate-lunch standards. Google lists price level 2, but the menu pricing and reviews point to traveler-facing prices that can feel premium for casual food, especially on larger combination plates. (dakitchenkihei.com)
- Dietary usefulness / limitations: useful for people who want meat, fish, or mixed local plates; less obviously strong for vegetarians or strict special-diet diners based on the current menu structure. The menu does include veggie spring rolls and a poke bowl, but the core offering is heavily centered on meat, fish, rice, and mac salad. (dakitchenkihei.com)
Notable Features & Ambiance
The physical setup is a casual neighborhood restaurant in a shopping-center setting rather than a destination dining room. Tripadvisor describes it as tucked away in a corner of the Kihei Center area near Long’s Drugs, and multiple reviews mention that it can be a little hard to spot or figure out on the first try. (tripadvisor.com)
- Service model and seating style: casual counter- or fast-casual-style operation with dine-in and takeout; some reviewers say ordering/seating can be confusing on a first visit. (dakitchenkihei.com)
- Atmosphere and decor: simple, casual, local-feeling space rather than polished resort dining. The website mentions hand-painted murals and signed surfboards, which suggests a casual island décor built around local pride. (dakitchenkihei.com)
- Practical features: open Monday through Saturday, closed Sundays according to both Google and the restaurant site. The site also says it accepts call-in orders and dine-in. (dakitchenkihei.com)
- Best fit: a lunch stop, relaxed dinner, or “feed the group” meal when you want big portions of familiar local dishes. (dakitchenkihei.com)
- Weaker fit: visitors looking for elegant service, easy-to-find roadside visibility, or a light, refined meal may find this less appealing. Some reviews also suggest the pricing can feel high relative to the casual setting. (tripadvisor.com)
History & Background
Da Kitchen has a meaningful Maui backstory. The brand grew over roughly two decades, at one point including locations in Kīhei, Kahului, and Honolulu/Moʻiliʻili, and became known for large local-style portions and TV exposure. It closed its Maui locations in 2020 amid COVID-related financial pressure, then later returned in Kīhei in a smaller format before reestablishing the current restaurant. (hawaiimagazine.com)
The current website frames the restaurant as a comeback: “back” in Kīhei, serving the same local comfort-food lane under the Da Kitchen name. That history matters because some older reviews or forum posts may refer to the earlier, pre-closure version of the business. (dakitchenkihei.com)
Review Sentiment Snapshot
What People Love
Reviewers repeatedly praise the portion size, classic local plate-lunch comfort, and familiar favorites like katsu, kalua pork, teriyaki chicken, ribs, and mixed plates. Positive comments also mention friendly or professional staff and a “worth it” feeling once people find the location. The strongest support is for the idea that this is a satisfying, filling local-food stop rather than a delicate or trendy one. (tripadvisor.com)
Common Gripes
The most recurring complaints are price, occasional blandness or saltiness, and confusing first-time access/order flow. Several Tripadvisor reviews say the food felt overpriced for a casual plate-lunch meal, and a few mention dishes that were bland, salty, or underwhelming relative to expectations. Those negatives are moderately supported across multiple recent reviews, though they are not universal and are countered by many positive comments. (tripadvisor.com)
Practical Visitor Tips
- Hours are currently posted as Monday–Saturday, 11:00 AM–8:00 PM; Sunday closed on both the website and Google. (dakitchenkihei.com)
- This looks like a walk-in friendly, casual meal rather than a reservation-driven restaurant. The website invites call-in orders and dine-in. (dakitchenkihei.com)
- If you are driving, expect a shopping-center location and some first-visit confusion about exactly where the entrance is. Tripadvisor specifically notes it can be hard to find. (tripadvisor.com)
- The safest order strategy is to lean into the signature plate lunches and mixed plates rather than expecting a broad, polished menu experience. (dakitchenkihei.com)
- If you are price-sensitive, be aware that some recent reviewers felt the food was premium-priced for a casual setup. (tripadvisor.com)
Verification Notes
- Official name/address/phone/website align across Google and the restaurant site: Da Kitchen, 1215 S Kihei Rd Suite E, Kihei, HI 96753, (808) 446-3486, dakitchenkihei.com. (dakitchenkihei.com)
- Business status is currently shown as operational in Google Places, and the restaurant website is active. (dakitchenkihei.com)
- No major verification issues found.
Sources
- Da Kitchen official website —
http://dakitchenkihei.com/— retrieved 2026-03-31. Useful for identity confirmation, current operating hours, location, and the restaurant’s own positioning and décor notes. - Da Kitchen menu page —
https://www.dakitchenkihei.com/menus— retrieved 2026-03-31. Useful for specialties, dish names, pricing, and understanding the restaurant’s actual food lane. - Tripadvisor listing and recent reviews for Da Kitchen, Kihei —
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60632-d23985057-Reviews-Da_Kitchen-Kihei_Maui_Hawaii.html— retrieved 2026-03-31. Useful for traveler-facing atmosphere notes, location-finding difficulty, portion-size feedback, and recurring praise/complaints. - The Maui News article on Da Kitchen’s comeback in Piko Cafe —
https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2021/05/da-kitchen-makes-comeback-in-piko-cafe/— retrieved 2026-03-31. Useful for closure/relaunch history and the COVID-era transition. - Hawaiʻi Magazine article on Da Kitchen’s return —
https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/mauis-da-kitchen-is-back-sort-of/— retrieved 2026-03-31. Useful for broader brand history, expansion context, and the post-closure reimagining of the business. - Honolulu Star-Advertiser article on Da Kitchen’s 2020 closure —
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/07/21/food/mauis-da-kitchen-serving-last-plate/— retrieved 2026-03-31. Useful for confirming the earlier closure and why older references may not match the current operation.
