Dining Gluten-Free on Maui, Hawaii

After exploring the Big Island (read about my experiences here and here), my boyfriend and I flew to Maui for the final part of our Hawaiian vacation. We had so many amazing adventures and meals on Maui. We explored Lahaina, Wailea, and drove the Road to Hana.

Grand Wailea Resort
We stayed at the Grand Wailea Resort. The restaurants at the Grand Wailea are extremely accommodating to dietary restrictions and have many gluten-free options.

Most mornings we had the breakfast buffet at the Grand Dining Room Maui. We always had omelets from the omelet station with spinach, goat cheese, and kalua pork. We also had sausage, fruit, and other offerings from the buffet. The buffet stocked individually wrapped Udis gluten-free muffins and gluten-free bread. They also had a separate toaster with a gluten-free only label on it, however every morning I saw people putting regular bread in the gluten-free toaster. The only thing I disliked about the buffet was that they stored the bacon in the same warming tray as the bread after the first day we ate there. This storage system made no sense to me. So I wasn’t able to enjoy the bacon after the first day, but there was plenty of other food to eat. Overall I loved having breakfast here, the food was delicious and the views were breathtaking.

Some of the fruit offered from the breakfast buffet at Grand Dining Room Maui

Omelet and bacon(the only time we were able to eat it) from Grand Dining Room Maui

We also ate at Bistro Molokini at the resort. Our waitress was very knowledgeable and checked with the chef to ensure the items we ordered could be made gluten-free. We ordered the Hamachi Ceviche with no tortilla strips to start out. For our main dishes we ordered the Sweet Chili Glazed Mahi Mahi and the Bacon Burger with goat cheese. Everything was so good!

My favorite restaurant at the Grand Wailea was Humuhumunukunukuapua'a. We loved it so much we ate here twice during our stay. The entire staff was extremely knowledgeable about eating gluten-free. They even offered us gluten-free bread, which was so good! To start, we ordered the watermelon and goat cheese, which came with edible flowers and rose water. For our main dishes, we had the catch of the day, mong chong and the filet mignon. The menu is seasonal and the restaurant supports local fisherman and farmers. Fun fact, Humuhumunukunukuapua'a is named after Hawaii’s state fish.

MonkeyPod Kitchen by Merriman
After having such a good experience at Merriman’s on the Big Island, we were excited to find MonkeyPod Kitchen by Merriman near our hotel in Wailea. We ate here after driving the Road to Hana, so we were starving from our long day of driving and adventuring. I don’t usually drink, but after the Hana drive a drink sounded really nice. I ordered a cocktail made with Organic Ocean Vodka, which is made from sugarcane on Maui. We also ordered the lobster deviled eggs and the fresh catch fish tacos with gluten-free corn tortillas. Everything was absolutely delicious!

Lobster deviled eggs from MonkeyPod Kitchen

Fresh catch fish tacos on gluten-free corn tortillas from MonkeyPod Kitchen

Duo Steak and Seafood
Duo Steak and Seafood is at the Four Seasons Resort, which is right next to the Grand Wailea. Our server was extremely knowledgeable about what was gluten-free on the menu and brought us gluten-free bread to start. There are many gluten-free options on the regular dinner menu and there is also a wellness dinner menu with almost all gluten-free and vegetarian/vegan options. We chose the quinoa maki nori rolls from the wellness menu as an appetizer. We also ordered the salmon and mahi mahi with lilikoi butter and seasonal roasted vegetables from the regular dinner menu. Duo also had vegan and gluten-free desserts on the menu so we indulged in the chocolate avocado mousse with fresh raspberries. We really enjoyed our dinner here!

Coconut Glen’s
Coconut Glen’s is a stand along the Road to Hana selling coconut ice cream and candy. If you are driving the Road to Hana you must stop and try the coconut ice cream, it’s the best! We got the lilikoi and salted caramel flavors and some coconut candy. Everything was gluten and dairy-free!

Coconut candy from Coconut Glen's on the Road to Hana

Coconut ice cream from Coconut Glen's on the Road to Hana

Maui Sugar Shop
Maui Sugar Shop is a 100% gluten-free bakery in Lahaina. The bakery also uses local and organic ingredients and is soy-free and high fructose corn syrup free. We were so excited to find this bakery! The person working helped us pick treats that were also dairy-free. We got a s’mores donut, lilikoi cupcake, and a piece of coffee cake to enjoy throughout our week in Maui. Everything was so delicious!

Lilikoi cupcake and coffee cake from Maui Sugar Shop

Local Boys Shave Ice
We don’t usually eat treats like shave ice, but we knew we couldn’t leave Hawaii without trying some. We shared a shave ice with half lilikoi and half mango syrup. It was good but very sweet. The syrups used for shave ice are made from cane sugar not high fructose corn syrup, common in typical snow cones. The syrups are gluten-free.

Whole Foods
Our first stop when we landed on Maui was Whole Foods, since it is right by the airport. We had breakfast and stocked up on a few local goodies. I always love checking out grocery stores when I travel to see what unique food options they have. My favorite find here was lilikoi kombucha made locally on Maui. Later in the trip, we stopped here again to eat breakfast before we drove the Road to Hana. Although, my advice would be to let your food digest before starting the drive to Hana because the drive is more twisty and turny than you could imagine.

Hawaiian Moons Natural Foods
Hawaiian Moons Natural Foods was such a treat to find in Kihei. There were so many gluten-free and paleo friendly foods. Some of my favorite finds here were coconut kefir and coconut bliss ice cream bars. I wanted to buy so much more but we only had a small fridge in our hotel room and didn’t plan to cook any of our own meals while on Maui. Hawaiian Moons is definitely worth a stop if you are looking for gluten-free or paleo friendly foods!