Napali Brewing Co. — Restaurant in Kauai

We stopped in here on our last day on Kauai before we had to catch our plane. The service was good, the food was excellent, but we found the beer just okay.

We didn't have a ton of time because we had to catch a flight, so we placed our order as soon as we sat down. The food was delivered fairly quickly. Our server was friendly, but she as stretched a bit thin handling quite a few tables. We were planning to order another round of beers, but by the time she got back to checking on us we didn't have enough time. When we told her we need to go because of the flight, she promptly handled getting the bill to us and cashing us out there at the table.

For lunch we tried the Beef Sliders and the Ono Kine Duck Wings. Both were excellent! We also ordered the Hapa Fries (with the sweet potato and regular fries mixed together) and they were quite good as well. We had just enough to eat and all of it had the perfect amount of flavor.

We tried the Hamajang IPA and the Poi Pounding Pilsner. Both were acceptable, they represented what an IPA and Plisner should be, but we would rank them as average.

The restaurant decor was minimal but enjoyable with the live plants, large communal tables and funky light fixtures. The restaurant space was clean and very spacious. The restrooms were also very clean, and we enjoyed the amusing signage.

The parking is shared with a strip mall and the lot is bit tight, but there are plenty of spaces. Finding the entrance to the restaurant is a bit more difficult than it should be but it works.

We had to knock one star off the review because of the 3% service charge that is added to the bill. This was not disclosed on the menu, nor did the server mention it to us when we placed our order. Fees should be disclosed before any orders are taken, not after the meal is finished. Also, after adding a tip, the payment kiosk recommends adding an additional 2, 3, 5 or 7% tip as if 22% we already gave was not enough.

Overall, we enjoyed our meal and would recommend having a meal at the...

I honestly don't know why this place doesn't have more ratings! Perhaps because it's a newer brewery on the island.

AMBIANCE We came in on a Friday night around 6:30PM and they had live music playing. It does get a bit loud with the live music (I think 6-8PM?), but the performer was great! He was very funny and had a great voice. The decor is so cute and refreshing. There were wooden basket lamps and hanging plants.

SEATING The dining area was huge. Most of the seating are longer bench tables, so you'll likely be sharing a table with others. Perfect spot for happy hours with larger groups. There are also ~6 smaller tables that seats 2-4 people if you want more privacy. There's also a secondary dining room with more seating, so it's unlikely there will be a wait time.

DRINKS They had six beers brewed in house! My favorites were the Local Boy Lager and Poi Pounding Pilsner.

FOOD I was pleasantly surprised by the food! Most food on Kaua'i is overly salty, but not this place. The sliders were a good portion size, and all the food came out fresh and hot!

We ordered the following: Kalua Pork Sliders w/ chiptole aioli ($16) - pork itself was a bit salty, but perfect if eaten with bread/slaw Hamburger sliders ($16) - this was my favorite Makaiwa Spring Rolls ($14) - my only complaint is that these are egg rolls, not spring rolls Hapa Fries ($7) - huge portion of sweet potato/potato fries! great side order

I'm bummed we didn't discover this brewery until later in our trip. We will definitely come back when we return...

2025: Went back and they implemented self-seating when it’s not crowded, which definitely helps since they’re still understaffed in the front of house. The core beers are still ok and the seasonal offerings were good, especially the watermelon sour. The brussel sprouts are still good. Fun merch selection, but prices are ridiculous. $10 for a sticker!

2024: Solidly middle of the pack when it comes to Kauai brewery experiences. To start with, the beer is excellent overall. Their seasonal Hefeweizen was superb. I also liked their helles and lager, but I wasn’t a fan of their black lager or Pilsner. If I return (which will probably happen), I would sit at the bar and only get beer. This segues us into the downsides of the experience. Service was slow and generally unfriendly. It took us a while to get seated and even longer to simply get menus. We placed our drink orders as soon as we were given menus since we had enough time to look up the menu on our phones and decide what we wanted. The food was expensive for the portion size and middling in terms of taste. We got the hapa fries, huli huli chicken, buffalo wings, and grilled brussel sprouts, and the only one I would get again is the brussel sprouts.

@Aaron Cox looks like we got one salty haole that doesn’t know how to flag down bartenders. Please keep your political comments to yourself. Your whole review reads like a certain president’s idea of how tariffs will work. FYI, tourism only represents about a quarter of Hawaii’s GDP. We’ll be fine without one...