Ferraro's Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Maui

Reservation: Saturday @ 5pm for 2 Adults Ordered: 2 Festa Da Ferraro's & 4 Alcoholic beverages Total: $347 Food: 4/5 (I don't like arugula) Server: 5/5 Atmosphere: 5/5

This is our first time dining here, and we were lucky to have this experience from a gift certificate. I wanted to check out the menu before we got there but didn't see any pricing on their website. This made me a little nervous, but I was able to find some google review images of the menu. I also called the restaurant in advance, and they were able to answer any questions I couldn't find the answer to online. Our reservation was originally at 6pm but Rachel (host) was able to move us up to 5pm. We checked in 15 minutes early, and she told us they were still setting up, but we could wait in their lounge area. There was already a big group sitting and waiting, so we decided to walk around the pool. We returned 5 minutes before 5pm and sat in the corner waiting. After 5:10 we still were not called so we moved up closer and sat closer to the host stand. She came up to us to reconfirm she had checked us in. I honestly think she forgot about us because multiple parties that checked in after us were getting seated before us 😅 we got sat around 5:15. Our server Hope was very quick to great us and talk us through the menu. We both ended up going with the "Festa Da Ferraro's" ($130/each) which is a 4 course set menu. It comes with 3 appetizers & 2 pastas that are shared, 1 entrée (+ 2 sides), and 1 dessert. We also ordered 2 cocktails (coco-crush $24 & piemonte sour $25) and 2 beers $12/each. That cocktail had me red after the first couple sips, very strong (for me), you could really taste the tequila. We chose the "Cresta Al Nero Di Seppia" (black squid ink pasta with creme rosa sauce) & "Spaghetti Alle Vongole" (fresh clams in some kinda red sauce). For the entrée we picked the "Wagu Bristecca". For dessert we chose the "Tramisu" & "Panna Cotta Alla Fragole". They brought us fresh utensils and plates between each course, water glass was always filled, and checked on us with each course as well. We were both stuffed halfway through the entrée and couldn't finish our sweet treat. Our server Hope was absolutely amazing, very friendly, and very knowledgeable about the menu & the ingredients in the dishes. It took us about 2.5 hours to get through all the courses. Ended the night with a fire dancer performing off to the side. I think the food was absolutely wonderful, everything was well seasoned and plated very thoughtfully. I would easily come back for the service and the Ahi Tuna appetizer alone. I think $130 for a shared set menu is a little pricey but I'm not a...

TLDR don't waste your time here. My husband and I chose to spend a date night here and did their tasting menu at $135.

The good: The portions are American sized. The view is great and service was fine.

The bad: The food, see below. It's loud.

First let us start with the appetizers. Salad was fantastic, their tuna fish was fresh. The meatballs? Driest meatballs on earth. It was like biting into and swallowing a handful of pebbles. You could actually feel it sliding down your throat, and while I like meatballs, I prefer to not feel them that closely on their way down the esophagus.

Pasta. Tagliatelle and clam spaghetti. Honestly this was the highlight. The pasta was cooked perfectly, just salty enough. In particular, the clam spaghetti was a great balance between creamy and the bite of ocean salinity you want. Not going to lie, the meat in the bolognese sauce was a little dry (how does this even occur) but that is the only criticism.

Steak. You can see this in past photos others have posted. I asked for medium rare and I got still mooing. There was absolutely zero sear, like the grill was sad that day and couldn’t perform. Only saving grace was quality of the wagyu but damn what a waste of a good cow.

Sides. Got a heaping pile of broccolini stacked four inches tall like you'd find in the woods. Watched so many of these plates of broccolini go back to the kitchen untouched.

The parsnip and carrots... these were an embarrassment to the culinary arts and also the Four Seasons establishment. We got these still mooing. They were so crunchy and raw, like they halved the carrots, got the pot out to blanch, and forgot to throw the carrots in the pot before serving and dressing with yogurt diluted to the consistency of that yucky liquid floating over an old carton of Greek yogurt. The crunch of the raw vegetable was heard all over the Mediterranean. Love farm to table, hate the ground to table concept.

Dessert. Yuzu mousse cheesecake. Cute concept of lemon, mousse a little too sweet. Tiramisu was fantastic.

Extra: The chairs………. I had to shift left and right to balance my back and not get scoliosis bc EVERY TABLE was placed where the cushions came together. I have one question for...

If you want to treat yourself to beachfront dining at the fancy schmancy Four Seasons Resort in Wailea, do it here. We were in the area and wanted a good place for lunch. This place had good Yelp reviews and was also listed in the Best Restaurants in Maui book, so off we went. We called ahead to see if we needed reservations and learned that they don't take reservations for lunch. Luckily it was not crowded at all and we were doubly lucky enough to score a table right at the edge of the patio with an amazing view of the beach. It was sunny but quite windy so they had to fold up the umbrellas, but it wasn't too bad--we weren't giving up our view! I wasn't terribly hungry so I just got their tuna sashimi and california roll plate, and my friend got the lobster salad (this is originally a sandwich but you can have it made into a salad). Mind you, I think the prices for these things were $28 and $26, respectively, but considering the view, the service and the quality of ingredients and preparation, it was worth it. We savored every morsel.

My friend's lobster salad was quite good, the tasty chunks of lobster in a mayo-based dressing that wasn't too overpowering. The slices of tuna I got were very fresh and the CA roll was probably as good as a CA roll can get. I thought this would be it but then we saw the dessert menu and had to go for it. My friend got this meringue thing with oranges and dehydrated basil leaves (forget what it's called, but it was YUM), and I got their coffee ice cream, which came with a cone and a delicious chocolate brownie-like cookie, wow. Our server was also great, very personable and friendly. It was the perfect afternoon and we would've stayed there for a few more hours if we could, but I guess I'll just have to wait til my next visit, sigh. A parking tip: if you're just dining at the Four Seasons you can valet park OR park at the public beach lot next door for free and...