Maui Brewing Co. — Restaurant in Maui

I love beer and was excited to visit this brewery. We have a lot of microbrews in California, so I couldn't wait to try theirs. Unfortunately, it was so bad that I will NEVER go back. The only reason I stayed after the first 5 minutes was because my family was hungry.

Easy check-in... So far so good.

When we were seated, we got the only table in direct sun. That wouldn't normally be a problem since we're in Maui for the sun, but the reflection off the sliding door window was doubling the heat and intensity. It was extremely blinding and uncomfortable. Before the hostess walked away, we asked if they could find us another table. As she talked to us, she was actually shielding her face from the blinding glare, so she clearly understood our problem.

She came back and said they'd be raising the door in about 15 minutes, and we could either wait in the front lobby or stay at our table. I could see at least 7 empty tables around us that weren't in the sun. Maybe they weren't being used because of server coverage areas, but as the evening went on, I found that wasn't true. We stayed because my family wanted to order food.

Our waiter finally showed up after more than 20 minutes. The door still wasn't raised, but the sun was going down so it wasn't as bad - though I was sweating like a roasted pig at this point. We ordered drinks and told him we were ready to order food too. Why wouldn't we be? It's already been 20 minutes.

I could tell this was going to be problematic when he couldn't describe the first two menu items we asked about and had to go ask someone else. Then he couldn't describe the beers they craft at their own brewing company either. My 17-year-old son even commented, "There's no way he could work at one of our places, could he?" Yes, we own some food locations in California, and even my teenager could see there was going to be a problem.

The drinks and food came, but we never saw our waiter again. We saw him talking with other staff in the distance and walking around, but we could never get his attention. The server helping tables around us saw the problem and offered to take our second beer order. She was attentive to everyone she was helping, but our server was just goofing around. As you read this, you might think I'm being a pompous reviewer, but this was the real experience. To the amazing woman who helped us get more drinks - you were extremely appreciated, and I would hire you in a heartbeat. Your guests looked like they were having an amazing experience.

Now for the food. The fish and chips were a soggy mess- not one bit crispy. The fries were barely warm, closer to cold than hot. My other son ordered pizza, he runs one of my brick oven pizza locations so knows pizza fairly well. The pizza had no flavor and the crust was rock hard - like three-day-old bread left on the counter. From experience, either the dough was old, the oven was too low temperature, the dough was mishandled, or they don't know how to make properly hydrated dough. Either way, neither of us finished our food.

We still have not see our waiter. We are done and ready to leave. I went looking for someone and was approached by a pleasant woman who asked if she could help. I explained that I'd like to check out since our waiter hadn't been seen since he took our order almost an hour and a half ago. I could tell she was the manager - I'd seen her directing staff from the lobby to our table area. I didn't create a fuss, just asked for our check so we could go. My wife doesn't like when I make scenes, so I behaved.

Back to the table issue. Over the next 20 minutes after we were seated, we watched 5 more tables get seated. Not one of them was in the sun. Not one had to endure the heat and glaring reflection like we did. Before we left, the remaining tables that could have been used also had people seated at them. So why couldn't we have one of those tables until the sun went down, then seat later arrivals at our table after the door was raised?

Save your money and try their beer when you visit another restaurant...

What a disappointment! We had been eating a lot of great fish during the week but were looking for a great burger place before heading home to the mainland. The pictures on the Maui Brewing website made their food look delicious, and the restaurant appeared to have a cool island vibe. Unfortunately, the reality is that I have had better burgers at fast food places and much better service from the small family run Maui restaurants. The meal quality and service certainly did not meet the price tag. I guess my expectations were too high for this place. But let’s back up because it just wasn’t the food that made our heads shake about what we thought would be a really nice experience in Maui. First, the parking lot needs to be totally re-engineered, and as they are not down on the Kihei beach strip, they have plenty of area to work with. The small parking areas are alcoves with no exits except where you pulled in from. So, if you pull in to look for a space and there are none (which was the case in all the alcoves, you will have to back out as you can’t turn around and even more difficult if you have others pulling in behind you. Further, there are not enough parking spaces for their seating capacity which explains why so many people are parking on the street. Second, there is a double check-in. I told the first lady at her station just outside the main door that we had a reservation which she confirmed and then sent us in to a second check-in stand which another lady did the same thing. Is this some kind of crowd control? Third, they had anyone who would be drinking alcohol (even those of us that were obviously over 50), put on a stupid wrist ban (ironically without checking our ID) like we were at an amusement park. I guess this was to prevent “underage drinking”, but we had been to many other restaurants on Maui during the week and none of them made us wear wrist-bans while enjoyed our adult beverages. Fourth, there are no condiments on table. No drink sweeteners or ketchup/mustard/sauces … Why?? This is primarily a burger, pizza and beer place from what I could see so not big mystery that we might want to dress up our over-priced unexciting burger. So, we had to ask for ketchup for our fries which sat there getting cold while the waitress took a bit to get it. It came in little single serving plastic cups. I guess they are sacrificing the environment for some latent COVID concerns or there is ketchup shortage on Maui. Further, my wife ordered a D-coke which was completely flat which for some mystically reason, they were not able to remedy. Surely, by the time we ate at 6:30 pm, other people must have complained about this soft drink problem. So, my wife opted for ice-tea which she was charged for when they really should have complementary given the situation. Once again, she had to ask for sweeteners for her tea because there were none on the table. Not a huge issue but having to wait another 5 minutes after your drink has arrived is kind of irritating. I guess they have all their condiments squirreled-away somewhere and miserly allocate them. So, I know I have pointed out a bunch of relatively minor issues which I would have certainly overlooked if it just one or two, but they all start to add up, it gets to be a drag on the dining experience on top of having over-priced average meal. IMHO, this obviously corporately run standardize restaurant that is trying desperately to give off an island experience, has too many imbedded rules and problems to make it an enjoyable place to dine. We did look at all the good reviews before going so I am now guessing that many people enjoy over-priced average food and don’t care about all the annoying things I pointed out. So, it is likely nothing is going to change in the future based on the several reviews like mine. The beer is okay but when we come back to Maui, we will be sure to seek out a better burger place in Maui. We...

We visited on January 4th and I am still thinking of our terrible experience. My sister-in -law made a reservation as we had a group of 8 and it was her birthday. It was noted on our reservation that the dinner was for a birthday. After checking in, I inquired with reception to ensure they knew it was my SIL's birthday and was told it was noted but "we ran out of candles:. No big deal. Was not sure what restaurant normally does but figured it could be done without candles. We were all seated and met our server. She took drink orders but when drinks stared to come out, wrong drinks started to appear. We also. noticed the table next to us started to get wrong drinks as well. Server took our meal order very completely. However, initially only 5 of the 8 meals was delivered We patiently waited for the rest of the meals to eat together. About 7-10 minutes later, 2 more meals appeared but not the final one for the birthday guest. We waited some more as we expected the final meal to come very soon Finally, we had to start eating as food was getting cold. We inquired with our server and she said the meal was on the way and that the kitchen was very busy. Many of us were FINISHING our meal but the final meal was still not appearing. The server did not acknowledge the missing meal. We inquired AGAIN and our server said "The kitchen is chaos. It's kind of fun.". (Maybe fun for you, but not fun for a guest!) She said she would check on it. She did not come back to let us know the status. At this point several of us were DONE with our meals despite eating slowly. Eventually the last meal appeared with no apologies for the nearly 25 minute delay. When our check was brought, the server acknowledged the meal delay and stated "Your meal was late. The best I can do is to comp your beer." A meal comp should have been immediately offered!! When the server came back, we stated that a drink comp was inadequate for the poor service and asked that the 1 meal be comped. In a very snarky voice, she said "I'll have to talk to manager.". She came back with a comped meal. However, as we left, she said in a VERY UNFRIENDLY way, "Happy Birthday, Lady!" This was a night we were all looking forward to as it was our one splurge dinner all together as families and for a birthday! The server's attitude was perhaps the worst I have experienced. Yes, delays happen and restaurants are short on staff, BUT, it was the attitude of the server that ruined our experience. Unfortunately, it is the poor service that became our topic of conversation and the memory of Kelly's birthday dinner and of...