Sam Sato's Inc — Restaurant in Maui

If you've never been here before, order the Super Dry with a beef stick (or two).

That first line is the most important. Everything else is extra ;). If you want to try something else, come back a second time. I got hooked on their dry noodles when I was little - because it was the only thing my mom every ordered here, and always with a beef stick. As I got older, I started to realize that my mom wasn't the only one. You don't have to take my advise, but then... why are you even reading this if you're not going to listen to the local advise? Anyhoo - the dry noodles come with a side of the soup. You can decide whether you want to dump the soup over the top of the noodles, treat it like a dipping sauce, or do like I do and scoop some into my spoon before getting some noodles to lay in the spoon with it. Then slurp it down! A side of yellow mustard also comes with the noodles. You'll want to mix in a generous amount of shoyu (soy sauce) and mix. Again - you can decide how you use it. For me, I grab a little of the hot mustard/shoyu mixture with my spoon before spooning up a small amount of the soup. Don't grab too much if you're not familiar with it! A little can go a long way!

Feel free to eat the noodles any way you want - I only share my technique since I happen to like it the best. No one's judging you though, so feel free to eat them however you like, or try a range of different strategies until you find one that suits you. Drinks are in the cooler - go and grab whatever it is you want to drink. On the way out, you might want to grab some manju or turnovers that they have in the case by the cash register. If you've never had manju before, this is a great place to try it for the first time. A local classic thanks to the Japanese immigrants who initially came to Maui to work on the plantations.

Other notes:

Parking can get crowded, so you may have to park on the street. If you have people with you who have difficulty getting around, consider dropping them off before heading off to park. It will save them from having to navigate the incline/decline on the sidewalk. They can also put your name on the wait list to save you time while you're space hunting.

The waiting area to enter can get crowded, and there's limited seating. If you have a seat and notice an elderly person waiting, get up and offer them your seat. I'm not sure if it's an Asian thing, a local thing, or just a thing in general, but they'll usually refuse the first two or three offers. Just be persistent.

Seating inside can be pretty tight. This is Maui - real estate is expensive! Enjoy the quaint decor, be kind to your neighbors, and remember that if there was a more spacious interior, the prices on the menu might not be such a...

This is Maui's infamous dry mein hot spot! And it's very well-deserved.

ATMOSPHERE: Small & simple restaurant in the middle of an industrial area. Private dining area separate from the restaurant, but no a/c. This place is always busy!

FOOD: Dry Mein The best on Maui! This is what they're known for best. Goes great with Aloha shoyu and lots of black pepper. Topped with bean sprouts, green onion, and charsiu. Comes in three sizes - small, large (my fave), and extra large. It comes with a small cup of clear broth that's very lightly flavored and used for dipping the noodles in, but I sip it.

Super Dry Prior to having this, I thought it was simply an extra large size of dry mein, but it's actually an addition of toppings to their large-sized dry mein which are fishcake, broccoli, won bok, scrambled eggs, and kamaboko. I'll never order this again. First off, the bowl it comes in is too small to eat from without toppings being accidentally flung onto the table. Secondly, hot dry mein doesn't taste good as the noodles need time to cool down to room temperature to fully bring out their flavors, and the blanket of veggies did a great job of keeping the heat in. I'll opt for takeout over eating in any day.

Chopped Steak Stir fried pieces of steak and onions. The flavor is mildly savory. Good but the portion is too small for my liking.

Saimin Avoid. The noodles are good but the broth is horribly bland. They use the dry mein dipping sauce as the broth which does not work due to it's lack of flavor. Adding in soy sauce didn't help but made the dish taste worse.

Cheeseburger Deluxe The simplest looking burger you'll ever lay eyes on, but the taste is very good! The patty is homemade and has a great flavor. The soft bun is toasted and has a nice crunch on the inside. Accompanied with only shredded lettuce, onions, ketchup, mayo & mustard. It honestly tastes like an In N Out burger minus the spread.

Hamburger Steak Not bad! Tasty dark brown gravy, moist homemade patties, perfectly-steamed rice and good macaroni salad. My only gripe is that the hamburger patties lacked texture due to the absence of flat top-charring.

Peach & Apple Turnovers Another item they're known for. Flaky crust with your choice of canned fruit on the inside, and baked to a golden brown. Simply delicious.

Lima Bean Manju Flaky shell with smashed Lima beans, and not overly sweet. Very good.

SERVICE: You can't make reservations so be prepared to wait. The table turnover is pretty quick though. Just order takeout like I do! Service is...

Love this place. It's one of the few old school places to eat at. Your not going to find some kind of fancy menu here. Just good old fashion Hawaii comfort food. Used to be a time when I was younger where you had a bunch of places like Sam Sato. These days little shops like this are becoming a thing of the past at least here on maui. Corporate america loves to take over with there franchise fast food places. I personally like ordering the cheese burger deluxe and a dry min, bbq beef stick. But there plate lunches and everything else on the menu is great. Those are just my personal favorites from when I was a little kid. If you have room on the way out don't forget to grab yourself a little turnover. My favorite is the apple but again you can't go wrong depending on what your taste buds like. Be prepared it is a small place so there is always a wait. If your impatient don't bother. For those of you that have the patience this is a great truly maui restaurant. Thanks for reading my reviews. I'll be back with another one soon till then...