Spago — Restaurant in Maui

Atrocious. It’s insulting that this place sold itself as a AAA Four Diamond Experience. We’ve enjoyed plenty of fine dining establishments and many AAA rated restaurants, this didn’t even come close to the bottom of those experiences either in food, service, or ambiance. It’s an overpriced tourist trap at best. Our server and bus boy were wonderful, friendly, knowledgeable, and very attentive. That’s where our good experience ends. We waited 40 minutes past our reservation, which we had for a month and specifically requested for outside- due to covid. We even booked after sunset to make sure we had an outdoor seat and didn’t have to fight for sunset views. After a very long wait we were not only seated inside but in the middle of a walking path with guests walking maskless back and forth to the restrooms and bar and all of the waitstaff coming and going with plates. We asked for the outdoor table we reserved and was told it would be another 10 minute wait. After we were finally seated, 50 minutes after arriving, we were given menus but told due to county regulations they had a hard stop at 10pm and we were encouraged to order quickly and all at once. The food was mediocre. We had the American Wagyu steak, which was disappointingly flavorless though the temperature was cooked to perfection. The steak was so tough and bland we seriously question if we were served a genuine Snake River Farms cut of meat. We’ve enjoyed their products many times before both in restaurants and cooked ourselves at home, and this was just not up to the quality we know. The steak was served with a very tasty steak sauce, but if I am ordering a cut of Wagyu- even an American bred piece of meat, I expect it not to need any sauce accompaniment. Also served with the steak was “house pomme frites” which I also gave the serious side eye for being anything more than frozen bag fries. Frankly the fries served at the poolside were more interesting. The soufflé we ordered while eating our main course still took 15 minutes to arrive. It was served at exactly 9:56. At 10pm the bright work lights came on and we were told we needed to pay and leave- nicely at least. We would have rather been told they couldn’t serve dessert than pay for something we had 4 minutes to enjoy. I’m happy to comply with Covid regulations, but I’m extremely annoyed our overpriced dessert was ruined by the restaurant’s inability to properly handle our reservation time. When the bill came they ran our card before realizing they forgot to add our soda to the bill- so now I have a $300 charge on my card that will take 5-7 days to reverse, which is extremely inconvenient to me, after an extremely disappointing meal, all because of a watered down $10 coke and yet another mistake of the restaurant. Frankly the correct thing to do would have been to leave the soda off the bill after my card had been swiped. They did provide an amuse bouche of poke at the start of our dinner as an apology for the long wait, but a comped appetizer just couldn’t save this sub-par dining experience. If you don’t mind overpriced food slightly above chain restaurant quality, or you enjoy the forced LA Hotspot vibe with lite club music and over stylized glass blown light fixtures, you’ll enjoy this. If you’re staying at the resort and want a nice dinner, order room service to your balcony. If you have an option of eating anywhere on Maui, go to a food truck first...

The meal we shared last evening was perhaps the best we have ever had, anywhere. The food was locally-sourced and prepared in innovative ways that brought out layers of flavors in every bite. My wife began with the hamachi tostada. She is not a fan of spicy foods, so she was a bit leary since the accompanying avocado in these sort of dishes is offen made too spicy for her. Our amazing server, Peter, assured her that the avocado could be made without any added chilis. The flavor of the hamachi then became the fore of her appetizer, and she enjoyed it tremendously. My meal began with the ahi "cones" a clever play on a sushi hand roll. In this case, the typical nori surrounding a sushi hand roll was replaced with a gently fried shell of toasted sesame-infused goodies. The light, crispy shell contrasted beautifully with the soft, unctuous, umamii-rich ahi sashimi and tobiko inside the shell. Our mains included both her Uku (gray snapper) served on a banana leaf and my choice of the red thai-inspired seafood curry, The uku was meaty and cooked perfectly, without a hint of dryness. The crab crust on the fish was extravagantly delicious. It was served with in-house pickled vegetables, which rounded out and balanced the dish's flavors. My curry was served mildly spicy, but came with three additional sauce condiments to add additional dimensions to each bite. My favorite was the pineapple sauce which had a very sneaky heat dimension. By the end of my meal, my jasmine rice consumption had increased quite a bit, and I admired how slyly the heat in this sauce slowly notched up throughout the meal. We closed our meal with an off-menu choice that Peter suggested--a souffle "pancake" served with fresh warm berries that we shared. Oh, my, this was the perfect cap to a perfect meal. Both Peter and his assistant Elijah were incredibly helpful throughout the meal. Peter and I even had an opportunity to discuss the some of the logistical difficulties of operating a large restaurant and maintaining the high quality output from the kitchen. Spago Maui has managed to achieve this to create a spectacular dining experience. The only drawback to the evening was the crowded nature of the restaurant. Some patrons brought extremely young children, and of course, by evening's end, several of these tired children were crying inconsolably. This was no fault of the restaurant, but does warrant a minor "ding" with regards to the atmosphere. About one month ago, we had an opportunity to dine at a Michelin star restaurant near our home. While delicious, both of us agreed that the meal we had at Spago surpassed that Michelin meal. It will be a meal we discuss for a...

It was our 3rd year anniversary. We got married at the Four Seasons Feb 15th 2015. We had our wedding reception in Spago's. it was such an amazing experience. Food was next level and our 30 guests very impressed!!! Fast forward to Feb 15th 2018 ( our 3rd wedding anniversary) On November 21st 2017 we had booked on line to have our anniversary dinner at Spago's. When we booked on line it asked us if we had any special request. We said it was our 3rd year anniversary and we would love to sit outside to watch the sunset. When we arrived to Maui on February 8th we wanted to reminisce and decided to go for a drink to the Four Seasons. We walked over to Spago's to confirm our reservation. The lady said she had our reservation and we asked if our special request was listed. She said it was there, but can't promise special request as it is first come, first served.

It's now February 15th. We arrived at Spago's at 5:20pm. We asked the young lady if we could get a seat outside to watch the sunset as it is our 3rd year anniversary and we had our wedding reception there three years ago. She said she couldn't promise that, because it's on first come first serve basis. I said luckily we are the 2nd couple to arrive, so hopefully you can make it happen and we come here every time we are here. She responded with " there's been people coming here for 10 years). The other young lady sat us down at the bar, close to the first couple that arrived. Others started coming shortly after and as well seated at the bar. Finally the restaurant staff were done there meeting and people were finally getting seated. The couple that arrived got seated first and eventually after several others got seated they made there way to us; which they took us to the back room where are reception was held. My wife and I were bitter more then ever. Not happy my wife request the outdoor patio. They moved us to a table at the back far away from the beautiful sunset. She was crushed. So I have to say We were quite disappointed at the service we received on our anniversary.

The lady beside us was celebrating her birthday and received a free desert. We Couldnt believe when we looked at the bill; no free desert. It actually broke our hearts. To think that we had our special day with Spago's 3 years ago and then we are treated like our 3 years meant nothing. Especially when we were asked if we had any special request. Obviously a special request means nothing to the staff at Spago's.Very disappointing to say the least. Im not sure we will go back. Rob &...