Tasty Crust Restaurant — Restaurant in Maui

The Crust is Maui's true diner. The menu is a mix of local and American fare.

ATMOSPHERE: The inside is plain and simple. They've had some minor renovations done. There's the traditional counter seating along with the usual booths & tables, as well as a private dining room off to the side.

FOOD: Pancakes Damn delish. This is what they're most famous for, and for good reason. The batter is very flavorful and has a medium density. Spread on the generous pat of butter and drizzle with maple syrup. I've even done drive by takeout on a whim.

Traditional Breakfast Two eggs and meat of our choice. My over easy eggs were cooked perfectly and I chose corned beef hash (canned) as my side, which had a nice crisp to the skin.

Hash Browns Yes, it's of the frozen variety and damn delicious. Crispy and not oily.

Loco Moco I couldn't tell if the two patties were homemade or frozen, but they were of good size and pretty tough, so I'm leaning towards the latter. The dark brown gravy was tasty as was the mac salad. The rice was a bit dry due to a lack of water during the cooking process. Archie's version still reigns supreme.

Saimin with Vegetables I ordered the large size but luckily the server made an error and brought me a small one as it was a perfect portion, even for my big appetite. Don't be fooled as the small bowl is full of fresh noodles, surprisingly cooked perfectly chewy. The broth was homemade, very subtle in sodium (good for my blood pressure) and was served hot. The veggie toppings were broccoli florets, sliced yellow and orange carrots and a few bean sprouts. The diced char siu were tender and tasty. Cheap and filling.

Roast Pork I received about 3 slices of tough and dry pork. The dark brown gravy went great with it but unfortunately the rice was horribly crunchy throughout and oddly mush here and there. What a shame that a local place can't cook rice properly. The mac salad was good. The best roast pork is still at Cupie's. Meh.

Sesame Katsu My spouse's dish on recommendation from our server. It's a chicken katsu that's laced with a transparent sesame "sauce" that was a tad sweet and also made the katsu soggy. Pass.

Saimin Having tried their saimin with vegetables (an overload of the frozen variety), this was better as it's simply noodles, pork bits, green onions and their savory, hot broth. Perfect portion size and tasty homemade dashi!

Won Tun Mein Same broth and noodles as the saimin but with the addition of four pork-filled, homemade won tun. The won tun filling wasn't the greatest of quantities but only enhanced the otherwise plain saimin.

Denver Omelette While it was stuffed generously with fresh bits of ham and green peppers (I nixed the onions), the omelette itself was very thin like crepes and not fluffy at all. I like a thick coat of egg to hug the fillers. Eating this version resulted in the omelette breaking apart on every forkful. Honestly, eggs aren't their forte. Starches are ala carte so I got a side of white rice which thankfully was cooked perfectly as I've had undercooked grains here before.

Luncheon Meat As I gazed through the pictures on Yelp, this caught my eye as it looked so good. An order yielded four thin slices of processed meat that were nicely flattop-grilled.

Chicken Cutlet - $9.50 First off, the chicken breasts were halved and not sliced like how most places present it. Breast cut... dry, white meat. Not suitable for a cutlet. Secondly, the dark brown gravy. Dark brown gravy goes well with hamburger, not chicken. Here, it gave the dry breasts an odd, bitter taste as the gravy simply didn't marry well to the deep-fried breading. A chicken or pork gravy would suffice. The two scoops of rice were cooked almost perfect (thankfully) and the macaroni salad was good. Pass. Thank you, next.

SERVICE: The staff are local-style friendly and welcoming. Do expect to wait for breakfast especially on the weekends.

TIP: Pay with cash or debit only. No...

As local as they come and as good as they get, Tasty Crust Cafe is a no frills restaurant serving local Hawaaian eats and at a cheap(er) price than most. Parking is a bit tight as there’s not too much space around so beware of that. Once you enter, you immediately know you’re in a local spot. The place itself is a bit older but it has a charm that you won’t find amongst the over-tourism of Western Maui. We were seated for a party of 5 promptly and service was good.

The food was pretty good, we expected a more homemade/traditional meal and that’s what we got. We got orders of the Loco Moco and chicken katsu, the menu is a bit small so prepare for that. The Loco Moco was the best we had on the trip. Savory and well balanced, the hamburger tasty, the rice delicious, the gravy savory. The mac salad was also good, just a hit all around. The chicken katsu was good but not great, lightly breaded and juicy but not too flavorful. Still a good meal regardless of anything and it is great to support a local spot and feel like you’re part of the island and not someone just visiting. If you’re in the Wailuku/Kahului area, definitely consider stopping by for a quick and...

Sweet restaurant. There are tourists but imma gonna say it’s a locals place cuz there were won’t of them and the vibe was that way. It’s old but it’s clean. Food was yum. They have a parking lot which makes it even easier. What staff super friendly and fairly quick. Order st the table with waitress, get a tab, then pay st the register; like diner style. So if you want to leave a tip but pay by credit card, they ask you how much tip and add it to the bill they ring up, then clip the cash to the check. Interesting. Good prices for amount of food!

Fried rice with an egg. Egg was good. Fried rice kinda bland. Overall together was good.

Loco Moco. Good! Two scoop rice and one scoop Mac salad.

Chicken katsu. Very good! Seemed like big portion.

Boneless Korean rib. Not great. I was expecting more flavor like Kalbi. And it loses something without the bone.

Mac nut pancake. Average.

Liver with onions and bacon. I was told this was very good. I didn’t try cuz I’m not a...