The Pint & Cork — Restaurant in Maui

Here's my detailed first experience at The Pint & Cork. The main reason for my 3 stars was our interaction with the bartender. My visit was on the night of Dec. 9th. I will refrain from giving the bartenders name, but I can assure you, owner, if you're reading this, you can deschipher who, after this feedback. Not that I expect any reprimand, but it's helpful info nonetheless. We walked up to be greeted and sat by a burly, pleasant man. He gave us an option to sit at the dining area or at the bar. My sister and I opted for the bar. He also showed us we could scan the menu using the QR code. We did, but my eyes were strained from looking at my phone, so at this point I politely waved to the bartender to ask him for a menu. He passive aggressively motioned to the QR code, mumbled something about using it, but still gave us a menu. No introduction, no eye contact, no warm welcome. Ok, we brushed it off as him being busy since it was a Saturday evening but couldnt help think that it was a bit rude. He came back to ask us for our drink order. Still no introduction, no warm welcome, etc. In fact, I ultimately asknhim how he is, to break the tension but to no avail. He takes our drink order and returns promptly with our drinks. He then takes our food order and does quickly notify us that since it's a gastro pub, food is delivered as it's ready. Cool, no problem. He then goes to the register prints out our ticket and sticks it in the glass jar sitting in front of us. Ok, that's a bit pretentious especially since we knew we wanted to order more drinks and dessert at some point and had never said anything about needing the ticket. Being our last night in maui, we wanted to enjoy it with good food and good service. This is something you assume you'll get going into a restaurant you've never been to but read good reviews. Our food comes out piping hot and consecutively delivered to us by another pleasant employee. I had the beet poke salad, my sister had the pork sliders and we shared the Mac n cheese. The food was delicious, especially my beet salad. The Mac n cheese was just under seasoned but still enjoyable. Meanwhile, the bartender has little to no interaction with us, but does ask how our food was. I notice him engaging with the customers sitting next to us, and wonder why it was such a contrast between them and us. Maybe he knew them? Well, moving on, we finish our dinner and had to wave down the pleasant greeter to ask if we could order dessert. The bartender hadn't come to check-in in quite a bit and probably assumed we were done, which we weren't. He also didnt ask if we wanted another drink. The greeter was so sweet though, he says yes and proceeds to tell the bartender. The bartender then comes to us, and confirms our dessert order. He crumbles the orignal ticket he printed from the jar, and reprints a new one to stick back into the jar. He does not ask if we wanted any more drinks or to try a beer. At this point, I'm like, wth? I put my cc in the jar and let him cash us out. Our experience is super lackluster by this point, to say the very least. As I'm signing our check, a new couple sits next to us and is then first semi-acknowledged by the bartender and unenthusiastically shows them the QR code. He leaves then they are promptly greeted by Sean, the second bartender who had been working the other end of the bar during our experience. He politely greets them, gives them a menu, briefly explains the menu, the food, the drinks and the wide variety of beer on tap. Wow, I'm impressed by this staff member, given we had not had this experience in any way shape or form from his counterpart. I ask Sean his name. He responded asking if he had done something wrong, and I said, no, in fact, he had done something right. I didn't explain what that was, and we left, knowing I'd be using his name in this restaurant review. I've worked the hospitality industry to include restaurants and catering. I know good service when I see it. Sean was it. "The bartender" was not. Thank you for...

Grabbed lunch here with my family while on vacation.

TL;DR: Good food, excellent drinks. I might come back a second time, which is saying something for me.

I don’t remember the exact names of the entrees, but you’ll get the idea.

Appetizer Coconut Milk Ceviche: A tasty fusion of flavors. Mostly shrimp based, but with some other fish as well (I think…). The coconut milk hints at Thai curry while the lime and spice leans more towards traditional ceviche. The habanero gives it a nice kick, but the spicy doesn’t linger or build up, so you can keep chowing down. The waitress warned us about spiciness, though I didn’t find it overpowering (I usually order mild/medium). The sweet potato chips aren’t my first choice, but I cleaned out the bowl so… they were good!

Food Tuna fish tacos: Nice meaty chunks of good-quality seared Ahi (I think) in two tacos. Some kind of spicy sauce, some lime, and some vegetable matter inside. This was just a touch on the bland side for me, but was still tasty. Some may find the portion size to be a bit small.

Fried Chicken Sandwich: Mmm. Crispy outside, savory inside. Some pickles, slaw, and a spicy aioli (I think) for sauce. I was sharing with my wife, but I wanted this all for myself. The chicken had just the right texture and flavor for me - Crispy, well-spiced, yea. Good. I’m not normally a chicken sandwich guy, but this jumped out at me and I was glad it did.

Side Salad: This was an unexpected gem. I got the side salad because, ya know, fiber is important. I wasn’t expecting much. The salad itself was pretty basic - Just a handful of leafy greens - But damn. The dressing. I didn’t think about the dressing when I ordered the salad, just let it default to whatever. When I got it, though, whoa - I had to stop the waitress and ask what it was. “Lilikoi Truffle Vinagrette,” she said. Usually, I feel like truffle oil is kinda gimmicky, thrown in to lazily appear gourmet, but yea - Sweet and umami. I don’t even say umami, but I’ll be damned - that’s what it was!

Drink Surf Rider (or smth?): This place has an excellent cocktail menu, if that’s your thing. It was so hard for me to decide, but I went with the Surf Rider. I don’t even remember what was in it, but wow. It was fantastic. Sweet. Smoky. Spicy. Yea. If you like complex flavors, this drink tasted like a good story, with a beginning, middle, and end, not to mention the twist you didn’t see coming.

Honorable mention Parmesan Garlic Fries: Ok, so we didn’t order this - opted for the ceviche instead - but these fries have unlocked time travel. The aroma… yea… it arrived long before the fries did to the table next us. That was a good thing - Would definitely try next time.

In conclusion - This was a great spot, located in the mall. Sports bar, pub vibes, but tastefully done. TV’s on the walls, but the sound down for conversation. Excellent food, excellent friendly service, and I would come...

ATMOSPHERE: P&C is located in the Shops At Wailea in a former sushi restaurant. The look is city eatery; a long dining room with high ceilings, big bar, regular tables & high tops, a second level loft with additional seating or for private parties, and a few outdoor seats in the back of the restaurant but with no view.

PARKING: Free.

MENU: Craft cocktails, Maui Brewing Company beer, salads, American apps, burgers, sliders, sandwiches, chicken/pork/meat/seafood entrees.

FOOD: Garlic Parmesan Fries The hand-cut fries were thin like potato sticks, piled high and dusted with finely shaved parmesan, lots of minced garlic and parsley. It was big enough for the four of us to share. Great flavor.

Deviled Eggs The presentation looked a little messy on the plate but tasted really good as they did a twist to the traditional recipe with the addition of a bearnaise sauce poured over the four halves. A little parmesan cheese and bacon bits finished the dish with fresh spinach to the side.

Fried Chicken Wings I'll never understand why chicken wings are so pricey. Here, you get 7 wingettes and drummettes for a whopping $22. Was it worth the price? Yes, only because of the amazing flavor! Despite the description stating vinegar, my part Filipino friends insisted they could taste patis (fish sauce). Turns out they were right as we chatted with the chef towards the end of the night. It was a bit spicy, about a 3 on a 5 heat scale, but so delish. Highly recommended for the wing fan.

SERVICE: It's a seat yourself kind of place, so I don't think reservations are taken. We were greeted by several staff members as we walked in, and scored a high top table at 7pm on a Friday night. We were given menus within 5 minutes, with our server appearing soon after. She was pretty much on top of everything, knowledgeable, and did a good job checking on us.

OVERALL: Small but nice menu, great flavors, nice ambiance. A...