Zippy's Kahului — Restaurant in Maui

Maui FINALLY got a Zippy's in 2011.

ATMOSPHERE: Big & bright with lots of windows with nice views of the West Maui mountains. Dine-in (waiter service) and casual (self-serve) dining areas.

MENU: Breakfast, local plate lunches, saimin, noodles, American fare, sandwiches, burgers, desserts. It's the diner with a local flare.

BEVERAGE: Orange Bang The version I got was not very cold but the flavor was good and not overly sweet. If they made this into a frosty, it'd be killer!

FOOD: Mac Salad THE best of any restaurant hands down! It's not overly drowning with mayo and has a delicious tinge of onion flavor.

Chili & Rice The staple of the chain. The chili is mild and comes in a meat sauce with or without beans. They sell it from cup size to tubs!

Zip Pac The best bento! Spam, hoki fish, teriyaki beef, a piece of fried chicken thigh, and rice. You can substitute one selection for another. If you take out the Spam, you'll get charged a substitute fee. Don't touch the sacred Spam!

Surf Pac This is their largest bento. 2 pieces of fried chicken thighs, 2 pieces of teriyaki beef and a slice of Spam with rice.

Saimin My favorite noodle dish. I like it better than the Zip Min because it's a little bigger. Clear & salty broth with a hint of sweetness, topped with choi sum, char siu, sliced scrambled egg and fishcake. It's a big bowl for only $6! Winner!

Zip Min Very good. The flavor & toppings are similar to the saimin but adds won tun and a single breaded shrimp. Served in a stainless steel pot.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce & Garlic Bread Same meat sauce used in the chili. The flavor is on the light side but I like it. The pasta is usually never al dente.

Mushroom Burger Avoid this. While the patty itself was good, the bun was covered in flour and had a biscuit consistency. Did not go well together.

Korean Fried Chicken Bold, sweet and savory deep-fried chunks of chicken. Highly recommended.

Hamburger Steak The homemade patty is tender but the gravy isn't the greatest. I love a strong and salty sauce but theirs is pretty weak. Very tasty mac salad though.

Roast Beef Nasty! The beef was mushy and dry at the same time. Honestly, I have no idea how that's possible, but it was. Avoid totally!

Garlic Miso Chicken Deep fried bits of chicken, breaded and drizzled with a garlic miso sauce. Flavor was good and exterior semi-crispy.

Chili Chicken My new fave selection. Bento with 2 pieces of fried chicken thighs, chili, 2 scoops of rice and 1 scoop of mac salad. The perfect lunch, dinner, and late night snack!

Won Tun Min Zing! This was tasty and huge! The noodles were cooked perfect, the wun tun had great flavor, the toppings of choi sum, green onions, scrambled egg, and kamaboko were delish. And most importantly, the broth was really tasty and on the salty side, not sweet.

Portuguese Bean Soup Their version tastes very homemade and has doesn't have that "cafeteria flavor" (when there's too much tomato flavoring.) It's loaded with cabbage, onions, carrots, sausage & beans and is thick.

Chicken Katsu The breading was crispy, the chicken was tender, and the portion size generous. Their house-packaged katsu sauce is light brown and too sweet. Comes with 2 scoops of rice and unfortunately only 1 scoop of their delicious mac salad.

NAPOLEON'S BAKERY: Apple Napples A staple of Zippy's. They're turnovers gone light. Flaky, light, and not overly sweet. Delish!

Andagi They're huge compared to what you'd find in a local's house or at a street fair, but the flavor is spot on. The outside is crunchy and the inside soft with that great creamy flavor. Good job guys!

SERVICE: Fast & friendly. You may have a short wait, depending on the time of day/night of course, but it's usually pretty much in and out.

TIP: Prices are a little higher when dining in compared to the takeout side, something that I really don't understand why.

OVERALL: Hawaii comfort food...

My experience wasn’t ideal here. Upon entry I was greeted with an unpleasant smell that reminded me of stinky/wet socks, which obviously degraded my appetite. There was a short line but it took way too long. Upon arriving at the counter, I waited several minutes for the gal operating the cashier to come back to attend to me. I ordered a loco moco, chicken Katsu, and their burger (which probably was a poor ordering mistake on my behalf). For starters it took nearly 30 minutes to receive my food, which felt like a little too long, especially since the restaurant holds a reputation as not exactly being a sit down restaurant and more of a grab and go place to eat. Finally when my food arrived (in black boxes covered with a steamed lid) I had already lost my appetite because of the horrid stench in the building. I decided to start of trying the loco moco. I ordered my eggs over medium, and I must say, despite the weak start they sure did know how to cook a good egg. The loco moco itself was just okay. The burger part was dry and the gravy was watery. I put that meal aside and moved on to the chicken katsu. At first I was quite fond of the crispy, crunchy, and delicious strips of chicken along with the macaroni salad which is one of my personal favorites, but about 6 chicken bites in, I got a tough and stringy piece, which is typical for chicken that isn’t cooked very well. This occurred in several more pieces, until I finished off the meal, unhappy. Finally It was time to try the burger, which at this point, I had regretted ordering. Upon first bite, the patty was pink, and unflavorful. This was the same deal with the rest of the entire hamburger. I was truly unimpressed by my dining experience here and I will not be back. Though the location was convenient, nothing else...

Since the pandemic, their menu really got scaled down. Maui prices are higher than Oahu as everything has to be shipped over? We used to eat in the dining room side, but service was slow and cleanliness was severely lacking. Quite different from the Zippys on Oahu. Maui people deserve better as there are so few places to choose from as it is. Although we enjoy their beef stew, Korean chicken, chili and Hawaiian plate, some food items that we don’t eat from here due to being very dry are their cakes and their “specialty” chicken. I think the service on the takeout side is okay. Some workers are friendly. I liked their online ordering feature, but they changed it to where you have to pay ahead, so now I changed to phone ordering. The person who takes the phone order is doing so remotely and twice they said a “special” of the day item was sold out, but when we went to pick up our order, the item was actually available. I made a point to ask the manager why the discrepancy and she stated that they didn’t update their inventory on their side on the computer. She updated it, but no “thanks for letting us know” or “sorry for the oversight.” It doesn’t seem like poor customer service or lack of training, but more like indifference. We used to like and buy these donuts, but several times they end up like the ones in the photo by the time we drive in our car with AC to our house with AC in kahului. The only thing we can think of is that they are already melting while sitting on a shelf at Zippys before we take them home. NOT...