Reader Reviews
“Much much thanks for the book – my wife was reading excerpts to me while we were returning to Kapaua after buying the book at Costco. You hit every one of the many restaurants we visited on the nail. We were wondering if you were somehow dining with us!
Thanks muchly – only regret was not getting the book sooner.”
I DO NOT LIKE THIS BOOK!!!!!!!! I love it. 2 years ago I learned the hard way that when vacationing in an expensive area like Marco Island near Naples Florida. The restaurants were very expensive and at least 50% were serving microwaved frozen foods It was horrible. My lovely wife and I started to argue over our dining choices.That is no dream vacation.So Last year when going to Rome I learned to research the restaurants on Trip Advisor and found the reviews to be accurate.However this was very time consuming and you have to plan where you will be in the city at any given time. This cuts out spontanaeity out of your trip. After reading Molly;s introduction I was hooked. What a lovely story it reminded me of why I married Janice and made me realize why we go on vaca and why we dine out we love each other and want to reconnect over a lovely meal witch nurturers our relationship.I read the reviews and picked a restaurant out then went to the internet and found the reviews to be almost word for word the same comments as Molly and James.What a time saver!! And they list choices by location and price range so one time you can quickly find a good cheap lunch right where you are on the island and an other time you can find that special dinner with a view that wil be a choice our kids will like to. Thank you Molly and James for writing this book!
“My wife and I own two vacation rental condos in Kihei which we visit 2-3 times each year. I just bought this book as a digital download a couple of days ago and it is fanstastic. I started by reviewing our favorite places as well as some expensive disappointments we have been to, and their assessments were right in line with what we thought. That has given me the trust to try their recommendations later this week and on future trips.
I am buying two paperback versions to keep in our condos for our guests to use. This is a book that is fun to sit and read if you are a “foodie” who likes to read food magazines and books, or likes to watch Food Network TV shows. Since we’re in Kihei we’re heavy on Kihei-Wailea eating with the occasional trip to Lahaina-Kaanapali-Kapalua, and this will be our guide to choose excellent food on those trips.
If you are going to visit Maui, I suggest you buy this book a month in advance, plus get a great guidebook (we like “Maui Revealed” even though we have minor disagreements on the occasional review-it’s fanstastic for snorkeling beaches, hiking, and other things to do on Maui…) and plan ahaead. It’s amazing how quickly a week can go and you don’t want to waste your time on bad foods or crummy day trips.
Their inexpensive-moderate restaurant recommendations are helpful, and selecting one great “cost is no object” romantic treat makes this book completely worthwhile. On our last several trips to Maui we have spent well north of $200 for dinner for two at high-end restaurants that left us completely disappointed. Ouch. It won’t happen again! Buy it and enjoy!”
Wow! Love your book, your blog, your video, and your spirit! We love Maui and will be taking my mother in law this June. Our food experiences in Maui have been awful! We have discovered only a handful of restaurants that we liked and would recommend to our friends. It was exciting to see that you highly recommended our favorites!
“This is the one book I took everywhere when we were in Maui, just in case we came across a “must visit” restaurant. I also used it to plan some special dining and events before we even left for our trip. All I can say is…wow. The reviews were right on, every time, and thanks to this book, being first time visitors to Maui, we didn’t have even one disappointing meal, treat, or event. I am recommending it to everyone I know, and I am so glad I knew about it before we went!”
“I just wanted to let you know how very helpful your restaurant guide is!
My husband and I just got back from Maui Saturday and we found your guide to be very informative! I printed the whole guide and punched holes in it and put it in a 3-ring binder and kept it in the Jeep.
We tried several of the places listed and found each one to be excellent.
However, I do have a comment to make about it … you should have recommended that we each get the souffle at Roy’s!! I didn’t want to share!!! (but I did).
Thanks again for an excellent resource. We would have missed out on some great food if not for your guide!!”
“We’ve just returned from our fifth trip to the island in five years, and we used your guide for the first time on this trip. What a great time and money saver!
It was nice to have some information about places that weren’t there last year (Fred’s), and places we’ve been by in the past and hadn’t tried before. (Joe’s).
This guide is worth every penny.”
“In the past, we used another book on Thrifty Restaurants of Maui.
This new book is a must on saving money but most of the restaurants listed are in a bit more pricey range.
I liked that they also listed restaurants that they DON’T recommend and explain why. Restaurants are divided into areas of Maui; another list have the restaurants divided by type of restaurant… Chinese, Mexican, etc.
I’d highly recommend buying this book and taking it along to Maui as you vacation.”
“Not having visited Maui in 30 years, and given the fact that Hawaii, in general is so expensive, this wonderful book not only gave a comprehensive and entertaining review of Maui’s offerings, but it was organized, thorough and easy to use as a daily guide…which we will for the next two weeks!
This book made an important part of our trip less challenging and took away the stress and frustration of trying to find nice, clean and reasonably priced restaurants.
I am so very glad we purchased this book — I recommend it highly — no one should travel to Maui without it!”
“We just got back from a week in Maui and found this book very useful. We love to eat well on our vacations and it was fun to read before the trip.
One restaurant we went to twice after their recommendation – Mala – and it was one of my favorite memories on our trip, sitting so close to the ocean we caught some spray at one point (!) and having a really nice meal.
My only reason for giving it four stars is it’s not easy to tell where on the island the restaurants are located – I would have liked more geographical info.”
“We haven’t been to Maui in several years so we thought that getting advice on the best restaurants would be worthwhile and this book really fit our needs. So far every restaurant we’ve tried has been good and we have tried a few that we might not have considered. We still have 4 more days here and I am bummed because that is not enough days to try all of the restaurants I still want to go to – I guess that is a good reason to come back. You will not regret purchasing this book as it saves you so much money that you might have spent on bad food. They give good tips for all prices ranges. We loved Cafe O’Lei last night and made reservations there for Thanksgiving. I like the Blog also to get even more updated info.”
“I love the honest and artful writing style, as well as advice that is unbiased and never steers me wrong. I have found many excellent recommendations and new favorites in this book. I have also had my suspicions confirmed….(why did I think that meal was so average when this restaurant is supposed to be so great?). Great advice, a must have for visiting, or living on Maui if you appreciate great food!”
We used this book in early June. Every place we ate at was worth the money.
We also tried some things we wouldn’t have because of the book.
They do seem to cover all the same restaurants our hotel concierge lead us to. This was helpful actually. While we were in Maui one of the free magazines for tourists featured an article from them.”
“We bought the Jacobson’s “Top Maui Restaurant” on the second day of our visit to Maui.
It was worth every penny and allowed us to avoid some bad choices. It also helped us make good decisions.
Ultimately, we ended up favoring one of the restaurant not far from our hotel (we had dinner at Longhi’s 3 times in one week). We also enjoyed immensely Mama’s Fish House, Five Palms and the ultimate in indulgance: Spago (very pricey but very worth it and correctly scored on the authors’ scale as 24 out of possible 25 points for food quality).
But the book has great recommendations (and warnings) for every palate and budget. Well done. We’ll use it again on our future visits to Maui.”
“My wife and I are planning a 25th anniversary trip to the islands in May, and I have been trying to get an itinerary as to where we would like to visit and dine.
We only have four days on Maui, and I am starting to find we could easily have spent our entire trip on this island. While searching for a good book about Maui, I ran across a review for Top Maui Restaurants 2008.
I got the book this past Saturday and started in on it on Sunday. I couldn’t put it down.
The book is very informative, and it confirmed several restaurants we had been looking into.
I liked getting info on the lesser known establishments with good eats as well. I have never been on a vacation where I’ve known where I’m going to eat dinner each evening until now. This book will be in my carry-on bag!”
“This guide was extremely helpful and is highly recommended.
We’ve been to Maui twice and this helped us find favourites and also discover gems we would not have known about.
We went from cheap and great to expensive and great and all price levels in between, all of them great food and/or service. The guide helped make both vacations…”
“This book has been extremely helpful while vacationing in Maui.
Dining out is always a big part of our vacation and this guide definitely helped us avoid disappointments.
The reviews were right on and the rating system accurate. We are here for three weeks and plan to try many as many restaurants as possible. This guide answers the question ‘Where should we eat tonight?’”
“We went to Maui with only breakfast and 2 dinner plans for the whole week.
We studied the book before we left. We knew exactly what to expect before we ordered dinner anywhere.
From the top onion rings at the Hyatt to the Bento box at Cascades, we were truly surprised at the quality. A true value!”
“James and Molly Jacobson are a pair of well-heeled restaurant reviewers who don’t want you to miss a four-star restaurant or bargain dive that serves great food.
They make sure your visit is packed with options for great food broken down by location. They will direct you to the very best of places to eat on the island.
Don’t plan a trip to Maui without first reading this book.”
“If you are going to Maui and you are not planning to eat all your meals at one resort, then you have to buy this book.
We went to Maui twice in 2008, the first time without the benefit of this book, and ate at several restaurants with poor food, poor service, high prices, or even all three!
Being an island, the choices are limited on Maui, and tourists often prefer to eat at a place they can walk to or get to easily, so for the restaurants us tourists are easy pickings!
A good view does not guarantee good food or service (although almost always high prices), but with Top Maui Restaurants you can always have both, AND find something right near wherever you happen to be on the island.
On our second trip to Maui a few months later, armed with Top Maui Restaurants, we ate like royalty and did not pay through the roof either, AND enjoyed many lovely views.
Personally I think everyone who plans to eat out anywhere in Maui should bring this book along.”
“I did hours and hours and hours of research on sites such as tripadvisor, Yahoo! Travel, citysearch, yelp, etc. etc.
Then I bought this book, and found that I could have bypassed the entire onerous task.
Top Maui Restaurants 2008 agreed with all of my research, and provided a lot more.
For example, the description of the very first restaurant I looked at in the book provided me information about booking at that particular restaurant that I had not discovered in my online research.
I also appreciate the fact that the book is not a shill. If something sucks, the authors will tell you in no uncertain terms.
Conversely, if they recommend a restaurant or a particular dish, they tend to be dead on the money (modulo personal food preferences, of course).
Finally, the ability to get the entire book in PDF form (once you purchase the paper edition) is invaluable because it makes the book searchable electronically.”
“There’s nothing worse than trying to pick out a place to eat and then finding out that the reason there are few other cars in the parking lot is because the food (1) is too expensive or (2) is poor in quality or selection.
With this book, you can have a much better chance of your dining experience meeting all of your expectations.
It’s particularly valuable when you are hungry and in a part of the island where you haven’t been before. You’ll know ahead of time that while you may not like the hamburgers here, the house specialty, fish tacos, are the best you’ve ever had.
It’s even more valuable when you’re trying to plan that “special” (read: expensive) celebratory meal and you want everything to go “just right” for the evening. It’s also great for experimenting with that little out of the way place that only the locals know.
I’ve eaten at enough of the featured restaurants over the last few trips to Maui to totally trust the ratings and reviews given in this terrific handbook for making successful dining choices.”
“We live here on Maui. We also eat out several times a week.
The reviews of the restaurants are dead-on accurate!
We were amazed at how much we agreed with the so-so review of the fancy restaurant on the beach (Page 212).
We are now beginning to work our way through some of the smaller places they have reviewed.
This book is an absolute must for any visitor and local who loves food!”
“I bought this book before my first trip to Maui, even though I was going with my boyfriend who goes about 2 or 3 times a year.
It was fantastic! We both loved it!
It would be a really great book to leave at your condo or time-share there, but it’s also good to have at home so you can plan out your meals.
I avoided restaurants that I might normally settle on, and was satisfied every time!
They’re comprehensive, they cover the tinyest of eating establishments (huts, cafes, a sushi bar that seats only 12), to the mainstream, more famous places. They also write in clear, humorous language that everyone can understand, AND enjoy!
I’m so grateful to have had this book, and used it on my 2nd Maui trip about a month later.
Don’t waste your money in a place where it’s so precious. If you buy this book, you will not be disappointed. If you don’t buy it, you might just be…”
“I love this book and wished that I had one just like it for every place that I visit.
I am a travel agent and travel often. I am always buying lots of guides to compare each other with to get the best advice on where to dine.
I am a planner to the last detail and I HAVE to know where we are going to eat when we travel. It just saves so much time when you are actually on vacation.
We love food and appreciate good quality and service. We don’t like to spend a lot on eating so value is also very important.
This book is great. We will be putting it to the test in June of 2008 and I look forward to comparing our experience with the authors.
I am almost finished reading and highlighting the book and look forward to any updates forthcoming.
Thanks so much…now Molly and James go live somewhere else and write another guide! New York would be great!!”
“This is my last night on Maui, and I just picked up this book… Having it two weeks ago would have saved me some indigestion “challenges”!
What I love most about this book is the way the authors (a great husband and wife team) describe not just the food, but their entire EXPERIENCE at each restaurant.
Each review is written so that I am almost sitting at the table with them! (I swear I was salivating after reading one review!) Thank, Jim and Molly for eating out so much!”
“Reading your book Top Maui Restaurants in advance of our trip enabled us to plan where we would eat out each night (often with the decision made at the last minute) and not spend valuable vacation time trying to figure out where to eat.
All in all it made for a very enjoyable and memorable vacation and I just had to let you know how much your restaurant guide helped.”
“We just returned from Maui yesterday. We can’t tell how much your restaurant guide helped us. We had many wonderful meals and planned them using your guide.
We ate at Lahaina Grill (our favorite), Mama’s, Waterfront, Mala, I’o, Pineapple Grill, John Paul’s (yum), and Paia Fish Market.
The chefs tasting menu at Lahaina Grill was one of the best meals we have ever had. We frequently go to New York and New Orleans and have many fine meals all over the country, but the food in Maui is exceptional. Thanks again,”
“We just got home on Friday from an amazing week in Maui and I wanted to tell you that we only ate at restaurants listed in your guide!
It was so great because they came with a little ‘assurance’ that we were not going to be scammed!
Your info was invaluable to us and I will definitely hold onto it and make sure I tell everyone I know who is going to Maui to get the newest version. Thanks again for making our trip a wonderful dining experience!”
“My family has recently returned from Maui (we stayed at Kaanapali Beach Hotel – wonderful!). Your book was our bible and we are so fortunate to have had your expertise.
Your reviews allowed us to sample some of the exquisite offerings of Maui and our experience would not have been complete without trying your recommendations.”
“My sister Carol and I visited Maui recently with no clue on how to pick restaurants . . . I loved the folksy and down-to-earth reviews, they get right to the quick about each place and what to expect . . . We were trying to watch our pocketbooks a little, too, so it was very helpful in that department . . . I can’t recommend it enough.”