Waikapu on 30

Waikapu on 30's sign facing the highway.

Waikapu is a little town or townlet, south of Wailuku, the government hub of Maui County. It's a rural area with sugar cane fields and a few housing areas. 

The rural area of Waikapu

Tucked along the side of Highway 30, Honoapi’ilani Highway, is a little local eatery and store called Waikapu on 30.  



It's right on the highway.

Sidenote: On Maui, tourists will usually say the highway number, but locals will almost never use the highway number unless they’re talking with tourists. It can take practice to learn how to actually say the Hawaiian name, but it’s important to know if you live here. I guess calling the store, Waikapu on Honoapi’ilani, would be too long to say. 

When we stopped there the other day, there was a line of people all the way outside the front door.



The line running out the door.



A busy lunch crowd rendered in "rough pastels".

We had never seen it that crowded. Apparently we had arrived right at lunch time, and it’s a favorite place of truckers and construction workers, so it was busy.  My husband likes to stop by for mac salad, basic macaroni salad, which is a local staple. Mac salad is sold separately or served alongside one or two scoops of rice and a main dish as part of a “plate lunch.”

The "plate lunch" menu - includes rice and mac salad.

Waikapu on 30 also offers local honey and a few gift items, but the main attraction is their lunch specials.  There is also a refrigerated display case with pickled mango, haupia (a custardy coconut dessert) and sweet potato pie, and fresh poi (a Hawaiian paste made from locally grown taro roots). 



Fresh Hawaiian poi pounded from taro tubers, sweet potato and coconut haupia pie, pickled mango, kim chee, and ahi poke (cubes of seasoned fish tartare) are a few offerings in the display case.

Boiled peanuts are not only in Georgia or Florida. They're popular in Hawaii.

Unlike the tourist attraction Maui Tropical Plantation just down the road, Waikapu on 30 is more of a Maui “mom and pop” kind of place. It’s worth stopping by to soak in some local flavor, and to support a local eatery.

Free hot dog if you're at the cash register when a siren goes by.



Barbara is a friendly face at the register.



A display of old bottles, an antique hand tool, and some items for sale.

You can also get a cone of sweet, fruity shaved ice if you need a sugar rush.

Sweet potato and coconut haupia pie. The white stuff on top is a custardy sweet coconut thickset pudding, more solid than jello, followed by a purple sweet potato layer on a wheat crust.

Check out a great post with yummy pics on Waikapu on 30 by EveryDay Maui. (I’m not the only person who thinks it’s wonderful!)