Best Restaurants for First-Date in Maui (2026)
First Date · Maui · 8 tables ranked · Updated June 2026
An adults-only hillside terrace above Wailea, candlelit tables spaced for privacy, and a five-course tasting that reads the season: the Restaurant at Hotel Wailea is the most romantic room left standing on the island, and it sets the bar. Maui's date map runs through Wailea and Kihei in the south, Paia and Makawao to the north and Kapalua and Kaanapali on the west side, well clear of the Lahaina town that the August 2023 fire took. The occasion asks for four things. Conversation you can hear over the surf, a view or a room that flatters a face, cooking worth lingering over, and a bill you can settle without a wince. The eight rooms below deliver; the three at the end fight the date.
The ranking
1. The Restaurant at Hotel Wailea — New American tasting menu · Wailea
555 Kaukahi Street, Wailea · five-course tasting about $145-185 · Relais & Châteaux, adults-only, OpenTable Top 100 most romantic
An adults-only hillside terrace with spaced, candlelit tables and panoramic sunsets, the island's quietest room. Book it for the date that matters.
The Restaurant at Hotel Wailea sits on a hillside above the resort, an adults-only Relais & Châteaux room that OpenTable diners have named to the national Top 100 most romantic restaurants. The kitchen runs a seasonal five-course chef's tasting, with a private Chef's Garden Table and a Treehouse table for the willing. The case for it on a first date is the setting: open-air terrace seating, candlelit tables spaced well apart, ocean and sunset views, and no children's noise to fight, so two people can actually hear each other. Plan around $145 to 185 a head for the tasting, with mains also offered à la carte. It is the most intimate package on the island. Reserve on OpenTable, well ahead for a sunset table.
2. Ferraro's Bar e Ristorante — Coastal Italian · Wailea
3900 Wailea Alanui Drive, Four Seasons · pastas and mains about $30-60 · chef Russell Rummer, redesigned and reopened January 2024
Coastal Italian on the sand at sunset, torch-lit and open-air with mellow live music. Take a date who likes a little theatre.
Chef Russell Rummer runs Ferraro's at the Four Seasons in Wailea, an oceanfront coastal-Italian room that reopened in January 2024 after a full redesign. The Pasta Fritti and a whole fish cooked alla piastra anchor the menu, with tableside caviar for a splurge and an Al Forno Puccia bread to start. The appeal for a first date is the location: literally on the sand at sunset, torch-lit and open-air, with the surf as the soundtrack and live music kept low enough to talk over. Tables are spaced generously, so it stays romantic rather than performative. Pastas and mains run roughly $30 to 60, climbing toward $90 to 140 a head with wine. Reserve on OpenTable.
3. Mama's Fish House — Hawaiian seafood · Paia
799 Poho Place, Kuau Cove, Paia · fish entrees about $55-95 · chef Perry Bateman, James Beard semifinalist 2018
An iconic beachfront cove room where the menu names the fisherman who caught your dinner. Book months ahead for a statement date.
Executive chef Perry Bateman, a fifth-generation Maui cook and a James Beard semifinalist in 2018, leads the kitchen at Mama's Fish House on Kuau Cove just east of Paia. The menu names the individual fisherman who landed your fish that morning, and the Black Pearl dessert is the signature finish. The setting is the draw on a date: a beachfront cove, tropical decor and a sunset over the water that has made it one of the most-reviewed fine-dining rooms in Hawaii. That popularity is also why it ranks third rather than first; the room can feel busy, so it loses a little on pure quiet. Fish entrees run roughly $55 to 95, and dinner for two lands near $200 to 300 with drinks. Book direct on the restaurant's site two to four months out, as it no longer uses OpenTable.
4. Merriman's Kapalua — Hawaii Regional · Kapalua
1 Bay Club Place, Kapalua · mains about $45-75 · chef-owner Peter Merriman, James Beard Best Chef Northwest winner, opened 2008
A vaulted oceanfront room and a sunset patio over Kapalua Bay from a James Beard chef. Reserve it for a scenic date.
Peter Merriman, a James Beard Best Chef winner and a co-founder of Hawaii Regional Cuisine, opened this Kapalua flagship in 2008 on a point over Kapalua Bay, well clear of the Lahaina fire zone despite the shared mailing ZIP. The kitchen sources more than ninety percent of its produce locally, and the daily catch and the kalua pig are the orders. The argument for it on a first date is the calm of the place: a vaulted dining room and a lush oceanfront patio set up for a sunset over the bay, peaceful and scenic in a way the busier resort rooms are not. Mains run roughly $45 to 75. It is a touch remote, which is part of the romance. Reserve on OpenTable, released about sixty days out.
5. Casanova Italian Restaurant — Italian · Makawao
1188 Makawao Avenue, Makawao · pastas and mains about $22-45 · opened 1986, voted Hawaii's best Italian by OpenTable diners 2017
A candlelit Upcountry Italian room in a walkable paniolo town, romantic without the resort price. Take a date who wants character.
Casanova has run in the historic Upcountry cowboy town of Makawao since 1986, and OpenTable diners voted it the best Italian restaurant in Hawaii in 2017. The kitchen built Maui's first wood-burning pizza oven, and the wood-fired pizzas and house pastas are the calling card. The case for it on a first date is the contrast with the resort scene: a cozy, candlelit Italian room in a genuinely walkable town, romantic without being expensive, where you can stroll the paniolo main street before or after dinner. Pastas and mains run roughly $22 to 45, which keeps the night relaxed. One caution: a livelier dance-and-bar side fires up late, so ask for the restaurant dining room rather than the nightclub. Reserve on OpenTable.
6. Matteo's Osteria — Italian · Wailea
161 Wailea Ike Place, Wailea Town Center · mains about $28-48 · chef-owner Matteo Mistura, 'Aipono Best Italian 2016
A chic neighborhood osteria with sixty wines by the glass, quieter than the resort rooms. Book it for an easy, low-pressure date.
Matteo Mistura, a Ligurian chef-owner, runs this warm neighborhood osteria in the Wailea Town Center, an 'Aipono Best Italian winner in 2016 with silver awards in 2020 and 2022. The house pastas and pizzette are built on local produce, and the kitchen keeps the cooking honest rather than showy. The appeal for a first date is the format: an unusually deep list of more than sixty wines by the glass means you can each try something without committing to a bottle, which takes the pressure off a first meeting. The room is chic and low-key, with indoor and outdoor seats, and it stays quieter and more conversational than the big resort dining rooms nearby. Mains run roughly $28 to 48. Reserve on OpenTable.
7. Lineage — Modern Hawaii · Wailea
3750 Wailea Alanui Drive, The Shops at Wailea · plates about $18-48 · chef MiJin Kang Toride, founded by Top Chef finalist Sheldon Simeon
Story-driven plantation small plates you share, built for talking, from a Top Chef alumna's kitchen. Take a date who likes to taste.
Lineage sits in the Shops at Wailea, founded by Top Chef finalist and multiple James Beard semifinalist Sheldon Simeon and now run day to day by chef de cuisine MiJin Kang Toride. The food is plantation cuisine, drawing on Guam, Korea, China and Hawaii, served as shareable plates rooted in family stories. That format is the case for it on a first date: shared plates mean you taste off each other's forks and the food itself becomes the conversation, which is a natural ice-breaker. It ranks lower only because it sits in a shopping complex with no ocean view and can get lively. Plates run roughly $18 to 48, with a multi-course option around $150. It is closed Sunday and Monday; the phone line opens at two each day, and it books on OpenTable.
8. Japengo — Asian fusion and sushi · Kaanapali
200 Nohea Kai Drive, Hyatt Regency, Kaanapali · mains and sushi about $30-60 · 'Aipono Gold for Best Asian Cuisine and Pacific Rim
An open-air oceanfront sushi room with a counter to watch, the liveliest pick here. Take a date who wants energy over hush.
Japengo sits oceanfront at the Hyatt Regency in Kaanapali, on the west side but clear of the burned Lahaina town, with chef de cuisine Gevin Utrillo and sushi chef Masamichi Hattori, who runs a Saturday-evening omakase at the bar. The room has taken 'Aipono Gold for Best Asian Cuisine and Best Pacific Rim, with silver for sushi and an honorable mention for most romantic setting. The case for it on a first date is the open-air oceanfront room and the sushi bar, which gives you something to watch and talk about when the conversation needs a breath. It ranks last here because it is the largest and busiest room on the list, set inside a big family resort, so it is the least quiet of the eight. Mains and sushi entrees run roughly $30 to 60. Reserve on OpenTable.
Avoid for a first date
Paia Fish Market — Paia. Beloved and genuinely good, but it is order-at-the-counter with communal picnic benches and paper plates. Loud, cramped and short on intimacy; it is a great lunch and a poor first date.
Monkeypod Kitchen — Wailea. A fun Peter Merriman concept, but it runs loud and high-energy with live music and a packed bar, built for groups. The Mai Tais are excellent and the conversation is a struggle, so save it for a night out with friends.
Star Noodle and the Lahaina-town rooms — Lahaina. The August 2023 fire took roughly fifty restaurants in historic Lahaina town, among them Pacific'O, Kimo's and Fleetwood's on Front Street. Several stale guides still list them as open; verify any Lahaina address against its current site before you build a date around it.
Reservation strategy for a Maui first date
Maui's best date rooms split by region, so pick a side of the island and stay there for the evening. The south cluster, the Restaurant at Hotel Wailea, Ferraro's, Matteo's and Lineage, keeps Wailea walkable; the north has Mama's Fish House near Paia and Casanova up in Makawao; the west side has Merriman's at Kapalua and Japengo at Kaanapali. The marquee romantic rooms book furthest out: the Restaurant at Hotel Wailea wants a sunset table reserved well in advance, and Mama's Fish House releases its prime seats two to four months ahead and no longer uses OpenTable, so book it direct.
Sunset is the lever here. Almost every room on this list is built around a west-facing view or a torch-lit terrace, so a table timed thirty to forty minutes before sundown turns dinner into the date itself. Beware the stale-list trap: the 2023 Lahaina fire closed dozens of Front Street rooms that older guides still show as open, and Lahaina-town romance is not what it was. Stick to the Wailea, Paia, Makawao, Kapalua and Kaanapali rooms above, and verify any other recommendation against its current website before you reserve.
Frequently asked
What is the best restaurant for a first date in Maui?
The Restaurant at Hotel Wailea, an adults-only Relais & Châteaux room above Wailea that OpenTable diners rank among the most romantic in the country. The open-air terrace, candlelit tables spaced for privacy and a five-course tasting around $145 to 185 make it the island's quietest, most intimate first-date room. Ferraro's, on the sand at the Four Seasons, is the strongest alternative for a lower-key sunset.
How much should a first-date dinner in Maui cost in 2026?
From a moderate osteria bill to a real splurge. Casanova and Matteo's keep mains around $22 to 48 so you control the total, Merriman's and Japengo run roughly $45 to 75, Ferraro's lands near $90 to 140 a head with wine, and the Restaurant at Hotel Wailea's tasting is about $145 to 185. Mama's Fish House runs near $200 to 300 for two. A $60 to $150 a head range covers most of this list.
Which Maui restaurants were lost in the 2023 Lahaina fire?
The August 2023 wildfire destroyed much of historic Lahaina town and roughly fifty restaurants, among them the 30-year farm-to-table icon Pacific'O, the Front Street institution Kimo's, and Fleetwood's on Front Street. Many older date guides still list these rooms as open. Every venue on this list sits in Wailea, Kihei, Paia, Makawao, Kapalua or Kaanapali, clear of the burned zone; verify any Lahaina-town address against its current site before booking.
Which Maui restaurant is best for a low-pressure first date?
Matteo's Osteria in the Wailea Town Center, a chic neighborhood Italian room with more than sixty wines by the glass. The by-the-glass list lets you each try something without committing to a bottle, the small plates keep the cheque modest, and the room stays quieter and more conversational than the big resort dining rooms. Lineage, with its shareable plantation small plates a short walk away, is the close runner-up.
Do you need a reservation for a romantic dinner on Maui?
Yes, almost always. The marquee rooms book well ahead: the Restaurant at Hotel Wailea wants a sunset table reserved in advance, Mama's Fish House releases prime seats two to four months out and books direct rather than through OpenTable, and Merriman's opens its Kapalua tables about sixty days out. Most other rooms here, including Ferraro's, Matteo's, Casanova and Japengo, take reservations on OpenTable, with friendlier horizons mid-week.
Related rankings
Featured in
- Maui dining guide
- Best for a first date worldwide
- Best seafood restaurants worldwide
- The full RFK rankings index
- The Restaurant at Hotel Wailea review
- Mama's Fish House review
Affiliate disclosure: RFK earns a commission on bookings made through partner platforms (OpenTable, Resy, Tock) marked with a “Reserve” link. Sponsored listings are clearly marked with a Sponsored badge and are not eligible for editorial ranking. The eight rooms on this list were ranked editorially and no booking partner influenced the order.