Overview
Walking to and from dinner isn't necessarily something you can do in many places on the mainland, but with restaurants like Leilani's at Whalers Village, it can be habit forming. Habit forming like being magnetized to glowing sunsets from your dinner table, Leilani's offers a very popular dining option of seating with views of the ocean, beach, and the sun setting in the west.
Leilani's actually consists of two eating areas, and upper and lower dining area, each with their own menus. The lower level is more of the good ol' burgers and sandwiches while the upper level seating is more for pasta, tantalizing seafood, and pretty large prime rib. Seating in both areas for dinner fills up pretty quick because of the demand for great food with a view, so reservations are recommended.
Not to take away from their delicious food and island friendly drink options, but there is one other part of the menu that does get a lot of attention from it's patrons. That would be on the desert menu and would be the two ton Hula Pie. Okay, it only looks like two tons because it consumes the entire plate and is piled pretty high. It was definitely meant to be shared, but we're not sure yet how many people are actually required to finish it.
Notes
With views like the ones at Leilani's, you would almost still eat there if the food wasn't that great. Luckily, they also have a pretty good kitchen and menu working for them in their favor. We have yet to eat upstairs in the upper level, which appears to be a little more formal than hanging out down below. We're pretty happy with burgers and sandwiches anyway, but at some point we'll give the upstairs a shot.
Like many restaurants on Maui, the host and wait staff at Leilani's is very good and makes for a friendly, very welcoming atmosphere after a day of walking or lounging out in the sun. I don't think there are many people out there that would have anything bad to say about this place; we sure don't.
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