When we were on Maui over six years ago, we had noticed a place called the 808 Deli on S. Kihei Road in Kihei. We never made it to the deli, but on this trip we noticed another 808-named restaurant next door to the deli - this one with the name of 808 Bistro. We found out that they did breakfast at the 808 Bistro, so we went there one morning when we were in Hawaii earlier this year.
Josh and Jim Richardson grew up in Montana and were both in the restaurant industry - Josh as a restaurant manager, Jim as a chef. The two brothers eventually made it out to Hawaii and settled on Maui working at the popular Ferraro's Ristorante in the Four Seasons resort in Wailea. But the brothers wanted to do something more laid back than the high-end restaurant and they teamed up with Chad Metcalf to open 808 Deli over 10 years ago.
After Josh Richardson left Ferraro's to go run 808 Deli, a man by the name of Mitch Edwards took his place as the manager of Ferraro's. Edwards had restaurant managerial experience at the Ruth's Chris steakhouse in Wailea and the hospitality fraternity on Maui is fairly small and friendly. The Richardson's and Edwards soon became good friends.
A small Greek restaurant - the former Greek Bistro - that was next to the 808 Deli had closed in late 2009. The Richardson's and Metcalf recruited Edwards to come over to their new venture, the 808 Bistro that would take over the former Greek restaurant. They specialized in breakfasts in the morning, then eclectic and affordable contemporary American dinners in the evening. In 2011, the Richardson's turned the 808 Bistro over to Edwards to concentrate on the 808 Deli which is still going strong today. Edwards kept the menu as is and had hoped to convert the restaurant's BYOB policy to a full bar, but it was still a BYOB place when we were there earlier this year.
The 808 Bistro is located just across from the middle of the three Kamaole Beach Parks in the southern part of Kihei. (see map) There's a parking lot on the north side of the building that houses both the bistro and deli. We walked down a couple of hallways and found the entrance back in an open air area. We were greeted by our server Chris, a laid-back kinda-surfer dude who said we could sit anywhere. We took a seat under the covered veranda and he gave us a couple of menus to look through. We both got fresh-squeezed orange juice to start out.
There is also an open air patio at the 808 Bistro. It had a cut stone floor and was sort of tucked back in a corner of a courtyard.
A small bar area - for the bar that doesn't serve alcohol - was sort of off to the side of the open patio and the covered veranda. Quite actually, the bar area was pretty nice with a beautiful mural on one of the walls.
The view from the covered veranda offered a somewhat limited view of the Pacific Ocean. Since the 808 Bistro was back from Kihei Road about 30 to 35 feet - then the beach was beyond the road - it wasn't quite the romantic view that one conjures up about Hawaii. Still, there was enough of the ocean to make it relaxing.
The breakfast menu at 808 Bistro is pretty basic. They had your basic breakfast items, but they also had something called the Whale Pie. It was 808 Bistro's take on the Hawaii staple - the Loco Moco. Instead of a hamburger patty on rice, the Whale Pie featured hash browns topped with cheese, then topped with chopped grilled ham, then finished with a couple ladles of a brown gravy, garnished with chopped parsley. When I ordered it from Chris he said, "Good choice!" And it was a good choice. The combo of the gravy, ham, cheese and hash browns melded together for a vibrant taste sensation. Considering I got hammered on mai tais the night before, this was a wonderful hangover breakfast.
Cindy went simple - she went with the basic two eggs over-easy, thick cut bacon, hash browns and rye toast. She was a little peaked from a day and night of too many mai tai's, but she was hungry enough for breakfast. She declared the food as good, just what she needed that particular morning. Nothing heavy, but enough to put some food in her tummy.
Unfortunately, we weren't able to go back to 808 Bistro for dinner during this visit to Maui. But we'll probably be back at some point in time to visit and I would like to try 808 Bistro for dinner if we have the chance. It was a neat little place, the service was fine with a laid back waiter, and the food was a spot-hitter on a beautiful Hawaii morning. The breakfast was good, quick and not that expensive. 808 Bistro was a great little find during our return trip to Maui.
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