After Just One Visit, This Humble Little Italian Restaurant Will Be Your New Favorite Place In Hawaii

When asked about Hawaii restaurants, most people likely start talking about seafood restaurants on the water, tiki bars with kitschy decor, upscale sushi restaurants, and unassuming Hawaiian eateries with ono plate lunches. What they don’t often think about is Italian food. After all, Hawaii is more than 8,000 miles from Italy, and one wouldn’t necessarily expect to find authentic Italian cuisine in the middle of the Pacific Ocean — but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. While many of Hawaii’s Italian restaurants are average at best, there is a surprisingly amazing eatery on the island of Maui that will wow your taste buds with just one bite.

Welcome to Sale Pepe Pizzeria e Cucina, a scrumptious Italian restaurant located on Front Street in Lahaina.

Utilizing fresh and local ingredients in both classic and creative presentations, the food served at Sale Pepe is, in a word, heavenly. We wouldn’t expect anything less from a couple that fell in love with and moved to Maui after selling their Brooklyn, New York Italian restaurant.

From creative dishes like the black truffle pasta pictured below...

...to classics like lasagne, pesto, and rigatoni, their fresh, handmade pastas are sure to satisfy your carb cravings.

Also found on the menu are more than a dozen mouthwatering hand-tossed pizzas cooked in a brick oven and topped with roasted garlic, mushrooms, arugula, sausage, pancetta, prosciutto, and more. Yum!

With an ever-changing food and wine menu, you could visit Sale Pepe once a week and enjoy a different dish each time!

Featuring modern decor and a fun, social wine bar atmosphere, Sale Pepe is the perfect place for both a get together with friends or a date night with your significant other.

You won’t find an authentic, warm, and satisfying experience quite like this anywhere else on the island, and we expect that with just one visit, Sale Pepe will be one of your new favorite Hawaii restaurants.

Sale Pepe is located at 878 Front St. #7,8, Lahaina, HI 96761, and is open for dinner from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. They are closed Sunday. For more information, visit their website or follow along on Facebook. Have you ever eaten at this incredible Italian bistro? Share your experience with us in the comments below!

For more scrumptious food you might not expect to find in Hawaii, check out these 13 taco joints.