Maui Wedding Planning Trip: Hali'imaile General Store

Once we were done swimming and had gotten cleaned up back into our vintage Hawaiian wears, we headed over to Hali'imale General Store to give their food a try as a possibility to have our reception dinner there. It was important to us to find a place that had great food, but wasn't too expensive, had a good vibe to it, wasn't too far from Paia, would be able to accommodate a larger party and our loud crowd wouldn't be heard over everyone else. After reading many on-line reviews stating this was Maui's favorite home town restaurant nestled in pineapple fields on the lower slops of Haleakala crater and many of the Hawaii brides from The Knot stating how much they loved this place, we decided to give it a try.

Hali'imale General Store is in the town of Makawao. Only 15 minutes from where we'd be staying. At least we already knew it met one of our requirements for our rehearsal dinner. It was also an easy drive over. But how would it meet the rest of our requirements?

Just from the outside we were already liking the vibe of this place. It had an old Hawaii feel and was very charming. Plus, it was right next to a pineapple field. How cute is that? Still, we wondered if it would be able to handle our loud bunch and how the food was. Yes, we had heard great things about the food here, but we needed to taste for ourselves. 

Once inside we were greeted right away and given the choice to pick from a couple available tables. I always like when I am given options on where we can sit. We started off with some refreshing drinks that I can't remember the name of, but I do know that Drew's was their version of a Mai Tai. He likes to try it every where we go. 

Since we wanted the opportunity to try many dishes, we decided to share a bunch of appetizers. Doing so would give us a chance to try more and know a little more about their menu (if we decided to have our rehearsal dinner there) if any of our guests had questions. We decided to order their Bev's "Famous" Crab Pizza, Kalua Pork and Goat Cheese Wontons, Rock Shrimp Tempura and Sashimi Napoleon. Yeah, I shouldn't have been eating some of that stuff with my new dietary restrictions, but it was for the sake of our wedding guests! I promise to be good, next time.

First we started off with the Sashimi Napoleon, layers of smoked salmon, Ahi tartare, crispy wontons and wasabi vinaigrette. It was amazing. I could have eaten a whole one by myself. If you go to HGS (what the locals call it), do your taste buds a favor and order one. As you can see below, it was also very beautiful.

Sashimi Napoleon

Next we had the crab pizza and rock shrimp tempura. The pizza was a small handmade pizza crust topped with a creaming crab mixture. Very yummy. The rock shrimp tempura was presented in a fun manner with three great sauces, truffle honey, spicy miso and sweet soy tobiko aioli. Out of these two I liked the tempura best. The wontons came up next. I know we enjoyed them, but honestly, I can't really remember much about them. Nor did we get a picture of them.

Rock Shrimp Tempura and Crab Pizza

We had so enjoyed all of our food that when our very nice server asked if we wanted dessert, of course we said yes. I went for their signature Pineapple Upside-Down Cake and Drew selected their Chocolate Macadamia Nut Tart. Since we dove into them so quickly, I was not able to get a picture. They sure were yummy. And we left with happy tummies! Always a good sign!

So, we loved the food, vibe, how close it was to where we were staying and we didn't think it was too expensive. But did we think that they would be able to accommodate our people? Yes, we did. The place was hopping and our loud crowd would not stick out there. They also happened to have a back room that they could put us in.

Did we decide that this was the place for us for our rehearsal dinner? YES! In fact, we can't wait to go back. We booked with them as soon as we got home. We've already been looking over their menu to see what we would want to have for dinner. The lobster and hearts of palm salad looks good. But, ohhhh, so does the macadamia nut fish with lillikoi butter! And so many others! It's going to be hard to pick what to have for dinner that night. Can't wait to go back! The night before we get married! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Stay tuned for the next exciting conclusion of our Wedding Planning Trip! Where will tomorrow take us? What new discoveries will we make along the way? Find out more here!

How did you select where to have your rehearsal dinner?


All photos are personal photos.

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