Maui Tacos

Hilo, United States

3.1

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 808-959-0359
Website:
www.mauitacos.com
Address:
Prince Kuhio Plaza 111 E Puainako St, Ste 605, Hilo, HI, 96720
Categories:
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Map

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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
No
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
No
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Outdoor Seating
No
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
No
Waiter Service
No
Caters
No

Today

Today 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Open now
Local time (Hilo) 6:45 PM Monday, June 16, 2025

Business hours

Monday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday 9:00 am – 9:00 pm

Description

Specialties

There’s a reason MAUI TACOS has been voted Best Burrito and Best Fish Taco on Maui 11 years in a row. Maui Tacos takes the flavors of traditional Mexican dishes and fuses them with the best-​loved tropical flavors of Hawaii to make the most mouthwatering healthy Maui-​Mex dishes on the Hawaiian islands. With a lifetime of experience, Chef Alfonso Navarro and Chef Pepe Vega are continually searching for the freshest and healthiest ingredients Hawaii has to offer. Known for our «World Famous» Salsa Bar, Maui Tacos offers 6 different types of salsas, from our Pineapple Passion salsa to our mouth blistering Habanero salsa. Come check our menu and enjoy the great flavors of our Maui-​Mex bowls, Surf Burritos, healthy Maui Tacos’ salads and our fan favorite Baja Grilled Fish Tacos. Maui Tacos continually receives rave reviews on popular sites such as Healthy Dining Finder and Zagat. To all our Yelp fans, come in and be sure to check in at Maui Tacos. It’s Maui Tacos Babeee!

History

Established in 1993.

Mark Ellman, internationally acclaimed, Hawaiian chef and restauranteur, opened the first Maui Tacos restaurant in 1993. Many restaurants followed after that and the legend continues today as a sizzling hot concept with restaurants opening across the globe. We hope to make you a part of our history as well.

Meet the Manager

Mandy K.

Manager

My name is Mandy, I’m married and a mother of 3. My ‘ohana is my life, I like to spend my extra time with them at the beach or my 2 sons soccer and baseball games or chasing after my 2 year old daughter.

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20 reviews of Maui Tacos

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Place rating: 1
Hilo, HI
Won’t go back to bad service, too long a wait time and lack of concern for their customer. I will pass my experience on to everyone I know about my experience. We went to Maui Taco at Prince Kuhio Plaza for dinner. We ordered our dinner and payed for it up front at 5:45p. At 6:10p my husband went to check on our order. At 6:30p I went to check on our order, NOTHING. We finally gave up at 6:45p because our movie started at 7:15p. BAD SERVICE, LACK OF CONCERN FOR THE CUSTOMER WHO PAYS THE RENT.
Place rating: 1
Keaau, HI
Food is too oily. miss the old maui taco. nachos was a joke, hardly any cheese on it. This place a horrible now. run away dont go there.
Place rating: 4
Salt Lake City, UT
This was a great taco place! My fish taco was delicious and the pineapple salsa was the perfect topping. Friends had the pork and veggie and also enjoyed them immensely.
FYI it is in the middle of the mall which was a little tricky. But totally worth it.
Place rating: 2
Charlotte, NC
After reading a lot of these reviews, we were excited to try this place out. I’m kind of sorry we did. I was completely underwhelmed. I ordered the chicken enchiladas figuring they are pretty difficult to mess up. Nope. Dry tortillas, flavorless chicken. The rice was flavorless too and the refried beans tasted a little funny. My companions both had the fish tacos. Again, flavorless.
Basically, the food is a vehicle for the salsas. The Hula heat has a nice bite to it and the Maui mix while flavorful, was not too spicy. The pickled vegetables were pretty good. Despite what another reviewer said, you will probably get more flavor in your food by going to Taco Bell, although I don’t ever chance it by going there. That’s about it. Very disappointing for our last meal in Hilo. Overall, I give it a Meh.
Place rating: 4
Papillion, NE
BEST MALL FOOD EVER!!! Totally shocked! I have to be honest; we were headed for Lucy’s and they are closed on Tuesdays. But, Maui Tacos did not disappoint. My man said it was one of the better chimichangas he had. The enchilada tasted real similar to a ‘Taco Johns’ fast food place we have at home in the midwest. But the taco… sold me. The Sangria actually tasted like wine, which was a tremendously pleasant surprise. The salsas are delicious. I found myself going back to the Pineapple Passion to cleanse my tastebuds; THAT ONLY MADE IT WORSE! I wanted more and more! GREAT JOB!
Place rating: 3
Honolulu, HI
Looking for a quick bite in the mall, we decided on Maui Tacos. The menu gave us a nice selection to choose from. I tried the Maui Taco «The Original.»
Needless to say it was nothing near original not is it memorable. For a $ 5 taco I guess you can’t expect too much. The flavor was bleh and it was a messy open face soft taco.
The eating area was clean and the workers made sure to wipe down the tables between customers. My favorite thing may have been the tables which had a map of the Hawaiian islands on it.
Place rating: 2
Hilo, HI
My brother and I visited Maui Tacos last week for dinner for the first time in a while, and sadly, we were disappointed.
The service was very good. The woman taking our order was very nice, and the man who served our food was also very helpful. We went in an hour before closing, so there wasn’t much of a crowd. In addition to our main orders of burritos and a rice and chicken dish, we also ordered fried ice cream, which we wanted after we finished our meals. Our server was very kind to let us know that we could just request it any time, and he’d bring it to us.
However, the food was very mediocre and lacked substance and flavor. I compare the quality of the «Mexican» food at Maui Tacos to airport Mexican food, but not as good. The fried ice cream lacked texture and crispness that I expect. The batter felt grainy and on the edge of mushy. The fish burrito had very little fish, and what fish was included was mushy. The steak and chicken burrito (which I got wet with sauce and cheese) also didn’t have much flavor. It was pretty bland.
The salsas were okay. I see that they’re trying to go for a «Hawaiian» theme with pineapple flavors, which were not bad. However, the «hot» salsa was not even that hot.
Sadly, I would not return, and I would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. The only redeeming quality is that the workers are very nice and do their jobs well.
Place rating: 3
Morrison, CO
Pretty decent food. Beer in the mall! Tasty Mexican food, but you are still on the island. So, don’t expect the best. But this is a food court in a mall. It is tasty.
Place rating: 4
Hilo, HI
Although a little pricey for being a mall food court eatery, they have been all around consistently tasty for me in the nearly 15 years (cray!) I’ve been coming to this place. Homeboy who is the main cook for as long as I can remember (ten years) is a sweetie who goes above and beyond to make your food how you want it. He comes out and talks to you personally and genuinely cares about his product, which is and invaluable asset to this place. And (finally!!) they have done a major overhaul of their menu, added a ton of new items and more variety, which means I finally can enjoy shrimp tacos in Hilo! Other locations had that and fish tacos for years, and that we too can enjoy now gives them the fourth star, in my opinion. Check out the new menu, it’s a lot better. Also, I’ll leave you with one word (okay, two). Cotija cheese!
Place rating: 2
Kailua-Kona, HI
Really disappointing place to try and satisfy my mexican craving! I had the la perouse burrito (chicken & steak filled) — the meat was very, very overcooked! It was completely charred on the outside and dry inside. The salsa bar was also sub par, the pineapple salsa appeared to only be the pureed salsa from a can, no hints or traces of jalapeño, cilantro or other salsa ingredients. The salsa verde was very runny, it had a nice bite to it if they just didnt water it down. I didn’t try any of the red salsas because they just looked like tomato paste from a can.
Place rating: 5
Honolulu, HI
The best place to eat in Prince Kuhio. $ 6 specials by Chef Alfonso!
The plates I always get are the enchilada suisas and the crispy tacos. For the amount and the price I always leave satisfied. The best thing, however, is their salsa bar! Try mixing the pineapple salsa with the green tomatillo salsa. You won’t regret it :)
Place rating: 4
Hilo, HI
Love this place! Located right in Prince Kuhio Plaza. If you want some Mexican food, it’s best you come here instead of Taco Bell.
Now they have table service. They were doing this as of Cinco de Mayo according to one of the workers.
I tend to order the Lahaina Burrito with Grilled Chicken all the time only because it’s my favorite dish to eat. I order that «wet» meaning it’s smothered in Enchilada sauce. The Lahaina is charbroiled chicken or shredded beef with maui tacos rice, cheese and fresh guacamole. It comes with Tortilla chips too. My wife gets the Chingalinga Platter with Chicken. Basically it’s chicken cheese and spices rolled in a Flour Tortilla that’s deep-​fried and served with guacamole and sour cream.
I find their Salsa bar is the best around. I mix the Tomatillo salsa and the regular Tomato salsa together for a guaranteed knock out punch in my mouth, lol!!!
Place rating: 4
Atlanta, GA
I have to give this place a four-​star. It is by far, kind of sadly, but by far the best place in town to get a good traditional burrito. Carne Asada lovers can sub it with any of their burritos.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Just moved from Cali, this place satisfied my craving after all others in town failed.
Place rating: 3
Asheville, NC
A good start for good tacos. If you ask for the fish tacos plain and then add your own toppings, you’ll have a better chance of tasting a good taco.
Place rating: 4
Plano, TX
Maui Mex bowls are so good! Nachos are excellent! I love their salsa bar! They have the best tomatillo salsa… and you must try their pineapple paradise salsa. This is very good for fast food!
Place rating: 3
Hilo, HI
Way better than Taco Bell! Hehe. Happy we have Maui tacos here. Fresh ingredients, friendly staff located in the prince kuhio plaza. They serve beer too. Nice spot to go and get a quick bite.
Place rating: 3
Honolulu, HI
Decent tex-​mex. The cashier was nice but inexperienced. There’s a $ 5 promotional menu (current Sept 2013) but be sure to note that it doesn’t include items on the main menu. The $ 5 chicken burrito is not the same as the regular menu chicken burrito ($ 8+) because it is smaller and has sour cream instead of guacamole.
We ordered the Sandy Beach (by request only) which is a vegan/​vegetarian burrito with beans and rice, and the Lahaina chicken burrito. The Lahaina was tasty enough but it sagged because it wasn’t fully filled with ingredients.
The salsa bar is probably the best thing going for this place. Multiple kinds of hot sauces, limes, onions, pickled spicy onions, and jalapenos. The complimentary chips come warmed but are generic and not especially good.
Place rating: 4
Hilo, HI
Their $ 5 menu is pretty good. I loved the fruit salsa the most!!!
Place rating: 3
Volcano, HI
what sucks… you’re sitting in the mall hallway
what’s good… they serve beer, counter help are very sweet and friendly, food (vegetarian burrito) was delicious and meal was inexpensive overall. I ordered the burrito «dry» (no cheese) and loaded it up with salsas from the fixin’s bar. Free refills from «serve yourself» soda machine… I drank about 12 iced teas after I ignored the «diablo» rating on the pineapple salsa.
They have a tempting poster advertising $ 5 special menu items… I asked the woman at the counter, is the $ 5 burrito as big as the regular ones (about $ 9)… she candidly explained, «no, it’s about half the size, they just put it on a tiny plate when they took the picture.» Loved her!
Place rating: 2
Hilo, HI
They need to pack up their bags and head back out to Maui. Not sure if it was the day I went, Sunday… it was busy… Hunger Games was opening… there were more than 4 people in line, but the wait was extremeley long and the result was underwhelming.
My husband’s quesadilla had a sprinkle of cheese and a handful of sad excuses for chicken. My fish burrito was choke full of sour cream and tiny bits of fish– ew.
I’ve frequented this place quite a few times but this is, by far, the worst experience I’ve had. Not going here ever again if I can help it. Then again… it’s Hilo. there are exactly 2 places to get casual Mexican… I may not be able to hold up that threat.