Wailea's New Restaurants Extend Beyond the Beach Path
September 10, 2026
September 10, 2026
Wailea's dining scene extends beyond the coastline. The paved stretch from Mokapu Beach down to Polo Beach offers sunset views, resort settings, and established dining options. But ask where Wailea's new restaurants are opening this year, and the answer keeps pointing the same direction. Not toward the water. Toward the golf courses.
That gives diners two distinct scenes: the beachfront corridor along Wailea Alanui Drive and the inland cluster around Wailea Ike Drive, where several of this year's new openings are located.
Start with KOAST, tucked into the second floor of Wailea Village on Wailea Ike Drive, technically a Kihei zip code even though everyone calls it Wailea. It's the vision of chef Chris Cosentino, a James Beard Award nominee and Top Chef Masters winner, working with David and Alicia Soboda, the couple who helped him open Cockscomb in San Francisco. The wraparound lanai looks out toward Molokini Crater, and the menu features whole-animal cooking and local Hawaiian ingredients.
A few minutes away, perched directly on the Wailea Gold and Emerald golf courses, Gather on Maui opened with a different kind of view entirely. Instead of ocean straight ahead, you get the fairways, Haleakalā, and Molokini Island from an elevated dining room that markets itself as sitting near Kihei, Wailea, and Makena all at once rather than claiming a single beachfront address. The restaurant offers an inland setting with regular live music from local Maui musicians.
Together, they offer two alternatives to the beachfront corridor.
Meanwhile, the restaurants that sit directly on the Beach Path corridor aren't opening anything new this year. They're getting recognized for what they've built already, which is a different kind of story.
Nobu Grand Wailea was named one of the Top 100 Hotel Restaurants in America for 2026 by OpenTable, a national list, not a local one. Down the lagoon, Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa picked up recognition in Wine Spectator's 2026 Restaurant Awards for its wine program, and so did The Restaurant at Hotel Wailea, Hawaii's only Relais & Châteaux member.
Hotel Wailea also has special events on its September calendar. On September 19, the restaurant is hosting a one-night collaboration dinner with Chef Nancy Oakes and Chef Dana Younkin of San Francisco's Boulevard, cooked alongside the property's own Chef de Cuisine, Emmanuel Eng, staged in the garden. Separately, the hotel is bringing in Sushi Ran of Sausalito for a two-night tasting menu paired with Laurent-Perrier Champagne, capped at 20 guests a night, with a portion of proceeds going to the Maui Food Bank. These are events, not new everyday dining options.
Wailea's oceanfront and golf-course corridors offer different dining experiences, from beachfront restaurant awards and special events to inland restaurant openings.
The Shops at Wailea has a new restaurant option worth noting. Aurum Maui opened inside The Shops at Wailea, right on Wailea Alanui Drive, led by Chef Taylor Ponte, a Maui native and Maui Culinary Academy graduate who previously won Maui No Ka Oi Magazine's Aipono Awards Chef of the Year. Aurum sources from Hua Momona Farms, Simple Roots Maui, and Bread & Pizza Co., and the dining room features photography by Maui resident Stu Soley alongside merchandise designed by other local artists. The restaurant pairs its resort-corridor location with local sourcing and art.
Its opening illustrates how Wailea's restaurant scene includes both inland golf-course venues and options at The Shops.
The Shops at Wailea complements its restaurants with recurring, low-key programming. Wailea Wednesdays brings live music to the center on a regular basis, and on the first Saturday of every month, Art Night turns the walkways into an open house across five galleries at once: Martin & MacArthur Gallery, Enchantress & Freeborne Gallery, Maui Hands, Tasini Tiki Gallery, and Kush Fine Art & Jewelry. It's free, it's recurring, and it's the kind of event that rewards people who show up regularly.
That's the function the Shops still serves. Alongside newer dining options, it's also where the community rhythm lives, art night after art night, Wednesday after Wednesday.
The Wailea Beach Path itself never touches Wailea Ike Drive. It runs its roughly 1.5 miles from the boardwalk near Andaz Maui down past Ulua, Wailea, and Polo beaches to the Fairmont Kea Lani, and every restaurant along that route sits inside or beside a resort. KOAST and Gather on Maui are not on the Beach Path; reaching them means driving or walking a few minutes inland toward the golf courses.
For anyone who uses the Beach Path as an evening walk, Wailea's dining options extend beyond the route. The restaurants discussed here include new inland spots, an opening at The Shops, and established resort-area venues with awards and special events.
Next time you're deciding where to eat, consider exploring Wailea's inland and resort-corridor dining options.
If you're curious about how Wailea's neighborhoods fit together beyond the dinner table, from the resort corridor to the quieter streets around the golf courses, Pamela Spanko can help you. Let's Connect.
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