South Shore Tiki Lounge, Kehei, MAUI, HI (bar)

Name:South Shore Tiki Lounge
Type:bar
Street:1913-J South Kihei Road (at Kalama Village)
City:Kehei, MAUI
State:HI
Zip:96753
country:USA
Phone:808-874-6444
Status:operational

Description:
http://www.southshoretikilounge.com
This is a new bar adjacent to the Kalama Village Shopping Mall.

The food menu is small, but expanding. Don't look for exotic dishes here. The mai tai I had at South Shore was as good or better than others I sampled on Maui and Oahu and I tried a lot. (Everybody uses pineapple juice in 'em over there. Guess that's what sells.)
The friendly and efficient proprietor obviously is an experienced rum-slinger and took pride in his concoction, which he has billed as his signature cocktail.
This is a nice tiki bar/sandwich shop with some good cocktails. You don't have an ocean view but you get a lot more bang for your booze-buck than across the street at the Five Palms or The Grand Wailea.

[ Edited by: mrtikibar on 2005-04-15 23:12 ]

Thanks for the update, mrtikibar! We are already booked on vacation back to Maui in Nov 2005, and want to get as many references for tiki bars / restaurants on the island. We love Mama's Fish House, but it can be a little pricey for too many meals. Will definitely plan on checking out South Shore. Mahalo!

mrtikibar - I just saw your topic on this bar on Maui. You are so incorrect on your statement "they all use pineapple juice in their drinks" - not all the drinks. But they do us fresh juice in da island as opposed to here on da mainland they use canned juice. I know bartenders in da islands and it is a staple for most drinks there as well as here. Mai Tais have ALWAYS had juices in them. If you are familiar with fresh pineapple juice you will note the difference in the taste of the drinks in da islands. And the bartend at that bar is not "island grown" - most bartends "island grown" make great drinks without the overkill of too much rum.

Tikiwinebear - South Shore is very expensive for restaurants. Drive up a bit from Napili around the mountains and you will find lots of excellent restaurants (where locals eat) for a great price and lots of food. If you look at the website for mauiinfo.com ( think that it is) there are lots of "ono" local food places on there. Joe's in Napili is one. Also check out the Mango Grill in Ka'anapali Beach - local's hang out, great food and prices. Where in Maui are you staying?

edited to not highjack this thread

[ Edited by: DawnTiki on 2005-04-25 14:48 ]

*On 2005-04-22 17:14, delphiniumangel wrote:*Mai Tais have ALWAYS had juices in them.

Yes, but real Mai Tais have only one juice in them - lime juice. They have been bastardized to become any drink with rum and juices, especially pineapple juice.

The real Mai Tai has been discussed at length on this forum and elsewhere:

https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=4538&forum=10
http://www.tradervics.com/mai-tai-1.html
http://www.kevdo.com/maitai/

I'm getting thirsty just thinking about it.

Thanks for the info, delphinuimangel! We stay in a condo at the Honokeana Cove Resort in Napili, so we should check out Joe's and the local stuff. We were going to make a point of finding a good restaurant that serves great laulau that even the locals eat. This is our 3rd annual trip, and love the Napili area (away from the hustle and bustle of Ka'anapali and Lahaina). When you say "around the mountain" are you talking about the small, one-lane road that gets you the backway into Wailuku and Kahului?

On 2005-04-22 17:39, thejab wrote:

*On 2005-04-22 17:14, delphiniumangel wrote:*Mai Tais have ALWAYS had juices in them.

Jab's Quote:
--Yes, but real Mai Tais have only one juice in them - lime juice. They have been bastardized to become any drink with rum and juices, especially pineapple juice.--

Exactly! The best deal I ran across was a decent Mai Tai at Buzz's Steak and Lobster at Waikiki. (Again, Pineapple juice.) They feature an extended happy hour for Mai Tai's only running from early AM until 6:30pm. I swear it cost $2.99 but maybe it was $3.99. Jab, you probably took advantage of this as it's just a short walk from The Hawaiiana.

[ Edited by: mrtikibar on 2005-04-25 13:54 ]

Tiki lounge in Kihei

Not the best tasting Mai Tai but potent, we didn't eat there we were just checking the place out.
Service was really great though.
The atmosphere was ok, everyone was very friendly.
I'd dump the television mounted on the wall, and get way more TIKI!!! No excuses man! More TIKI!
And pretttty please, make some serious changes to the music, like to... ANYTHING different other than what they were playing when we were there.
Damn even Buffett would have been better, oh wait they played that, nevermind.
In fact I think the most painful part of my entire trip (and I twisted my ankle hiking the lava fields)
was having to endure most of the sad, Koombayah-mamby-pamby 1970's James Taylor-Carly Simonesque music played (everywhere) at least the Tiki Lounge seems to be in good company.
We found in most eating and drinking establishments on Maui the music absolutely blew! Loved Maui and had a great time, I just wish proprietors would take the time to consider really treating their clientel to a total atmosphere submerssion. The difference in a good place and a great place is all in the details!

[ Edited by: DawnTiki 2005-07-25 23:27 ]