The Eastern Seaboard: Kapa'a

Good Eats

If you are driving around on the East Coast of Kauai, here are some places to stop and fill up your tummy with delicious goodness:

Pono Market in Kapaa is a great place to get a great plate lunch. It is known for its fabulous lau lau and kalua pork and is budget friendly. If you are interested in a quick bite to eat, it is located at 4-1300 Kuhio Highway in Kapaa.

Also located in Kapaa is our family's favorite Asian eatery, House of Noodles. While looking up their menu and their address online, I browsed their recent Yelp reviews and noticed that their reviews which had been consistently positive over the years have taken a sharp nose dive since the beginning of 2013. While I won't be able to pry my husband away from the House of Noodles, I do find it a bit concerning as the management or owners may have changed since last year. In my upcoming trip, I will definitely investigate and report back but for now, I would check it out but bring some Tums just in case. House of Noodles is located at 4-1330 Kuhio Highway in Kapaa.


Get Your Shop On

Kapaa has a great selection of shops that range from the generic ABC store to the handcraft souvenir collective known as the Kapaa Products Fair. Most of the shops in Kapaa are located along the main stretch of the Kuhio Highway and I would suggest walking around the main road and browsing the shops and restaurants. Usually, we grab lunch and then stroll around Kapaa wandering in the different shops. 

If you are looking for trinkets to bring back to friends and relatives, the ABC store in Kapaa is a cheap and condensed shop that hits most of the different types of souvenirs- postcards, leis, sarongs, coconut banks, and key chains. An added bonus with the ABC store is that it doubles as a Hawaiian 7-11 so you can grab a cold soda or a bag of chips if you are heading up or down the Kuhio Highway. When it comes to authenticity, this is obviously not the place to get souvenirs but if you are buying trinkets for a lot of people, this store (along with Walmart) is the most economical place on Kauai. Located at 4-831 Kuhio Highway, this location has the very rare parking lot so take advantage of the lot.

For those of you looking for more unique gifts and souvenirs, head up the Kuhio Highway a couple of minutes to the Kapaa Products Fair that offers a range of handmade and generic souvenirs. This is a larger version of the Spouting Horn vendors and my husband and I prefer the Kapaa fair over its southern counterpart as there are more handmade crafts at the former. The Kapaa Products Fair is open 7 days a week from 9am-5pm and is located at 4-1621 Kuhio Highway.

Another great shop that provides a wide range of goods is Hula Girl in Kapaa. I always love stopping in here whenever I am in Kapaa and usually find myself walking out of the store with a bag full of goodies- most of which I am not sharing. Located at 4-1340 Kuhio Highway, Hula Girl will not disappoint!

For those of you interested in picking up multiple Hawaiian shirts on the cheap, the Hawaiian Wear Factory is the place to be. At prices similar to those found at the ABC store or Walmart, the Hawaiian Wear Factory has a wide range of Hawaiian shirts and dresses for the entire family in a staggeringly wide range of sizes- you will not find a one size fits all shirt in this place! The shop itself looks abandoned from the street but trust me- there is a warehouse full of clothes inside the cramped storefront. I absolutely adore the owner, an elderly Hawaiian woman who seems to the be the only employee- whenever we stop in over the course of a decade- she has been there with a fan behind her, tending the store. The Hawaiian Wear Factory is located at 4520 Kukui Street off of the Kuhio Highway.