MAKANA Market + Cafe

The bright barista counter at this Wailea market cafe runs on Social Hour Coffee from Wailuku, 100% Hawaii pour-overs, and pastries baked in house.

Wailuku coffee, Hawaii pour-overs, and a full market shelf

The coffee programme is the reason to treat MAKANA Market + Cafe as more than a resort shop. The bar pours locally roasted Social Hour Coffee from Wailuku, then gives a separate place to 100% Hawaii coffee as pour-over. That distinction matters here, because the menu is not only espresso drinks dressed for holiday traffic. There is nitro cold brew, matcha, Lot35 tea blends, and a Hawaiian latte built with coconut and macadamia nut syrup. The market side widens the frame without losing the counter: local snacks, Hawaii-made jams, wines, beers, juices, soft drinks, gifts and sundries sit around the coffee and bakeshop rather than replacing them. It works because the sourcing is easy to read. Local roast, island coffee, in-house pastry, things to carry to the room or down the path. That is the whole programme.

A resort counter that behaves like a useful daily shop

The room is arranged for movement. A white tiled menu sits over a bright barista counter, shelves carry potted plants and market goods, and covered seating gives the place a little staying power if the order is not going straight into a bag. The counter handles several kinds of day at once: early coffee, breakfast bowls, a sandwich taken away, ice cream later, a bottle or snack picked up on the way back upstairs. That could become muddled, but the format is clear enough. Coffee and bakes anchor the morning; grab-and-go salads, paninis, pizzas, poke bowls, burgers and keiki plates keep it useful later on. The point is not ceremony. It is the dependable resort counter that can feed a family at different speeds, while still pulling espresso and brewing Hawaii coffee with more care than a sundries corner usually gets.

Start with the Hawaiian latte and a lilikoi cookie

Order the Hawaiian latte first if the walk has been in the sun. Coconut and macadamia nut syrup give it a clear island register without turning it into dessert, and it tells the story of the place better than a plain espresso would. If filter is the priority, ask for the 100% Hawaii coffee pour-over, since that is the drink that separates the bar from a standard hotel coffee stop. Beside it, take a lilikoi cookie from the in-house pastry case. The sharpness of passion fruit is a good match for milk coffee, and it travels cleanly if the order is headed outside. Later in the day the counter changes character: Lappert's ice cream, sundaes, milkshakes, ahi poke bowls and paninis make it less a coffee stop than the resort's everyday market table.