SOUTH MAUI - Maui: Including Molokai and Lanai - page 333

omelet or gargantuan breakfast burrito. Breakfast is served all day. The atmosphere can be
hectic; get here early before the traffic (both human and vehicular) picks up.
Named after a Grateful Dead song, local favorite Stella Blues Café (1279 S. Kihei Rd.,
808/874-3779, www.stellablues.com , 7:30am-10pm daily, $12-14 lunch, $15-29 dinner)
serves American comfort food. It's a nice option for families looking for a mellow, quiet
meal. Lunch offers sandwiches and burgers while dinner focuses on pastas, pork chops,
and fish plates.
The takeout window at Stewart Burgers (1819 S. Kihei Rd., 808/879-0497,
11am-8:30pm daily, $8-11), in the corner of the Kukui Mall, offers 12 specialty burgers
without all the added fuss. There are a few outdoor tables where you can inhale your food.
Even though the atmosphere ranks zero, if you're looking for a quick, easy meal, it's the
perfect stop. Try the sweet potato fries.
Japanese
M Sansei (1881 S. Kihei Rd., 808/879-0004, www.sanseihawaii.com , 5pm-10pm Sun.-
Mon., 5:30pm-10pm Tues.-Wed., 5:30pm-1am Thurs.-Sat., $16) has been a South Maui fa-
vorite since 2002. Award-winning dishes such as the panko-crusted ahi rolls and signature
shrimp dynamite keep locals flocking to this nondescript spot. The half-priced sushi menu
(Thurs.-Sat. after 10pm), with options like unagi and rainbow rolls, will leave sushi-lovers
feeling like kids in a candy store. Late nights can be noisy, with karaoke in full swing.
DID MENEHUNE BUILD THE KO'IE'IE FISHPOND?
In Hawaiian lore, Menehune are the mythical little people of the Hawaiian Islands
who are believed to be mysterious, mischievous, and quick in their work. While
stories about Menehune abound, the most commonly told one involves the building
of stone fishponds across many of the Hawaiian Islands. In a story similar to those
found on Kaua'i and Moloka'i, Ko'ie'ie Fishpond in North Kihei is believed to have
been built by Menehune in the course of a single night.
Don't pass this off as a playful legend, however; history supports the claim. It's
believed by many scholars that the Hawaiian Islands were populated by seafaring
voyagers from the Marquesas Islands around AD 400-600, and that these origin-
al, small-in-stature inhabitants were supplanted in AD 1100 by much larger settlers
from Tahiti. As it turns out, the Tahitian word for commoner is manahune, and it's