Cinco de Mayo | News, Sports, Jobs

May 2024 · 10 minute read

Next Thursday, the fifth of May, will be smokin’ like a chipotle at restaurants. You may savor the “whole enchilada” – from authentic Mexican foods to live music to cool cervezas.

This year, Maui has colorful Mexican restaurants from Frida’s Mexican Beach House in Lahaina to Fred’s Mexican Cafe in Kihei – with many others getting in on the Cinco de Mayo action.

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The tequilas come in blanco, reposado, mezcal and anejo. The cervezas are many. And the up-close views of the turtles in the ocean, endless.

Frida’s Mexican Beach House is the 16th Hawaii restaurant for Mark and Judy Ellman and it’s one of the most talked-about restaurants on island. In fact, it just won the Best Mexican Restaurant Gold Award from a local magazine.

Named after the late Mexican self-portrait artist Frida Kahlo, it is situated oceanfront in Lahaina next to its sister restaurants Honu Seafood & Pizza and Mala Ocean Tavern, Frida’s will be jumping with mariachi music on Cinco de Mayo with a sea of repeats as well as first-timers.

“Frida’s menu is based on author Diane Kennedy’s Mexican cookbooks,” says Mark Ellman. “They are all recipes from homes that she’s visited throughout Mexico and street food she’s tasted.”

“We went to Puerto Vallarta for the first time and it was very relaxing. If anybody is thinking about going there, the food is really fantastic and the people are great. They have immense hospitality,” says Ellman, author of “Practice Aloha.”

“We have an unbelievable chef at Frida’s, Sergio Perez,” says Ellman. “Many people know him from my Maui Tacos days. Out of the norm of what we serve, Sergio will do pork tacos al pastor for $4 each. He’ll run it Cinco de Mayo from day to night. And we’ll have $8 margaritas.”

Frida’s pours 40 different tequilas and has 11 Mexican beers. The merriment will also include party favors such as Frida eyebrows on sticks, mustaches and mini sombreros and matador hats.

Come to Frida’s and try menu items, such as ahi agua chile, like carpaccio or sashimi with fresh lime juice, red onions, cucumber and avocado and house-pickled jalapenos, so it’s a crudo.

“The crudo has become one of our biggest sellers,” says Ellman. “We also have a fun house salsa. We roast whole tomatoes, garlic, onions and jalapenos until charred, then puree it all with fresh cilantro.”

Other big-time sellers are housemade chile rellenos, grilled panela cheese with plantains served with tomatilla salsa that is topped with pickled jalapenos, and fresh mahimahi or ono Vera Cruz braised in an olive and red pepper sauce.

Last but not least, Frida’s serves inspiring tres leches cake in cute little mason jars, flan and cacao macarons.

Frida’s is open daily for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., happy hour from 3 to 4:30 p.m. (15 percent off of food and drink) and dinner from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m. There is free valet parking. Do check out the new painting outside the building of Frida by Maui artist Nancy Hoke. For more details, call Frida’s 661-1287.

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People frequently want to know where the “real deal” Mexican food is on Maui. If you like to order takeout, there is no better place than Fiesta Time at 1132 N. Lower Main St., in Wailuku.

From Sinaloa, Mexico, where the famous Mazatlan resort is located, owner Edith Luna took over the restaurant from the previous management in October 2013. She was trained by the original chef-owner, Raul Jaimes, and cooked for him at the old Papa’s & Chiles and at another Fiesta Time, before his retirement.

Jaimes still owns the Fiesta Time building in Wailuku with the vibrant Mexican mural. Inside, there is a walk-up counter and a few seats in the small room.

Popular dishes that Luna and her family make all the way from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday and until 4 p.m. Saturday are the enchiladas Suizas with chicken in creamy green sauce; enchiladas Mazatlan with shrimp, olives, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes and other veggies; and chile verde pork in green sauce.

“As a Cinco de Mayo special, we will make fresh mahimahi and shrimp ceviche, queso dip and menudo,” says Chef Edith’s daughter Johana Luna.

“We also do party platters of tacos, chile verde, enchiladas and taquitos for at least 10 people, minimum. A lot of people ask for tins of rice and beans, too. We get really busy next week, so please call ahead. We are working hard for the people to enjoy good Mexican food.”

For more details, call 249-8463.

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Nachos Grande Cantina situated in its own free-standing building at Honokowai Marketplace will kick up its heels for Cinco de Mayo. Daily hours are 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., with food service until 9 p.m.

“We’ll celebrate with specials on Mexican beers, house margaritas and Patron and Don Julio Blanco tequila shots,” says a manager about the discounts.

“We’re going to feature live music with Michael Carroll, starting in the late afternoon and running through dinner hours,” says owner Margaret Gerner, who is pleased with what the chef has accomplished after his first year there.

“Miguel Reyes is from Michoacan, a state of Mexico, and he’s really turned the kitchen around,” says Gerner. “It’s what we call Mexican-Mexican cuisine. It’s not Tex Mex. He has his own little touch.”

“I’ve been a chef for 21 years,” says Reyes. “Remember Chico’s Cantina? I was working there as a teen. I cooked at Moose’s, Mango Cafe and more.”

For Cinco de Mayo, Reyes will offer mole and posole along with tacos al Pastor and other fillings of ground beef, chicken, fish, shrimp or lingua.

The chile-verde “macho chimichanga” is for hungry eaters only. “Nobody else makes it,” says Reyes. “Everything I do here is from my grandmother’s and my mother’s recipes. It’s the old-school way of cooking. It motivates me. People from California and Texas all tell me, ‘Your food is good and we know good Mexican food.’ “

Cater parties inside the restaurant or order take-out plates. For further information, call Nacho’s at 662-8565 or 662-0890.

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Upcountry revelers will crawl out of the woodwork like iguanas on a feeding frenzy to enjoy Stopwatch Sports Bar & Grill in Makawao for Mexican specials.

“Chef Casey Lara will make Cinco de Mayo specials of Mexican tortilla soup, mahimahi tacos topped with fresh tropical fruit salsa, nachos and house chicharons,” says owner Haru Hiu-Arian.

“Of course, we’ll have Cinco de Mayo drink specials all day on margaritas and shots of Patron and Corona beers will flow,” says General Manager Frank Border. “We are open from 11 a.m. to midnight or until 1 a.m. daily. We’re also noted for our big and beefy jalapeno burgers and we have jalapeno poppers.”

For more details, call Stopwatch Sports Bar & Grill at 572-1380.

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Fred’s Mexican Cafe in Kihei below Moose McGillycuddy’s will be jumping from 11 a.m. to closing with specials on beer and margaritas all day long, says managing partner Penny Jo Putnam.

“Popular dishes are fajitas, chingaderas like little Mexican deep-fried burritos and our huge portions of nachos with queso and pico de gallo and jalapenos and black beans. We’ll have giveaways at night of maracas and hats,” Putnam adds.

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While Charley’s Restaurant & Saloon in Paia is making a name for itself for its new smokehouse menu, it’s still got several fun Mexican dishes that keep regular customers coming back for more.

The huevos rancheros is hugely popular at breakfast, served from 7 to 11 a.m. Two farm-fresh eggs are served on refried black beans and crisp corn tortilla and then topped with cheddar-jack cheese, Volcano tomato salsa, mild green chili sauce and sour cream are accompaniments.

Charley’s also serves a breakfast burrito of a large flour tortilla filled with scrambled eggs, Portuguese sausage, refried beans and brown rice and topped with the above sauces and cilantro.

Housemade tortilla chips are crunchy and good when dipped into the spicy Volcano salsa and you may order sides of avocado, sour cream and more.

From 3 p.m. until closing, Charley’s will offer spicy ahi tacos and hamachi poke tacos by Chef Chewy Cereceres.

“I’ll also do my grandmother’s chicken enchilada’s with guajillo mole,” says the chef who is of Mexican heritage.

“We’ll also have drink specials on margaritas and Coronas,” says general manager Renae Robertson. Housemade chili is a Charley’s signature enhanced with char-grilled jalapeno and diced red onion. And citrus mango mahi ceviche dishes up citrus segments along with mango, fresh coconut milk, chopped cilantro and a touch of spicy sambal. For more info, call 579-8085.

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5 Palms at the Mauna Kai Resort in Kihei is the perfect spot to sip a beer as well as drink in the views from its spot on the north end of Keawakapu Beach. On Cinco de Mayo for happy hour, come in and check out the specials.

“For happy hour, we do a luau quesadilla with kalua pork, jack cheese, Molokai sweet potato with pineapple black-bean salsa and wasabi sour cream, and Dos Equis is on tap and Corona is by the bottle,” says Moki Chong Kee, general manager.

5 Palms happy hour runs twice daily from 3 to 7 p.m. and from 9 to 11 p.m. Select pupu are 50 percent off with a one-drink minimum. For lunch, dig into fresh fish tacos on corn tortillas with black-bean pineapple salsa and cilantro sour cream. For further details, call 879-2607.

In Kaanapali, spice it up at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa’s poolside ‘Umalu restaurant with drink and food specials.

Marketing Manager Karli Sullivan says that they will dish up shrimp ceviche, and pour Corona and Pacifico for $6 along with deals on $8 margaritas on the rocks as well as tequila sunrises and $10 Maui Mai Tais.

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Las Pinatas of Maui will celebrate the start of its 22nd year on Maui with food and drink specials May 5 in its location off of Dairy Road in Kahului (near the new Tin Roof by Sheldon Simeon).

“It’s our 22nd anniversary this month and so our Cinco de Mayo is old enough to drink,” says owner John Hargrove. “When we opened on May 1, 1995, gas was only $1.50 a gallon, Costco wasn’t even here yet. Now, the kids we fed are grown up, and we feed second- and third-generation customers.”

As far as Cinco de Mayo goes, “We serve as a family alternative for those who want to acknowledge Cinco de Mayo but who don’t want to dance on the tabletops. But don’t get me wrong. We still get rocking here. Las Pinatas has just always been about the food more than the beer.”

However, Las Pinatas features happy-hour specials all day from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Quesadillas, enchiladas and nachos will be discounted; and you get half off your second beer or wine.

The signature dish is, hands down, the kitchen-sink burrito. Other popular items are the quesadillas fungo with mushrooms and onions; the fajitas; and the huevos Pinata’s – a take on huevos rancheros. Pile on your favorite accompaniments at the salsa bar from Haiku habanero sauce to hot arbol sauce to onions and jalapeno slices.

“We have a great selection of Mexican beer, like the new Oculto, meaning ‘occult,’ brewed in a tequila cask and infused with natural agave,” says Hargrove.

“We also serve Bohemia, Negro Modelo, Corona and Corona Light, Dos XX Amber and Light, Modelo Especial, Pacifico and Tecate,” he adds.

A sea of pinatas hangs from the ceiling, from Maui-centric fish to dolphins to a hand giving the shaka decorated with green, red, yellow and black reggae colors.

“We sell pinatas made by ARC of Maui, a nonprofit for our developmentally disabled adults,” says Hargrove. “One of the guys who makes them has saved up enough to buy a flatscreen TV. You fill them with what you like.”

For further details, call Las Pinatas at 877-8707 or you may visit www.pinatasmaui.com.

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