The award-winning Mala Ocean Tavern restaurant reopened Feb. 1 on Maui, after being closed for five months, and is now taking reservations. The building survived the Maui wildfires, and it's one of the few oceanfront structures still standing in Old Lahaina Town.
Lahaina's Mala Ocean Tavern reopened Feb. 1 after being closed due to the Maui wildfires. Photo Credit: Photo courtesy Mala Ocean Tavern
Ashley Davis, co-owner of Mala Ocean Tavern, said it was very important to make sure the space was safe for employees to come back to work and for guests to dine before reopening.
"Just generally, opening a restaurant, there's always a lot of challenges that are going to come your way, and then you have a building that's been sitting for some time, and obviously had a little bit of damage," Davis said.
"The most important thing to us is to honor our community, and to honor Lahaina and to honor the people of Maui. And to really be here for our staff. They want to get working," Davis said. "The restaurant is beloved by our community. As an owner, I can't take credit for that. It's because of the people who work here."
The dinner menu at Mala Ocean Tavern features seafood and steak entrees. Photo Credit: Photo courtesy Mala Ocean Tavern
The menu still consists of seafood and steaks, but there will be some slight adjustments due to changes in where ingredients are sourced. For instance, the bread was from a Lahaina baker, and local fishermen were affected by the fire.
"We'll still have the No. 1 thing that I know everybody loves [and that] is our ahi bruschetta, so I think there can be a huge sigh of relief there," Davis said. "The oyster shooters, and just like an amazing oceanfront brunch. We're really doing our best to maintain that excellence that we had at dinner."
All the staff at Mala Ocean Tavern have been personally affected by the Maui wildfires in some way, so Davis asks that guests not inquire about it with staff as not everyone wants to talk about it. But, she said, the aloha spirit is at Mala Ocean Tavern and everyone is welcome there.
"It's just nice to think that we can bring it back and that there's still something, and I'm so thankful that that [the neighboring restaurants] are still here as well," Davis said.