Nyla M.
Yelp
Oh.My.God. What a fortuitous discovery this place was.
Coming back from five days in Hana, where one eats in one's cottage or the few food trucks which may or may not be open, and certainly not in the evening, we decided to head upcountry Maui to Makawao for lunch.
Those 600 hair pin turns on that 58 mile Hana Highway can give your stomach a case of the WTF's, despite the gorgeous scenery, so something comforting seemed in order.
We'd never been in Makawao, fabled Paniolo (cowboy) center of Hawaii so weren't sure what to expect. Well, expect a lot because that town has done happened.
Art galleries and boutiques line the streets of this once sleepy little town, traffic is dense, and folks have some pretty deep pockets, based on what I saw.
However, the rustic corner building sitting at the crossroad called out, and am I happy it did.
Casanova has been serving home made Italian pasta and really good, good food (Zagat loves them) for over 30 years. Owned by a trio of Italian buddies who moved to Maui together back in the day when one could afford to do that, they set their minds to providing world class fare. And entertainment (but I will get back to that).
Turns out the building was the USO base during WWII, and both before and after that it was the Paniolo Dance Hall. As a result, this space is big. It has high, breezy ceilings, lots of tables, and a fantastic dance floor for when those famous bands deliver the beats.
Plus, fantastic food.
I had the Pasta Checca with Prawns, which was a delicately flavored plate of perfectly done Angel Hair pasta with fresh tomatoes, pine nuts, capers, slivers of spinach, garlic, lemon and succulent, so fresh from the sea, prawns.
It came with a Caesar Salad that was crisp and perfectly dressed with a fantastic Caesar dressing. Someone in the kitchen gets Caesar.
I ordered a French Rose' from the excellent wine list to go with my lunch. It was a generous pour of a crisp, tasty vintage and it went down just fine.
My partner ordered the Maui Grass Fed Beef steak salad which he scarfed up like a hungry cowboy fresh off the hill. I think it fair to say he liked it. He drank a cold Corona with it. Ole.
Now, back to the entertainment: the walls are festooned with signed posters going back to the early 80's of bands that gigged there. Taj Mahal, George Freakin' Harrison, good ole Willy Nelson (who has a house in the area and apparently drops in to jam from time to time) and just so many real talents that all I could do was take pictures of a few posters to include with this review. Check 'em out.
Oh, I heard the Saltimbucco is to die for.
And get this--we paid less for this amazing meal with two good adult beverages than we did for a mediocre dinner we had in Lahaina. Maui is crazy effing expensive but this was fair at $58 (I know) for two. Island prices, Brah.