We were lucky enough to have a Villa while we were staying at Aulani, so we didn’t eat at the restaurants on-site much. We did have a few meals and snacks while we were there though!
I wrote an entire post about Aunty’s Breakfast Celebration – the Character Meal on-site at Aulani. A MUST do while at Aulani, if you ask me (for the delicious food alone)
Since we did that our last day, and knowing how good the food was, I am certain the other restaurants on site have delicious food as well. Our cousin, who is local in Oahu, said the night buffet at Makahiki is excellent as well, and after the breakfast buffet, I would assume the night buffet was just as delicious!
With 4 kids, we couldn’t afford the $40-50 a plate meal at ‘Ama’Ama. However, if you are looking to splurge, it always smelled delicious and the views can not be beat! Lunch is much cheaper than dinner, so that may be a good compromise if you are looking to save some money, but still eat at the restaurant. Kid meals are only $8.50 at lunch or $13 at dinner (and dessert or appetizer is included)
To save money, we stopped at the Costco only 3 miles from Aulani. We bought items for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Since we had a kitchen, we were able to make most of our meals in our room. This is a HUGE money saver!
If you don’t have a Costco membership, there is also a Target right down the street from the Costco. Another great option of a place to stop and stock up on food and snacks on your way to Aulani!
Aulani also offers BBQ’s for guests to use! So you could easily BBQ yourself some dinner. I saw the Cast Members cleaning the BBQ’s, so they are clean and well maintained!
Off the Hook was probably the most popular dining option with people on site. We saw many people doing poolside dining through them. Plus the steam baskets that they serve everything in are really cute! We thought it was an Asian dining restaurant, and then saw they served everything, even burgers, in the cool baskets!
We grabbed a pizza on our last night there, since that is what my daughter wanted for her birthday dinner. Originally, I was going to go to the pizza place across the street, but then I noticed that they sold whole pizza’s in the Ulu cafe, which was like a small quick service restaurant. It was cheaper than the place across the street, so I thought we’d give it a try. This pizza was actually REALLY good! We were shocked at how good this pizza actually was. To be honest, my expectations were not very high, but the pizza was very good and worth the money, especially since you could just go in and get it without leaving the resort!
The Ulu cafe is the closest thing you get to a quick service restaurant at Aulani. They only have a few hot entree options, plus whole pizza’s in the evening (pizza = YUM!), plus many grab and go food options for you to choose from.
Now snacks… my favorite part!
We got Shaved Ice, several times, at Papalua Shaved Ice. So.Freaking.Good!!! It was my husband’s favorite treat. He likes it with the cream on it. Coconut, lychee, and guava were our favorite flavors 🙂 The Shaved Ice’s are HUGE – between the 6 of us, we could barely finish off 2 of them each time. They are definitely big enough to share!
Papalua Shaved Ice
Now the Lava Shack was my kids favorite. They sell lots of snacks, and other pool items (sunblock, toys, etc.) but the best part?? SELF SERVE DOLE WHIPS!!! Oh yeah! You can make it as BIG as you want. They have vanilla, swirl, and pineapple/dole whip. You grab a bowl, fill it up as much as you want (just don’t make it so big it falls!) and then pay $4 for your ice cream. My kids decided the swirl was the best. Coming from a Dole Whip purest, I actually really liked the swirl too 🙂 The Convenience store across the street also offered the self-serve Dole Whips!
Lava Shack – Dole Whips!
Now if you can’t get to Costco or Target, and don’t want to rely solely on the food at Aulani, there is a small grocery store across the street. However, half of the store is dedicated to alcohol 😛 They do have many pre-made items and a deli with sandwiches. They even have their own Self-serve Dole whip machine (I NEED one of these for my house!). It is not cheap however! The prices are about what you would pay at Aulani. In fact, the 5lb bag of rice at the store, was MORE expensive than in the gift shop at Aulani! So depending on what you are looking for, the gift shop at Aulani, does carry a few grocery items, that are cheaper than the store across the street. There were also several restaurants across the street as well. I am sure they change often, but when we were there, an ice cream shop, Hawaiian food, Sushi/Asian, and Pizza restaurants were all available in the center.
Shopping across the street from Aulani
There is also Mama’s snack stop and Little Opihi that offer things like hot dogs, chicken fingers, nachos, and fries. You know, the healthy stuff 😉 Mama’s is next to the Shaved Ice, and Little Opihi is down on the beach, so you can eat and get sand in it at the same time! (Ha! Just kidding)
I didn’t think to take pictures until night time, so the quality is not the best and they are already closed 🙁 Many of the snack places close at 5 or 6… Which in my opinion, is really early!
Papalua Shaved Ice
Papalua Shaved Ice
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