Faith and Food Blog

Overview:

Papi’s Ohana, a family-owned bakery and pizzeria on the Hawaiian island of Maui located in the town of Lahaina, was named the #1 bakery on Maui in 2025 and was ranked #18 in the entire USA in 2026. According to their website, they describe themselves as “More than just a place for delicious treats, we open our doors to offer prayer, support, and fellowship to all who visit.”

If you were to look up online at top places to visit and eat at when traveling to Maui, Papi’s Ohana shows up on almost every list. With lines that begin before they even open up and go all the way out the door, this made-from-scratch bakery is most-known for two items: their giant cinnamon rolls and their pizza.

With faith as their foundation, Papi’s Ohana has grown not just in customers, but in family size (or as they call it in Hawaii, Ohana!) They have been a big supporter of the community during hardships that include COVID-19 and the wildfires that took place on Maui back 2023, offering support, community, and many prayers to help restore the parts of the island that were impacted.

Even though this blog is about Chicagoland restaurants, I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight this bakery, as it was one of the highlights during our trip to the Maui.

Let’s take a look!

My Experience:

My wife and I were planning our honeymoon to Hawaii for right after we got married, and when doing research, heard that Maui was the best island to go to as a honeymoon destination, as there was a great mix of relaxation, excursions, and everything you need to make the trip the best it can be. When looking into what to eat for each day we were there, we stumbled upon Papi’s Ohana and knew that we had to go there for breakfast one day.

The morning we went, we woke up at around 7:00 in the morning and left just 30 minutes later, thinking we had enough time to get there and have a good spot in line. We also had a hike planned for that day, so we were thinking that this would be good pick-me-up before we go hiking up a mountain.

We got there around 7:45… and we waited in line for almost 3 hours.

However, though that may be a long time for waiting for our food, we could not have asked for a better experience in line.

While it was hot outside, we began small talking with some of the people in line and connecting with so many new people from all different parts of the country. We exchanged phone numbers with people from San Francisco, connected with a family who visits the island every month or so (and they just so happen to have lived in Crystal Lake), and met a few more people who were also on their honeymoon.

For three hours, we were talking and meeting new people, and it felt like we experienced the true meaning of “Ohana”.

Now for the restaurant itself: we could not have asked for better hospitality. While we were waiting, one of the employees was passing out bottles of water to people outside, and the building had mist coming down for the top of it so people could stay cool. While we were waiting in line, they also were playing Worship music in the kitchen! It was evident that they were followers of Christ by their Fruits that were displayed. They even had a Bible verse on the pizza boxes!

When you walk in, the inside area is not super big and there wasn’t a lot of space to sit down inside, so we just grabbed our food and left. However, when we walked up to the front, we told them we were there on our honeymoon and you could tell that they felt so happy for us. They do something in the building where on the walls, you can take a sharpie and write down a Bible verse on there, and so we wrote down one of the readings that we had during our wedding. It’s so amazing to know that our verse lives in that building forever.

By the time we ordered our food, they were sold out of most items on their menu, but thankfully, they were prepared for large amounts of their cinnamon rolls being ordered, and we were able to get both the “King David Cinnamon Roll” and a chocolate croissant.

The Kind David Cinnamon Roll is “A buttery, flaky cinnamon roll dolloped with house-made cream cheese glaze.” When I tell you that this cinnamon roll was the biggest cinnamon roll I have ever had, it was the BIGGEST CINNAMON ROLL I HAVE EVER HAD!! I would say it was maybe 6-8″ diameter cinnamon roll.

This may have been the best cinnamon roll I have ever had.

Hands down, not just because of the size, but every part of it was baked perfectly. The middle was almost half-baked so it was nice and soft and gooey, and it was filled with the cream cheese glaze. It had the perfect amount of cinnamon in there and every bite had the most amount of flavor. There were no bad bites of it. 3 months later, and I still dream about this cinnamon roll and am looking forward to the day I travel back to Maui just to have a cinnamon roll.

If you ever get the chance to go to Maui, PLEASE make this a priority spot. You will not regret it.

Comment below what you think and if you would try this cinnamon roll!