Hāna's Paniolo Bar Pays Tribute to Hawaiʻi's Cowboy Past

Photographs and story by Viola Gaskell

This year, the ever-popular "Road to Hāna" reached its centennial. Each day, about 1,500 drivers navigate the road's 620 curves and traverse its 59 bridges, until they reach Hāna. Usually, the stops include: beach, waterfall, banana bread stand, food truck, maybe another beach, then back on the road. For years, there has been one sit-down restaurant in town, and it doesn't exactly warrant spending the night. But, with the recent opening of Paniolo Bar, East Maui finally has a bar people want to go to, myself included.

As I walked in the evening after its Aug. 19 soft opening, I found myself in a snazzy, modern bar with loungy white couches and long kou and mango wood-top tables. Food and beverage director Jose Cordero, who worked for Hyatt in San Francisco before moving to Hāna last year, designed the cocktail menu. The list of libations resembles those I've perused in cities like Portland — known for its high-caliber bar scene — but with East Maui themes. Instead of a paper plane, I sip a "Lindbergh's Plane," named for the aviation pioneer who hid out in Kīpahulu and is buried at Palapala Hoʻomau Church.

Each cocktail comes with a story. The Hāna Paniolo ($24), made with Patrón and house-made Hawaiian chili syrup, is a nod to Hawaiʻi's paniolo tradition, which began with Mexican and Spanish vaqueros in 1832. The vaqueros were brought in to deal with cattle that — with no predators — had run rampant across the islands after they were gifted to King Kamehameha 40 years prior. Hawaiians quickly took to the trade and became proficient at roping, riding and handling cattle.

The hotel is younger than the road, but not by much. In 1943, wealthy San Francisco entrepreneur Paul Fagan and his wife, Helene Irwin, a Hawaiʻi sugar heiress, bought the Kaeleku Sugar Company, a 10,000-acre defunct plantation in Hāna. The land they bought included a neighborhood where many of the plantation workers lived and two churches. Within a few years, the Fagans brought hundreds of cattle and started the Hāna Ranch, bringing paniolo culture to Hāna. Though paniolo culture is more nostalgic than active for most these days, the ranch still keeps more than 1,000 cattle and maintains a horse stable and a traditional arena where locals hold rodeos every October.

In 1947, the Fagans opened the Kaʻuiki Inn, a six-room ranch-style retreat in the center of town. Today, the hotel has 70 rooms spread out across 75 acres. Since Paul Fagan died in 1960, the hotel's ownership and its name have changed several times over the years, moving between multiple large companies, including Rosewood Corp., Passport Resorts and Travaasa Experiential Resorts, before Mani Brothers, a Los Angeles-based real estate group, bought it in 2019 and hired Destination by Hyatt to oversee operations.

A number of items on the menu harken back to paniolo fare, namely the pipikaula ($19), a traditional dish of semi-dried beef marinated with shoyu (soy sauce), garlic, ginger and brown sugar. When paniolo went into the mountains for days at a time, they packed canned food and pipikaula (pipi means “cow” and kaula means “hang,” as in hang-dried meat). The Hāna Paniolo cocktail, which pairs well with the pipikaula, comes in a tin can in homage to these humble treks into the East Maui mountains. For his pipikaula, chef Michelle Valez smokes kalbi-style marinated short rib then finishes it with a guava and shoyu glaze, and green onion. For a lighter pairing, try the coconut lime shrimp ceviche with pineapple-cucumber relish and ʻulu (breadfruit) chips ($21) with the Kaʻukiki Bloom ($23), an Aperol spritz made with hibiscus syrup.

Valez partnered with Maui Hub to incorporate local ingredients like Hamakua mushrooms and Molokaʻi sweet potatoes. Some ingredients are hyperlocal: the ʻulu flatbread is made with breadfruit from a tree on the property, and the beef comes from Maui Cattle Company, which Hāna Ranch sells to.

Originally a gun room, the space became the Paniolo Lounge in the '70s, when paniolo would in fact frequent the bar. Though still a comfortable place for a mai tai or a beer, the lounge became dated as the hotel's multiple owners neglected to update the space — at least throughout my lifetime. When COVID-19 hit, it shut down completely and remained closed until last year's holiday season. After an unimpressive holiday run, operations manager Kauka Morten decided it was time for a change.

Morten, who spearheaded the remodel, is a descendant of Hāna paniolo. While fine-tuning her pitch, she traveled to Mexico City, where she was enamored with the city's bar culture: speakeasies with low amber lighting, inventive craft cocktails and resonant background music. Though the space was thoroughly updated, she and general manager Alex DeChagas made sure the bar retained its living history by preserving iconic details like the mantel (which now sits above a digital fireplace) and the painting of paniolo above it. The ropes, cowboy hats and old photographs were gifted to the bar by local paniolo families. It's that vibe, mixed with nostalgia for Hawaiʻi's cowboy past, that's given locals a reason to put on their boots and get out of the house past sundown (when the secret menu opens up). "Paniolo culture is still very much alive in Hāna," says Morten. A few cowboys have come in to hear the live music already, and she suspects they'll be back soon for a line-dancing night, when the "Hāna Kickers" will take to the stage.

Hours: Open Wednesday to Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m.

Location: 5031 Hana Hwy, Hāna, HI 96713

Under 21 allowed until 7 p.m.

Live music Fridays and Saturdays