Komoda Store and Bakery is in Makawao, an upcountry Maui town at roughly 1,500 feet elevation, about twenty minutes from Kahului. It does not look like the most famous bakery in Maui. It looks like a small family store with a screen door and a display case. The cream puffs are gone by mid-morning. The donuts are gone by late morning. If you arrive at noon, you may be buying a loaf of bread.
What Komoda Is
A family bakery that opened in 1916, operated by the Komoda family for over a hundred years. Third and fourth generation. The baking starts at 3am. The store opens at 7am. The case is fully stocked at opening and emptied by the regulars — people who have been driving up from Kahului and Kihei for Komoda's cream puffs since they were children.
What To Order
- Cream Puffs — the anchor item, light choux pastry with a thick vanilla cream filling. Two is a breakfast. Four is a problem.
- Stick Donuts — long, crispy-edged raised donuts. The sugar coating is thin. The glaze is on the inside.
- Malasadas — not always available, but on Shrove Tuesday (Malasada Day) and other days they are fresh-made and the best on Maui.
- Cocoa puffs — chocolate cream puffs, available most days, sells out separately from the vanilla version.
- Guava chiffon cake — if available. Lighter than it looks.
Practical Notes
Komoda is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. They are open the other five days 7am–5pm, but realistically 7am–10am for the items people are coming for. Call ahead (808-572-7261) if you're making a special trip. They will tell you what's available.
The drive to Makawao is worth it for the cream puffs alone. While you're upcountry, the Makawao town area also has art galleries, a good hardware store, and the kind of small-town Maui character that the resort corridor has fully lost. Combine it with a drive through the Upcountry toward Haleakala if time allows.
The nearest plate lunch to Komoda (if you want a full Maui food morning) is Sam Sato's in Wailuku, about 20 minutes down the hill. Cream puffs at 7:30am, saimin at 11am. That is the Maui morning.