Sharky’s Family Fun Center
41 E. Lipoa St. Kihei, HI 96753 808 874-5115 Find our Mauitime Dining Guide Listing Info HereThe whole romantic valentine’s day dinner scene changes when you have kids. Fine dining is not an option with my rambunctious four year old. So this year’s valentine’s day I took the path of least resistance and found a restaurant the kids will love and invited some friend to with children to have a fun adult evening with.
I put romance on the backburner and made plans to head over to Kihei’s new restaurant called Sharky’s Family Fun Center. This place is designed for children, the idea of Maui resident Craig Snyder, who decided to take it upon himself to make a wholesome family fun restaurant, something both kids and adults would like. There are wall murals, games like dance revolution, basketball, and skeeball, and a giant pirate ship that kids can climb into but parents cannot. There is a (xbox and/or wii?) video gaming room, and ticket redemption zone.
When we get there our group is seated at the giant picnic bench table carved from a log. Its a little difficult to negotiate the benches but once I am settled in I am very comfortable. Their dining room has lots of other regular size tables to accommodate families as well. My server brings us a pitcher of water and cups and suggests the jumbo buffalo wings ($10.95) as a starter. I go for it. The wings come in several different flavors teriyaki, mild, hot or shark bite. Owner Craig Snyder explains Shark Bite is his personal favorite but we go for the hot. The wings were really tasty, the crunchy skin and juicy meat underneath were appropriately spicy and saucy, and the blue cheese dressing they are served with really compliments it. The little ones grabbed the carrot sticks and celery and the dads barely got a taste.
Their menu does not have a kids section, rather the concept is they made a list of dishes that is a bit like a kids menu for everyone. French fries ($4.95) and cheese bread grace the list of appetizers, the pasta has a small size for all of the dishes and includes a pasta and butter dish ($3.95). There is a list of sandwiches and you can order peanut butter and jelly ($4.95) served with fruit cocktail. We won’t tell the kids but there are some items that really were meant for adults. Like the signature stuffed burgers ($10.95). We ordered one with swiss, mushroom and jalepenos. You know that the patty is homemade because it just got stuffed to your specifications. The burger looked huge and was oozing with the cheese and mushrooms.
We also ordered the large pizza ($15.99 with 5 toppings). You can choose your sauce and your toppings. The sauces are tomato, pesto, alfredo, garlic oil or BBQ. We went the traditional route with a pepperoni and mushroom on half and ham and pineapple on the other half. The large comes out in a large rectangular pan, like a cookie sheet, but feeds a lot of people. Our group gave the pizza a thumbs up, and so did our neighbors who also ordered one. The toppings were delicious.
The evening was rather smooth, with the kids loving the pirate ship and gaming area. They were scooping up tickets by the handful at the games. They were really excited and having a terrific time. Sharky’s is working on getting their liquor license and plans to serve beer in the future. In the meantime, the food and fun is a very worthwhile package overall and I plan to come back just for more buffalo wings.
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