Café Mambo & Picnics

Cafe Mambo sits at 30 Baldwin Ave in Paia, two blocks off the bay, in the same window-lined room locals have been ordering breakfast in for years. The kitchen runs from 8 to 8:30 most days, with breakfast and lunch into the afternoon, a happy hour wedge, and dinner after. Eggs, lemon ricotta pancakes, a breakfast burrito with habanero jelly that has its own cult, fresh crudo at night. Coffee comes off a La Marzocco. You will see windsurfers walking up from Ho'okipa, regulars who took the same window seat the last hundred mornings, and visitors taking a long pause before pushing on toward Hana. The room is bright, the music is reasonable, the people-watching on Baldwin runs all day. Order the breakfast burrito and a latte if you want the version of Paia that Paia keeps. Order the lemon ricotta pancakes if you came in slow and want a long table.