Ka Lae Café

Ka Lae Coffee holds the southernmost coffee shop in the United States, in the center of Naalehu town on the Hawaii Belt Road, an hour past Volcano on the way to South Point. The shop opened in 2013 as a flower farm cafe, and in 2020 a local family, Luke and Chauntelle, took it over. They now pour 100% Ka'u coffee grown on their own family farm up the road. The room is small, screen-doored, and runs Monday through Saturday from 8 to 4. Smoothies and a tight sandwich menu round out the bar. The crowd is Kau ranchers, Naalehu residents on errands, and travelers who pulled off Highway 11 because there is nothing else open between Pahala and South Point. Order a drip cup of their estate Ka'u if you want coffee from the family that grew it. Order a smoothie and a sandwich if you have South Point on the itinerary and want lunch first.