Flatbread Company - (Paia, HI) what I wish Crust were.

while in Hawaii I encountered a hippy town with two small streets of shops and restaurants (Paia)... many people wind their way through here on their way to Hana... from what I can tell, it seemed to have a decent number of places to eat, more so than the cheesy tourist traps found all over elsewhere.

anyway, we encountered a place called Flatbread Company... boy oh boy was it good. We later learned it was a very small chain (based out of Maine). apparently it was started by two laid back surfer guys who wanted better pizza. the idea is startling close to Crust: flatbreads that are as fresh and all natural as possible (though not certified). they use pesticide free produce, locally and organically grown. looking over their core values--and menu--you might think Crust stole all of their ideas from this place.

As you walk in you'll notice a giant dome shaped oven where all the action takes place:


We had a very Hawaiin pizza--pork, pineapple, and mango BBQ sauce. it was very, very, very tasty.




if you look closely you'll notice they've also managed to settle a fairly heated debate we have in my household: square cut or wedge cut... they've done both, half and half.

We liked it so much we went back a few days later on our way out of Hana. The other time we had a half Buffalo chicken (special of the day) and half mushroom onion something or other. It was good too, though the pork one better. You can order half and half of completely different pizzas at no charge, so why not...

Their mixed cocktails are great too. I liked a rasberry ginger mojito.. Very reasonably priced (organic food *in hawaii* less $ than Crust!) Servers are friendly and chatty. there were mostly local looking people there when we went, but we went by and peered in at night and the place was packed, presumably with a lot of tourists too.



...unlike my rather poor experience at Crust their pizzas were actually flavorful, cooked the same throughout... and cooked.

Flatbread Company
89 Hana Highway Paia, HI 96779
(808) 579-8989


http://flickr.com/photos/danebrian/tags/flatbreadcompany/
http://www.flatbreadcompany.com/2007Home.htm

We later learned it was a very small chain (based out of Oregan)

Actually, you have the wrong Portland (understandable in Hawaii). They're all in the northeast except for the Hawaii one; I've eaten at the one in Portland (Maine) and I agree, it's excellent hippie-natural pizza.

Mike G wrote:

We later learned it was a very small chain (based out of Oregan)

Actually, you have the wrong Portland (understandable in Hawaii). They're all in the northeast except for the Hawaii one; I've eaten at the one in Portland (Maine) and I agree, it's excellent hippie-natural pizza.

oh boy! poor maine. i bet they get that a lot :O