Cool Cat Express, the compact, fast-casual spin-off of Lahaina’s longtime Cool Cat Café, has quietly reclaimed a corner of West Maui inside Whaler’s Village, serving up the chain’s burgers and hand-spun shakes to Kaanapali once again. The counter-service shop gives locals and visitors a quick fix for that Front Street flavor so many have missed since the 2023 wildfires.
General manager Tiffany Quilty told Aloha State Daily that Cool Cat Express opened at Whaler’s Village last summer and that many team members, displaced by the August 2023 Lahaina wildfires, were determined to get back to the west side. "Most have worked here for multiple years and weren’t ready to move on or move off-island," Quilty said. The Aug. 8, 2023 blaze that swept Front Street and much of historic Lahaina was widely reported at the time by national outlets such as AP.
Where to find it and hours
Cool Cat Express is tucked into the Whaler’s Village food court at 2435 Kaanapali Parkway and lists daily hours of 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., according to Cool Cat Cafe. Guests can walk up to the counter or order delivery and online through the restaurant’s ordering pages.
Menu highlights and prices
The slimmed-down menu sticks to the café’s greatest hits. Burgers include the Duke ($18), Don Ho ($17) and Luna ($19), alongside chicken picks such as the KP Crispy ($18) and the Lahainaluna ($19). Those prices and the shake lineup are posted on the restaurant’s online ordering page, per its menu on Toast, and the shop’s floats call out Roselani vanilla, a brand made on Maui since 1932. Roselani describes itself as a long-running island ice cream maker.
Cool Cat Express also offers a 20% kamaʻāina discount with a valid State of Hawaiʻi ID and validates parking at Whaler’s Village, the business told Aloha State Daily. Quilty said the team plans to rotate specials and occasionally slide in fan favorites from the full-service menu at the express counter.
What this means for Lahaina’s recovery
Small reopenings like Cool Cat Express are one part of a larger push to restore services and foot traffic to West Maui as rebuilding slowly ramps up. Major housing and infrastructure projects have recently advanced to support wildfire recovery, a development local officials and business owners say will help steady staffing and draw customers back to the area, according to reporting by Hawaii News Now.
For the latest hours and menu updates, check Cool Cat’s Express listing on the restaurant’s site. The Whaler’s Village spot gives residents and visitors a quick way to support a locally rooted business while Front Street’s long-term rebuild continues.
