Kaua‘i Bakery is Still Our Favorite Sweet Spot
The beloved Kaua‘i Bakery in Līhu‘e hasn't changed much over the years, and that's just the way the new owners like it.
Tiana Sudaria grew up going to Kaua‘i Bakery. Her favorite was always the bakery’s oversize cinnamon rolls. And every family birthday featured its guava chiffon cake.
When she and her husband, Dante, heard it might be shutting down, they weren’t having it. An institution like Kaua‘i Bakery can’t close, they said. So they bought it.
“We were just so sad” when news spread of the possible shutdown, recalls the 39-year-old mother of four.
The Sudarias took over in January 2024, becoming the bakery’s fifth owners. The original bakery—then called Kaua‘i Cinnamons—was started by Harry Shigekane in the mid-1980s. (Back then it was best-known for its cinnamon rolls, hence the name.) The fourth owner was Gracie Galiza, a pediatrician who bought the 1,058-square-foot bakery in Kukui Grove Center in 2018 and remodeled it, adding wood floors and pretty banana leaf wallpaper to create one of the most Instagrammable spots in the mall.
The Sudaria family: Cato, Tiana, Jayden, Sesley, Dante and Gianna Sudaria.
Photo: Mami Wycoff
Not much has changed in the few months since the Sudarias took over—and that was the plan.
“We don’t have a background in baking,” says Tiana Sudaria, she works full-time at Marriott Vacations Worldwide (Sheraton Kaua‘i Resort). “This is something I’m not used to. But [Dante] is so ambitious and he saw this as an opportunity. We didn’t want [the bakery] to close down.”
The bakery’s bestsellers are still the malasadas, deep-fried, sugar-dusted yeast doughnuts brought to Hawai‘i by Portuguese immigrants well over a century ago. It sells, on average, about 760 malasadas a day. While the classic version—coated with white sugar—is the most popular, its filled versions rank high, too. Popular fillings include ube (a sweet, purple yam), custard and haupia (coconut). (Pro tip: Get the malasada flight, which features one of each of the 10 flavors. Because you’re on vacation.)
The bakery is known for its malasadas.
Photo: Mami Wycoff
The bakery is also known for its manapua, chewy steamed buns filled with meat or veggies. (It’s a local take on traditional Chinese bao.) Here, these fluffy rolls are filled with ham and cheese, hot dogs, kālua pork, and pepperoni and mozzarella cheese. (Get it with a side of marinara sauce. Trust me.)
One type of manapua you won’t see anywhere else—except on Kaua‘i—is the Flying Saucer. It’s the bakery’s take on the iconic Kaua‘i saucer-shaped sandwich, which consists of a sloppy Joe-like filling and American cheese between two slices of buttered white bread that’s cooked in a sandwich iron, giving it its distinctive shape. You’d be hard-pressed to find Flying Saucers anywhere but on Kaua‘i, where they originated. And in manapua form, it’s another level of deliciousness.
The bakery also sells turnovers; bread pudding; cakes; pies; and ensaymadas, a Filipino soft pastry covered with butter and sugar.
Oh, and of course, the original cinnamon rolls, Sudaria’s favorite pastry.
“I used to stop by after work, buy a cinnamon roll and keep it in my fridge at home, then eat it for breakfast the next day,” she says.
Lead baker Ida Leasiolagi working hte dough in the kitchen.
Photo: Mami Wycoff
Since taking over the couple has added a few new items—Filipino desserts like tambo tambo (made with glutinous rice balls, tapioca and sweet coconut cream) and cuchinta (steamed cakes made with all-purpose flour, tapioca flour and brown sugar and often topped with grated coconut), made by Dante Sudaria’s mom, Nurcy. And they’re experimenting with different fillings for the malasadas, too. When I was there, I got to sample a dobash-filled malasada—and I ate the whole thing in three bites.
It’s not easy running a bakery, especially with no prior experience, but the Sudarias are fully committed. Dante comes in regularly in the early hours—sometimes as early as 2 a.m.—to help roll and proof dough, before going to his other jobs. He’s also a banquet captain at the Grand Hyatt Kaua‘i Resort & Spa and runs an auto-tinting business. Tiana Sudaria stops by the bakery before heading to her hotel job, making sure the employees—many of whom have been working at the bakery for years—have what they need. And she comes in on Saturdays to wash dishes. Their two youngest daughters, Sesley and Gianna, are often in the front, too, filling boxes with pastries and greeting customers.
It’s a lot—raising a family of four, working multiple jobs—but the Sudarias love it.
“For me, just the reactions on people’s faces, the excitement, the satisfaction,” Tiana Sudaria says. “That’s what I love.”
3-2600 Kaumuali‘i Highway, Suite 1526, Līhu‘e, (808) 320-3434, mykauaibakery.com
This story was originally published in our Fall 2024 issue, which you can buy here. Better yet, subscribe and get HAWAIʻI Magazine delivered to right to your mailbox.
