The Clay Oven

I almost feel bad diverting from all of the rave reviews, but, well, here we go anyways.
First the good! Contrary to most of the reviews, our wait was very short — 10 minutes tops, and this was around 6 on a Saturday. The ambiance was delightful & quaint, the tables were even decorated with tropical centerpieces. One of the workers was kind enough to bring us an extra coconut he had cut open, and the kids loved that.
We ordered the Cheesy Herb Breadsticks ($ 9) and the PorkyPine Pizza ($ 18) which was Kahlua pork, pineapple, cilantro, marinara, and mozzarella. I am not ever a pineapple-​on-​my-​pizza type of gal, and was poised to pick those suckers off real quick — DO NOT DO THAT. I’m serious. First, it was probably the best pineapple I’ve ever had. Second, the pizza needs the sweet taste to offset the slightly bitter taste of the crust (from the oven, I’m assuming). I’d give that pie a 4.5÷5 stars — it was pretty delicious. I was less of a fan of the breadsticks — whichever herbs they use are a little overpowering, and ultimately take away from the simplicity that good breadsticks should emulate. Subpar breadsticks at a pizza place make me sad and thus result in a loss of a star.
Ok now for the second star. I hate being negative and it pains me to write this, but for real, we have to talk about it. We ordered the Sweety Pie desert pizza (cinnamon & sugar breadsticks, cream cheese frosting) and you guys, it looked fab. We took it to go to eat back at camp, partly because we wanted it wrapped in the pretty banana leaves like the other to-​go orders. So here we are, four adults, having just put all the kids to bed, ready to nom some delish desert pizza. No. No. No. I’m not exaggerating when I say this should not even be on the menu. We all tasted it and we all agreed, it tasted like (I hate to say this, I’m so sorry…) vomit. The pizza tasted like vomit. Vomit pizza. I can’t make this up. It was awful.
SO. Definitely eat here for the pizza, but definitely do not order the desert pizza. You have been warned.

Really good pizza and it seems to be the «public house» of Hana with the locals providing some interesting conversation. At the time of writing it was $ 18 for a pie, just enough for two to share. It’s byob, or there are some very good fresh sodas at the fruit stand in the same lot.

I give this five stars for a number of reasons. The staff was all very friendly and kind. They are using local farm to table ingredients.
They are expensive BUT what isn’t on the islands and to drive that road to Hana into town for supplies… pain in the butt.
It is a worn down hut in the town but looking at the rest of the island this is the theme and it is how it is. Coming from the mainland and having travelled to many countries I had to adjust myself to their way of life. I am a guest here and should be the one to adapt as should others
There were locals there that is their hangout (there is nowhere else up there to go) they minded their business and all gathered happy to see friends they haven’t seen in awhile (you could tell from greetings)
They have bathrooms now that are up the walkway. They are real (not porta potties). They were very clean
Cute gifts or take home items
They are very green. No plates. You use your pizza tray and they have silverware for you and they do provide napkins
Great soda drinks there. We had the hibiscus with some ginger, awesome.
As far as water costing .25 that someone else posted that you get a plastic cup, those things cost money so a small .25 cent fee is minimal. They are not a non profit so even the small stuff that we take for granted costs money.
Pizza and breadsticks and salad awesome!
Also someone commented about the taste of the «woodfire» on the pizza. That is what adds the flavor and how clay ovens work… Kind of like a cast iron skillet. You don’t wash it with soap and water
This group does a great job, it does take time making the pizzas from scratch and special orders, I know we used to have pizza parties with our clay oven and it was hours of fun. You can bring your own drinks as well, not good if you are driving that road back so have a driver that has not been drinking.
Enjoy!

Cute little spot off Hana highway to get some wood fired clay oven pizza. The Hana highway pie was tasty with pesto pumpkin mozzarella and some other veggies. The pie has that subtle burnt taste even tho it doesn’t look or feel burnt, so if you’re into that definitely eat the pizza. Definitely recommend, nice ambiance and good pizza for Hawaii.

We found this cute clay oven pizza place when a few local Hana residents told us about it as we stopped along our drive. We planned to our trip to stay 1 night in Hana and it happened to be a Friday, so we lucked out in having the clay oven pizza night.
I found the road side pizza stand to be cute and completely what I expected it to be. We’d been told about the smoking section, so I was prepared for that. The locals were friendly when we arrived and redirected us when we accidently parked in the wrong direction. I was freezing, because it was cool, dark, and rainy, so a sweet girl directed me to come stand by the ovens– that’s how they warm up, so I should too.
We only waited about 20 minutes for our pie and breadsticks. And we took it to go, because again, I was freezing, and to be honest I thought it was so darned cute that they wrapped the pizzas in banana leaves. I wanted a photo of that!
The pizza was relish, the flavors were awesome, so fresh and nothing like home. I loved every bite. Yes there was a crispy taste to the bottom of the pizza, but it’s baked over an open flame, so maybe I just overlooked that? I was so happy with this dinner. $ 20 for dinner for 2 in Hawaii… I’ll take it!

Very fresh and great flavors. Slightly different than many traditional pizza ingredients — they use local produce and support local farms which is obviously a good thing. We got the Beware Keiki pizza and the farm salad and both were yummy. Cash only and BYOB.

The people are very nice, locally sourced ingredients, unique pizzas, service is good, the ambiance is great, and the food is ok. I loooovvveee to eat pizza all the time and did not have a hard time eating a whole pizza by myself here, but I have to be honest and say that this pizza is not the best I’ve ever had. Is it the best in Hana? Yes. It is the only place you can get pizza. When it’s the only one around and you love pizza, it’s good pizza.
Need to know: Time to order to pizza was 25 minutes. I didn’t think that was too bad. The salad was very flavorful — almost too many strong flavors. Also, the Pesto pizza I had was not very flavorful… while my husbands toppings (tomato, basil, cheese) was nice and flavorful. One flavor that we noticed both popped out (and the reason for the four star) is the slightly burnt flavor… which I think could be remedied by scraping the crumbs in the pizza oven after every pizza.

Found this place by complete accident. The started so we pulled over to put the top up. My wife smelled something really good so we investigated further and found this gem.
We ordered one of the specials. The girls took our order and talked to us about the area.
Perfect lunch time meal that we talked about during our whole trip. Wish they were open more than Friday and Saturday.

Only open Friday and Saturday but man is it good. Get there as soon as they open because the line fills up fast for this. Got the porky pine (pork, pineapple) and some amazing breadsticks. So good!

This place is magical! And only open on Fridays and Saturdays so plan accordingly. The salads we gorgeous and the pizza was delicious. There are a few tents with large tables and musicians playing a violin and guitar. Love…

The feel and atmosphere of this place really fit the environment. The food was great and the people were very friendly.
We did wait over an hour for our pizza, but sitting on the lawn in Hana more than made up for the wait. We had a great chat about woofing with one of the workers at the farm stand and just thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
The one thing we might do differently is to bring a deck of cards to help pass the time.
One of the best places to eat in Hana.

What a cool place! Great atmosphere with the outdoor service and seating. There is a serious hippie vibe here. Literally the first thing I overheard after getting out of the car was one middle-​aged hippie telling a twenty-​something hippie that it was her life’s goal to cover the world in tie-​dye. Ah, cliches!
Anyway, it was fairly crowded while we were there, but we got our pizza within about 30 minutes. The venison sausage pizza was amazing! So flavorful, and made with deer meat from Maui and other local ingredients. Prices were fair, by Maui standards, and the BYOB policy saves some money as well.

Loved everything about this place. The vibe, the people, and most importantly, the food.
As others have mentioned, be prepared to wait. As long as you’re okay with chilling for a bit with some beers or checking out the local goods in the market out front (I bought some amazing hot sauce there), it’s not a problem.
My husband and I shared a pizza and the breadsticks, and had quite a bit left over for a midnight snack.
Definitely my favorite meal in Hana.

Organic pizza is good but not great. This place has a great vibe. Bring ur own beer and just chill. However if u r in a rush go somewhere else cause it takes a while here. One pizza will feed about 3 people and salad are large.

Wow. Are you serious. The kids running this joint don’t know up from down.
I swear they were all stoned while working. I know Hawaii is all about laid back peace and love, but there’s a time and place man.
It took almost an hour and a half for one pizza to make it to us. We finally got it after we complained and demanded our money back. I planned a very meticulous trip on the road to hana so that we wouldn’t have to drive back in the dark. But because the people working were so unorganized, we ended up driving back through the dark anyways.
The place gets a second star because i will say that the pizza was good tasting, and that the banana leaf box was a fun concept. But good god, hopefully you’ll catch these kids on a good day, where they’ll actually be working.

My girlfriend and I were eager to try this place after we drove by earlier in the day and found out they weren’t open until 4:00PM. Most things in Hana have hours that aren’t the most convenient, but this place was worth the wait. Some posted that the pizza tastes like an ash tray. It is baked in a wood burning clay oven. So, it has a smokey flavor to the crust. The toppings we had were well complimented by the smokey flavor. The salad was incredible, filled with local greens and flavors. Some of which we’ve never tasted. If you get your pizza to go, it comes wrapped in banana leaves. I thought that was very cool. That is about as sustainable and local as it comes. The place also has a great outdoor ambiance that lends to strangers getting to chatting. It was a great experience, and I highly recommend stopping here if you’re in Hana.

If you are in Hana for a Friday or Saturday night, grab a six pack or bottle of wine, and go here for a pizza.
Fantastic farm fresh ingredients, baked in a clay over and wrapped in a banana leaf if you get it to go.
If the weather permits they even have live music.

Fresh, delicious pizza and salad served by friendly people. This is a unique experience, don’t miss it if you’re in Hana on the weekend.
— You’ll be eating outside on communal picnic tables among lush, tropical plants
— There are locals drinking, smoking and enjoying themselves
— There’s a non-​smoking seating area near the fruit stand that is well away from the smoking area
— Food prep does take a while, bring some drinks and enjoy yourself
— We split a salad and 2 pizzas between 4 people and it was the perfect amount

Reality check, folks: the Clay Oven is a nice option only because there aren’t too many others in Hana. The positive reactions on Unilocal are a wee bit over the top.
The pizza always looks good and is packaged up delightfully, but it’s routinely ruined by the overwhelmingly bitter flavor of remnant burnt charcoal/​wood in the oven. (Maybe if they swept out the oven on occasion?).
The bigger problem, unfortunately, is the wait. Yeah, it’s a collective, but they manage to take aimless meandering to an entirely new level. It might seem unfair to complain about such things in a tropical paradise, but it’s maddening to watch so many people do so little in so much time.
Expect a 90 minute wait, which should be plenty of time to learn who is dating whom within the collective, and to witness countless drunk driving episodes as people pull out onto the highway after having guzzled dozens of beers to help through the wait.
Word to the wise: call ahead, or don’t even bother if there are more than 5 – 7 pies ahead of you. Alternatively, bring a couple of six packs and join the crowd.

The Clay Oven is one of those hidden gems that you just happen upon when the stars align. That and when you’re driving counterclockwise on the road to Hana, pass through Hana and are starving after your hike. We first saw the sign for banana bread on the left and I as like, «TURN NOW!!!», and then saw the clay oven behind it in this stand. We first bought mac nut banana bread (they have tons of variety there) for $ 7, then moseyed over to the stand to see what was going on. Well, after watching them for a few minutes, coupled with the unknown of what lay ahead of us, we decided to grab a pizza and fill our tummies.
We ordered the pineapple sausage pizza for $ 18 and I think it was like a 14-​inch) and they made it right in front of us, pulling the dough, putting on the ingredients. Then they swept out the oven from the previous bake and stuck in our pizza. It wasn’t a super thin crust, but it wasn’t thick either. I could see the crust puffing up right in front of my eyes. She gave it about a minute, turned it around and it was done in another minute. I was amazed it was done that fast, but the guy said that once that clay oven is so hot, it’s super fast. It’s only when they first light it up that it might take like 4 or 5 minutes, but that’s still faster than Domino’s 30 minutes or less!
The staff there were really nice. They packaged it up in this completely biodegrable «box» so that our pizza sat on a piece of cardboard and was wrapped with two giant banana leaves. That was so cool. We were going to sit on the benches they had, but there were too many mosquitos around for my liking, so we bought a limeade from the banana bread stand and ate in the car.
I want to say it was about 8 pieces and we managed to finish the entire pizza. The pizza was delicious, and the fact that it bakes so quickly really retains and locks in the flavor of the toppings. K couldn’t stop talking about it and considered it the best meal of the trip. Would definitely go back again should we ever venture to Hana again!