Tip Top Motel, Cafe, And Bakery

This is a cool, off-the-beaten path spot, low-key, and almost exclusively visited by locals. A cafe adjacent to the motel, it serves a very busy brunch with original menu items like their famous oxtail soup, beef stew and banana macadamia pancakes.

The food was good overall, but not as inexpensive as you’d expect, given the location and setting. The oxtail soup is satisfying, but not life changing. The flavor of the stew is one-dimensional and flat. The pancakes were good - as expected. Food is served from a rolling cart and there’s also one that comes around with utensils and napkins. Service is very nice and attentive.

If you’re in the area and want to try something different, check it out.

(review of just the Cafe) A very hole in the wall, local kind of diner place but worth it if you want to try their oxtail soup (which they’re known for) and they give a pretty generous amount of meat. Their food feels like a home cooked, no frills meal. We also liked their pancakes, but not so much the French toast.

Note that this listing refers to both the Motel and the Cafe/Bakery. This causes the reviews not to be accurate, because as I read the reviews there are more for the restaurant than the Motel.

I am writing to review the Motel.

I will be nice and state the positives first. It is a good price and good location. Easy access to local restaurants and shopping. At around $165 per night, it is a price very difficult to pass up in Kauai. The room was overall clean.

Now for the negatives. The beds and bedding leave much to be desired. The bed is way too soft and I felt like I was sinking into quicksand. The pillows are super thin. The sheets are very old and thin.

The worst part of all is the noise at night. We had neighbors sat around with their doors open, hanging out on their porch smoking. At night, we heard them drinking, yelling, having intercourse, laughing and just being obnoxious. We probably are just unlucky that we had these people next door, and I admit it put a big damper on our perception of this Motel.

The lock on the door is only on the doorknob and it's about as strong as the average bathroom lock at your house. The doors are thin and could easily be kicked in.

The parking lot is kind of small and gets filled up. Some of the guests seem to enjoy parking over spots in a way that they take up multiple spots.

In my opinion, Google should force this business to have two listings, one for hotel, the other for the bakery/restaurant.

So delicious. Great breakfast, can't wait to go for lunch. Old school place, quality food. Fast service.

When we first saw the hash browns, we were a little worried they would be greasy, but they weren't! Crunchy and delicious.

Stunner. Fantastic Hawaiian breakfast for sure. Heavy local population so you know it’s legit. Ox tail soup cured my hang, small would have been fine tho, massive portion. Don’t miss this.

Had breakfast/ brunch at Cafe. No hotel stay.

Service was super friendly and attentive. They circulate with carts to refill water, coffee etc. As well as being food so there's always someone nearby if you have questions or need anything.

The menu was just what we were looking for: pancakes, Portuguese sausage, eggs, fried rice etc. Corned beef hash was 3 little patties which were good and had crisp outside. Banana pancakes were a big hit. Everything was good and fair priced!

Good mix of locals and tourists when we went around 10am on a weekday. Definitely worth repeat visit if you want a good, easy meal.

We stayed here for 3 nights and dined our last morning:
Motel stay: no fuss rooms, easy access, may seem 'sketchy' to some, but this was exactly what we needed no more no less. I'd you plan on spending a lot of time in the room then I would not recommend for you. If you are looking for low budget ANAZING location - go for it! Save your money for food and excursions!
Food: service was beyond pleasant, something we've been disappointed in up to this point. The pancakes were to die for - get the Mac banana!! Coffee was also great so don't worry about it being like the old diners in the mainland!

Went on Sunday at 12, was really looking forward to it being a visitor from Oahu. The rice was hard, bento was cold, we felt the food was very average. Also as first time visitors the only menu on the table was the breakfast menu and only realized later that they had a brunch menu that we didn't get to see. They were extremely busy so can't blame the staff for not being able to be more attentive. Feel bad with this review given all the other positive ones though it definitely was not impressive.

This is a great place to get delicious food at reasonable prices. Parking is tricky. Thought we'd be standing in a line but we were seated quickly. Great service.

Motel review: a great spot for the price. We’re here for one night to start our Kauai stay off right. It’s easy to get here from the airport late night arrival. Fall asleep fast (we arrived at ten pm and the motel was so quiet you could hear a pin drop). Wake up for a walk around Lihue. The bed is soft but I like it that way. The sheets are new and very soft. Thin pillows. Bathroom is serviceable with no issues. We turned the air conditioner on overnight then opened up the lever windows upon waking. I wouldn’t stay here for vacation, but it gets you what you need for a night or two. We will be back.