My husband and I chose Cafe Julia as our wedding location. The venue was beautiful, the food was delicious, Elijah and his team were amazing. We were truly amazed and had such a wonderful wedding night. Highly recommend this venue to others, it is a hidden gem.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Andra Sakamoto
Cafe Julia, you have my whole heart!
We got married here a month ago. Elijah and the Cafe Julia team were an absolute pleasure to work with. Two years ago, we decided to check out the cafe to generally scope out the space. I think we were the only non-business folk visiting the cafe during business hours. But we had SUCH a great time. Our waitress was so lovely, she helped introduce us to someone on the team who could show us around since Elijah wasn’t there that day. We were honestly sold just based on the customer service we received that day. Meeting Elijah was just a formality at that point!
Even after we decided to book, Elijah was gracious with his time - offering us recommendations and the chance to lock in rates before our wedding (although it was still a year and a half out - we were engaged for two!). Closer to the date, we revisited our menu selections and wanted to make it a little more interactive and fun for our guests. We asked if Elijah would allow us to shift to a live-action buffet, which seemed to be new on the 2025 menu. He was open to it and also allowed us to order a few side orders of vegetarian/Celiac disease-friendly meals for our dietary restricted friends and family which would not impact our selections for our main buffet (this was completely voluntary and incredibly gracious! Their staff also came to ask who specifically needed these meals, and I watched them hand deliver them to the guests directly which was so, so sweet and thoughtful!!) The food, by the way, was THE most raved about thing at our wedding. No regrets honestly on the live-action stations - the crispy pork belly baos and the prime rib carving stations were an absolute hit!! The staff ALSO brought out tapas-style plates of EVERYTHING on our menu to our sweetheart table (portions for the both of us!) Our table was impressively overflowing, and just when we thought they brought out everything, they came out with MORE food! I am beyondddd over the moon with their service and how well they executed everything from the ceremony set-up to the ceremony-to-dinner courtyard flip to making everything seemingly flawless.
We had no rain on the weather forecast for the day, but I think my dad came and blessed us with his spiritual presence because right after we got married, it began sprinkling enough for us to notice and come outside.. Only for the clouds to part and a double rainbow to reveal itself! After dinner, we had another light sprinkle and Elijah and team rolled out a rack of gorgeous white umbrellas which they allowed guests to use until the drizzle passed. My friends thought we were well-prepared for the chance of rain, but little did they know that we hadn’t even considered it to be a chance. This was ALL Cafe Julia’s preparedness :)
The space was PERFECT for our wedding - I can’t imagine having had it anywhere else. It was large enough to freely move about without feeling tight, but closed in enough that it felt like a small, intimate wedding (which was my dream - I was actually very worried about it feeling too big!).
Elijah, Cafe Julia, the team: Thank you! I cried the majority of my wedding program, and now I’m crying reminiscing about what an absolute dream of a wedding this was. Thank you for celebrating us and for being a part of such a core memory. We WILL be back for years to come :) <3
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Pam Holt
This was our second attempt to eat here. We found it closed the first time, and this time they refused us service. They had a large party and had no room for 2 more. My advice is to call ahead and make sure they are open to the public before wasting your time visiting. The building and gardens are lovely, but the staff is inflexible and lacking the Aloha spirit.
Atmosphere: 1
Service: 1
Mike Nelsen
One of our best finds in Maui.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
John Buckingham
Beautiful place, excellent service and lunch was exceptional. Highly recommended !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jayana Alvarez
My husband and I cannot recommend Café Julia enough. We had a lovely wedding there this past July. The venue is so beautiful and filled with greenery! We only needed some floral arrangements and small table decorations. The food was delicious... Our guests are still raving about our dinner selections. Elijah, the event manager, made everything super easy leading up to and the day of the wedding. Since we live in California, we coordinated everything via email.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Making Moments That Matter
If you are visiting the Lolani Palace in Oahu, check out Cafe Julia for lunch. They are located in the beautiful and historic YWCA building. Sitting in their nice open air dining space felt like we were transported back to Colonial Hawaii. We had their Seafood Risotto and the Loco Mocco and both dishes hit the spot!! Finish with their bread pudding and you will be happy you did.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Rudy Lay
Cafe Julia was a dream venue for our wedding reception in Honolulu. Since this was a destination wedding, our entire planning process was done remotely and we did not see Cafe Julia until we arrived on Oahu the week of our wedding. While this probably sounds stressful, our experience working with Elijah made the planning process incredibly smooth, and the venue is as beautiful, if not more beautiful, than it appears in photos.
While working with Elijah, he was responsive to all of our questions and provided us with a list of vendors who often work at Cafe Julia. We selected most of our vendors from that list and had great experiences working with them as well.
On the actual day of the wedding, the team at Cafe Julia was wonderful. We highly recommend Cafe Julia; it was the perfect place for our wedding reception.
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Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
E M
Great food great service, striking building designed by the architect of Hearst Castle. Don't miss this one.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
K Z
Elijah and the Cafe Julia team made the whole wedding process so easy. Elijah is responsive, detailed, and organized. The cost is affordable and more than fair for what Elijah and staff will do for you. They go out of their way to make sure you're taken care of. They do the entire setup and breakdown, and also help you set up anything custom like a photo booth. On the day of, they look out for you during the ceremony/reception and pack up everything for easy pickup the next day. The food and drinks are delicious. All the staff are so friendly and attentive, especially the bartenders who worked non stop for us. I cannot recommend Elijah and the Cafe Julia team enough for your Hawaii wedding.
The salad was so fresh! A bit busy and crowded but I liked the atmosphere here.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Nidia G Simental
This is a historic venue that is so beautiful and perfect for wedding it is amazing.
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
Jennifer Ecklund
This is a cute little restaurant and the food was good. I just had the simple chicken ceasar salad which was good, nothing super special but was good. The atmosphere is really cute and beautiful. I went there with a friend during my work lunch break. Service was quick which is great when you're on a tight schedule but we did make reservations which I do recommend. They were popular. I would like to go back to try their other menu items.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Tanya
We're so happy we picked Cafe Julia for our ceremony and reception venue! Elijah, the event manager, was so helpful from the moment we inquired about hosting our wedding here. We were looking for something different than a beach wedding or hotel banquet hall. Cafe Julia was exactly what we were looking for; a gem in downtown. Our budget didn't really allow for a wedding planner/coordinator so what drew us in to Cafe Julia was that 1) a coordinator wasn't required, and 2) Elijah assured us the staff are very helpful so one wouldn't be necessary. With a year to plan, along the way he made sure to check on our progress and sent reminders for due dates. On the day of, our banquet captain was so gracious to work with. He and the staff helped set up our reception tables with decorations we had brought ourselves. Our wedding party took cues from him when it came to navigating the venue and sticking to our timeline. The staff made sure that we ate dinner, packed leftover plates and our cake to take home, and provided guests umbrellas when it started to drizzle. We had a totally stress free experience getting married here! We came out feeling so lucky and will never stop singing praises for Cafe Julia.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
B
We couldn't have asked for a better venue to have our destination wedding! Café Julia was perfect for our ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. The courtyard was gorgeous, shaded and spacious. Elijah was an absolute gem.
The food was fantastic; we opted for the three entree buffet with cocktail hour appetizers and desserts. Our guests raved about the grilled meat, Korean short ribs and furikake market fresh fish. For the bar, we chose the $15.00 USD/guest corkage option. They also allowed us to bring a shaved ice vendor and cake in.
Staff were great, saving us appetizers, serving dinner and packing leftovers. They gave us a gift (engraved wooden clock) to commemorate our special day; incredibly thoughtful and sweet. Highly recommend Elijah and his team!
My husband and I chose Cafe Julia as our wedding location. The venue was beautiful, the food was delicious, Elijah and his team were amazing. We were truly amazed and had such a wonderful wedding night. Highly recommend this venue to others, it is a hidden gem.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cafe Julia, you have my whole heart!
We got married here a month ago. Elijah and the Cafe Julia team were an absolute pleasure to work with. Two years ago, we decided to check out the cafe to generally scope out the space. I think we were the only non-business folk visiting the cafe during business hours. But we had SUCH a great time. Our waitress was so lovely, she helped introduce us to someone on the team who could show us around since Elijah wasn’t there that day. We were honestly sold just based on the customer service we received that day. Meeting Elijah was just a formality at that point!
Even after we decided to book, Elijah was gracious with his time - offering us recommendations and the chance to lock in rates before our wedding (although it was still a year and a half out - we were engaged for two!). Closer to the date, we revisited our menu selections and wanted to make it a little more interactive and fun for our guests. We asked if Elijah would allow us to shift to a live-action buffet, which seemed to be new on the 2025 menu. He was open to it and also allowed us to order a few side orders of vegetarian/Celiac disease-friendly meals for our dietary restricted friends and family which would not impact our selections for our main buffet (this was completely voluntary and incredibly gracious! Their staff also came to ask who specifically needed these meals, and I watched them hand deliver them to the guests directly which was so, so sweet and thoughtful!!) The food, by the way, was THE most raved about thing at our wedding. No regrets honestly on the live-action stations - the crispy pork belly baos and the prime rib carving stations were an absolute hit!! The staff ALSO brought out tapas-style plates of EVERYTHING on our menu to our sweetheart table (portions for the both of us!) Our table was impressively overflowing, and just when we thought they brought out everything, they came out with MORE food! I am beyondddd over the moon with their service and how well they executed everything from the ceremony set-up to the ceremony-to-dinner courtyard flip to making everything seemingly flawless.
We had no rain on the weather forecast for the day, but I think my dad came and blessed us with his spiritual presence because right after we got married, it began sprinkling enough for us to notice and come outside.. Only for the clouds to part and a double rainbow to reveal itself! After dinner, we had another light sprinkle and Elijah and team rolled out a rack of gorgeous white umbrellas which they allowed guests to use until the drizzle passed. My friends thought we were well-prepared for the chance of rain, but little did they know that we hadn’t even considered it to be a chance. This was ALL Cafe Julia’s preparedness :)
The space was PERFECT for our wedding - I can’t imagine having had it anywhere else. It was large enough to freely move about without feeling tight, but closed in enough that it felt like a small, intimate wedding (which was my dream - I was actually very worried about it feeling too big!).
Elijah, Cafe Julia, the team: Thank you! I cried the majority of my wedding program, and now I’m crying reminiscing about what an absolute dream of a wedding this was. Thank you for celebrating us and for being a part of such a core memory. We WILL be back for years to come :) <3
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This was our second attempt to eat here. We found it closed the first time, and this time they refused us service. They had a large party and had no room for 2 more. My advice is to call ahead and make sure they are open to the public before wasting your time visiting. The building and gardens are lovely, but the staff is inflexible and lacking the Aloha spirit.
Atmosphere: 1
Service: 1
One of our best finds in Maui.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Beautiful place, excellent service and lunch was exceptional. Highly recommended !
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
My husband and I cannot recommend Café Julia enough. We had a lovely wedding there this past July. The venue is so beautiful and filled with greenery! We only needed some floral arrangements and small table decorations. The food was delicious... Our guests are still raving about our dinner selections. Elijah, the event manager, made everything super easy leading up to and the day of the wedding. Since we live in California, we coordinated everything via email.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
If you are visiting the Lolani Palace in Oahu, check out Cafe Julia for lunch. They are located in the beautiful and historic YWCA building. Sitting in their nice open air dining space felt like we were transported back to Colonial Hawaii. We had their Seafood Risotto and the Loco Mocco and both dishes hit the spot!! Finish with their bread pudding and you will be happy you did.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cafe Julia was a dream venue for our wedding reception in Honolulu. Since this was a destination wedding, our entire planning process was done remotely and we did not see Cafe Julia until we arrived on Oahu the week of our wedding. While this probably sounds stressful, our experience working with Elijah made the planning process incredibly smooth, and the venue is as beautiful, if not more beautiful, than it appears in photos.
While working with Elijah, he was responsive to all of our questions and provided us with a list of vendors who often work at Cafe Julia. We selected most of our vendors from that list and had great experiences working with them as well.
On the actual day of the wedding, the team at Cafe Julia was wonderful. We highly recommend Cafe Julia; it was the perfect place for our wedding reception.
1 deleted message in this conversation. View message or delete forever.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great food great service, striking building designed by the architect of Hearst Castle. Don't miss this one.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Elijah and the Cafe Julia team made the whole wedding process so easy. Elijah is responsive, detailed, and organized. The cost is affordable and more than fair for what Elijah and staff will do for you. They go out of their way to make sure you're taken care of. They do the entire setup and breakdown, and also help you set up anything custom like a photo booth. On the day of, they look out for you during the ceremony/reception and pack up everything for easy pickup the next day. The food and drinks are delicious. All the staff are so friendly and attentive, especially the bartenders who worked non stop for us. I cannot recommend Elijah and the Cafe Julia team enough for your Hawaii wedding.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
The salad was so fresh! A bit busy and crowded but I liked the atmosphere here.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
This is a historic venue that is so beautiful and perfect for wedding it is amazing.
Atmosphere: 5
Service: 5
This is a cute little restaurant and the food was good. I just had the simple chicken ceasar salad which was good, nothing super special but was good. The atmosphere is really cute and beautiful. I went there with a friend during my work lunch break. Service was quick which is great when you're on a tight schedule but we did make reservations which I do recommend. They were popular. I would like to go back to try their other menu items.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
We're so happy we picked Cafe Julia for our ceremony and reception venue! Elijah, the event manager, was so helpful from the moment we inquired about hosting our wedding here. We were looking for something different than a beach wedding or hotel banquet hall. Cafe Julia was exactly what we were looking for; a gem in downtown. Our budget didn't really allow for a wedding planner/coordinator so what drew us in to Cafe Julia was that 1) a coordinator wasn't required, and 2) Elijah assured us the staff are very helpful so one wouldn't be necessary. With a year to plan, along the way he made sure to check on our progress and sent reminders for due dates. On the day of, our banquet captain was so gracious to work with. He and the staff helped set up our reception tables with decorations we had brought ourselves. Our wedding party took cues from him when it came to navigating the venue and sticking to our timeline. The staff made sure that we ate dinner, packed leftover plates and our cake to take home, and provided guests umbrellas when it started to drizzle. We had a totally stress free experience getting married here! We came out feeling so lucky and will never stop singing praises for Cafe Julia.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We couldn't have asked for a better venue to have our destination wedding! Café Julia was perfect for our ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. The courtyard was gorgeous, shaded and spacious. Elijah was an absolute gem.
The food was fantastic; we opted for the three entree buffet with cocktail hour appetizers and desserts. Our guests raved about the grilled meat, Korean short ribs and furikake market fresh fish. For the bar, we chose the $15.00 USD/guest corkage option. They also allowed us to bring a shaved ice vendor and cake in.
Staff were great, saving us appetizers, serving dinner and packing leftovers. They gave us a gift (engraved wooden clock) to commemorate our special day; incredibly thoughtful and sweet. Highly recommend Elijah and his team!
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