Finding Mamane Bakery in the sleepy cowboy town of Waimea is a little bit of a challenge.
Tucked just east (Hamakua side) of Big Island Brewhaus in the heart of Waimea, this gem sits back off the road. The turn is marked with a sign on Mamalahoa Highway.
The bakery, founded in 2005 by Eli Pessah, looks nondescript on the outside but inside it's bursting with just-baked heavenly options, and it smells yeasty and divine.
Eli, a baker for 40 years, is usually running the bustle in the back of the house, while his wife handles the front counter.
Those who find this sweet hole-in-the-wall, either through online reviews or by following tips from those in the know, will discover fabulous sourdough bread and bagels, cheese breads and sweetbreads, mango Danishes, pineapple muffins, and a honey bran muffin so celebrated in online reviews that one customer wrote she was “afraid to try anything else” for fear of falling in love with everything.
The fresh bread bowls and rye breads are featured on restaurant menus at Hina Raeʻs Café, Splasherʻs on Alii Drive, the Moon and Turtle Restaurant, Hilo Burger Joint, and Gillʻs Lanai. Solimeneʻs in Waimea features Mamane Bakery's ciabatta.
Hours: Closed Sunday; Mon.-Sat. 7:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.