Malia’s

I have Never, ever had a bad meal at Malia’s. If you are looking for a sure-​fire place to have lunch or dinner, you will not be disappointed. Quality, flavor and ingredients are top shelf.
Conveniently located in the heart of downtown Aiken on the ‘main drag’ makes it easy to find. Everyone who has lived in Aiken and enjoys good food knows about Malias. You won’t be disappointed.

My husband and I made an 8p reservation on a Friday night to celebrate a big occasion. We’re new to the area and were told Malia’s was the best place in town. Our server was very sweet — no complaints there. And the food was ok — not bad by any means, but not impressive either. We both come from large, international «foodie» cities so maybe we just have different expectations? Don’t mean to sound like a jerk saying that. However, our only real complaint was shortly after 9p the place seriously shut down. We were still finishing dessert and the music was turned off, the line cooks were all hanging around and even the chef was chilling at a table doing paperwork. We felt rushed and I thought it was inconsiderate since we weren’t finished and had spent a considerable amount on the meal! I realize they close at 9p on Fridays (although I think that is super early) but if you’re taking 8p reservations, you should allow people an hour and a half to eat peacefully. All of that being said, I definitely want to give this place another shot since we continue to hear such good things.

First I have to get my one gripe out of the way. The have oysters, but don’t offer crackers or any sort of vessel for them. This may sound like a pedestrian complaint but let’s be honest, some of the best restaurants in the world always have crackers with their oysters, so I don’t think it’s that bad of a request. Other than that, I have always really enjoyed my food at this place. The waiters have always been very nice and helpful. Once my boyfriend and I went there and he wasn’t overly impressed (that’s when I found out the oyster downfall) but I have always been very happy with my experiences here.

This has to be the best place in Aiken. Everything was perfect and we were a very large group. See you in two years!

Some of the best clam chowder I have had. I had a business lunch here and the enviroment was perfect to have a good conversation.

Precious’ favorite place to eat in Aiken — and deservedly so. Everything is first-​rate. I had a fried oyster naan flatbread (po-​boy with an Indian twist!). Precious had a spinach and mushroom crêpe. Both were first-​rate. Nice wine list. Our waiter said the owner took pride in trying new things on the wine list. Nice touch.
Very nice outdoor seating behind the restaurant on nice days.
I won’t take a star off but the acoustics are wretched for those of us with poor hearing. Very high ceilings with no acoustical material make conversation challenging when the place gets filled.

Malia’s is the place that you go in Aiken to celebrate special occasions. Our special occasion? Buying a house!
Malia’s looks fairly small from the outside, but looks are deceiving. The restaurant seems to keep going and going like a tunnel. Low lighting. Smooth jazz music playing. The service is exactly what you expect from a higher class establishment such as this: highly attentive, polite, and the waiters follow proper etiquette.
We were a bit on the cheap side and did not order any appetizers or drinks. However, the beverage menu was most impressive. I’m a craft beer fanatic and I was glad to see several good options on the menu. Malia’s also has outstanding bourbons, wine, etc. I noticed a few specialty cocktails (one even made with coffee from Aiken’s own New Moon Café).
I ordered the braised beef short rib. The short rib looked small at first but was more than filling. Perfectly cooked and juicy. I detected hoisin sauce, red wine, and other herbs and spices. The short rib was served with mashed potatoes and sauteed vegetables. Delicious food. My wife ordered the «burger» (which really wasn’t a burger at all). However, it was also quite tasty.
We will definitely come back here again. .. but only in special occasions. Most dishes hover around the $ 18 – 20 range (some more, some less). Some of the bourbons alone were $ 18. While we love eating quality food, the wallets of these two young professionals are a bit too thin!

Love this place (except I often forget they’re closed Monday’s!). Menu always interesting fresh, atmosphere warm and thankfully not screaming loud like the trend in too many restaurants today. Best part? ALWAYS fresh ingredients, interesting combinations, prepared with love and care! Went light with simple tossed salad and cold linguine/​smoked salmon small plate. Was reminded immediately why I love this place: true foodies who make even a tossed salad pop with fresh ingredients, light Italian dressing, good fresh bread and real butter… why is this so hard for everybody else? Linguine/​salmon had a citrus thing going on that just worked. Topped off with coffee (they need to carry espresso) and fresh Dubose Farms SC peaches in a crisp w/​big cookie pieces and ice cream… still in bliss. Hard to try anything else in Aiken after this!

5-​stars no doubt. The cold peach soup was the BOMB! Our family was very impressed and pleased with the service (our server was Sydney) and the FOOD was EXCELLENT. The SaleebScore was FOOD: ¹⁰⁄₁₀; Service: ¹⁰⁄₁₀ and Value 9:10. We paid far more on this trip for food for much less quality and service. This was voted by the family as an A++. And this was just the LUNCH Menu. Atmosphere is upscale and quieter than average.

Everything we had was fantastic. Lobster, shrimp, pork, all delicious!!! The service was great and the wine selection was small but varied. The space seemed small from the outside, but once we got In and got seated we realized how big it was. We had a table of 10 and they were extremely accommodating with separating checks and getting us all at a great table.

My wife loves this place for lunch. I do too. It started as 4 tables in the back of a dress shop about 12 years ago. They expanded. The dresses are gone but the style remains.
Menu changes but there is always something for everyone.
Slow pace. Relax. Enjoy. Reasonable lunch prices.
Friendly staff except sometimes the greeter gets flustered when they are busy. Beware that their 2:00 closing on saturday is pretty firm. Get there by 1:30.
She gets chicken and I get the burger. Take your time. Turn off your phone. Gaze into the eyes of the one you love and have a nice lunch date.

This place has exceptional attention to detail. The cocktails are prepared with an obsessive detail oriented approach. The raw oysters were high quality and the lamb chops were prepared with classically trined expertise. This place is exceptional irrespective of location but somehow it is in Aiken, SC?

Plan to come early if you want a table. Small cute place that serves really good and inventive food. Everything is fresh and tasty the décor is upscale and so are the prices. Like all of Aiken is is quite casual. pasta and sauce is amazing the burger is expensive but wonderful

Malia’s is easily one of the best restaurants in town. The food is fantastic– their lunch menu changes regularly and you can always find a tasty option. A great option for lunch, dinner, or just cocktails! They recently upgraded their bar and it is one of the hidden gems in town. Their bartender mixes up delicious drinks, definitely sit at the bar one night and ask him to make you something special.

Malia’s is always good but dinner last night was superb! I had the pretzel encrusted chicken breast. Can’t believe how moist it was on the inside and crisp on the outside. My sister had the panko salmon which was also cooked to perfect. The buttermilk pie was the freshest I’ve ever had with a fab flaky crust and the raspberry pie was superb. Really an excellent meal!

Went for dinner and enjoyed everything immensely. Great service, appetizers, mains, and dessert. Awesome mixed drinks too! We will be back.

Malia’s is great for a working lunch or a quiet evening dinner. I’ve been here several times and the food, atmosphere, and service are always impeccable. On this occasion I had the edamame cakes over a spinach salad. The Wasabi sauce was a perfect compliment to the cakes. It’s nice to have great vegetarian options available in a small town. Only thing keeping me from giving 5 stars is the bread; it wasn’t very good. It was hard, almost burned and lacked flavor. I opted for the minestrone soup for my appetizer rather than eat the bread. You can order a half bowl of soup, but it isn’t mentioned on the menu. Ask your server.

Cute little spot for dinner! Some reviews about waitresses and bad moods? They were very nice and greeted me with smiles and even partook in my joking. Now, I don’t know if it’s because I’m a striking, Hansom man… ok, it probably is because of that, that they were so nice.
The menu is a little upscale… pricey…but not for a baller like me, ha. I almost settled on the Salmon (love me some seafood) but decided on the burger as it came with soup as a side if I chose. I wanted the black bean soup… Boom!!! So glad I did. It was amazing, very flavorful and come is a nice size bowl… let me say again, it tasted great! The bread they being before the meal made this soup fantastic!
The place filled up very quickly after my arrival just after 5:30pm-a food sign of a great establishment.
The sweat tea I ordered was right on point.
The burger was pretty good, definitely thick and cooked very nicely. I didn’t realize it came with onions, rather I overlooked it on the menu. I think it would have been a really good burger if I would have asked for no onions.
Try the black bean soup.
Overall, if you want to impress your date with a very nice dinner, nice ambience, great wait staff, excellent food, being her here, you will both appreciate it!

While the waitresses at this location always seem like they are in a bad mood, the food is spot on. I have tried multiple chicken dishes, an asian pork, their strawberry soup, and their shrimp and grits and have never had a complaint. The usually bring bread before the meal, and it has been different each time, which I like. Their shrimp and grits (my most recent meal) were almost the best I have ever eaten (and I eat a lot). I liked that the shrimp had great size to them and their grits were creamy, but still had substance to them. The tasso gravy was delicious, and there was no mushrooms or peppers (a hard thing to find with shrimp and grits it seems).
The interior is nice, making me slightly underdressed in jeans and a tee, but no one ever seems to mind.

I’ve eaten here for both lunch and dinner and each time have had a great experience. My waiter both times was David. He was prompt, accurate friendly and he knew the menu.
The atmosphere is welcoming to all but is perfect for casual to fine diners. The décor is modern. In addition to the dining area they also offer a sit down bar and outside seating.
For lunch I had chicken over salad. It was very good. For my diner visit I had the boneless beef rib. The meat was so tender it fell apart. The sauce had a light smoke flavor. It was delicious. The veggies that came with it were fresh and cooked al dente.
For dessert I ordered the raspberry pie ala mode. Just do it!