It’s been about 15 years since I called Kailua home and it’s been interesting to watch its transformation from sleepy beach town to trendy enclave. Back then, the biggest restaurants could seat 60 to 80, and that was enough. I never would have believed it possible for a 240-seat restaurant like Maui Brewing Co. to exist, much less fill up so easily.

Maybe there’s some truth in the dream or mantra, “If you build it they will come,” because that’s what’s happening.

The new restaurant is in the Lau Hala Shops complex, formerly home to Macy’s, and Maui Brewing brings a lively, fun vibe that includes live music from 4 to 6 p.m. daily, overlapping with the early happy hour from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. It feels like Waikiki in Kailua, without the parking concerns — a free, multistory lot is just outside. Some people will take issue with the decibel level that comes with a packed house; others love to be part of a crowd.

IT WAS hard to convince my foodie friends to join me here. Not only did it entail crossing the mountain to the Windward side, but they have an aversion to the assumed mass-oriented, generic food that restaurants of this size and style usually entail. But I had sampled the breakfast fare at Maui Brewing’s Waikiki location a year ago and was impressed by the fresh ingredients, enough to give this new restaurant a shot.

People seem to forget that — though it is now one of the largest craft beer producers in Hawaii — Maui Brewing had humble roots as a brewpub started by Garrett Marrero and his wife, Melanie Oxley, in Kahana, Maui, in 2005. Last year, the two were named national Small Business Persons of the Year by the United States Small Business Administration, in recognition of Maui Brewing’s expansion into markets across the nation, as well as its charitable endeavors.

All the while, the company has maintained its roots in craft brews, with artisan food to match. Yes, at first glance, you might just see standard nachos, burgers and chicken wings. But taste, and you will find the nachos layered with salsas drawn from chef Matt Thompson’s time living and working in Oaxaca, Mexico. Although he comes to Hawaii from Las Vegas’ Top of the World restaurant in the Stratosphere Casino, he fits right into the mindset of supporting local farmers, and the menu reflects those sustainable goals with fresh fare throughout.

Kailuans have discovered this is the place to be for happy hour, when all beer is $2 off (regular prices are $6.75 to $7.25) and cocktails are $3 off ($10.50 to $12.50). A bunch of the most popular appetizers are half off.

An $8 order of chicken wings arrived with a generous 15 pieces, the same as what you’d get for $16 during regular hours. They come in a choice of Buffalo-style or huli-style, an unusual pineapple and Thai-style spicy chili sauce that works. I’m not typically a fan of sweet-sour or hot-sour flavors, but the balance was perfect, and a welcome change from typical shoyu-based sauces. You can cut the sweet-sour with an accompanying tzatziki sauce.

Also a value at any time is a mountain of nachos ($16 dinner, $8 happy hour). The intention is to enjoy this while sampling the many brews with a bunch of friends, but if only two of you are dining, this platter with cheese, guacamole and sour cream is enough for a full meal. If the salsas offered are not enough, ask for an additional handcrafted sauce such as Sriracha aioli, guava BBQ sauce, or Chuy’s hot sauce of garlic and roasted serrano peppers.

A trio of pork belly bao, with pork sourced from Waianae’s 2 Lady Farmers, is also a deal at happy hour ($7.25). Thompson gets the local flavor profile right with a combination of crunchy kim chee cucumber and plum sauce on a pillowy housemade bao.

Calamari ($15) also makes a good, shareable starter, with tender fingers that are crispy on the outside and sprinkled with furikake.

If you have room after sampling several appetizers, the entree menu is worth exploring, too, starting with a juicy jalapeno-bacon burger ($17.50) the bacon made in-house, with a wedge of fried avocado, jack cheese and cilantro mayo.

I’M GENERALLY not a fan of katsu, because the payoff never beats the cost of digesting deep-fried food. The cutlets are usually dry and flavorless without a heavy dose of sauce. I took a look at the chicken katsu sandwich ($16) here, said “Oh no,” in reaction to the dry-looking fillet. But I emerged with a huge, “Yummmmm,” in response to the katsu — tender, juicy and flavorful on its own, but with plenty of wow factor when combined with lemon-curry crunchy slaw, Sriracha mayo and tonkatsu sauce.

Many restaurants rely on frozen fish for fish tacos, but here fresh grilled fish — marlin when I visited — goes into a quartet of tacos ($22) utilizing Thompson’s own corn tortillas, roasted tomatillo-avocado salsa, crunchy Baja-style slaw and a side of cilantro-flecked rice. If you never liked cilantro before, you may change your mind when you try this Aloha Rice.

Loco Loco for Days ($19.50) isn’t as big as the name suggests, but features a lean-but-juicy bison burger over that Aloha Rice, with a delicious side of charred kale tossed with Hamakua mushrooms that added so much extra dimension I wish it was a side on its own.

And I loved the rosemary and garlic flavors of a Hamakua mushroom Forager pizza ($18), although the crust was at some points too soft to support the ingredients, and at some points stiff and overworked. Even so, I’d come back for the flavor, if not the texture.

On the salad front I found a Kula beet and fried goat cheese salad ($12.50) a little misleading in that it mostly comprised Waipoli butter lettuce and only a few pieces of the touted beets. It would be better to call it a garden salad, listing the beets as one of many ingredients.

Chances are, you’ll be too full for dessert, but it’s worth the calories to try the skillet-size crisp chocolate- chip cookie ($8) drizzled with the brewery’s Coconut Porter chocolate sauce and served with vanilla bean ice cream.

Or go for the root beer float ($8) with vanilla bean ice cream.

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.