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A takeout container full of slices of sashimi. Martha Cheng

The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants

Foie gras and uni at a seasonal izakaya, liliko‘i baklava danishes and house-made Spam at a butcher-bakery combo, classic poke and musubi at a creative lunch counter, and more of Honolulu’s best meals

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Outside interests have made money in Hawai‘i for centuries, including in food. Waves of restaurateurs from the continental U.S. and abroad have opened restaurants in Honolulu, with everyone from Japanese conglomerates to Michael Mina setting up shop. But simultaneously, Honolulu’s homegrown businesses have been able to ride waves of excitement to expand themselves. In the last decade, tiny mom-and-pop restaurants have opened second locations, while established local chains expanded their reach. More and more chefs have worked to learn about Hawai‘i’s history and culture to respectfully incorporate aspects into their restaurants. That is to say, diners in Honolulu are a bit spoiled for choice.

Updated, May 2024:

Mango season is upon Honolulu a few months earlier than usual. In addition to fruit fresh from farmers markets and roadside stands across the island (best eaten over the sink with the juices running down your arms), now’s the time to enjoy the luscious golden fruit in the hands of Honolulu’s pastry chefs. Dig into the shave ice flooded with mango at MW Restaurant (still one of the best choices on the island for elegant, seasonal desserts), folded into cake at relative newcomer the Local General Store, and cradled like a massive jewel in danishes at Breadshop. As spring eases into summer, expect more seasonal tropical fruits like mountain apple, lychee, and jackfruit too.

While you’re at it, splurge at Izakaya Uosan with some uni truffle-butter rice and prep a beach snack with some Goteborg musubi (rice ball sandwiched between slices of locally beloved German-style sausage) from Tanioka’s Seafoods.

Eater updates this list quarterly to make sure it reflects the ever-changing Honolulu dining scene.

Martha Cheng is a Honolulu-based writer for a number of local and national publications, and is the author of The Poke Cookbook.

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Wicked Hi Cafe

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Ashley Moran and Brandon Slowey started making honey slushies with local fruit, like liliko‘i and pineapple, as a complement to Slowey’s beekeeping. Along the way, they also picked up a passion for sourdough, and now their cheerful North Shore cafe, tucked away in Waialua, also serves sourdough pita sandwiches, pizza, and fantastic liege waffles that often sell out by noon.

A cafe interior with loud textured wallpaper, white wood beam ceilings, and a pastry case scrawled with the name of the cafe.
Inside Wicked Hi Cafe.
Martha Cheng

Waiahole Poi Factory

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This is one of the few Hawaiian restaurants (see here for a definition of what Hawaiian food actually is) owned by native Hawaiians. Charlene and Calvin Hoe bought an actual poi factory in 1971, using it primarily as an art gallery, then began serving food in 2009. Today, it’s also one of the few places that serves fresh pa‘i‘ai, cooked taro pounded with a lava rock pestle on a long wooden board to a mochi-like consistency. You’ll have to call in advance to reserve some, and if you’re lucky, you might catch the Hoes’ son, Liko, pounding it near the outdoor tables. Try the kanaka nui plate, a combination of pretty much everything on the menu, add a side of ho‘io (fiddlehead fern) salad, and finish with the Sweet Lady of Waiahole, warm kulolo (a taro and coconut dessert) topped with a scoop of haupia (coconut) ice cream.

A takeout container with a variety of dishes
Takeout from Waiahole Poi Factory
Martha Cheng

Over Easy

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Honolulu loves breakfast, and few places do it better than Over Easy, a warm, happy family operation anyone would be proud to support. Delicate, golden, crispy-edged pancakes are the highlight of sweet dishes, but don’t leave without trying the pig hash with lomi tomatoes and Okinawan sweet potatoes, or the bacon-cabbage broth poured over a bowl of rice and Portuguese sausage. Outside seating and takeout are available.

From above, a table with pancakes, a bacon-topped breakfast bowl, and other dishes
Full spread at Over Easy
Martha Cheng

Tanioka's Seafoods & Catering

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Part poke counter, part okazuya (Japanese-style deli), and part plate lunch counter, Tanioka’s began in 1978 and continues to offer some of Hawai‘i’s favorite classic dishes and snacks, including fried chicken, ‘ahi patties, and aku poke. Fans of Spam musubi should be sure to try the Goteborg musubi, a rice ball sandwiched between slices of German-style sausage (made by Hormel, the maker of Spam). Tanioka’s isn’t just a keeper of traditions, though; the shop continues to innovate, like with its pastele tots: a take on pastele stew, Hawai‘i’s pork stew of Puerto Rican origin, ladled over tater tots.

A takeout container of cubed tuna poke.
Poke at Tanioka’s.
Martha Cheng

Helena’s Hawaiian Food

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If you’re only going to one spot for traditional Hawaiian food, make it Helena’s. Locals have been lining up since the day Helena’s opened in 1946, though a James Beard America’s Classics award in 2000 has brought in even more diners. First-timers should order set menu D, which comes with kalua pig, lomi salmon, pipikaula (air-dried, juicy short ribs, quick-fried for crunch), and squid lū’au (a savory dish of octopus and taro leaves in coconut milk), along with poi or rice.

From above, a table filled with small dishes
Set menu at Helena’s
Kathy YL Chan

Palace Saimin

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Saimin, an only-in-Hawai‘i mashup of Chinese-style noodles in a Japanese-style dashi broth, is at its best at Palace Saimin. Here, the menu consists only of saimin, wonton min, udon, and teri beef sticks. The interior, as simple and satisfying as the menu, has hardly changed since the place opened in 1946. If you’re taking out, make sure to get the soup packaged separately from the noodles so they don’t get soggy.

A bowl of saimin with noodles, dumplings, and meat
Saimin
Mark Noguchi

Liliha Bakery

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Liliha Bakery’s beloved cases are stocked with mochi donuts, rainbow layer cakes, and (the local favorite) Coco Puffs, a chocolate-pudding filled cream puff topped with butter frosting. But the original Liliha Bakery also happens to double as a legendary diner, serving excellent crisp waffles, butter rolls with nuclear red jelly, and oxtail soup. Though the business now includes five locations, a seat at the counter of the original Liliha on Kuakini Street is still the best move.

Customers sit on stools at a thin counter inside a diner.
Inside Liliha Bakery.
Martha Cheng

Ethel’s Grill

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Ethel’s Grill has been serving truck drivers, politicians, chefs, and tourists near the docks for decades. Ryoko Ishii bought the restaurant in 1978 and never bothered to change the name. Today, her daughter and son-in-law serve comfort food that reflects their mixed heritage of Japanese, Okinawan, Mexican, and local culture. The seared ahi sashimi topped with soy-marinated garlic chips is a longtime classic, while the Okinawa-inspired taco rice — composed of layers of rice, ground beef, lettuce, and shredded cheese topped with a fried taco shell — is a more recent addition to the menu. Given its tiny dining room, Ethel’s continues to only offer takeout, which you can take to picnic at the nearby Kaka‘ako Waterfront Park.

Two takeout boxes, one with fried chicken and the other with slices of sashimi, served with greens and rice.
Takeout boxes from Ethel’s Grill.
Martha Cheng

Nami Kaze Hawaii

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One of Honolulu’s most exciting new restaurants, Nami Kaze serves freewheeling brunch during the day and izakaya-style small plates at night. Daytime dishes include teishoku (Japanese set breakfast), honey walnut shrimp waffles, and omelets that are really silky chawanmushi with toppings like mentaiko cream or maitake mushrooms in mornay sauce. After a decade helping other chefs open restaurants, chef/owner Jason Peel is really letting loose. At dinner that means Kona baby abalone done oysters Rockefeller style and ulu (breadfruit) tots with barbecue sauce. Mix and match; it’s all good fun.

Glazed shrimp and greens top a double stack of waffles.
Honey walnut shrimp waffles.
Martha Cheng

The Pig and The Lady

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The Pig and the Lady is a must-visit spot for its modern Vietnamese flavors. Its famous pho French dip is offered at lunch, while even more playful dishes are on the frequently updated dinner menu, which recently included escargot baked in green curry sauce and scallops over seaweed porridge with dollops of dried aku XO sauce. You can also find the Pig and the Lady’s more traditional noodle soups, rice bowls, and sandwiches at its farmers market stalls.

A decorative bowl containing noodle soup topped with chicken, cilantro, and other fixins, beside a plate with a large stuffed puff pastry.
Hu Tieu Ga Ca (rice noodle soup) with pork-stuffed pastry.
The Pig and the Lady / Facebook

Fête Hawaii

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Chef Robynne Maii was recently awarded a James Beard award — Hawai‘i’s first in almost 20 years — for her restaurant that features great cocktails and a menu that combines French, Italian, Korean, and Hawai‘i influences. Open from lunch through dinner, Fête turns out hits like carbonara with Portuguese sausage and rose veal schnitzel sauced with liliko‘i. Definitely order off the specials menu, which usually showcases Hawai‘i’s seafood and the best produce in season, and don’t miss the house-made rocky road ice cream for dessert. There are a few outdoor tables, and takeout is also available.

Large slices of schnitzel served on a bed of cooked greens with a lilikoi fruit sliced beside.
Veal schnitzel.
Martha Cheng

Pizza Mamo

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On a hip corner of Chinatown, restaurateurs Danny Kaaialii and Jonny Vasquez set up the Daley, Encore Saloon, and Pizza Mamo, serving hyper-focused, platonic ideals of smash burgers, tacos, and pizza, respectively. Pizza Mamo is the newest of the trifecta, where Kaaialii and Vasquez teamed up with pizzaiolo Matthew Resich to create thin-crust Brooklyn-style pies and thick, crispy cheese-crowned Detroit pizzas that are some of the best you’ll find on or off the island.

A square slice of pepperoni pizza, held up to the camera, with the rest of the pizza in the background.
Detroit pizza.
Martha Cheng

Morning Glass Coffee

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Since Morning Glass opened in 2011, plenty of other cafes have sprung up with interiors and menus seemingly designed for the ’gram. Morning Glass has retained its rustic, no-frills look, focusing instead on its coffee and solid baked goods, including a liliko‘i honey biscuit and savory breakfast sandwiches.

A cafe counter with handwritten chalkboard menu hanging above
Inside Morning Glass
Matt Buchanan

8 Fat Fat 8 Bar & Grille

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Hawaiian-Chinese food is almost a regional cuisine of its own. At this divey karaoke and sports bar (also a genre of its own in Honolulu), you’ll find fine examples like crunchy gau gee (fried dumplings) and cake noodles (noodles pressed together and pan-fried). The menu also includes 8 Fat Fat 8’s own specialties, including salt-and-pepper fried pork chops and the crisp-skinned Fat Fat Chicken.

Fried dumplings on a decorative plate with dipping sauce
Gau gee
8 Fat Fat 8

Bar Māze

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Bar Māze is the second venture of Justin Park and Tom Park (no relation). Their first, Bar Leather Apron, is still a must-visit for some of the best cocktails in Honolulu, but the food there can be an afterthought. Not so at Bar Māze, where the Parks partnered with chef Ki Chung to create a stunning cocktail-paired tasting menu (you can also request a nonalcoholic pairing, but even the booze version is surprisingly light). On the tasting menu (the only option), Chung brings Korean and Japanese influences to dishes like donabe with wagyu, served ssam-style. The restaurant doesn’t offer substitutions and reservations are required.

Rectangular fried wedges of potato croquettes, served on a plate with a small bowl of uni, alongside a white cocktail
Potato croquettes with Hokkaido uni.
Bar Māze

Kyung’s Seafood

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Kyung’s central location and casual digs make it a favorite of chefs and in-the-know locals. It’s best in the evenings, for a night of good company coupled with seafood and spicy Korean fare that demands booze. Order the large sashimi platter to share, add on a few hot dishes and a pitcher of strawberry soju slush, and call it a night. Kyung’s also makes great poke (especially the salmon-‘ahi mix).

A table topped with a large sashimi platter among other dishes
Sashimi platter
Kathy YL Chan

Hana Koa Brewing Co.

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One of Honolulu’s most popular breweries, in Kaka‘ako’s brewery corridor, Hana Koa offers an ever-changing tap list, from the staple Rooftop pale ale to the recent Snoop POGG, an imperial kettle sour ale riffing on Hawai‘i’s beloved drink of passionfruit, orange, and guava juices. The ground floor has a lively and open atmosphere, while the second floor hides a more intimate cocktail bar.

A long bar with wood bar stools and a row of taps gleaming behind
The bar at Hana Koa.
Hana Koa

Inaba Restaurant

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Homemade soba is the draw at this Japanese gem. Come for the lunch specials, which include soba topped with Hokkaido uni and ikura, and the battera set: pressed mackerel sushi with soba on the side. Then return for a dinner of hot soba with seared duck and mushrooms.

Chengdu Taste

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California import Chengdu Taste helped bring Sichuan cuisine to Honolulu. Between the boiled fish with green peppers and the toothpick cumin lamb, it’s all about Sichuan classics executed with finesse. It’s best to bring a group; the menu is long and portions are heaping. Meanwhile, its sister restaurant downstairs, Mian, specializes in noodles and meaty wontons in pork bone broth or hot chile oil. Both restaurants offer takeout.

From above, various dishes packed on a table.
A full spread at Chengdu Taste.
Martha Cheng

Fujiya Hawaii

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This mochi shop has been around since 1953, but recently changed ownership, resulting in new flavors like a purple sweet potato daifuku and yuzu marmalade manju. The classics, such as red bean daifuku and milk-flavored chi chi dango, are still available too. Few other mochi shops anywhere are able to meld the old and new as beautifully and deliciously as Fujiya.

From above, a container of brightly colored mochi.
Lunar New Year mochi platter.
Martha Cheng

Izakaya Uosan

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There’s no shortage of excellent izakayas in Honolulu, but Uosan rises to the top of the impressive field with its intimate atmosphere and seasonal sushi. On the handwritten sheet of daily specials, you might find rich ainame from spring to summer, mild and sweet suzuki in the summer, and fatty nodoguro from fall to winter. Plenty of luxe options are available to round out your meal, including uni, truffle-butter, egg yolk rice (yes, that’s all in one bowl) and foie gras over braised daikon. Equally delightful are the baby sardine chips which fill in the izakaya’s version of chips and dip. Make a reservation to avoid disappointment.

MW Restaurant

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MW Restaurant represents Hawai‘i regional cuisine at its best. Wife-and-husband team Michelle Karr-Ueoka and Wade Ueoka (both formerly of Alan Wong’s) convey warmth and attention to detail in their intimate dining room. Favorites include the mochi-crusted kampachi, miso honey glazed butterfish, and all of Karr-Ueoka’s desserts, especially her ethereal, seasonal fruit shave ice. Downstairs, in the more casual cafe Artizen, find oxtail soup and strawberry matcha cake, along with weekly specials.

A pastry box with various cakes arrayed in front.
Michelle Karr-Ueoka’s beautiful desserts.
Martha Cheng

Waiola Shave Ice

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There are newer and brighter shave ice spots offering fresh-made syrups or organic options. Waiola doesn’t have any of that, but everyone still lines up at the original location on Waiola Street for the no-frills nostalgia. The shop offers the best bang for your buck when it comes to shave ice: $3 scores you a large cone or cup with up to three flavors. Plus, Waiola has an enormous selection of flavors. Don’t leave town without trying the li hing mui (salty dried plum), liliko‘i cream, and pickled mango.

A plastic cup of shaved ice with oozing chocolate topping.
Shave ice with toppings.
Kathy YL Chan

The Lanai at Ala Moana Center

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This new food court at Honolulu’s open-air mall houses outposts of some of the city’s favorite small eateries, including Musubi Cafe Iyasume, which offers 20-some varieties of freshly made Spam musubi — with ume, avocado, or even unagi. There’s also Ahi & Vegetable, known for its spicy ahi and poke bowls, as well as inexpensive nigiri. The Hokkaido-based chain Brug Bakery offers pillowy soft breads and sweet and savory treats, from curry pan (a doughnut filled with Japanese beef curry) to an pan (a baked bun filled with sweetened azuki paste). You’ll find tables outside, and if you need extra dessert, head around the corner to Palme D’Or Patisserie for exquisite Japanese cakes by the slice.

A pastry topped with strawberries and pineapple
Fruit-filled pastry from Brug Bakery
Brug Bakery / Facebook

Bozu Japanese Restaurant

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Honolulu has plenty of excellent izakayas, but Bozu stands apart for its creativity within the izakaya framework of grilled, fried, and raw small plates. You’ll find classic and new preparations side by side on the menu: impeccable sashimi and a raw surf and turf roll of uni, beef, shiso, and yam; a braised pork belly kakuni alongside an American-style beef stew made with tongue and topped with melted cheese. Always order off the specials menu, which might include firefly squid, barely bigger than a thumb, with mustardy miso, or fish and chips Japanese-style: fried flounder and its crispy bones.

Rolls of raw beef around shiso and yam, topped with uni, served on a slate with soy sauce dipping bowl
Uni, beef, shiso, and yam.
Martha Cheng

Breadshop

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In addition to a classic lineup of country breads and croissants, Breadshop folds Hawai‘i flavors into some of its burnished carbs. Check out items like the furikake focaccia or a croissant with spinach and taegu (candied codfish). During mango season, any pastry with the fruit is a must, whether that’s a mango coconut sticky rice danish or mango maritozzi. All orders must be placed in advance online.

A baker flips bread dough from a proofing basket.
Preparing loaves at Breadshop.
Breadshop

The Local General Store

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A butcher shop and bakery, the Local General Store is a one-stop shop for local meats and sweets. The all-local butcher case — the only one on O‘ahu — showcases cuts like venison, beef, and pork, as well as charcuterie including bacon, ‘ulu (breadfruit) scrapple, sausages, and even a house-made Spam. Sometimes there’s crossover between sweet and savory in the ever-changing bakery case, like in Chinese almond cookies made with lard tucked into a croissant. But the pastries also shine with Hawai‘i’s local fruit, like the liliko‘i baklava danish. No matter what’s offered here, Jason Chow (the butcher and Eater Young Gun) and Harley Tunac Chow (the baker) emphasize local ingredients.

Four varied pastries in a takeout box.
Pastries from the Local General Store.
Martha Cheng

Mud Hen Water

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Mud Hen Water offers Hawaiʻi-born chef Ed Kenney’s modern interpretation of Hawai‘i food. Known for his work at Town Restaurant and Mahina & Sun’s, Kenney manages to appeal to dining trends while fully respecting Hawaiian ingredients. Standouts include the porchetta rolled with lūʻau and loaded baked bananas with curry butter. Brunch includes a biscuit with mapo gravy and pork sisig, the sizzling Filipino dish, but made with pig’s head. Find cheerful outdoor seating beneath string lights in the courtyard.

A garage door decorated with the word aloha behind empty patio tables.
Outside Mud Hen Water.
Martha Cheng

Yakitori Ando

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One of the hardest reservations to get in town is at this omakase yakitori restaurant, hidden in the corner of a parking lot behind a bank and jiu-jitsu school in the Kaimukī neighborhood. Takashi Ando helmed the grill at Honolulu’s yakitori restaurants for more than two decades before he opened his own place and did away with menus. Here, he presides over a charcoal grill, attending to skewers of chicken cartilage and hearts, bacon-wrapped mochi, and Kaua‘i shrimp. Dinner ends with motsunabe, beef intestines simmered in a clear dashi broth. It’s omakase only and BYOB. Prices average around $60 a person.

Skewers of quail on a plate.
Bacon-wrapped quail eggs at Yakitori Ando.
Martha Cheng

Pipeline Bakeshop & Creamery

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As the lines outside Pipeline can attest, people have been hitting the comfort carbs hard during the pandemic. Like the best spots, Pipeline fries its malasadas to order, and you should definitely enjoy one while hot. But Pipeline breaks away from the crowded field with superior shelf life. The malasadas actually remain delicious a day after you pick them up. They’re not too greasy, strike the perfect balance between airy and heft, and come dusted in sugar, coffee, cocoa, or puckeringly sour-sweet li hing powder.

A box of powdered, filled donuts known as malasadas
Malasadas
Martha Cheng

Make a reservation at La Vie around sunset to witness the full glory of one of Honolulu’s loveliest, open-air dining rooms. On the eighth floor of the Ritz-Carlton, chef Patrick Collins offers a five-course, French-inflected dinner, which might include swordfish au poivre or Big Island abalone with black truffle and sunchoke. Or for something a touch more casual, grab a seat at the bar on Wednesdays for fried chicken and Champagne.

A server pours sauce into a dish holding a fillet of kampachi and vegetable side.
Dry-aged kampachi.
La Vie

Koko Head Cafe

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Koko Head Cafe serves some of the best brunch in Honolulu. Chef Lee Anne Wong’s daytime dining spot in charming Kaimukī attracts locals and visitors ordering ambitious riffs on Hawai‘i breakfast staples, like miso-marinated fish with eggs, or “Koko Moko,” Wong’s take on loco moco that includes a beef patty, garlic rice, mushroom gravy, and tempura kimchi. Eater restaurant editor Hillary Dixler Canavan recommends the breakfast congee — tricked out with sausage, cheddar cheese, and croutons — “for a particularly soulful example of the flavor building Wong does best.” The restaurant is currently open for dine-in and takeout.

Zippy’s

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Have you heard the commercials? “Next stop, Zippy’s!” Hawaiʻi’s iconic family diner chain has many locations throughout the state serving many purposes. Kids grow up with Zippy’s chili (now sold frozen so parents can ship it to homesick college kids) and Apple Napples (flaky apple turnovers). It’s also a great place for late-night munchies, like the fried chicken with a side of chili-cheese fries. Proper dinner options, like the Zip Min (a deluxe bowl of saimin noodle soup) or the Zip Pac (mahi mahi, fried chicken, Spam, and teriyaki beef over furikake rice), never fail to please.

A styrofoam cup of thick chili
Side of chili
Kathy YL Chan

Maguro Brothers

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Maguro Brothers’ two locations are hard to find: One is hidden deep inside Chinatown’s Maunakea Market, the other in the basement of the Waikiki Shopping Plaza. At either spot, though, it’s all about sashimi platters, donburi (get the king salmon sashimi with uni over rice), and poke by the bowl or pound. The fish quality is excellent, but it’s the outstanding knife work that makes Maguro Brothers stand out. The donburi and poke might be served in takeout boxes, but you won’t find such beautifully cut fish casually sold to go anywhere else.

A takeout container full of slices of sashimi.
Donburi with salmon sashimi and uni.
Martha Cheng

Restaurant Suntory

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For a good time, make it Suntory time at Restaurant Suntory in Waikīkī. The restaurant specializes in beautifully prepared teppanyaki, sushi, and washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine). Think: kamameshi that steams in its iron pot tableside and single-serving shabu shabu. Because this is a restaurant by Suntory, there are plenty of whisky highballs made with Hibiki, Yamazaki, or Hakushu (also available served neat, of course).

A square slate bowl of sliced sashimi on ice, beside accompaniments like rice, pickles, and tea
Sashimi lunch.
Restaurant Suntory

Tonkatsu Tamafuji

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You have to overcome a lot of skepticism to get locals to pay $20 for katsu when they can get it in a plate lunch for less than $10. But given how difficult it is to score a reservation at Tonkatsu Tamafuji, it appears a lot of people have bashed through that psychological hurdle. Attention to detail shows in the quality of the pork itself, the house-made panko crumbs that fry up into an ethereally crisp crust, and the accompaniments: a bowl of sesame seeds to grind at the table and then spoon into a plummy tonkatsu sauce. If you can’t get a reservation, the tonkatsu holds up surprisingly well for takeout.

Sliced pork katsu on a metal grate with a pile of cabbage
Pork katsu.
Tonkatsu Tamafuji

Hau Tree

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One of Honolulu’s most beloved beachside restaurants, just steps from the sand on the quiet end of Waikīkī, was recently refreshed by new ownership of the Kaimana Beach Hotel. Morning views and eggs Benedict are the perennial draw here, in the shade of the 100-year-old hau trees. But it’s also the perfect place to catch the sunset, along with a revamped cocktail menu of modern tropical drinks and dinner dishes including a crisp-fried octopus with miso bearnaise that’s executed with a light touch befitting the outdoor setting.

A plate of pancakes topped with strawberry slices served with a dish of maple syrup. Plus a plate of eggs Benedict with potatoes.
Eggs Benedict and lemon ricotta pancakes.
Martha Cheng

Arden Waikiki

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The married chefs Amanda Cheng and Makoto Ono, who made their names in Canada and Hong Kong, took over the kitchen at the Lotus Honolulu at Diamond Head hotel, on a quiet stretch between Waikīkī and Lē‘ahi (Diamond Head). They serve elegant, understated dishes; some of the best sound the most plain, like roasted cabbage or mushroom rice. Local meats and seafood shine, as in a Maui venison tartare, scattered with mizuna and bubu arare (rice crackers), or the grilled Kaua‘i prawns, simply dressed with shio koji butter, chili garlic crunch, and calamansi. Order the foie gras terrine, which may be the most playful rendition you’ve ever seen.

A variety of dishes include dusted fries, steak, and shellfish.
A full spread at Arden.
Arden

Wicked Hi Cafe

Ashley Moran and Brandon Slowey started making honey slushies with local fruit, like liliko‘i and pineapple, as a complement to Slowey’s beekeeping. Along the way, they also picked up a passion for sourdough, and now their cheerful North Shore cafe, tucked away in Waialua, also serves sourdough pita sandwiches, pizza, and fantastic liege waffles that often sell out by noon.

A cafe interior with loud textured wallpaper, white wood beam ceilings, and a pastry case scrawled with the name of the cafe.
Inside Wicked Hi Cafe.
Martha Cheng

Waiahole Poi Factory

This is one of the few Hawaiian restaurants (see here for a definition of what Hawaiian food actually is) owned by native Hawaiians. Charlene and Calvin Hoe bought an actual poi factory in 1971, using it primarily as an art gallery, then began serving food in 2009. Today, it’s also one of the few places that serves fresh pa‘i‘ai, cooked taro pounded with a lava rock pestle on a long wooden board to a mochi-like consistency. You’ll have to call in advance to reserve some, and if you’re lucky, you might catch the Hoes’ son, Liko, pounding it near the outdoor tables. Try the kanaka nui plate, a combination of pretty much everything on the menu, add a side of ho‘io (fiddlehead fern) salad, and finish with the Sweet Lady of Waiahole, warm kulolo (a taro and coconut dessert) topped with a scoop of haupia (coconut) ice cream.

A takeout container with a variety of dishes
Takeout from Waiahole Poi Factory
Martha Cheng

Over Easy

Honolulu loves breakfast, and few places do it better than Over Easy, a warm, happy family operation anyone would be proud to support. Delicate, golden, crispy-edged pancakes are the highlight of sweet dishes, but don’t leave without trying the pig hash with lomi tomatoes and Okinawan sweet potatoes, or the bacon-cabbage broth poured over a bowl of rice and Portuguese sausage. Outside seating and takeout are available.

From above, a table with pancakes, a bacon-topped breakfast bowl, and other dishes
Full spread at Over Easy
Martha Cheng

Tanioka's Seafoods & Catering

Part poke counter, part okazuya (Japanese-style deli), and part plate lunch counter, Tanioka’s began in 1978 and continues to offer some of Hawai‘i’s favorite classic dishes and snacks, including fried chicken, ‘ahi patties, and aku poke. Fans of Spam musubi should be sure to try the Goteborg musubi, a rice ball sandwiched between slices of German-style sausage (made by Hormel, the maker of Spam). Tanioka’s isn’t just a keeper of traditions, though; the shop continues to innovate, like with its pastele tots: a take on pastele stew, Hawai‘i’s pork stew of Puerto Rican origin, ladled over tater tots.

A takeout container of cubed tuna poke.
Poke at Tanioka’s.
Martha Cheng

Helena’s Hawaiian Food

If you’re only going to one spot for traditional Hawaiian food, make it Helena’s. Locals have been lining up since the day Helena’s opened in 1946, though a James Beard America’s Classics award in 2000 has brought in even more diners. First-timers should order set menu D, which comes with kalua pig, lomi salmon, pipikaula (air-dried, juicy short ribs, quick-fried for crunch), and squid lū’au (a savory dish of octopus and taro leaves in coconut milk), along with poi or rice.

From above, a table filled with small dishes
Set menu at Helena’s
Kathy YL Chan

Palace Saimin

Saimin, an only-in-Hawai‘i mashup of Chinese-style noodles in a Japanese-style dashi broth, is at its best at Palace Saimin. Here, the menu consists only of saimin, wonton min, udon, and teri beef sticks. The interior, as simple and satisfying as the menu, has hardly changed since the place opened in 1946. If you’re taking out, make sure to get the soup packaged separately from the noodles so they don’t get soggy.

A bowl of saimin with noodles, dumplings, and meat
Saimin
Mark Noguchi

Liliha Bakery

Liliha Bakery’s beloved cases are stocked with mochi donuts, rainbow layer cakes, and (the local favorite) Coco Puffs, a chocolate-pudding filled cream puff topped with butter frosting. But the original Liliha Bakery also happens to double as a legendary diner, serving excellent crisp waffles, butter rolls with nuclear red jelly, and oxtail soup. Though the business now includes five locations, a seat at the counter of the original Liliha on Kuakini Street is still the best move.

Customers sit on stools at a thin counter inside a diner.
Inside Liliha Bakery.
Martha Cheng

Ethel’s Grill

Ethel’s Grill has been serving truck drivers, politicians, chefs, and tourists near the docks for decades. Ryoko Ishii bought the restaurant in 1978 and never bothered to change the name. Today, her daughter and son-in-law serve comfort food that reflects their mixed heritage of Japanese, Okinawan, Mexican, and local culture. The seared ahi sashimi topped with soy-marinated garlic chips is a longtime classic, while the Okinawa-inspired taco rice — composed of layers of rice, ground beef, lettuce, and shredded cheese topped with a fried taco shell — is a more recent addition to the menu. Given its tiny dining room, Ethel’s continues to only offer takeout, which you can take to picnic at the nearby Kaka‘ako Waterfront Park.

Two takeout boxes, one with fried chicken and the other with slices of sashimi, served with greens and rice.
Takeout boxes from Ethel’s Grill.
Martha Cheng

Nami Kaze Hawaii

One of Honolulu’s most exciting new restaurants, Nami Kaze serves freewheeling brunch during the day and izakaya-style small plates at night. Daytime dishes include teishoku (Japanese set breakfast), honey walnut shrimp waffles, and omelets that are really silky chawanmushi with toppings like mentaiko cream or maitake mushrooms in mornay sauce. After a decade helping other chefs open restaurants, chef/owner Jason Peel is really letting loose. At dinner that means Kona baby abalone done oysters Rockefeller style and ulu (breadfruit) tots with barbecue sauce. Mix and match; it’s all good fun.

Glazed shrimp and greens top a double stack of waffles.
Honey walnut shrimp waffles.
Martha Cheng

The Pig and The Lady

The Pig and the Lady is a must-visit spot for its modern Vietnamese flavors. Its famous pho French dip is offered at lunch, while even more playful dishes are on the frequently updated dinner menu, which recently included escargot baked in green curry sauce and scallops over seaweed porridge with dollops of dried aku XO sauce. You can also find the Pig and the Lady’s more traditional noodle soups, rice bowls, and sandwiches at its farmers market stalls.

A decorative bowl containing noodle soup topped with chicken, cilantro, and other fixins, beside a plate with a large stuffed puff pastry.
Hu Tieu Ga Ca (rice noodle soup) with pork-stuffed pastry.
The Pig and the Lady / Facebook

Fête Hawaii

Chef Robynne Maii was recently awarded a James Beard award — Hawai‘i’s first in almost 20 years — for her restaurant that features great cocktails and a menu that combines French, Italian, Korean, and Hawai‘i influences. Open from lunch through dinner, Fête turns out hits like carbonara with Portuguese sausage and rose veal schnitzel sauced with liliko‘i. Definitely order off the specials menu, which usually showcases Hawai‘i’s seafood and the best produce in season, and don’t miss the house-made rocky road ice cream for dessert. There are a few outdoor tables, and takeout is also available.

Large slices of schnitzel served on a bed of cooked greens with a lilikoi fruit sliced beside.
Veal schnitzel.
Martha Cheng

Pizza Mamo

On a hip corner of Chinatown, restaurateurs Danny Kaaialii and Jonny Vasquez set up the Daley, Encore Saloon, and Pizza Mamo, serving hyper-focused, platonic ideals of smash burgers, tacos, and pizza, respectively. Pizza Mamo is the newest of the trifecta, where Kaaialii and Vasquez teamed up with pizzaiolo Matthew Resich to create thin-crust Brooklyn-style pies and thick, crispy cheese-crowned Detroit pizzas that are some of the best you’ll find on or off the island.

A square slice of pepperoni pizza, held up to the camera, with the rest of the pizza in the background.
Detroit pizza.
Martha Cheng

Morning Glass Coffee

Since Morning Glass opened in 2011, plenty of other cafes have sprung up with interiors and menus seemingly designed for the ’gram. Morning Glass has retained its rustic, no-frills look, focusing instead on its coffee and solid baked goods, including a liliko‘i honey biscuit and savory breakfast sandwiches.

A cafe counter with handwritten chalkboard menu hanging above
Inside Morning Glass
Matt Buchanan

8 Fat Fat 8 Bar & Grille

Hawaiian-Chinese food is almost a regional cuisine of its own. At this divey karaoke and sports bar (also a genre of its own in Honolulu), you’ll find fine examples like crunchy gau gee (fried dumplings) and cake noodles (noodles pressed together and pan-fried). The menu also includes 8 Fat Fat 8’s own specialties, including salt-and-pepper fried pork chops and the crisp-skinned Fat Fat Chicken.

Fried dumplings on a decorative plate with dipping sauce
Gau gee
8 Fat Fat 8

Bar Māze

Bar Māze is the second venture of Justin Park and Tom Park (no relation). Their first, Bar Leather Apron, is still a must-visit for some of the best cocktails in Honolulu, but the food there can be an afterthought. Not so at Bar Māze, where the Parks partnered with chef Ki Chung to create a stunning cocktail-paired tasting menu (you can also request a nonalcoholic pairing, but even the booze version is surprisingly light). On the tasting menu (the only option), Chung brings Korean and Japanese influences to dishes like donabe with wagyu, served ssam-style. The restaurant doesn’t offer substitutions and reservations are required.

Rectangular fried wedges of potato croquettes, served on a plate with a small bowl of uni, alongside a white cocktail
Potato croquettes with Hokkaido uni.
Bar Māze

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Kyung’s Seafood

Kyung’s central location and casual digs make it a favorite of chefs and in-the-know locals. It’s best in the evenings, for a night of good company coupled with seafood and spicy Korean fare that demands booze. Order the large sashimi platter to share, add on a few hot dishes and a pitcher of strawberry soju slush, and call it a night. Kyung’s also makes great poke (especially the salmon-‘ahi mix).

A table topped with a large sashimi platter among other dishes
Sashimi platter
Kathy YL Chan

Hana Koa Brewing Co.

One of Honolulu’s most popular breweries, in Kaka‘ako’s brewery corridor, Hana Koa offers an ever-changing tap list, from the staple Rooftop pale ale to the recent Snoop POGG, an imperial kettle sour ale riffing on Hawai‘i’s beloved drink of passionfruit, orange, and guava juices. The ground floor has a lively and open atmosphere, while the second floor hides a more intimate cocktail bar.

A long bar with wood bar stools and a row of taps gleaming behind
The bar at Hana Koa.
Hana Koa

Inaba Restaurant

Homemade soba is the draw at this Japanese gem. Come for the lunch specials, which include soba topped with Hokkaido uni and ikura, and the battera set: pressed mackerel sushi with soba on the side. Then return for a dinner of hot soba with seared duck and mushrooms.

Chengdu Taste

California import Chengdu Taste helped bring Sichuan cuisine to Honolulu. Between the boiled fish with green peppers and the toothpick cumin lamb, it’s all about Sichuan classics executed with finesse. It’s best to bring a group; the menu is long and portions are heaping. Meanwhile, its sister restaurant downstairs, Mian, specializes in noodles and meaty wontons in pork bone broth or hot chile oil. Both restaurants offer takeout.

From above, various dishes packed on a table.
A full spread at Chengdu Taste.
Martha Cheng

Fujiya Hawaii

This mochi shop has been around since 1953, but recently changed ownership, resulting in new flavors like a purple sweet potato daifuku and yuzu marmalade manju. The classics, such as red bean daifuku and milk-flavored chi chi dango, are still available too. Few other mochi shops anywhere are able to meld the old and new as beautifully and deliciously as Fujiya.

From above, a container of brightly colored mochi.
Lunar New Year mochi platter.
Martha Cheng

Izakaya Uosan

There’s no shortage of excellent izakayas in Honolulu, but Uosan rises to the top of the impressive field with its intimate atmosphere and seasonal sushi. On the handwritten sheet of daily specials, you might find rich ainame from spring to summer, mild and sweet suzuki in the summer, and fatty nodoguro from fall to winter. Plenty of luxe options are available to round out your meal, including uni, truffle-butter, egg yolk rice (yes, that’s all in one bowl) and foie gras over braised daikon. Equally delightful are the baby sardine chips which fill in the izakaya’s version of chips and dip. Make a reservation to avoid disappointment.

MW Restaurant

MW Restaurant represents Hawai‘i regional cuisine at its best. Wife-and-husband team Michelle Karr-Ueoka and Wade Ueoka (both formerly of Alan Wong’s) convey warmth and attention to detail in their intimate dining room. Favorites include the mochi-crusted kampachi, miso honey glazed butterfish, and all of Karr-Ueoka’s desserts, especially her ethereal, seasonal fruit shave ice. Downstairs, in the more casual cafe Artizen, find oxtail soup and strawberry matcha cake, along with weekly specials.

A pastry box with various cakes arrayed in front.
Michelle Karr-Ueoka’s beautiful desserts.
Martha Cheng

Waiola Shave Ice

There are newer and brighter shave ice spots offering fresh-made syrups or organic options. Waiola doesn’t have any of that, but everyone still lines up at the original location on Waiola Street for the no-frills nostalgia. The shop offers the best bang for your buck when it comes to shave ice: $3 scores you a large cone or cup with up to three flavors. Plus, Waiola has an enormous selection of flavors. Don’t leave town without trying the li hing mui (salty dried plum), liliko‘i cream, and pickled mango.

A plastic cup of shaved ice with oozing chocolate topping.
Shave ice with toppings.
Kathy YL Chan

The Lanai at Ala Moana Center

This new food court at Honolulu’s open-air mall houses outposts of some of the city’s favorite small eateries, including Musubi Cafe Iyasume, which offers 20-some varieties of freshly made Spam musubi — with ume, avocado, or even unagi. There’s also Ahi & Vegetable, known for its spicy ahi and poke bowls, as well as inexpensive nigiri. The Hokkaido-based chain Brug Bakery offers pillowy soft breads and sweet and savory treats, from curry pan (a doughnut filled with Japanese beef curry) to an pan (a baked bun filled with sweetened azuki paste). You’ll find tables outside, and if you need extra dessert, head around the corner to Palme D’Or Patisserie for exquisite Japanese cakes by the slice.

A pastry topped with strawberries and pineapple
Fruit-filled pastry from Brug Bakery
Brug Bakery / Facebook

Bozu Japanese Restaurant

Honolulu has plenty of excellent izakayas, but Bozu stands apart for its creativity within the izakaya framework of grilled, fried, and raw small plates. You’ll find classic and new preparations side by side on the menu: impeccable sashimi and a raw surf and turf roll of uni, beef, shiso, and yam; a braised pork belly kakuni alongside an American-style beef stew made with tongue and topped with melted cheese. Always order off the specials menu, which might include firefly squid, barely bigger than a thumb, with mustardy miso, or fish and chips Japanese-style: fried flounder and its crispy bones.

Rolls of raw beef around shiso and yam, topped with uni, served on a slate with soy sauce dipping bowl
Uni, beef, shiso, and yam.
Martha Cheng

Breadshop

In addition to a classic lineup of country breads and croissants, Breadshop folds Hawai‘i flavors into some of its burnished carbs. Check out items like the furikake focaccia or a croissant with spinach and taegu (candied codfish). During mango season, any pastry with the fruit is a must, whether that’s a mango coconut sticky rice danish or mango maritozzi. All orders must be placed in advance online.

A baker flips bread dough from a proofing basket.
Preparing loaves at Breadshop.
Breadshop

The Local General Store

A butcher shop and bakery, the Local General Store is a one-stop shop for local meats and sweets. The all-local butcher case — the only one on O‘ahu — showcases cuts like venison, beef, and pork, as well as charcuterie including bacon, ‘ulu (breadfruit) scrapple, sausages, and even a house-made Spam. Sometimes there’s crossover between sweet and savory in the ever-changing bakery case, like in Chinese almond cookies made with lard tucked into a croissant. But the pastries also shine with Hawai‘i’s local fruit, like the liliko‘i baklava danish. No matter what’s offered here, Jason Chow (the butcher and Eater Young Gun) and Harley Tunac Chow (the baker) emphasize local ingredients.

Four varied pastries in a takeout box.
Pastries from the Local General Store.
Martha Cheng

Mud Hen Water

Mud Hen Water offers Hawaiʻi-born chef Ed Kenney’s modern interpretation of Hawai‘i food. Known for his work at Town Restaurant and Mahina & Sun’s, Kenney manages to appeal to dining trends while fully respecting Hawaiian ingredients. Standouts include the porchetta rolled with lūʻau and loaded baked bananas with curry butter. Brunch includes a biscuit with mapo gravy and pork sisig, the sizzling Filipino dish, but made with pig’s head. Find cheerful outdoor seating beneath string lights in the courtyard.

A garage door decorated with the word aloha behind empty patio tables.
Outside Mud Hen Water.
Martha Cheng

Yakitori Ando

One of the hardest reservations to get in town is at this omakase yakitori restaurant, hidden in the corner of a parking lot behind a bank and jiu-jitsu school in the Kaimukī neighborhood. Takashi Ando helmed the grill at Honolulu’s yakitori restaurants for more than two decades before he opened his own place and did away with menus. Here, he presides over a charcoal grill, attending to skewers of chicken cartilage and hearts, bacon-wrapped mochi, and Kaua‘i shrimp. Dinner ends with motsunabe, beef intestines simmered in a clear dashi broth. It’s omakase only and BYOB. Prices average around $60 a person.

Skewers of quail on a plate.
Bacon-wrapped quail eggs at Yakitori Ando.
Martha Cheng

Pipeline Bakeshop & Creamery

As the lines outside Pipeline can attest, people have been hitting the comfort carbs hard during the pandemic. Like the best spots, Pipeline fries its malasadas to order, and you should definitely enjoy one while hot. But Pipeline breaks away from the crowded field with superior shelf life. The malasadas actually remain delicious a day after you pick them up. They’re not too greasy, strike the perfect balance between airy and heft, and come dusted in sugar, coffee, cocoa, or puckeringly sour-sweet li hing powder.

A box of powdered, filled donuts known as malasadas
Malasadas
Martha Cheng

La Vie

Make a reservation at La Vie around sunset to witness the full glory of one of Honolulu’s loveliest, open-air dining rooms. On the eighth floor of the Ritz-Carlton, chef Patrick Collins offers a five-course, French-inflected dinner, which might include swordfish au poivre or Big Island abalone with black truffle and sunchoke. Or for something a touch more casual, grab a seat at the bar on Wednesdays for fried chicken and Champagne.

A server pours sauce into a dish holding a fillet of kampachi and vegetable side.
Dry-aged kampachi.
La Vie

Koko Head Cafe

Koko Head Cafe serves some of the best brunch in Honolulu. Chef Lee Anne Wong’s daytime dining spot in charming Kaimukī attracts locals and visitors ordering ambitious riffs on Hawai‘i breakfast staples, like miso-marinated fish with eggs, or “Koko Moko,” Wong’s take on loco moco that includes a beef patty, garlic rice, mushroom gravy, and tempura kimchi. Eater restaurant editor Hillary Dixler Canavan recommends the breakfast congee — tricked out with sausage, cheddar cheese, and croutons — “for a particularly soulful example of the flavor building Wong does best.” The restaurant is currently open for dine-in and takeout.

Zippy’s

Have you heard the commercials? “Next stop, Zippy’s!” Hawaiʻi’s iconic family diner chain has many locations throughout the state serving many purposes. Kids grow up with Zippy’s chili (now sold frozen so parents can ship it to homesick college kids) and Apple Napples (flaky apple turnovers). It’s also a great place for late-night munchies, like the fried chicken with a side of chili-cheese fries. Proper dinner options, like the Zip Min (a deluxe bowl of saimin noodle soup) or the Zip Pac (mahi mahi, fried chicken, Spam, and teriyaki beef over furikake rice), never fail to please.

A styrofoam cup of thick chili
Side of chili
Kathy YL Chan

Maguro Brothers

Maguro Brothers’ two locations are hard to find: One is hidden deep inside Chinatown’s Maunakea Market, the other in the basement of the Waikiki Shopping Plaza. At either spot, though, it’s all about sashimi platters, donburi (get the king salmon sashimi with uni over rice), and poke by the bowl or pound. The fish quality is excellent, but it’s the outstanding knife work that makes Maguro Brothers stand out. The donburi and poke might be served in takeout boxes, but you won’t find such beautifully cut fish casually sold to go anywhere else.

A takeout container full of slices of sashimi.
Donburi with salmon sashimi and uni.
Martha Cheng

Restaurant Suntory

For a good time, make it Suntory time at Restaurant Suntory in Waikīkī. The restaurant specializes in beautifully prepared teppanyaki, sushi, and washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine). Think: kamameshi that steams in its iron pot tableside and single-serving shabu shabu. Because this is a restaurant by Suntory, there are plenty of whisky highballs made with Hibiki, Yamazaki, or Hakushu (also available served neat, of course).

A square slate bowl of sliced sashimi on ice, beside accompaniments like rice, pickles, and tea
Sashimi lunch.
Restaurant Suntory

Tonkatsu Tamafuji

You have to overcome a lot of skepticism to get locals to pay $20 for katsu when they can get it in a plate lunch for less than $10. But given how difficult it is to score a reservation at Tonkatsu Tamafuji, it appears a lot of people have bashed through that psychological hurdle. Attention to detail shows in the quality of the pork itself, the house-made panko crumbs that fry up into an ethereally crisp crust, and the accompaniments: a bowl of sesame seeds to grind at the table and then spoon into a plummy tonkatsu sauce. If you can’t get a reservation, the tonkatsu holds up surprisingly well for takeout.

Sliced pork katsu on a metal grate with a pile of cabbage
Pork katsu.
Tonkatsu Tamafuji

Hau Tree

One of Honolulu’s most beloved beachside restaurants, just steps from the sand on the quiet end of Waikīkī, was recently refreshed by new ownership of the Kaimana Beach Hotel. Morning views and eggs Benedict are the perennial draw here, in the shade of the 100-year-old hau trees. But it’s also the perfect place to catch the sunset, along with a revamped cocktail menu of modern tropical drinks and dinner dishes including a crisp-fried octopus with miso bearnaise that’s executed with a light touch befitting the outdoor setting.

A plate of pancakes topped with strawberry slices served with a dish of maple syrup. Plus a plate of eggs Benedict with potatoes.
Eggs Benedict and lemon ricotta pancakes.
Martha Cheng

Arden Waikiki

The married chefs Amanda Cheng and Makoto Ono, who made their names in Canada and Hong Kong, took over the kitchen at the Lotus Honolulu at Diamond Head hotel, on a quiet stretch between Waikīkī and Lē‘ahi (Diamond Head). They serve elegant, understated dishes; some of the best sound the most plain, like roasted cabbage or mushroom rice. Local meats and seafood shine, as in a Maui venison tartare, scattered with mizuna and bubu arare (rice crackers), or the grilled Kaua‘i prawns, simply dressed with shio koji butter, chili garlic crunch, and calamansi. Order the foie gras terrine, which may be the most playful rendition you’ve ever seen.

A variety of dishes include dusted fries, steak, and shellfish.
A full spread at Arden.
Arden

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