Best Restaurants in Waikiki & Honolulu

Honolulu’s food is the result of Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Portuguese, and American cuisines mixing for over a century. The result is a food culture that includes poke bowls, plate lunches, spam musubi, shave ice, and some of the best Japanese food outside of Japan.

Local & Hawaiian

Rainbow Drive-In (Kapahulu) — Open since 1961. The plate lunch destination. Two scoops of rice, macaroni salad, and your choice of protein (loco moco, chicken katsu, mixed plate). Cheap, massive, and the locals’ go-to.

Helena’s Hawaiian Food (Kalihi) — James Beard Award winner. Traditional Hawaiian food — pipikaula (dried beef), laulau, kalua pig, and poi. A humble neighborhood spot producing food that’s been recognized as some of the best in America.

Ono Seafood (Kapahulu) — Poke bowls that are the standard all others are measured against. The shoyu (soy sauce) ahi poke and the spicy ahi are the orders.

Japanese

Honolulu has the best Japanese food in America — full stop.

Sushi Ginza Onodera (Waikiki) — Omakase from Tokyo-trained chefs. Fish flown in from Tsukiji. Expensive and extraordinary.

Marukame Udon (Waikiki) — Handmade udon noodles prepared in front of you. The line wraps around the block and moves fast. $5-10 for a bowl. One of the best values in Waikiki.

Musubi Café Iyasume (multiple locations) — Spam musubi elevated to an art form. Multiple flavors and fillings. The ultimate Hawaiian grab-and-go food.

Shave Ice

Matsumoto’s (North Shore, Haleiwa) — The most famous shave ice in Hawaii. Worth the drive to the North Shore. The rainbow (strawberry, lemon, pineapple) is the classic.

Island Vintage Shave Ice (Waikiki) — Convenient Waikiki location with tropical syrups, condensed milk, and fruit toppings.

Fine Dining

Alan Wong’s Restaurant — One of the founding restaurants of Hawaii Regional Cuisine. Local ingredients in creative preparations. The tasting menu is outstanding.

Senia (downtown Honolulu) — New-American tasting menu from two CIA-trained chefs. Innovative, seasonal, and one of the most exciting restaurants in Honolulu.

Roy’s (multiple locations) — Roy Yamaguchi’s Hawaiian-fusion restaurants. The misoyaki butterfish is a signature that’s been copied around the world.

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