The 15 Best Restaurants in Honolulu (2026)

15 restaurants, ranked by a local

1. 

   1

   Marugame Udon

   The iconic cheap eat

   Waikiki· $10–$20

   The line out the door is the review. Marugame makes its noodles in-store every day and you watch it happen while you shuffle along the tray line — order your bowl, pick tempura off the counter, pay at the register, then season it yourself at the free condiment station. A plain Kake Udon was $6.49 and the Nikutama, sweet beef with a soft-boiled egg and the shop's number-one seller, was $12.99 when I priced the menu in February 2026. Add a $2.25 cheese tempura and you eat well in Waikiki for under $16. Open daily 10am to 10pm, walk-in only. The line looks worse than it is, but if you want to skip it the 2–4pm window is dead, and the downtown Fort Street branch runs the same menu at the same prices with a fraction of the wait.

   Who it's for: First-timers, solo diners, and anyone who wants a genuinely good meal in Waikiki for under $15.

   Hours, menu & photos My full Marugame Udon guide — menu, prices and how to beat the line
2. 

   2

   Duke's Waikiki

   The beachfront classic

   Waikiki· $17–$52

   Touristy because it earns it. Duke's is really two restaurants: an air-conditioned, koa-panelled dining room upstairs that takes reservations, and the Barefoot Bar — open-air, directly on the sand, walk-in only, facing due west so the sun drops into the Pacific right in front of the railing seats. Those railing seats are the whole point, and getting one means arriving by 4:30pm on a weekday or 4pm Friday through Sunday; after 5:30 you are looking at an hour. Prices from April 2026: the Rib & Chicken Plate $31, fish tacos $27, a Duke's Mai Tai $17, and Kimo's Original Hula Pie $15, which is macadamia nut ice cream on a chocolate cookie crust and big enough to share across a table. One thing to plan around: Duke's discontinued its happy hour in mid-2026, confirmed by phone.

   Who it's for: The one "we're actually in Hawaii" dinner every trip needs.

   Hours, menu & photos My full Duke's Waikiki review — what to order and where to sit
3. 

   3

   Ms. Nguyen Banh Mi & Rolls

   The one I send everyone to

   Ala Moana· $6–$22

   The best thing I eat in this city. The chicken pho ($18) is the reason: a house chicken broth built on charred ginger and onion, with a depth that tastes like someone's grandmother is running the back, not like a kitchen hitting a spec. The banh mi ($14) is on bread baked fresh that day and the house-made pâté does the heavy lifting. Order the Vietnamese iced coffee ($6.75) with it — it is the best in town and it is not close. It is a counter inside Midtown Eats at 1515 Liona Street, which means free validated parking and a whole food hall around you. Card only, no cash anywhere in the building.

   Who it's for: Pho people, banh mi people, and anyone near Ala Moana who wants lunch that is genuinely better than the food hall around it.

   Hours, menu & photos My full Ms. Nguyen review — the pho, the banh mi and every price

   Disclosure: Ms. Nguyen Banh Mi & Rolls is a marketing client of my agency. It is at #3 because it is the food I eat most often in Honolulu and I pay for it myself — the full review linked above has every price, if you would rather check the reporting than trust the ranking.

4. 

   4

   Off The Wall Craft Beer & Wine

   The self-pour wall

   Kakaʻako· $20–$30

   Nowhere else in Honolulu lets you pour your own beer by the ounce, and once you have done it you resent every bar that makes you queue. Twenty-four taps on the wall, almost all brewed in Hawaii, and you pay for exactly what you take — the house lager, brewed for them by Howzit Brewing, runs $0.72 an ounce, so a pint is about $12 and a four-ounce taste of something you are unsure about is under three bucks. The burger is genuinely excellent and comes with fries; entrées run $19 to $32. There is live music Thursday through Saturday, it is in South Shore Market at 1170 Auahi Street in the middle of Kakaʻako, and parking is free in the building — the same garage as TJ Maxx and Nordstrom Rack, which in Ward Village is close to a miracle. Happy hour is Monday to Friday 3–5pm at 15% off the self-pour drafts.

   Who it's for: Groups who hate waiting at a bar, beer people who want to taste four things instead of committing to one, and anyone parking in Ward Village anyway.

   Hours, menu & photos My full write-up on their private-party pricing, with the tap-wall numbers

   Disclosure: Off The Wall Craft Beer & Wine is a marketing client of my agency. It is at #4 for the self-pour wall, which nothing else in Honolulu has, and the pricing is documented in the party guide linked above.

5. 

   5

   Monkeypod Kitchen – Waikiki

   The group-pleaser

   Waikiki· $17–$60

   The safest pick for a table that cannot agree. It sits at the back of the Outrigger Reef — walk through the lobby, past the shops, and the dining room opens straight onto the water with the windows folded all the way back. The mai tai is the signature: house-made macadamia orgeat under a honey-lilikoi foam, $20. Food runs from a $23 pizza up to the macadamia-nut-crusted fresh fish at $54 (pizzas drop to $17 during the 3:30–5pm happy hour, the Bourgeois excepted), which is the dish to get if you only order one — they buy off the fish market at 6am and the day I went it was mahi-mahi. Those are June 2026 prices. Two things worth planning around: happy hour is 3:30 to 5pm daily, the earliest-ending window of any of my Waikiki picks, and a 4% service charge lands on all food, with 20% auto-gratuity for parties of six or more.

   Who it's for: Families and groups of four or more — anywhere that has to satisfy a pizza kid and a seared-ahi adult at the same table.

   Hours, menu & photos Read my full Monkeypod Kitchen Waikiki review
6. 

   6

   Musubi Cafe IYASUME

   The $5 breakfast

   Waikiki· $1–$10

   The breakfast locals actually eat before the beach. A counter, a case of musubi, and a line that moves. The Kūhiō Avenue shop opens at 7am and runs to 8pm; the Beach Walk branch on Lewers stays open to 9pm and usually has the shorter line. When I last priced the case at Beach Walk in December 2025, a black pepper spam musubi was $2.68, shiso spam $2.78, avocado shrimp $3.98 and the double shrimp $4.68 — so two people eat breakfast for under $12. The rice is the tell: seasoned properly, sticky without being mushy, and the portions are bigger than they look through the glass. There are several IYASUME counters in Waikiki, they are all fine, and you should go to whichever one you are already walking past. No reservations, barely any seating, nothing to overthink.

   Who it's for: Budget travelers, beach days, and 7am jet lag.

   Hours, menu & photos
7. 

   7

   Fin's Bagels

   The local breakfast upgrade

   Kapahulu· $3–$18

   The bagel shop worth leaving Waikiki for — and it is a ten-minute bus ride, not an expedition. Hand-rolled, kettle-boiled, baked every morning, on the corner by the Ala Wai Golf Course. The kiawe-smoked brisket on an asiago bagel was $16.95 when I ordered it in April 2026 and is the single thing to get; the avocado bagel at $15.95 arrives in a clamshell because it is too loaded to wrap. If you only want a bagel and cream cheese, the rainbow with chipotle honey is $7.95. Sandwiches run $12.95 to $17.95. Open 6:30am to 1:30pm daily, and that is a hard close rather than a suggestion — my order took about ten minutes. Parking is the catch: roughly two spots out front and then street parking, which is exactly why I take the bus.

   Who it's for: Repeat visitors who are done with hotel breakfast, and anyone playing the Ala Wai.

   Hours, menu & photos My full Fin's Bagels review, with the menu and prices
8. 

   8

   Heavenly Island Lifestyle

   The Waikiki brunch

   Waikiki· $$

   The brunch slot, and the entry on this list you can walk to from almost any hotel in the neighborhood — 342 Seaside Avenue, one block in from Kalākaua. It is the acai-bowl-and-eggs-benedict end of the spectrum with farm-to-table framing and plenty of vegetarian options, open 7am to 8pm every day, which quietly makes it a good early dinner too when nobody can face another big meal. The kalua pig eggs benedict is the order. I have not captured the current menu prices here yet, and the numbers floating around other guides are estimates rather than receipts, so I am not going to quote you a figure I cannot back up — expect mid-range Waikiki brunch pricing and a wait on weekend mornings. Go before 8am or after 10.

   Who it's for: Couples, brunch people, and anyone who wants one healthy-ish meal per trip.

   Hours, menu & photos
9. 

   9

   OKOME TENDON & POKE

   The Kakaʻako lunch

   Kakaʻako· $20–$30

   Tendon and poke under one roof at SALT in Kakaʻako — a tempura rice bowl counter and a poke counter in the same room, which is a genuinely useful combination when half the table wants something hot and the other half wants something cold and raw. It is at 685 Auahi Street in the middle of the SALT block, so it works as an add-on to an afternoon in Kakaʻako rather than a trip of its own. Straight about the evidence: I have not published a full review with menu prices yet, so there is no receipt behind this one the way there is behind Marugame or Fin's. It is here on the strength of the format and the location.

   Who it's for: Kakaʻako lunch crowds, and poke people who want better than a supermarket bowl.

   Hours, menu & photos

   Disclosure: OKOME Tendon & Poke is a marketing client of my agency, and I have not published a full review with menu prices for it yet. Both facts are here so you can weigh the placement yourself.

10. 

    10

    Hana Sushi

    The neighborhood sushi

    Hawaii Kai· $10–$20

    Proof this list is not a Waikiki tourism brochure. Hana Sushi is a neighborhood sushi counter in Hawaii Kai at 377 Keahole Street, the kind of room that fills with families on a Tuesday and closes at 7:30pm because that is when its neighborhood is done eating. Those hours — 11am to 7:30pm, seven days — are early by Honolulu standards and are the single most common way people miss it, so check twice before you drive out. It takes reservations and does takeout, and there is parking, which are both things Waikiki sushi cannot say. You need a car or the bus to get here. Full disclosure on this one too: I have not done a sit-down review yet, so there is no menu breakdown from me. It is on the list as the east-side, off-the-tourist-track option at east-side prices.

    Who it's for: Locals, east-side explorers, and anyone with a car who wants sushi without the Waikiki markup.

    Hours, menu & photos
11. 

    11

    Yakiniku Like

    The solo-dining novelty

    Ala Moana· $10–$25

    The most fun a solo traveler can have at dinner. Every seat has its own grill built into the counter, partitions between the tables, and you order off a QR code where you sit — scan, browse, pay on your phone, food arrives within a few minutes. Nobody looks up, and nobody cares that you are on your own; the place is built for it. Sets from my May 2026 visit: Double Like $15.95, Kalbi Lovers $17.95, and the Beef Lovers Set $19.95 with kalbi, misuji and harami plus rice, miso soup, salad and kimchi. The Premium Set at $23.95 is as expensive as the menu gets. Manage expectations on the beef — it is good, it is not wagyu-grade. Free parking out front on Keʻeaumoku Street, 11am to 10pm, walk-in only, and the monthly specials change on the 1st.

    Who it's for: Solo diners, introverts, and anyone who wants dinner to take 35 minutes.

    Hours, menu & photos My full Yakiniku Like Hawaii review, with set prices
12. 

    12

    Ginza Bairin Tonkatsu & Yoshoku Bistro

    The tonkatsu institution

    Waikiki· $30–$50

    The one serious Japanese dinner in Waikiki that is not sushi. Ginza Bairin has been a tonkatsu house in Tokyo's Ginza since 1927 and this is its Waikiki branch, on Beach Walk one block in from Kalākaua. Kurobuta pork is the reason to come: the cutlet arrives sliced, the crust shatters, and you grind your own sesame into the sauce at the table. It is open 11am to 2:30pm and again 4pm to midnight, seven days, which makes it one of the few genuinely good late dinners in the neighborhood, and waits run ten to twenty minutes most nights without a booking. One caveat on price: I have not captured the menu here myself yet, so the $30–$50 band comes from the catalog rather than a receipt I paid. Budget in the $30s to low $50s per person and treat that as a bracket until I have sat down and priced it properly.

    Who it's for: Japanese-food purists, and date night number two.

    Hours, menu & photos
13. 

    13

    Arancino on Beachwalk

    The date-night Italian

    Waikiki· $50–$100

    The special-occasion Italian, and the entry where the room does as much work as the plate. It is on Beach Walk, the same block as Ginza Bairin and one street in from Kalākaua, and it runs a split service: lunch 11am to 2pm, then dinner 4:30 to 9:30pm, seven days. Book the dinner seating — this is not a walk-in-at-8pm restaurant, and the gap in the middle of the afternoon catches people who assume it is all-day. Watch the name when you search, because there are two Arancinos within walking distance of each other in Waikiki and they are different restaurants: this is Arancino on Beachwalk, not Arancino di Mare on Kalākaua. As with a few others here, I have not published a menu capture yet, so the honest version is: expect $50 to $100 a head, and expect to have booked.

    Who it's for: Anniversaries and honeymooners.

    Hours, menu & photos
14. 

    14

    The Signature Prime Steak & Seafood

    The splurge with the view

    Ala Moana· $100+

    The last-night-of-the-trip dinner. Thirty-sixth floor of the Ala Moana Hotel, and the view runs from Diamond Head around to the Waianae range — the highest dining room in Honolulu, and the only place on this list where I would tell you to book by the window and go early enough to watch the light change. Book a Friday and the Hilton fireworks go off below you. There is a back door in, too: the lounge runs a walk-in-only happy hour, and in April 2026 the ahi tartare was $11.95 against $23.95 on the regular menu, and the steak sliders $8.50 against $17. Not everything is halved — the sizzling steak on hot stone goes $24.95 to $19.95 — but it is far and away the cheapest way to see this view with a drink in your hand. Dinner proper starts around $100 a head.

    Who it's for: The last night of the trip — and, via the lounge, anyone who wants the view without the dinner bill.

    Hours, menu & photos The happy-hour crawl this fits into, with the lounge prices
15. 

    15

    8 Fat Fat 8 Bar & Grille

    The local dive bar

    Makiki· $3–$30

    The anti-Waikiki. A 1986 dive bar on South Beretania that shares a parking lot with a Midas, female-owned and managed since 2003, with pool, darts and karaoke in the back and regulars who have held the same stools for years. The thing to order is the Fat Fat special chicken — deep fried with no batter and no coating at all, which should not work and does. The ribeye plate, ribeye with onions and mushrooms over rice with kimchi and salad, runs around $17. Happy hour is daily 3 to 6pm at a dollar off every beer and cocktail, confirmed with the owner in July 2026, with a rotating daily drink special on top. There is free parking on site, which on this stretch of town is close to a miracle.

    Who it's for: Locals, kamaʻāina-deal hunters, and travelers who are done with tourist bars.

    Hours, menu & photos My full 8 Fat Fat 8 dive bar review

    Disclosure: 8 Fat Fat 8 is a marketing client of my agency. It is on this list because I genuinely eat and drink here — the Fat Fat chicken and the dollar-off happy hour earned the spot — but you should know the relationship exists before you take my word for it.