The 100 Best Places to Eat and Stay in Honolulu

1. AAA Five Diamonds
2. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Five Star

1. AAA Five Diamonds
2. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Five Star

Every room has a lanai big enough to actually live on, and guests frequently do. Halekulani is a classic Waikiki beachfront hotel that runs on the kind of unhurried, attentive service that feels almost anachronistic now. The spa draws from Hawaiian, Asian, and South Pacific traditions, and surfing lessons are steps from the lobby. Forbes Four Star and a Michelin two-key property, it wears its reputation quietly, which is part of the point.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star
2. Michelin Guide 2 Keys
3. The 50 The 50 Discovery

Nine suites, each occupying its own private floor, with a butler who arrives by a separate service elevator so you never have to share a hallway with him. ESPACIO is a boutique hotel in Waikiki that takes residential-style luxury at its most literal, pairing oceanfront balconies and Jacuzzis with in-suite shopping curated by Neiman Marcus. It holds a Forbes Five Star, and the staff practices omotenashi with enough commitment to make leaving your floor feel like a poor decision.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Five Star

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Winner · Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific · Robynne Maii
2. Honolulu Magazine Restaurateurs of the Year · Hale ‘Aina Awards · Robynne Maii and Chuck Bussler
3. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu

Spam musubi is a 7-Eleven staple in Honolulu; at Māze it arrives with a gossamer strip of Wagyu over rice steeped in Wagyu fat. This omakase, rooted in Asian and Hawaiian traditions and pronounced like the Japanese word for "to mix," folds cocktails into the tasting menu itself, drinks built in collaboration with the chef rather than offered alongside. A James Beard semifinalist and a two-star New York Times Critic's Pick, it reads as the kind of place that earns those mentions quietly.

1. The New York Times 2026 · 2 stars, Critic's Pick · Restaurant Review
2. The New York Times 2026 · The Restaurant List
3. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants

1. The Infatuation 11 Of The Best Donuts In America
2. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
3. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu

The lobby, pools, and restaurants all live on the eighth floor, which means no street traffic filters up and no one is cutting through to anywhere. This Waikiki high-rise hotel holds a Forbes Four Star, and every room is a privately owned residence with a kitchenette, laundry, and enough square footage to feel like you actually live here. The upper floors shift color palettes by level to mirror the island's landscape, which is either lovely or a lot, depending on your floor.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star
2. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

Pork sisig made with pig's head, sizzling on a cast-iron at brunch, gives you a sense of how seriously Ed Kenney takes not taking things too seriously. This Kaimuki wine bar and restaurant runs on a modern Hawaiian sensibility, where lūʻau leaves show up in the fresh fish and mapo gravy lands on a biscuit. Kenney was a James Beard semifinalist, and the room fills with locals who already know the menu but still take a minute to choose.

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu
2. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
3. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. Eater Best Bakeries

The only all-local butcher case on O'ahu anchors this Kaimuki bakery and butcher shop, where the counter swings between venison chops and char siu croissants without missing a beat. House-made Spam shares space with liliko'i baklava danish, and the sandwich of the day rotates with whatever the butcher is working with. A James Beard Outstanding Bakery semifinalist, it's the rare spot where the lard in your almond cookie is a selling point, not a secret.

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bakery
2. James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bakery
3. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants

Dolphin pods drifting past the oceanfront balconies have a way of making evening plans negotiable. This Four Seasons resort sits on the Leeward Coast, far from Waikiki, facing a sheltered lagoon with the Wai'anae Mountains behind it. The Naupaka Spa runs fourteen treatment rooms, the kids' club is one of the stronger ones in the portfolio, and Michael Mina's seafood restaurant anchors five dining options. Forbes Four Star.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star
2. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels
3. The 50 2025 · Most Admired Hotel Group Award

1. The New York Times The Restaurant List
2. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu
3. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants

1. Sprudge The Sprudge Guide To Coffee In Honolulu
2. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
3. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu
2. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
3. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu
2. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu
3. Honolulu Magazine Canh Bi Do Epaulettes · The Best Things We Ate in Hawai‘i

A family of dolphins lives in the resort's lagoon, which tells you something about the ambition level here. This is a classic luxury resort on the quiet side of Diamond Head, well away from Waikiki's chaos, with a calm private beach and the kind of unhurried, personal service that boutique hotels keep promising and rarely delivering. Every American president since LBJ has stayed, and the place carries that history without being stiff about it.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Recommended
2. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

Shave ice made with Maui-grown persimmons is not the shave ice you grew up with, and that gap tells you everything about this mid-priced Hawaiian regional restaurant. The team behind it came up through Alan Wong's, and the dining room has that same warm, attentive feel without the formality. The pastry side has drawn James Beard semifinalist nods two years running, and the desserts show why.

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
2. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu
3. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Michelle Karr-Ueoka

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Chef · Andrew Le
2. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
3. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific · Andrew Le

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
2. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu

1. Sprudge The Sprudge Guide To Coffee In Honolulu
2. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
3. Honolulu Magazine 2023 · Best Place to Buy Natural Wine · Best of Honolulu

A bowl of sesame seeds arrives at the table for you to grind yourself before stirring them into the tonkatsu sauce, which tells you what kind of katsu shop this is. The pork is carefully sourced, the panko is made in-house, and the rice comes from Hokkaido. Reservations are hard to come by, which matters in a city where locals can get a perfectly decent plate-lunch katsu for half the price.

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu
2. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu
2. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

The kitchen started at farmers markets and still runs a stall at Kaka'ako and Kailua, but the mothership is a former gas station in 'Aiea where ceviche tostadas arrive stacked with blue crab tobiko, avocado, and raw shrimp in a lime-green sauce. The whole fried fish and beer-battered tacos hold their own too. A casual seafood spot where it's genuinely hard to find something to skip, which in Honolulu is saying something.

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
2. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu
3. Honolulu Magazine 2023 · Best Ceviche Tostada · Best of Honolulu

1. Bon Appétit America's Best New Restaurants
2. Honolulu Magazine Best New Restaurant · Hale ‘Aina Awards
3. Honolulu Magazine Prosciutto San Daniele · The Best Things We Ate in Hawai‘i

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
2. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu
3. Honolulu Magazine Saigon Special · The Best Things We Ate in Hawai‘i

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu
2. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
2. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

Eight counter seats and a booking list that moves slower than island traffic: that's Sushi Gyoshin, a kaiseki-inflected omakase tucked into a strip on Piikoi. The chef opens with savory riffs on traditional monaka before moving into nigiri built from blended vinegars and two rice varieties. The seafood travels far, and the room is intimate enough that you'll notice every detail of what lands in front of you.

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
2. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. James Beard Awards 2026 · Nominee · Outstanding Pastry Chef or Baker · Neale Asato

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Bakery
2. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
3. Honolulu Magazine 2023 · Best Old-Meets-New Mochi · Best of Honolulu

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu
2. Honolulu Magazine Smoked turkey pho · The Best Things We Ate in Hawai‘i
3. Honolulu Magazine Mākaha Mango Burrata Salad · The Best Things We Ate in Hawai‘i

1. AAA Four Diamonds

The Coco Puffs, chocolate cream puffs blanketed in frosting, are what most people come for, but Liliha is equally a diner, and the counter at the Kuakini Street original is where you want to sit. Short-order cooks work at a pace that makes you forget your coffee is getting cold. Crisp waffles, char-grilled burgers, oxtail soup, butter rolls with aggressively red jelly: the menu reads like it was written by someone who never overthought anything.

1. Honolulu Magazine Restaurateur of the Year · Hale ‘Aina Awards · Peter Kim
2. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants

1. AAA Four Diamonds

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurant
2. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu

1. Sunset Restaurants · Where to Eat and Drink
2. Eater The 20 Best Restaurants in Waikīkī, Hawaiʻi

1. Sprudge The Sprudge Guide To Coffee In Honolulu
2. Honolulu Magazine 2025 · Iced Hojicha Latte · Best of Honolulu

Three separate dining rooms, three separate reservations to even consider: teppanyaki, sushi omakase, or traditional washoku, each run as its own operation. The spirits company behind the whisky built an elegant Japanese restaurant in Waikīkī that takes itself seriously without making you feel like you wandered in underdressed. The drink menu is, predictably, excellent. Pick your room before you call.

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
2. Honolulu Magazine Crab, Cream Cheese and Tomato · The Best Things We Ate in Hawai‘i
3. Eater The 20 Best Restaurants in Waikīkī, Hawaiʻi

1. Sunset Happening Hawaiian · Where to Eat and Drink
2. The Infatuation The Best Bars In Honolulu
3. Honolulu Magazine Crispy Spanish Octopus · The Best Things We Ate in Hawai‘i

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

The name is optimistic: you're a few minutes' walk from the water, not on it. But in Waikiki, where the default is a 500-room resort charging fees for breathing the air, a 125-room indie hotel with a rooftop pool, no kids' club, and no mineral-water-misting attendant by the pool feels like a negotiated peace. Rooms are white and wood, with Wegner wingback chairs and oversized showers. A ground-floor café handles coffee and drinks for the beach run.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

The pink Moorish palace on Waikiki has been there so long it basically predates Waikiki. This resort splits between a historic building, where the Moorish detailing and coral stucco run deep, and a contemporary tower for guests who want the postcard view without the period atmosphere. The spa sits in a garden, the pool has cabanas, and the beach puts surfing and sailing right outside. A Michelin Selected Hotel.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

A three-story walk-up wrapped around a palm-lined pool, White Sands calls itself the last of the vintage walk-up hotels in Waikiki, and the claim is easy to believe. The towers that swallowed the beachfront decades ago never touched this low-rise compound, where the vibe is unapologetically 1970s Hawaii, laid-back and a little overgrown, the kind of place that makes the glassy resorts next door feel slightly embarrassing.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu
2. Honolulu Magazine 2023 · Best Sunset Menu · Best of Honolulu

1. Honolulu Magazine Kalbi Jjim · The Best Things We Ate in Hawai‘i
2. James Beard Awards 2025 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific · Hyun Kim

Pancakes with crispy edges and a savory bowl of eggs and Portuguese sausage over rice in bacon cabbage broth on the same menu, and the real problem is choosing between them. Over Easy is a neighborhood breakfast and brunch spot in Kailua that's been the area's anchor long before brunch became an O'ahu-wide pastime. The menu is short enough to read fast and long enough to make you wish you'd brought someone to split the ordering burden.

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
2. Honolulu Magazine Olive Oil Octopus and Hamachi · The Best Things We Ate in Hawai‘i
3. Honolulu Magazine Cold Skin Noodles · The Best Things We Ate in Hawai‘i

The bungalows come with their own infinity pool, direct beach access, and a dedicated host, which sets the tone for what this Ritz-Carlton resort is going for. It sits on Oahu's North Shore, far enough from Waikiki to feel like a different island entirely. The activity menu runs to around 70 options, from ukulele workshops to after-dark snorkeling, so the outdoorsy guests will never run out of things to sign up for.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels
2. The 50 The 50 Discovery

1. The 50 The 50 Discovery

The Coco Puffs in the bakery case are cream puffs frosted on top, not cereal, and locals have been devoted to them for generations. This outpost of a Honolulu institution sits in a bright, open-air space at the top of International Market Place, which feels a little glossy for a diner that trades in pancakes, Denver omelets, and mochi donuts. The food is the same as the original, which is exactly the point.

1. Honolulu Magazine Restaurateur of the Year · Hale ‘Aina Awards · Peter Kim
2. Eater The 20 Best Restaurants in Waikīkī, Hawaiʻi

1. James Beard Awards 2022 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Chef · Keiji Nakazawa
2. The 50 The 50 Discovery
3. Eater The 20 Best Restaurants in Waikīkī, Hawaiʻi

1. Sunset Happening Hawaiian · Where to Eat and Drink

1. James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Peter Merriman

1. James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Peter Merriman

1. James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Peter Merriman

1. James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Peter Merriman

1. Bon Appétit The Very Best Bagels in the US (Yes, Outside New York)

The Scuffin, a scone-muffin hybrid, is what most people order right after their coffee at this specialty coffee shop in Kaka'ako's SALT complex. 9Bar HNL runs a multi-roaster pourover bar with rotating guest coffees alongside seasonal drinks that lean creative without tipping into gimmick. The banana bread latte and cold brew chai have both made appearances, and the coffee flight is a nice way to kill an afternoon.

1. Sprudge The Sprudge Guide To Coffee In Honolulu

1. Sprudge The Sprudge Guide To Coffee In Honolulu

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants
2. Eater The 20 Best Restaurants in Waikīkī, Hawaiʻi

1. James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific · Yuya Yamanaka

A former gas station on the road to Waimea Bay, now a multi-roaster coffee shop where surfers and day-trippers fuel up before the beach. The cold brew concentrate is a house signature, and single-origin offerings lean heavily on Sweet Bloom out of Denver. Sourdough kolaches rotate with the seasons, and a macadamia nut latte squares the "we're in Hawaii" circle neatly. The whole operation started out of a 1966 Ford Econoline, which feels about right for Haleiwa.

1. Sprudge The Sprudge Guide To Coffee In Honolulu

The roasting happens right on the premises, so the warehouse near Kailua Town smells like a very good decision before you've even ordered. This is a coffee shop and roastery in one, with a rotating lineup of in-house coffees that runs from locally grown Hawaiian beans to more experimentally processed options. They also hold public classes if you want to understand what you're drinking rather than just drinking it.

1. Sprudge The Sprudge Guide To Coffee In Honolulu

A pour-over coffee shop tucked inside BoxJelly, a co-working and arts hub in Ward Village, where the rotating single-origin lineup has included Cup of Excellence and World Barista Competition coffees. The team archives every coffee they've ever served on their website, which is either obsessive or reassuring depending on your relationship with spreadsheets. Local bakers and chefs pop up regularly, so the counter scene shifts.

1. Sprudge The Sprudge Guide To Coffee In Honolulu

1. The Infatuation The Best Bars In Honolulu
2. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu
2. Honolulu Magazine 2024 · Best Noodle Shop · Best of Honolulu

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu
2. Honolulu Magazine Pork chop · The Best Things We Ate in Hawai‘i

1. Honolulu Magazine Best New Restaurant · Hale ‘Aina Awards
2. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

The handwritten daily specials sheet is the first thing to read at this intimate Honolulu izakaya, where the fish changes with the season and the kitchen takes both seriously. Foie gras over braised daikon and egg yolk rice with uni and truffle butter signal the general direction: indulgent, a little theatrical, no apologies. The baby sardine chips do the work of a bar snack, but with more personality than a bar snack has any right to expect.

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. Honolulu Magazine Best Restaurants in Honolulu

1. The Infatuation The Best Restaurants In Honolulu

1. Eater The 38 Essential Honolulu Restaurants