Where to Eat Local Food in Honolulu

Last updated July 21, 2018

Best Local Restaurants in Honolulu

Honolulu offers many great food choices.

You will find your common chain restaurants like Cheesecake Factory, Yard House, Kobe Steak House and Benihana’s.  But you can eat at those restaurants in any big city.  If you are visiting Honolulu, you have to try some of these local favourites:

Rainbow Drive In

The most famous local food is Plate Lunch.  This is a to-go style meal with the common rice and macaroni salad that is a staple in local cuisine.  These two sides are usually accompanied by a main that consists of either teriyaki beef, hulihuli (barbecue) chicken, or deep fried mahimahi (tuna).

Louise and my favourite place for plate lunch is absolutely Rainbow Drive In.  My cousin, Sean, and his family took us there all the time.  We always order a mix plate which consists of a slice of teriyaki beef, pork katsu (cutlet), deep fried mahimahi, two scoops of rice and a scoop of macaroni salad.  Louise thinks they have the best mac salad so she asks for two scoops instead of rice.

Usually it is very hot in Hawaii and sometimes pretty humid so you have to try a slush float.  Just your average frozen fruit punch, but the float comes with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.  I’m not sure what other people do, but I love to mix it all together so you get this creamy slushy almost like a creamsicle but fruit punch flavored.  Be careful – don’t get it on your clothes as it never comes out.

Zippy’s

Now we do not recommend many chain restaurants, but when it’s only a chain in Hawaii, we’ll make an exception.  If you want something for breakfast or even a midnight snack, Zippy’s is the place to go.  Some locations are open 24 hours a day so you can go anytime to get a local favorite.

What they are famous for is their chili.  You can get it with or without beans, and it goes great with a side of cornbread.  The chili is almost a little sweet, with a hint of brown sugar or syrup.  Maybe that’s why Louise likes it so much.

My dad is a huge fan of their Loco Moco which is rice, hamburger patty, fried egg and dark gravy.  I personally get the furikake chicken.  You can’t go wrong with any of these.  What’s nice is Zippy’s has half orders as well so if you aren’t too hungry you can get kid packs that have only one scoop rice and one scoop mac salad and a smaller portion of the main.

Gyotaku

Japanese food on the island is excellent.  Our favourite place to get good Japanese food is Gyotaku.  They have lots of your favourite bento boxes, sushi, sashimi, and combination plates.

For starters, my favourite dish is Nattochos.  Now natto is a unique Japanese food.  Basically it’s fermented soy beans that are stringy and can have a less than pleasant smell to some people.  This play on nachos with a Japanese twist has fried wontons instead of tortilla chips, poke, avocados, yama imo (mountain yams), green onions, daikon sprouts and nori.  I could eat a whole plate to myself.

If you aren’t as adventurous try the Pokechos which doesn’t have natto.  They also have bento boxes where you can combine sashimi, teriyaki beef, chicken katsu, tempura, and miso butter fish.  My mom and dad rave about the miso butter fish. Basically anything you order will not disappoint as everything is very authentic and delicious.

Pineapple Room   – Update: Unfortunately Closed as of Summer 2017

For a take on local food in finer dining, we really enjoy Alan Wong’s Pineapple Room.  This is truly a hidden gem as the restaurant is tucked in the back of Nordstrom’s in the Ala Moana shopping center.  It can be hard to find, but do not miss out on this place!  Alan Wong is one of Hawaii’s most famous chefs.

Pineapple Room takes local favourites and makes them fancy.  For example, their Loco Moco uses grass fed beef, fried rice, island fresh eggs and veal jus.  Just a little step up from the normal plate lunch loco moco.  I really love the Kim Chee Reuben.  Again, all the ingredients are high quality and they replace the sauerkraut with kim chee to give a spicy Asian flavour to the reuben.  For dinner, the New York Steak also has a kim chee butter and caramelized onions that makes my mouth water thinking about it.  My mom really loved her Furikake Salmon which had a Japanese tea-flavoured risotto, tsukemono (Japanese pickles) and ikura (salmon roe).

All Alan Wong’s dishes keep to the local flavour theme, but he uses high quality ingredients which makes it fine dining.  Don’t get frustrated if you can’t find this hidden gem, the search is worth the reward.

Liliha Bakery

If you have a sweet tooth, Hawaii has plenty of great sweets and baked goods.  One of the more popular, and certainly one of our favourites, is Liliha Bakery.  You may have to stand in line for their pastries so make sure you get lots.  An absolute must buy is their cream puffs which they offer in original, chocolate and green tea.

If you enjoy your cakes, try either their chantilly, haupia (coconut) or chocolate haupia.  You will make anyone’s birthday if you show up with one of these.  My mom’s favourite is custard pie and Liliha makes of the best.  The custard is the perfect texture which is not too thick, yet not too light.  And the crust is perfectly flaky and buttery, which compliments the custard well.  Guava chiffon pie is my favourite.  One year for my birthday my Aunty surprised me with a guava chiffon pie from Liliha.  It was amazing!  But indulge and buy a variety as they will all be a good choice.

Mac 24/7

If you love breakfast, pancakes and are really hungry, Mac 24/7 is the restaurant for you.  They are famous for being on the show “Man vs. Food” where the host tries all types of food challenges.  The challenge here is finish three 14″ pancakes within 90 minutes.  We didn’t even try, but we did order the Elvis, which has peanut butter, bananas and bacon on top.  They were super delicious as they were topped with three of my favourite flavours.

I think Louise and I only finished an equivalent of one pancake. We took it home and shared the leftovers with my whole family.  Even though the pancakes were huge, they were also big in flavour.  Also on the menu is blueberry, bananas foster, hawaiian (pineapple, macadamia nuts, coconut sauce) and strawberries and cream. But if you aren’t looking to feed a family of five, they also have regular pancakes, waffles, eggs and even oatmeal for a healthier choice.  Sponsored by Starbucks, they also serve your perfect perk in gigantic coffee cups.

We recommend going all out and getting the biggest stack of pancakes you may ever see.  But avoid the challenge, for your stomach’s sake.

Diamond Head Health Bar

Now after all those heavy, carbohydrate loaded meals maybe a healthier choice is what you need.  I highly recommend you make your way towards Diamond Head Health Bar.  They are famous for their acai bowls which can fill you up without weighing you down.

They offer lots of other healthy options but if you’ve just finished a hike up Diamond Head, or finished surfing for the morning, this is a great healthy option to cool off.  Their acai bowl is a mix of frozen acai berries, blended into a smoothie that is still thick enough to eat with a spoon.  Then they top it with granola, bananas, strawberries, honey, and the kicker, bee pollen.  The bowl is perfect to share with Louise, but if you want to save room for other food, they offer an acai cup.  Take a hike up the mountain and come back and enjoy this place!

Click here to read our full Privacy Policy and Affiliate Disclosure Statement.

You might also like:

76 Hawaiian Slang Words and Pidgin Phrases You’ll Want to Know

The Perfect Oahu Itinerary for Terrace House Fans

Oahu Off the Beaten Path: The Perfect 5 Day Itinerary

Waikiki in One Day

Pin these Local Restaurants in Honolulu!