Looking for an authentic taste of Hawaiʻi? Join us on a journey through the best places to sample traditional Hawaiian cuisine in Honolulu.
While Keliʻi grew up with Hawaiian food, I discovered it on my first trip to Hawaiʻi in 2009 — and it’s since become one of my most comforting and craved meals.
The Hawaiian Islands are one of the few places where you can taste these native dishes, making it an essential food experience for any Hawaiʻi visitor. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
In this post, we share our local recommendations for the best Hawaiian restaurants in Honolulu.
Table of Contents
1. Highway Inn Kakaʻako
Perfect for diving into Hawaiian cuisine for the first time.
📍 680 Ala Moana Blvd #105, Kakaʻako
🕒 Open: Daily for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
🍹 Happy Hour: None
🎵 Live Music: None
🎟️ Reservations: Walk-in only
Highway Inn, a third-generation family business, is a great place to eat traditional Hawaiian food — especially for the first time.
If you’re new to Hawaiian food, ask for the Malihini (Newcomers) Guide. It provides an introduction to this style of cuisine and detailed explanations about each native food item.
This Hawaiian restaurant offers Honolulu’s most extensive selection of native Hawaiian food, along with other favorites like burgers, sandwiches, salads and desserts.
Their Hawaiian Combo Plates, served on retro green trays (featured image), let you sample Hawaiian classics like laulau, beef stew, or squid lūʻau, paired with rice or poi, salad (lomi salmon, potato-mac, or greens), ʻuala (sweet potato) and haupia.
INSIDE TIP: Visiting the Bishop Museum on Oʻahu? The on-site café is run by Highway Inn, making it another great spot to try Hawaiian specialties.
2. Helena’s Hawaiian Food
An iconic spot to experience authentic Hawaiian cooking.
📍 1240 North School St, Honolulu
🕒 Open: Tue-Fri for Lunch & Dinner
🍹 Happy Hour: None
🎵 Live Music: None
🎟️ Reservations: Walk-in only
Open since 1946, Helena’s Hawaiian Food is a Honolulu culinary landmark, now proudly run by Helena’s grandson, Craig.
This cozy Kalihi eatery — one of the few Hawaiian restaurants honored with a James Beard Award — is well worth the wait. It’s a beloved local spot where authentic Hawaiian cuisine truly shines.
The simple menu is ideal for family-style dining, encouraging everyone to share and sample. Highlights include the laulau and pipikaula short ribs, along with ‘opihi, a rare Hawai’i limpet delicacy.
New to Hawaiian food? Try “Set Menu D” to taste the essentials: kālua pig, lomi salmon, pipikaula short ribs, squid lūʻau (a personal fav), poi and rice — a perfect introduction to Hawaiian flavors.
INSIDE TIP: It’s cash-only and getting a parking space can be tricky. If you have to wait for one to open up, have patience.
3. Oʻahu Grill
A beloved neighborhood restaurant for Hawaiian comfort food.
📍 1137 11th Ave #104, Kaimukī
🕒 Open: Daily for Lunch & Dinner
🍹 Happy Hour: None
🎵 Live Music: None
🎟️ Reservations: Google Assistant or walk-in
Chef Johnny from Molokaʻi showcases traditional Hawaiian cooking at Oʻahu Grill, preparing dishes just as generations before him did.
This highly-rated restaurant offers a genuine taste of Hawaiian food by sticking to simple ingredients with no unnecessary additives, no added sugar and the right pinch of Hawaiian salt.
Order the “usual suspects” like pork laulau, kālua pig, squid lūʻau and chicken long rice, each served with rice or poi, lomi salmon and haupia. They come packaged together in great-value ʻOhana Packs that feed 4 to 10 people.
They also offer surprise dishes worth trying, such as tripe stew, salt meat with watercress, crispy pork belly, smoked meat, island cobb salad with kālua pig and a potato crab salad.
INSIDE TIP: Ask your server about the Local Specials — Beef Stew (Sun), Beef Tomato (Mon), Chicken Hekka (Tue), Sweet Sour Spare Ribs (Wed), Beef Stew (Thu), Grilled Fish (Fri), Shoyu Chicken (Sat) and Garlic Shrimp (Everyday).
4. Fort Ruger Market
A local favorite for Hawaiian food on-the-go, from fresh poke to hot laulau.
📍 3585 Alohea Ave, Kapahulu
🕒 Open: Daily for Breakfast & Lunch
🍹 Happy Hour: None
🎵 Live Music: None
🎟️ Reservations: Walk-in only
Stop by Fort Ruger Market, Kapahulu’s neighborhood convenience store, for auction-fresh poke and Hawaiian food to-go.
Known for their poke, a Hawaiian dish of marinated raw fish, they offer varieties like ahi (tuna), hamachi and tako (octopus). Try the Ahi Ginger Poke — it’s our favorite!
They also serve a range of Hawaiian dishes, kept warm and ready to plate. Build your Hawaiian plate with options like laulau, kālua pig, pipikaula, or beef stew, with sides like lomi salmon, squid lūʻau and rice. Their shoyu chicken plate and mac salad also stand out.
Once you’ve grabbed your Hawaiian feast, we recommend enjoying it at a park bench in Kapiʻolani Park or oceanside at Queen’s Surf Beach.
INSIDE TIP: They also specialize in Filipino cuisine including pork adobo, pork gisantes, dinaguan, pinakbet, mongo beans and sari sari.
5. Waiahole Poi Factory
Serving the freshest poi alongside timeless Hawaiian classics.
📍 48-140 Kamehameha Hwy, Kāneʻohe
🕒 Open: Daily for Lunch & Dinner
🍹 Happy Hour: None
🎵 Live Music: None
🎟️ Reservations: Walk-in only
Waiahole Poi Factory, a former poi factory for 70 years, has been revived as an outdoor Hawaiian food restaurant and art gallery.
This historic, family-owned venue offers a chance to experience Hawaiian culture through food while supporting local farmers. Just 45-minutes from Waikīkī, it’s an ideal stop on the way up to the North Shore.
Poi, a Hawaiian starch made by pounding cooked taro roots, is central to the menu. It’s as fresh as you’ll get on the island, prepared on-site from taro sourced from a nearby valley.
Try the poi solo or with savory sides like kālua pig (it helps balance the saltiness). The Combo Plates offer a sampling of classics: laulau, beef lūʻau, chicken long rice or squid lūʻau, all served with rice or poi, lomi salmon and haupia.
INSIDE TIP: Save room for their famous Sweet Lady of Waiahole dessert, warm kulolo (a Hawaiian pudding made with taro and coconut) served with haupia ice cream.
In summary, Honolulu — Hawaiʻi’s food capital — is the ultimate destination for experiencing, savoring and truly appreciating authentic Hawaiian cuisine.
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Visitor FAQs
Hawaiian cuisine is the traditional food of Native Hawaiians, shaped by the ingredients and cooking techniques introduced by early Polynesian settlers and sustained by Hawaiʻi’s natural resources. Core staples include kalo (taro), often prepared as poi — a smooth, starchy dish — along with ʻulu (breadfruit), ʻuala (sweet potato) and niu (coconut). Proteins commonly feature fish such as ʻahi (yellowfin tuna) and aku (skipjack tuna), as well as pork, chicken and various types of limu (seaweed).
Some signature Hawaiian food dishes include:
Poi: A soft, smooth and starchy dish made from pounded taro root.
Laulau: Pork, chicken or fish wrapped in taro leaves and steamed.
Kalua pig: Slow-cooked pork prepared in an underground oven (imu), giving it a smoky, tender texture.
Lomi salmon: A refreshing dish of salted salmon mixed with tomatoes and onions.
Poke: Fresh, cubed raw fish seasoned, traditionally with Hawaiian salt, limu (seaweed) and ʻinamona (roasted kukui nut).
Haupia: A creamy coconut-based dessert with a pudding-like consistency.
Poke is one of Hawaiʻi’s most beloved dishes. In Hawaiian, poke means “to slice” or “to cut into cubes.” Traditionally, it features fresh, cubed raw fish seasoned, traditionally with Hawaiian salt, limu (seaweed) and ʻinamona (roasted kukui nut). Today, poke comes in a variety of flavors and is often served as poke bowls, paired with rice and an assortment of toppings. Our favorite is spicy ʻahi poke!
