My husband and I are going to Hawaii in June. This will be our first trip there. We will be going to Oahu and Maui, and are not going with pkg. tour. How much should we allow for meals while there. We would prefer a mix of some casual, some special, and some that would give an authentic local feel. People have told us it's very expensive. Any advice would be appreciated.

It is expensive. My husband and i mostly ate casual because of the cost.
A burger,fries and a soft drink at Bubba burgers (a pretty good Hawaiian fast food chain) was about $7 each. Maui tacos (another Hawaiian chain) was aclittle cheaper - very good fish tacos. We ate at a "moderate" Mexican restaurant one night on Kaui and that was about $40 (with one beer and one drink). I imagine "expensive" restaurants are very expensive in Hawaii - we just did not try one.

Thanks JMM, for the input. It is good to know that we can eat reasonably if we don't go to fancy restaurants. I do intend to cover both, but by following your advice, at least I know I'll be able to enjoy the trip without worrying about $$$ all the time. How long ago were you there?

Lois,

Here's something you can do to check out restaurant prices in Hawaii, at least on Oahu and Maui. Go to the following website: http://aadvantagedining.idine.com/

This is American Airline's Advantage Dining Program, by the way, which all major airlines have. You should sign up. It's free to register a credit card, and then you get usually 10 miles per dollar spent. But I digress. If you go to this website, you can ask for a list of Hawaii Restaurants, either Oahu or Maui, and actually look at the menus, on line, of a couple of dozen Hawaiian restaurants.

Duane

Lois:
On Oahu there are reasonable places to eat everywhere. Just follow the locals. They are not rich. You can eat very reasonably and well or you can go to tourist restaurants and pay high prices for not that great food.
Maui is a bit more of a problem especially if you are staying in one of those tourist hotel gettos. Again you can pay a high price for not great food. But, if you look around you can still eat reasonably. We went to the supermarket in Maui and there prices were very high by our(California) standards. They have to import almost everything.
There was a thread recently about good cheap restaurants on Oahu.
In Wikiki we went by a Sizzler(of all places). They had a half hour wait to get in and pay $19 for dinner that would have cost $11 in San Francisco bay area. We walked 2 blocks to local similar style restaurant(where the cops were eating) and got a better meal for about $10 per person.
Not to worry, there are plenty of options. You can eat well on just about any budget.

Gerry

Thanks Duane and Gerry for your advice. I will look into the AAdvantage Dining Program. Would you believe we're flying on American and I'm not familiar with the program?! And, Gerry, if you happen to check back, we're stopping on the way in San Franciso for three days. Any suggestions for must see sights and good local restaurants there?

Lois,

You're welcome. Here's the URL to enroll for all of the airline Dining Clubs. They're all the same. You register your credit card for a particular airline's program. You cannot register the same credit card for 2 different airlines, so don't even try to double dip like that. Good luck!

Sorry, forgot the URL:

https://www.idine.com/enroll/enroll1...clientId=NFEE#

Duane

T recommend the Hawaii Entertainment Book for 2 for 1 dining at many different classes of restaurant. The only drawback is that you have to do a bit of researching and planning, but you'll save alot if you use it alot, and it allows you to eat in places which were previously unaffordable.
entertainment.com

If you like Oriental food, you can eat like a king very inexpensively on Oahu and Maui. I lived on Oahu for three years and have been back to visit twice and ate very little other than Korean and Chinese food. And I never spent more than $6 0r $7 per meal.

We were in Hawaii in May of this year.

My husband and I go to Hawaii every year and friends think we are 'rich' to be able to afford going there. But our secret is: we rent a condo, shop at the local supermarket for breakfast and lunch and find the local places to eat dinner which have much better food most of the time. This allows us to splurge at an expensive restaurant several times during our stay. We also take advantage of the Farmers markets and use the barbeque grills in our Condo complex to grill fresh fish bought at a fish market. We also stay out of the touristy resorts.

Lois:
Unfortunately when you live in a place, you don't see it through a tourist's eyes. You'd be better off getting SF info from other travelers on this board.

Hi, Lois -

I guess expensive has a different connotation to everyone. You can find "reasonable" food and quite expensive food in HI as you can in your own hometown, but generally, speaking, food, as well as other items,i.e., gasoline, toiletries, clothing, jewelry are more expensive in HI. We travel there each year and stay in a condo where we oftentimes have breakfast and oftentimes lunch in. However, we really enjoy all the wonderful fresh seafood that the islands have to offer. The hotel restaurants tend to be more expensive (like at home), but many of the local haunts provide wonderful entrees at not much more than you would spend on the mainland. Fresh seafood entrees run from $18-$25 at some very nice establishments. Liquor always adds to any bill as well as desserts. However, you can find some very nice restaurants where two can dine for $50-$60 without tip. I don't think this is exhorbitant, however, when you add appetizers, a bottle of wine or drinks, and dessert, you can spend $100, but you can do that at home too. So, Lois, go on holiday, have fun, allow for some splurges and some casual dinners as well. That's what vacations are for - to reward you for all your hard work all year long.

Thanks to everyone who has responded with helpful information! I feel more comfortable about what to expect, which I'm sure will make the trip that much more enjoyable.