Layover dining options in Honolulu
 

Aloha! I've finally booked my flights. Decided to head to HNL 4:15pm and have a nice dinner somewhere by cab before 9:30pm flight to mainland. Any ideas? Looking for something grand, price not an issue. Never been outside the airport on Oahu. Mahalo my fodorite friends! gyppie

There are several nice restaurants in Aloha Tower Marketplace.

You also have enough time to go to Waikiki and go to one of the hundreds of restaurants there.

Thanks dusty! any faves in waikiki? favorite celebrity chef, or fave atmoshpere?

Dukes is nice. It's right on the beach in the Outrigger Waikiki.

There are restaurants in business centers that get good reviews in Honolulu, but we enjoy oceanside dining in Hawaii. One of our favorites is Orchids, at the beautiful Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki. The restaurant has and outstanding view of Diamond Head and a relaxed feel to it, along with delicious food. A House without a Key, which has live music at sunset for cocktails is good too.

http://www.halekulani.com/dining/

8-)

Yes! You can find Aloha Tower Marketplace by following Nimitz Highway when you exit the airport. Real easy. You don't say what day of the week you're coming, but Chai's Island Bistro has live entertainment nightly and his calendar is posted on his website. With your time frame, I'd have sunset cocktails at Gordon Biersch or Don Ho's, then head to Chai's for dinner.

http://alohatower.com/dining.html

I enjoy the veranda dining offered at Sheraton Moana Surfrider in Waikiki. It's more formal and set up above the casual restaurant down under the huge banyon tree at this grand old hotel.

gyppielou, just beware things do not always go as planned, we had the same idea when we had a layover in HNL on our way home. Unfortunately, we ended up with a delay leaving Kona airport and the shuttle at HNL between terminals took over a hour. By the time we made it to the main terminal we were would be really tight on time and the lines were long at security. Ended up eating in the airport. I would check out if ground transportation is available from the terminal you fly into and skip the shuttle.

I don't know if I'd risk going all the way into Waikiki on a layover. Aloha Tower is a great option, and a good upscale option would be Indigo in Chinatown, which is much closer to the airport.

g'lou..I second Melissa's nomination for dinner at Chai's. We had an excellent dinner there just recently. Chai himself seated us. Robert Cazimero was the entertainment when we were there and was outstanding.

Btw, is our next fodor GTG at you new place on Kauai? You still looking while you are there?

I also have the same situation coming up. I really would like to do the Chef's Counter at Alan Wongs. How far is Alan Wong's from the airport?

You are all the best! Thanks for all the ideas. Want to make that last sunset last for a year! And need fabulous food to finish the trip!
Mahalo!
gyppie