382 Best Restaurants in Hawaii, USA

Its name is Hawaiian for "done," perhaps an allusion to how eagerly the pizzas are gobbled up at this eatery with cool artwork and a relaxed vibe. On offer is a wide selection of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, pastas, and pizzas loaded with lots of local ingredients. All sauces and salad dressings are made in-house. When it comes to the pizzas, anything goes; order one of Pau's 16-inch signature pies or create your own. You can order online and pick up. Lunch is a deal if you order the triple slice: a quarter pizza cut into three slices plus a side salad at a special price.

Small and colorful, Pele's is a deli and restaurant all in one. For lunch, it serves sandwiches and daily hot specials to satisfy hearty appetites, and at night, it's transformed into a busy bistro, with an intimate back-room bar where entertainers often drop in for impromptu jam sessions.

This small place packs a powerhouse of a menu with reasonably priced pizzas, pastas, salads, and sandwiches. As the restaurant's name suggests, several dishes feature penne, and portions tend to be generous enough so that two people can easily split a salad and entrée and leave completely sated.

This hole-in-the-wall storefront was the go-to spot for pho with all the trimmings long before hipsters and foodies found Chinatown. Many Vietnamese restaurants have since opened, and some have surpassed To Chau's quality—it's all in the broth—but eating habits die hard in this city.

This low-key, no-frills café offers local plate lunch options and classics such as loco moco (meat, rice, and eggs smothered in gravy), alongside new inventions like crab curry bisque. The prices are very affordable, and the portions are huge. The fresh-fish plate is decent, and all meals are served with fries or rice and macaroni salad. It's a good place to stop for a last-minute bite—breakfast, lunch, or dinner—before catching your flight back to the mainland.

If you expect that a restaurant named Pineapple's would serve tropical beverages in hollowed-out pineapples, you'd be exactly correct. Always packed, this open-air bistro looks like a tourist trap, but there is a fine-dining component to the menu, which includes fresh catch, kalbi ribs (grilled, Korean-style), teriyaki flank steak, burgers, wraps, and sandwiches. Check out the daily specials like salmon salad or the Caprese burger.

For a little break from the Maui sun and fruity cocktails, spend an afternoon digging into elegant pub fare backed by an excellent, expert cocktail program with a focus on whiskey. This is the type of place where you want to sit at the bar and talk story with the bartender (if they’re not busy), and, though it may not seem like it at first glance, this is a family-friendly restaurant—it even has a keiki (kids) menu. 

When it opened in 1995, this was a counter-service pizza place, but it's evolved over into a local favorite, serving Mediterranean-style pizza and comfort food including pitas, gyros, and kabobs.

Located in what was once Kauai's most expensive plantation estate, Gaylords pays tribute to the elegant dining rooms of 1930s high society: candlelit tables sit on a cobblestone courtyard that surrounds a fountain and overlooks a wide lawn. The menu is eclectic, offering Portuguese fish stew, shrimp pasta, scallops, steak, sake short ribs, chicken, and a few vegan and vegetarian options. Be sure to start with the fresh ahi poke stack. The banana cream pie with a coconut crust is a tasty twist on an old favorite. Lunch offers some hearty salads, soups, hot and cold sandwiches, and burgers. 

It's a bit of a drive, but when you get to this beautiful, comfortable restaurant, you'll find expansive views of the ocean below and the majestic mountains above. Chef Jared Krausen sources as many ingredients as possible locally, offering up an eclectic and elevated menu. Desserts are not to be missed here.

A Makawao staple since 1981 and set in the town's only intersection, Polli's is a lively Mexican restaurant that serves up the island's best fish tacos. The portions are generous, with classic fajitas, burritos, and enchiladas, and there are vegetarian options, too.

Perched on the waterfront overlooking a scenic pond at Reeds Bay Beach Park, this restaurant has the look and vibe of an old-fashioned, harborside steak house and bar. The menu features a good range of burgers and salads, steak, and seafood. Every Thursday is lobster night, with eight-ounce lobster tails served a variety of ways. Live music happens most evenings.

This plantation-cottage restaurant built in 1864 has a menu full of local seafood but also offers Wagyu beef, roasted rack of lamb, and other land-based options, with eclectic flavor profiles reflecting the chef's global travel experiences. Top menu picks include crispy leek salad with buckwheat noodles, catch of the day, and chèvre cheesecake with coconut crust and lilikoi (passion fruit) gel.

Perched in a shopping center in Waikoloa Village, this late-night destination also serves dinner from 5 until 9 pm: pueo means "owl" in Hawaiian, and refers to the restaurant's "night owl" concept. Renowned executive chef James Babian (Four Seasons Hualalai, Fairmont Orchid) serves multiregional Italian offerings that combine farm-fresh ingredients with fine imported Italian products like prosciutto from Parma. For something really unusual, try the Kona abalone with citrus garlic aioli and Kona dulce seaweed salad. Although they are in a shopping center, you can still watch the sunset from their expansive lanai. 

It takes four steps to customize a Hawaiian-style hot dog here, so your crew may want to study the menu in advance. Choose a Polish sausage or veggie dog, top it with a house-made sauce and one of six intriguing tropical fruit relishes, then add mustard (lilikoi—passion fruit—is best). All this deliciousness won't fall out on your bathing suit because the bun is baked with a puka (a hole) rather than sliced. Grab a fresh-squeezed lemonade and cross the road to the beach for the final ingredient, sunshine.

Puka means a small space in Hawaiian, and this little takeout eatery certainly fits the bill. This is where you can experience authentic local fare such as lunch plates, a chicken katsu plate, or onolicious (delicious) fish-and-chips. It's within walking distance of the Hilo Farmers Market.

This restaurant proves that good food doesn't need to be complicated, using many local Maui products to do what the Italians do best: craft simple, delicious food that lets the ingredients shine. Must-haves include the panfried gnocchi Genovese, risotto-crusted fresh catch, and the deconstructed tiramisu.

Billed as the southernmost bakery in the United States, this is a good spot to grab a snack or lunch. Hawaiian sweetbread is the specialty here. Local-style plate lunches and sandwiches on the bakeshop's sweetbread buns go well with Kau coffee, which has earned a reputation for excellence that rivals Kona coffee.

Smart sophisticated decor, attentive and skilled service, and an exceptional menu that highlights Hawaiian seafood make Red Salt a great choice for leisurely fine dining. A daily breakfast is also served, featuring lobster Benedict and lemon-pineapple soufflé pancakes. The sushi lounge and pool bar offer more of the kitchen's great food at lower prices. The seared ahi with furikake (a Japanese seasoning) is accompanied by coconut-lemongrass black rice, while the Australian lamb chops are dredged in Parmesan and herbs. Dessert options include Hawaiian bread pudding drenched in rum caramel, a passion fruit crème brûlée, and five dessert martinis.

Chef David Abrahams serves upscale café fare with a twist and a side of aloha. Although it opens fairly early (at 2 pm Tuesday–Friday, noon on Saturday), there's only a single, all-day menu, and this place is busy, so reserve ahead. Sushi is an option; the Fuji roll is prepared tempura style, and sashimi is served with organic greens. The rack of ribs is a sure bet, as is the shrimp seafood cocktail. This café is popular among locals and is a nice spot for the whole family—Abrahams's young daughter developed the kids' menu. 

It's not the best Mexican food you've ever had, but if you're jonesing for some carne asada or chicken flautas, Reuben's has you covered. You can make a meal out of the warm chips and salsa alone. This is a lively place to spend an afternoon or evening. 

This fine-dining restaurant overlooks the rim of Kilauea Caldera and the expansive Halemaumau Crater. Featuring two bars (one of which is adjacent to a lounge) and live entertainment nightly, the restaurant highlights island-inspired cuisine and locally sourced ingredients. Families will appreciate the gourmet pizza on the lunch menu, or the daily breakfast buffet featuring omelets and waffles. To-go meals are also an option. Before dinner, you can sit in front of the fireplace in the lobby or peruse the gift store in search of volcano-themed souvenirs. The hot buttered rum recipe was created by a bartender at Volcano House in the 1950s. It's the perfect cocktail on a cool Volcano evening.

This family-run restaurant serves authentic flavors from Mexico City and just about everything—from the furniture to the artisanal plates on the wall—has been brought directly from Mexico as well. All menu items are made in-house—try Grandma’s classic chicken mole recipe, which packs in more than 25 ingredients.

Roy Yamaguchi is one of the 12 founding chefs of Hawaiian regional cuisine, a culinary movement that put the state on the foodie map back in 1991. Opened in 1988, his flagship restaurant across the highway from Maunalua Bay is still packed every night—reservations are essential—with food-savvy visitors and well-heeled residents, all of whom come for classics like smoked Szechuan baby back ribs or blackened ahi with soy mustard butter sauce. Local favorites include the miso butterfish and chocolate soufflé (which should be ordered with your entrée). There are also vegetarian and vegan options, not to mention an exceptional wine list. Although the Waikiki branch is busy, it's this original Hawaii Kai location that loyalists return to again and again.

The Ko Olina outpost of Roy’s famed restaurant chain overlooks the 18th hole of the Ko Olina Golf Course and reflects a distinct local vibe, as most of the friendly staff come from this side of the island and exude an authentic aloha spirit. Dine on the Hawaii-Asia-Europe fusion signature dishes of Roy Yamaguchi and the chef’s west side–influenced creations out on the patio or in the iconic wood-beam-and-concrete interior.

Enjoy a taste of modern Hawaiian cuisine from the chef who started it all, Roy Yamaguchi. Situated in the center of Waikiki, the sprawling, stylish restaurant has been serving innovative pan-Asian dishes since 2007 and remains a fan favorite. Today, executive chef Jason Ichiki uses locally sourced ingredients to prepare such delectable signature dishes as spicy ahi hand rolls, ginger soy-glazed ora king salmon, and honey mustard–braised short ribs. Enjoy a multicourse chef’s tasting dinner in the main dining room, sit at the sushi bar, or simply snack on some happy hour pupu plates at the lively bar on the lanai. There’s something for everyone here, including an excellent children’s menu.

One of celebrity chef Roy Yamaguchi's Hawaii restaurants, this reliable, albeit pricey, place overlooks the lake at the Kings' Shops. Despite the restaurant's boxy interior, the food is good; the three-course, prix-fixe meal is a sure bet, as is blackened ahi. The macadamia nut–crusted Hawaiian fish with Kona lobster cream sauce is a melt-in-your-mouth encounter. If you are in the mood for something lighter, sit at the bar and choose from the enormous selection of great appetizers, discounted cocktails, and happy hour pricing. For families, the kids' menu goes above and beyond standard keiki (children's) menus.

If the perfect sunset happy hour means cocktails, bite-size shareable plates, tropical breezes, ocean sounds, and flaming oversize torches, then make it a point to dine at RumFire, situated beachfront in the Sheraton Waikiki. Enjoy such dishes as lemon-herb mahimahi, island fish tacos, and "local style" sesame-ahi poke; sip signature concoctions like the RumFire Mai Tai or the Fire Runner, made with spiced rum and tropical juices. At night, RumFire is a club–lounge that promises an edgy and exciting experience amid fashionable people and exquisite views.

A restored plantation cottage surrounded by tropical foliage is the casual setting for this island café, whose name and plant-based menu reflect the owner's love for his late dog. Choose from tofu scrambles, salads, chickpea-curry wraps, tempeh sandwiches, banana pancakes, hummus wraps, and Beyond Beef burgers. A selection of pupu (appetizers) is available after 11 am. Outdoor seating in the vine-covered garden is pleasant during nice weather, and acoustic music is offered most evenings.

Locals know the seafood counter at Sack N Save Kona is the place to get delicious, affordable poke. Sample and then choose from a variety of freshly made poke salad selections. You can order 1/3-pound with a warm rice bowl for only $7.99. It's the best poke deal in town.