4 Best Restaurants in Hawaii, USA

This popular spot began as a French–Vietnamese bakery on Oahu and has branched into popular small restaurants sprinkled throughout the Islands, with some locations set up as kiosks in malls and others, like this one, as stand-alone spots with a few picnic tables out front. Vietnamese pho (soup laden with seafood or rare beef, fresh basil, bean sprouts, and lime) shares menu space with local-style saimin and plates of barbecue or spicy chicken, beef, pork, or local fish served with jasmine rice.

Tam and Kimmy Huynh's menu ranges far beyond the usual pho and bun (cold noodle dishes) found at many Vietnamese restaurants. This welcoming, no-frills, hole-in-the-wall spot, which locals swear by, features crab curry, tapioca dumplings, head-on tamarind shrimp, and other dishes that hail from both northern and southern Vietnam. People who work in the neighborhood pack in for lunch, so you might want to avoid a midday visit. Reservations are not accepted for groups of fewer than six.

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.

Locals have been flocking to this off-the-beaten-path gem for years, lured in by the reliably delicious family-style Vietnamese cuisine at decent prices. It's tucked behind a nondescript overpass—and only recently did management put a sign on the building—but you can't go wrong with the green papaya salad, mixed fondue, and the make-your-own Vietnamese burritos.