*This story was updated in January 2026. Drive some of Hawaiʻi’s main thoroughfares and you might notice a curious thing: The presence of restaurants declaring themselves “drive-ins,” although that is clearly not the case. An idea popularized in the 1950s across America and recreated in the Islands with local-style plate lunches, loco moco and saimin, […]
1. Hotel Wailea, Kihei, Maui The Cabanas’ Ginger Mojito, served in an eco-friendly cup poolside, is incredible. Photo: Tracy Chan Clink cocktail glasses 300 feet above sea level at the renovated Hotel Wailea, a gorgeous, adults-only boutique getaway with a serene poolside where you’ll find The Cabanas, an orchard-to-glass apothecary bar so remote that visitors
The view is so extraordinary you can’t take your eyes off it. Walking into St. Regis Princeville’s restaurant Makana Terrace, I’m immediately stunned by the panoramic views of the gorgeous, green Hanalei Mountains, named Hihimanu, Namolokama and Mamalahoa, with thousand-foot-high waterfalls flowing down their sides. It’s a view that can only be described as absolutely
Hawaii definitely has its own way of doing fast food. Being on-the-go doesn’t mean sacrificing local flavors as these establishments prove. Local breakfast platter from McDonald’s Breakfast platter from a McDonalds in Hawaii. Photo: _Weidz/Flickr Do you ever wake up in the morning craving rice, meat and eggs? Because Hawaii people sure do. Every McDonald’s
Helena’s Hawaiian Food doesn’t open for another hour, but the kitchen, at 9 a.m., is already bustling with activity. Just beneath 250 pounds of its famous pipikaula (salted dried beef), hanging in long strips above the stoves, a pair of chefs stir massive aluminum stockpots filled with bubbling beef stew, squid lū‘au, chicken long rice
Not all that long ago, in a city far, far away (from Honolulu), there were many people who swore Hilo had the best okazuya in Hawaii. So what if most of those people lived in Hilo? It was true. The breed of take-out lunch shop known as okazuya—a Hawaii-born amalgam of the Japanese words “okazu”
I can’t remember a time when I’ve visited Kauai and someone—a coworker, a neighbor, my mom—didn’t ask me to bring back a brick of kulolo. You can find kulolo—a Hawaiian dessert staple made from mashed kalo (taro), coconut milk, sugar and little else—for sale on just about every Hawaiian Island. Most local grocery stores sell variants of
“If you drive too fast, you’ll miss it.” That was the sage, if succinct, advice I received from a friend several years ago when I mentioned I was headed to the small farming town of Hanapepe on Kauai’s south shore. She was describing a worn-down, faded green cottage on the biggest bend of the town’s
“You didn’t pre-order?” As she says this, the woman behind the counter at Two Ladies Kitchen stares at me in disbelief. A line of customers winds behind me and out of the small downtown Hilo mochi shop and onto the sidewalk alongside bustling Kīlauea Avenue. “You have to pre-order. They sell out,” she scolds, gently.
It’s easy to brand the popular and pervasive North Shore O‘ahu shrimp shacks and trucks as tourist traps. On most days near lunchtime, it’s not uncommon to find dozens of packed tour vans parked outside shrimp purveyors between the North Shore towns of Hale‘iwa and Kahuku, their passengers scarfing down plates of shrimp. Catch us
We thought we were early for lunch. It was 9 a.m., after all. But by the time we walked up to the entrance of Sam Sato’s, an unpretentious, old-time restaurant in Wailuku’s industrial area, a crowd of hungry patrons were already gathered, names written on a little yellow pad at the takeout window. Waiting to
There’s no shortage of bakeries across Hawaii, serving everything from exotic Japanese cake rolls to old-fashioned apple pies to extravagant modern desserts. There are old-time neighborhood bakeries like Kamehameha Bakery in Kalihi on Oahu that sells some of the best—and inexpensive—glazed donuts around. Or donut shops like Regal Bakery—three locations on Oahu—with its creative donuts,
