Best Restaurants in Honolulu for a Date Night (Local's List)
Honolulu has an outstanding restaurant scene that's consistently underrated outside of food circles. These are the spots worth choosing for a date — organized by what the occasion calls for.
When you want to impress without being obvious about it
Probably the best tasting menu restaurant in Hawaii right now. Chef Anthony Rush and Chris Kajioka have built something genuinely special — the menu changes constantly based on what's available locally, which means it's never the same twice. Reservations are essential and fill quickly. Worth it for a third or fourth date when you want to make it clear you were thinking about what would be memorable.
A James Beard Award-winning Hawaiian restaurant that's been serving the same traditional food since 1946. If you want a date that shows you actually know Hawaiian food culture — not brunch culture or fusion culture — this is the place. Cash only, closes when they run out. The pipikaula short ribs are the thing to order.
Underground (literally), one of the most curated wine lists in the Pacific, and a tasting menu format that makes the evening feel like an event rather than just dinner. This is a special-occasion restaurant — don't take someone here for a second date unless you want to set an expensive precedent.
For a great dinner without the ceremony
The Chinatown dining corridor has become one of the most interesting food neighborhoods in Honolulu, and Livestock is one of its anchors. Good cocktails, creative food that isn't trying too hard, and a room that's lively without being loud enough to prevent conversation.
Ed Kenney's neighborhood restaurant on Waialae Avenue in one of Honolulu's most livable neighborhoods. The menu leans heavily local-sourced, the atmosphere is genuinely relaxed, and being in Kaimukī feels like being in actual Honolulu rather than tourist Honolulu.
For a casual first date dinner that still shows good taste
An Honolulu institution — where local chefs go after their shifts, where the portions are enormous, and where the fried rice has a legitimate claim to being the best on the island. Not romantic in a white-tablecloth sense, but choosing Side Street Inn for a date tells someone you actually know Honolulu.