Oahu Dining Recommendations other than Aulani

[DVCSunDevil]

As we all have said, the best places are walk up, mom and pop spots that don’t take reservations (and may not even have any tables or chairs, lol). To really get the most out of the island mindset, you have to approach it almost opposite to a WDW trip.

“What are your plans for today?”
“Today, we’re turning left at the stop sign. Yesterday, we turned right.”

We did a little of each. We did some research ahead of time and definitely had a few spots we wanted to hit. But we also did the "let's pop into this place and see how it is" thing...or if we were getting hungry we would ask a local what was good in the area.

 

[lilsonicfan]

We are really not sit down for a fancy dinner type of people (unless we are on a cruise) so our meals were mostly casual places. Love poke, Hawaiian plate lunches. Some of the places we ate:

* Liliha Drive Inn - dive-y but super delicious
* Broke Da Mouth Grindz in Kapolei - SO SO GOOD, we would have come back except their hours were a bit odd. The pork belly adobo and beef rib with luau were my faves.
* Foodland - we went to both the one in Kapolei and at Ala Moana. Great for poke and other grab and go type food.
* Marugame Udon - we went to the one in Chinatown - no lines at all and easily found a seat. Great pricing, a simple and delicious meal
* Honolulu Kitchen in Waipahu - we got manapua here on the way from Honolulu to Aulani, these were amazing. Steamed or deep fried buns. Ube was super good, as was char siu.
* The Alley at Aiea Bowl - we ate here after Pearl Harbor, it's a restaurant inside a bowling alley which sounds weird, but again, super good Hawaiian plate lunches, huge portions.
* Haleiwa Bowls - great acai bowls if you're on North Shore
* 7-11 - we went to multiple ones as my kids love spam musubi and they really did have the best ones...followed closely by
* Musubi Cafe Iyusame - this was right outside our hotel in Waikiki and we grabbed musubis here a few times, yum.

 

[AustinTink]

I know you said nothing close to Aulani, but I have to say we really enjoyed our dinner at Longhi’s at the Marriott. I had the chicken piccata- my go to dish at any Italian restaurant- and it was of of the best I’ve had. DH had the shrimp and scallop Longhi and he loved that as well. We asked for both dishes over capellini instead of potatoes.

They also had a surprisingly good wine list separate from the selection of by the glass offerings on the dinner menu. Ask for the bottle list separately. We had an exceptional Brunello with our meal.

 

[J-Dog]

Wow! That's way more recommendations than I expected to get! Now I will have to sort them out. Thanks so much for all the help and info!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

This will sound bananas. but get a breakfast at McDonald's.

 

[cgattis]

Thanks! By looking at many menus, it looks like seafood is prevalent, but it's good to hear that it's not essential to eat it. BTW, you are beef producers? Thanks for what you do - I'm a large animal vet.

Well then thank YOU for taking care of our livestock! We do black Angus and black commercial—although we have a few longhorns we bought from a neighbor and I love seeing how those calves come out!

 

[cgattis]

This will sound bananas. but get a breakfast at McDonald's.

We didn’t do breakfast, but I did hit up a McD’s for a haupia pie! Also snapped a pic of the SPAM on the breakfast menu

 

[sainca11]

Kono's in Haleiwa!! They specialize in Kalua pork and their pork sandwich and home made chips are outstanding. Its a tiny hole in the wall place in the north shore, but so so worth it. Make sure to go to the one in the north shore and not Waikiki. If you are going to Waikiki, I would recommend Leonard's for malasadas. Have a wonderful trip!

 

[J-Dog]

This will sound bananas. but get a breakfast at McDonald's.

Dumb question - is there a way to look at the Mcdonald's menu? If I look on the general McD's website, I can only find a generic/nationwide menu. Thanks.

 

[J-Dog]

Kono's in Haleiwa!! They specialize in Kalua pork and their pork sandwich and home made chips are outstanding. Its a tiny hole in the wall place in the north shore, but so so worth it. Make sure to go to the one in the north shore and not Waikiki. If you are going to Waikiki, I would recommend Leonard's for malasadas. Have a wonderful trip!

Thanks! Will look into it! This is a great suggestion, because I've been trying to find something specifically on the North Shore

 

[jimmymc]

I'm less familiar with the Aulani area but can give some recommendations for the North Shore:

• Sunrise shack for acai bowls and iced coffee
• Chill grill for loco moco and tacos
• Haleiwa Seafood Grill
• Camaron Shrimp Truck
• Jax Wood Fired Pizza
• Kono's BBQ - the original is on the North Shore, but they have locations in Waikiki too
• Near Aulani, Loco Moco BBQ has the most local food you'll find in the area
• Foodland hot and cold food bars. It's more than just a grocery store, but it's also a good grocery store
• Zippy's is a classic diner with locations around the island
• Moke's Bread and Breakfast is a must do if you're near Kailua
• Giovanni's Shrimp truck was ok, I think it's more famous than standout food

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Dumb question - is there a way to look at the Mcdonald's menu? If I look on the general McD's website, I can only find a generic/nationwide menu. Thanks.

I don't think so, but the big stuff includes the brekkie with Spam or Portuguese Sausage, the fried haupia pies, taro pies, and some have saimin later in the day. (Although I prefer the Zippy's saimin for quick serve saimin.)

https://onolicioushawaii.com/mcdonalds-hawaii-special-menu/

 

[J-Dog]

I'm less familiar with the Aulani area but can give some recommendations for the North Shore:

• Sunrise shack for acai bowls and iced coffee
• Chill grill for loco moco and tacos
• Haleiwa Seafood Grill
• Camaron Shrimp Truck
• Jax Wood Fired Pizza
• Kono's BBQ - the original is on the North Shore, but they have locations in Waikiki too
• Near Aulani, Loco Moco BBQ has the most local food you'll find in the area
• Foodland hot and cold food bars. It's more than just a grocery store, but it's also a good grocery store
• Zippy's is a classic diner with locations around the island
• Moke's Bread and Breakfast is a must do if you're near Kailua
• Giovanni's Shrimp truck was ok, I think it's more famous than standout food

Excellent suggestions. Thanks so much!

I don't think so, but the big stuff includes the brekkie with Spam or Portuguese Sausage, the fried haupia pies, taro pies, and some have saimin later in the day. (Although I prefer the Zippy's saimin for quick serve saimin.)

https://onolicioushawaii.com/mcdonalds-hawaii-special-menu/

That's very interesting. Thanks very much!