Cocktails, wine bars and dives: drinking in Honolulu for grown-ups.
Cocktail bars, wine bars, dive bars and gastropubs: drinking in Honolulu for grown-ups.
Bar Leather Apron in Downtown Honolulu is Justin and Tom Park's intimate cocktail bar on the TOPA Financial Center mezzanine, the 2023 James Beard winner for Outstanding Bar.
Signature drink: Old fashioned
Food: Small plates
Tip: Reservations highly recommended; walk-ins welcomed by availability. Open Wednesday to Saturday 17:00 to midnight.
House Without a Key at the Halekulani in Waikiki Honolulu pours sunset cocktails under a 130-year-old kiawe tree with Hawaiian entertainment, the signature mai tai a Charlie Chan reference.
Signature drink: Mai Tai
Food: Hawaiian small plates
Tip: Sunset hula starts 17:30. Bar tables walk-in only; the Kawehewehe blue curacao cocktail is the new house move.
Lewers Lounge at the Halekulani in Waikiki Honolulu is the seven-nights-a-week jazz cocktail bar where Hawaiian-grown ingredients meet Chet Baker and Ella Fitzgerald named cocktails.
Signature drink: Smoke Rings (Sam Cooke)
Food: Lewers burger, poke chips
Tip: Live light jazz Tuesday to Saturday 20:30 to midnight; Sunday and Monday 20:00 to 22:30. Smart casual.
La Mariana Sailing Club on Sand Island in Honolulu is the city's last original tiki bar, opened in 1957 with carved tikis from the Sheraton Kon Tiki Room and Trader Vic's pufferfish lamps.
Signature drink: Mai Tai
Food: Surf-and-turf, pupus
Tip: Tuesday to Saturday 11:00 to 20:00. Tucked behind warehouses on Sand Island; bring a sweater for the lagoon breeze.
The Manifest in Chinatown Honolulu is the dual cafe-and-cocktail bar with the state's largest whiskey selection, serving Waialua-grown coffee by day and live music by night since 2009.
Signature drink: Hawaii's largest whiskey selection
Food: Toast bar, sandwiches
Tip: Tuesday 10:00 to 22:00, Wednesday and Thursday to midnight, Friday and Saturday to 02:00. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Skull and Crown Trading Co. in Chinatown Honolulu is the modern tiki bar on Hotel Street, with fresh-juice cocktails and a deeper-than-typical rum list inside the Encore building.
Signature drink: Modern tiki cocktails
Food: Polynesian small plates
Tip: Tuesday to Saturday 17:00 to 23:00. Closed Sunday and Monday; book ahead on Resy for weekends.
The Mai Tai Bar at the Royal Hawaiian in Waikiki Honolulu pours the canonical Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai daily, the drink first served on hotel grounds in 1953 from Trader Vic's recipe.
Signature drink: Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai
Food: Bar bites, poke
Tip: Daily 11:00 to 23:00, live music 18:00 to 22:00. The Ali'i Mai Tai is the upgrade; oceanfront tables turn at 19:00.
Podmore in Downtown Honolulu is the cocktail bar Anthony Rush and Katherine Nomura opened in the 1902 Joseph W. Podmore Building, with bartender Alex Law running the spirits program.
Signature drink: House old fashioned
Food: Brunch by day, snacks at night
Tip: Closed Monday. Brunch Saturday and Sunday from 09:00 to 14:00; the library room books out first.
Bevy in Kakaako Honolulu is the SALT block cocktail bar with industrial decor, repurposed wine-box tables and a Mai Thai built on Bacardi 7, lemongrass syrup and candied-ginger foam.
Signature drink: Mai Thai
Food: Small plates
Tip: Tuesday and Wednesday 17:00 to 22:00, Friday and Saturday to 02:00. Closed Sunday and Monday.
The Tchin Tchin Bar in Chinatown Honolulu is the rooftop wine and cocktail bar above Lucky Belly, with Japanese whiskeys, gins and Mediterranean small plates from a plant-walled terrace.
Signature drink: Natural wine and cocktails
Food: Mediterranean small plates
Tip: Closed Sunday and Monday. The rooftop terrace is open by 17:00; cocktails run alongside the by-the-glass list.
Duke's Waikiki on Kalakaua in Honolulu has been the Outrigger Waikiki beach bar since 1994, named for Duke Kahanamoku with the Hula Pie ice cream finish and oceanfront barefoot bar.
Signature drink: Hula Pie
Food: Local plates, fish
Tip: Daily 07:00 to 24:00. Live music 16:00 to 18:00 and 21:30 to midnight; Barefoot Bar walk-in only.