All-day breakfast and lunch$15 to $25Daily 07:00 to 14:00Walk-in only
Sweet E's Cafe in Kapahulu Honolulu is the casual breakfast room named for Ethel Mathews, serving stuffed French toast, crab cake Benedict and an all-day brunch menu on Kapahulu Avenue.
Order: Stuffed blueberry cream cheese French toast.
Tip: Daily 07:00 to 14:00. The stuffed blueberry cream cheese French toast is the canonical order.
Classic breakfast and pancakes$15 to $25Daily 07:00 to 14:00Walk-in only
Cinnamon's Restaurant in Kailua across the Pali from Honolulu is the 1985 breakfast spot where red velvet pancakes and guava chiffon pancakes anchor a 30-deep weekend queue.
Order: Red velvet pancakes with cream cheese frosting.
Tip: Walk-in only; queue from 07:30 weekends. Guava chiffon if the menu has it.
Pancakes and Hawaiian breakfast$15 to $30Thursday to Monday 08:00 to 14:00Walk-in only
Boots and Kimo's Homestyle Kitchen in Kailua across the Pali from Honolulu is the original home of the banana macadamia nut pancake stack drowned in their signature macadamia nut sauce.
Order: Banana macadamia nut pancakes with macadamia nut sauce.
Tip: Full stack with macadamia nut sauce is the move. Enchanted Lake shopping center; closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
Modern Asian-American brunch$18 to $32Daily 07:00 to 14:30Walk-in primarily, some reservations
Koko Head Cafe in Kaimuki Honolulu is chef Lee Anne Wong's brunch room where the cornflake French toast and breakfast bibimbap have anchored 12th Avenue since 2014.
Order: Cornflake-crusted French toast.
Tip: Dinner Friday to Monday from 17:00. Walk-in queue steady at 09:00 weekends; some reservations open on Resy.
Classic American breakfast$15 to $24Daily 07:00 to 15:30Walk-in only
Cafe Kaila in the Market City Shopping Center in Honolulu's Kapahulu has won Hale Aina best breakfast four consecutive years with cornbread waffles, buttermilk pancakes and made-from-scratch French toast.
Order: Cornbread waffle with strawberry butter and honey.
Tip: Walk-in queue from 08:30 weekends. Cornbread waffle with strawberry butter is the signature.
Modern Hawaiian aina-based brunch$18 to $32Sunday 10:00 to 14:00Reservations recommended
Mud Hen Water in Kaimuki Honolulu serves a Sunday brunch built around Ed Kenney's aina-based cooking, with shakshuka, kalua pork hash and rotating Hawaiian-vegetable plates.
Order: The shakshuka and the chef's selection of small plates.
Tip: Sunday only. Book a week ahead on OpenTable; the brunch list changes weekly with farms.