Mid-Range in Honolulu

Helena's Hawaiian Food

• ★ 4.8
• Hawaiian
• $$

Helena's Hawaiian Food is locals queue for this 1946 kalihi institution but most visitors never venture past chinatown to north school street.

Mud Hen Water Sunday Brunch

• ★ 4.8
• Brunch
• $$

Order The shakshuka and the chef's selection of small plates.

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.

Kona Coffee Purveyors

• ★ 4.7
• Coffee roaster
• $$

Kona Coffee Purveyors in Waikiki Honolulu is the Big Island single-estate Kona roaster that opened a collab cafe with b. patisserie at the International.

Maguro Brothers Hawaii Chinatown

• ★ 4.7
• Poke
• $$

Maguro Brothers Hawaii Chinatown is a two-brother poke counter inside Kekaulike Market; the Tsuchiya brothers source from the Honolulu Fish Auction at dawn.

Podmore Brunch

• ★ 4.7
• Brunch
• $$

Order The brunch board with house-cured salmon and biscuit.

Podmore in Downtown Honolulu pours brunch and cocktails inside the 1902 lava-rock Podmore Building, with Anthony Rush's kitchen serving the city's most.

Big Island Coffee Roasters

• ★ 4.6
• Coffee roaster
• $$

Big Island Coffee Roasters at Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikiki Honolulu is the Hilo award-winning craft roaster, with single-origin lots from Puna, Kona.

Manoa Chocolate

• ★ 4.6
• Coffee roaster
• $$

Manoa Chocolate in Kailua across the Pali from Honolulu has been a bean-to-bar craft chocolate maker since 2010, sourcing single-origin cacao from Hawaiian.

Lonohana Estate Chocolate

• ★ 4.6
• Coffee roaster
• $$

Lonohana Estate Chocolate in Kakaako Honolulu is the tree-to-bar chocolate maker that grows its own cacao on 14 acres of North Shore Oahu and dries the beans.

Koko Head Cafe

• ★ 4.6
• Brunch
• $$

Order Cornflake-crusted French toast.

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.

Aloha Beer Co. Kakaako

• ★ 4.5
• Brewery
• $$

Aloha Beer Co. in Kakaako Honolulu is the independent local brewery that took over the old Waikiki Brewing space at 700 Queen, with 13 styles on tap.

Lanikai Brewing Company

• ★ 4.5
• Brewery
• $$

Lanikai Brewing Company in Kailua across the Pali from Honolulu is the 2014 organic craft brewery whose Pillbox Porter and Moku Imperial IPA anchor.

Off the Hook Poke Market

• ★ 4.5
• Poke
• $$

Off the Hook Poke Market is manoa valley is twenty minutes off the tourist track but uh manoa students fill the counter for the city's best two-scoop bowls.

Arvo Brunch

• ★ 4.5
• Brunch
• $$

Order Loaded avocado toast.

Arvo in SALT Kakaako Honolulu is the Australian cafe brunch spot the Rose family opened, with loaded avocado toast, Nutella toast and smoked salmon toast.

Musubi Cafe Iyasume

• ★ 4.4
• Hawaiian
• $$

Order Teriyaki spam musubi.

Musubi Cafe Iyasume on Kuhio in Waikiki Honolulu holds the line for late-night handheld spam musubi until 21:00, the easiest after-drinks fuel.

Liliha Bakery Original

• ★ 4.4
• American diner
• $$

Order Chocolate coco puff with macadamia nut chantilly.

Liliha Bakery on North Kuakini in Honolulu was the city's late-night diner-with-bakery counter for decades, the chocolate coco puffs and grilled butter rolls.

Highway Inn Kakaako

• ★ 4.3
• Hawaiian
• $$
• Kakaako

Order The kalua pork combo with laulau and poi.

Highway Inn Kakaako is the 2013 Honolulu outpost of the Toguchi family's 1947 Waipahu original, serving the same kalua pork, laulau and combo plates inside.

Side Street Inn Ala Moana

• ★ 4.3
• Local Hawaiian
• $$
• Ala Moana

Order The pan-fried pork chops and the kim chee fried rice.

Side Street Inn Ala Moana is the 1992 Hopaka Street original in Honolulu from the late Colin Nishida, the off-duty chef pupu room behind Ala Moana Center.

Lucky Belly

• ★ 4.3
• Ramen
• $$
• Chinatown

Order The Belly Bowl ramen and the pork belly bao.

Lucky Belly is the Chinatown Honolulu ramen and bao shop Dusty Grable and Jesse Cruz opened in 2012, the room that ushered in the neighborhood's modern.

Boots and Kimo's Homestyle Kitchen

• ★ 4.3
• Brunch
• $$
• Kailua

Order Full stack banana mac nut pancakes with the signature macadamia nut sauce.

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.

Honolulu Coffee Company

• ★ 4.3
• Coffee roaster
• $$

Honolulu Coffee Company was founded in 1992 as a farm-to-cup Kona coffee roaster in Honolulu, with a 50-acre estate in the Captain Cook region and cafes.

Morning Brew Hawaii

• ★ 4.3
• Coffee roaster
• $$

Morning Brew Hawaii in Kailua across the Pali from Honolulu roasts its 100% Hawaiian blend and signature beans in-house weekly, with a second cafe.

Honolulu Beerworks Kalihi

• ★ 4.3
• Brewery
• $$

Honolulu Beerworks in Kalihi Honolulu reopened a larger taproom at 1632 Hart Street in early 2025 after relocating from Cooke Street, sharing the building.

The Manifest

• ★ 4.3
• Cafe
• $$

Order Toast bar with the avocado and house-pickled vegetables.

The Manifest in Chinatown Honolulu is the dual cafe-and-bar that keeps a toast bar and full sandwich menu running until 02:00 Friday and Saturday.

Ono Seafood

• ★ 4.3
• Seafood
• $$

Ono Seafood in Honolulu: Tourists go to Foodland for poke; locals come to this Kapahulu storefront for the sashimi-grade shoyu ahi at half the price.

Sweet E's Cafe

• ★ 4.3
• Brunch
• $$

Order Stuffed blueberry cream cheese French toast.

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.

Cinnamon's Restaurant

• ★ 4.2
• Brunch
• $$
• Kailua

Order Red velvet pancakes with cream cheese frosting; guava chiffon if the menu has it.

Cinnamon's Restaurant in Kailua is the 1985 breakfast spot across the Pali from Honolulu, where red velvet pancakes and guava chiffon pancakes anchor.

Waikiki Brewing Company

• ★ 4.2
• Brewery
• $$

Waikiki Brewing Company on Kalakaua Avenue in Honolulu is the local craft brewery brewing IPAs and lagers in central Waikiki, with a second taproom.

Uncle Bo's Pupu Bar and Grill

• ★ 4.2
• Seafood
• $$

Order Crispy crab cakes with dynamite shrimp.

Uncle Bo's Pupu Bar and Grill on Kapahulu in Honolulu is the late-shift Kapahulu pupu room from chef Bo Pathammavong, the crispy crab cakes and dynamite.

Palace Saimin

• ★ 4.2
• Hawaiian
• $$

Palace Saimin is tourists rarely make it past chinatown to kalihi for this 1946 saimin counter, but locals have eaten here for three generations.

Bar 35

• ★ 4.1
• Pizzeria
• $$

Order Wood-fired pizza of the day with a beer flight.

Bar 35 on North Hotel Street in Chinatown Honolulu is the wood-fired pizza and 200-beer late bar, the city's deepest after-midnight option on First Friday.

Mud Hen Water

• ★ 4.1
• Hawaiian
• $$

Mud Hen Water in Honolulu: Hidden up Waialae in Kaimuki, Ed Kenney's aina-based room cooks with farms tourists never see and rotates the menu weekly.

Cafe Kaila

• ★ 4.1
• Brunch
• $$

Order Cornbread waffle with strawberry butter and honey.

Cafe Kaila in the Market City Shopping Center in Honolulu's Kapahulu has won Hale Aina best breakfast four consecutive years with cornbread waffles.

Lion Coffee

• ★ 4.0
• Coffee roaster
• $$

Lion Coffee in Kalihi Honolulu is the state's largest roaster, voted Hawaii's number-one local brand and producing the canonical chocolate macadamia.

Kona Brewing Company Hawaii Kai

• ★ 4.0
• Brewery
• $$

Kona Brewing Company at Koko Marina in Honolulu is the Oahu pub for the Big Island brand, with Longboard Lager and Big Wave Golden Ale on tap.

Maui Brewing Company Waikiki

• ★ 4.0
• Brewery
• $$

Maui Brewing Company in Waikiki Honolulu is the Hawaiian craft brewer's Oahu pub at the Outrigger Reef, with Bikini Blonde Lager, Big Swell IPA and a rooftop.

Andy's Sandwiches and Smoothies

• ★ 4.0
• Cafe
• $$

Andys Sandwiches and Smoothies has fed UH students and Manoa Valley families from Manoa Marketplace since 1977; the papaya smoothie is the standard order.

Zippy's Kapahulu

• ★ 3.8
• American diner
• $$

Order Chili and rice plus a side of mac salad.

Zippy's Kapahulu in Honolulu is the 24-hour diner of the local Higa-family chain, the city's most reliable late-night sit-down with chili, saimin and the Zip.