Our favorite places to eat in Waikiki

Sharing a recap of the best places to eat in Waikiki and why we love them so much!

Hi friends! Happy Monday! I hope you’re having a wonderful morning so far and that you enjoyed the weekend! It was a good one over here. Liv and I got to work on a voluteenr project together, I met up with a friend for brunch and took hoy yoga.

This is the first week that I feel like we’re finally back in the swing of things after our glorious trip to Hawaii straight into school starting. This week. the kids have a full week at school, I actually meal-prepped and grocery shopped, and my schedule is packed with podcast interviews and coaching calls.

For today’s post, I wanted to share a recap of our favorite places in Waikiki and why we love them so much! We also visited Waikiki a couple of years ago, so we were pumped to return to some favorites and also explore some new spots. I’ll have a post up next week with a recap of our time at Aulani, too!

The best restaurants in Waikiki

Best poke bowl: Poke Fix

We had SO much sushi and poke bowls while we were there, but our very favorite is Poke Fix. The menu changes based on what’s caught fresh each day, and the seasoned selections are marinated to perfection. They truly treat poke like a work of art; it’s by far the best poke bowl of my life.

Best Acai bowl: ALO Cafe

Everything is made fresh in house, including their peanut butter. I love these acai bowls because the base isn’t too sweet, they have gluten-free granola, and the ratio of acai to toppings is ideal. They also have wonderful smoothies!

Best date night or fancier dinner spot: A House Without a Key

This is probably in my top 10 resturants ever, including all of the places we’ve traveled. Everything is fresh, vibrant, and you can’t beat the scenery. You’re outdoors, facing the ocean and an exquisite sprawling tree, which provides a bit of shade for the live music and hula dancers.

Family dinner spots: Tommy Bahama or Duke’s

We ate at both each time we were in Waikiki. I like that Tommy Bahama offers another menu where everything is made in house, including the sauces, salsas, and marinades. They also source from local farms whenever possible. Their mai tais are my favorite on the island!

Duke’s has a legit salad bar which you can add onto your meal for $9 (at the time of posting). They also have a lot of fresh and local options, including poke tacos (the girls’ fave), ginger and scallion fish (my fave), steak, and more casual fare, like burgers and pulled pork sandwiches.

Our favorite quick bite and breakfast spot: Duke’s Market

From what we could tell, there aren’t a lot of *traditional* breakfast spots (with things like eggs, bacon, pancakes, etc.), but instead, we went into Duke’s Market each morning, where the girls got malasadas (the best donuts!), masubi or fried rice and egg bowls, we shared a fruit bowl, and I drank an almond milk decaf latte. This was also a great place to load up on beach snacks, like fresh fruit bowls, sushi, drinks, sandwiches, smoothies, etc. They have pretty much everything at Duke’s Market.

For healthy casual fare: Nalu

We had Nalu twice this past time because it was so good, and my body was grateful for a vegetable to go with all of the sushi and mai tais I’d consumed. I had the rainbow salad with chicken twice, and the girls also loved their sandwiches and acai bowls. They have a huge menu of salads, acai bowls, smoothies, wraps, and sandwiches, and I definitely want to go back and try more things! (Also, all of the desserts are gluten-free!)

Best udon noodles: Marukame Udon

This place is constantly packed – the lined wraps down the street from the time they open until they close!- but our best tip is to order it online and then pick up at the pickup window to the right of the entrance! The girls LOVE this udon place.

Surprising highlight: the gluten-free mochi butter cake on the beach

A woman came up to us on the beach carrying a large tray of packaged cakes. When she told me the first option was gluten-free and it smelled DELICIOUS, I happily paid the $10 to eat mochi cake from a stranger lol. (She told me she makes it fresh every day and I could see families around us also enjoying it, so I went for it.)

The family and I shared it, and we ended up buying it from her two more times! I can attest that this mochi butter cake is LEGIT. She also sells Filipino food during the day, including chicken and shredded beef with noodles.

And now after finishing this post, my stomach is officially growling