Honolulu Bar Guide
30+ bars across Honolulu's drinking neighbourhoods, curated by editors who know the city.
Honolulu invented the modern Mai Tai. Trader Vic's and Don the Beachcomber both claimed credit, both poured the original here. The tiki tradition runs through the city's bars 80 years later. The newer Chinatown cocktail wave (Bar Leather Apron, Manifest) added a serious craft-cocktail layer next to it.
Five neighbourhoods cluster the action. Waikiki holds the tiki-and-resort spine. Chinatown is the speakeasy district. Kakaako is the natural-wine and creative quarter. Kailua across the island is the windward-side beach-bar district. Manoa covers the university-area bars.
Cocktails run $14 to $20. Tipping is 20 percent. Most bars run to 2am. Reserve Bar Leather Apron — small format, World's 100 Best regular.
Browse by occasion
Cocktail Bars in Honolulu
World-class cocktail rooms
Rooftop Bars in Honolulu
Skyline drinks
Date Night in Honolulu
Romantic spots
After Work in Honolulu
Apéro-hour bars
Live Music in Honolulu
Bands and DJs
Craft Beer in Honolulu
Microbreweries and taprooms
Hidden Gems in Honolulu
Unmarked doors
Sports Bars in Honolulu
Watch parties
Top Picks This Week
Bar Leather Apron
Honolulu's most awarded cocktail bar. World's 100 Best Bars regular. Speakeasy on the second floor of a downtown office building. Reservations only.
Tchin Tchin!
Cocktail-and-natural-wine bar with a tight rotating menu. Long marble counter, leather banquettes. The Chinatown cocktail-industry's regular spot.
House Without A Key
Heritage hotel bar at the Halekulani. Outdoor seating under a 100-year-old banyan tree. Hula dancing nightly. The Waikiki sunset Mai Tai institution.
Manifest
Coffee-by-day, cocktail-bar-by-night. Brick-walled, candle-lit, and a thirty-something local crowd. Best on a Wednesday or Thursday.
La Mariana Sailing Club
Heritage tiki bar from 1957 on a working marina. The last surviving original tiki bar in Hawaii. Carved wooden interior, blowfish lamps, and Mai Tais done right.
Halekulani Lobby Bar
Polished hotel bar at the Halekulani. Live Hawaiian music nightly, Pacific cocktail menu, and the most dressed-up Waikiki evening.
Neighbourhood Guide
Waikiki
The tiki-and-resort spine. Heritage hotel bars, beachfront sunset terraces, and the most authentic Mai Tai culture in Hawaii.
Chinatown
The speakeasy and creative-class district downtown. Cocktail rooms, natural-wine bars, and the densest serious-bar concentration in Hawaii.
Kakaako
The new creative-class quarter. Converted warehouses now hold cocktail bars, natural-wine cellars, and the most adventurous food in Honolulu.
Kailua
Windward-side beach district 25 minutes east. Beach bars, surf shacks, and the most relaxed Hawaiian drinking pace.
Manoa
The university-area district north of Waikiki. Neighbourhood cocktail rooms, dive bars, and a younger student-and-faculty crowd.
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