The Best Places to Eat on Oahu

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LAST UPDATED: June 29th, 2019

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If you know me (or have read any of my other blog posts) you might have caught on that I’m a bit of a foodie… So it should be no surprise that my first Google search when I found out we were going to Hawaii was ‘Where to eat on Oahu’.

Naturally, I found TONS of suggests for restaurants on Oahu. So after making myself a killer Google My Maps map, I was armed and ready to EAT ALL THE FOOD.

During our 7.5 days I managed to indulge at 10 different restaurants, food carts and dessert places. Armed with this moderate number of stops, I’ve put together a list of my favourite places to eat on Oahu, so you can also visit them on your next trip to Oahu!

Table of Contents

Best Area to Stay on Oahu

North Shore

The North Shore is where we stayed, and where I’d recommend staying, particularly if you’re looking for a more low key vacation. In general, Oahu isn’t a very ‘low-key’ kind of place, but the North Shore is definitely more chill than areas further south.

If you can find an Airbnb (<— Click that link to save $$ on your first booking!) or vacation rental near Shark’s Cove Beach and the Foodland, you’ll find yourself conveniently located for shopping, dining, beach-going and excursions.

The drive from the North Shore to downtown Honolulu is about an hour, depending on traffic. We did make the drive several times during our 9 days, and we found traffic to be quite slow moving at parts, thanks to the single lane highway and people slowing down to let surfers, swimmers and turtle spotters walk across the road. But hey, you’re on vacation in Hawaii! Enjoy the slower pace of life!

Honolulu

Staying in Honolulu is going to naturally mean more of a ‘busy’ vacation. If you don’t have a car (which I do suggest, even for a part of your vacation), this might be the best area for you to stay in. We didn’t take the public bus at all but all reviews online indicate that it’s a pretty good system and a good option for getting around the island. If you plan to join any organized excursions the free pick-up services are usually available in Honolulu, so this might be something to keep in mind, as well.

The biggest thing I disliked about Honolulu and Waikiki is that the beach was very crowded and lined with tall buildings. It also has a wave protection fence along the main part of it. I love nothing more than walking along a sandy, natural beach so this was a big deterrent for staying in this area for me.

One positive for staying in or near Waikiki is the easy access you’ll have to shopping and nightlife. If this is your jam, you might enjoy the hustle and bustle of staying in the city.

Haleiwa

This little coastal town is a destination for tourists, beginner surfers and paddleboarders. The water is quite calm along here and there are several great places to eat and shop. This could be a cute, relaxing town to stay in, but it feels fairly closed off if you’re someone that likes to go for a walk after dinner or be walking distance to several sandy, surfing beaches.

The Best Places to Eat on Oahu

Teddy’s Bigger Burgers

This Hawaiian chain came up pretty close to the top of my search for the best places to eat on Oahu. They are a chain restaurant that walks the line between fast food and full on restaurant. And they do it well! When you enter one of the restaurants, walk right up to the counter to place your order and pay, then head to any seat you like with your number. A staff member will bring out your order when it’s ready.

We waited a fair 8-10 min for our meals each time, so it’s quicker than a restaurant, but not quite as instantaneous as fast food.

One funny anomaly we found… we visited 2 different locations in Honolulu and each had different fries! Not sure what was up with that, but both were good at any rate.

Collectively we tried the veggie burger, crispy chicken burger, Kilauea Fire BBQ bacon burger, chicken fingers, the Aloha burger, fries and onion rings. All were delicious!

Seven Brothers at the Mill

This restaurant in the food truck park at XX is one of my favourite places to eat in Oahu, and all of Hawaii! The freshly formed beef patty was topped with the biggest onion rings I’ve ever seen, and a super tasty BBQ sauce. I actually had to take the hand-breaded onion rings off to even eat it!

Shark’s Cove Grill

This unassuming food truck is parked right across the street from Shark’s Cove, and gave us our first taste of ‘crazy fries’. Known as Hurricane Fries here, these freshly fried chips are topped with a healthy dose of chipotle sauce and a heavy sprinkling of a seasoning called ‘furikake’- essentially a blend of sesame seeds, nori (seaweed) flakes and seasoning. We were a little unsure of what we were getting ourselves into when we first ordered, but since it was our first day on Oahu, the risk felt necessary. And ohhhhhmigawddd best risk ever! This dish ended up being something I sought out frequently during our next 2.5 weeks in Hawaii. The coolest thing was that everywhere that sold them, made them differently. After nearly 3 weeks of testing out various versions, the one fro m Shark’s Cove Grill is still the one I dream about!

Ty’s Beach Bus

Another mainstay at the food cart park on the North Shore, Ty’s Beach Bus serves up Instagram-worthy waffles on a stick and a huge menu of homemade sodas. He offers some special recipe waffle sticks and DIY concoctions. We chose an oreo waffle with chocolate sauce and icing sugar. It was delicious!! My mom and I shared one stick and it was a perfect little snack before lunch.

Oahu North Shore Ty's Beach Bus drink menu

Modo Donuts

This funky donut shop that I originally found on Instagram has its storefront in the International Marketplace Mall, inside of Mitsuwa Marketplace grocery store. We struggled to find it at first, and knowing that it was inside another store would have helped us a ton! Once we managed to find the counter, we were greeted by a wide selection of bubbled-shaped donuts in fun flavours. We chose a couple pretty unoriginal flavours to share like oreo and white chocolate. While the consistency was different than what I expected, the donuts were delicious! Definitely worth stopping in, especially if you like fun food photos!

Haleiwa Joe’s

On the night of my aunts birthday we found ourselves on quite the scavenger hunt… We had to find a restaurant that wasn’t crazy expensive, offered both fresh fish and a standard ‘American’ menu (for those of us who don’t eat fish) and that was close because most of our group was suffering from a serious case of HANGRINESS by this point. By total fluke we ended up at Haleiwa Joe’s, and what a happy fluke it was! Once we ordered an assortment of dishes and they came, we were happy to see the purple taro buns that we had learned were popular on the island. My pulled pork sandwiches were delicious, prices were great (partially thanks to happy hour!) and we all left the restaurant satisfied.

Killer Tacos

When you call your tacos ‘Killer’ you basically know that I’m stopping by to test them out. As a foodie, it’s always difficult to make it to all the food places I want to try out on any trip. But as soon as I saw the name of this taco place, I knew it had to be on my list. So on our last day on the island, during a quick run to the post office in Haleiwa from our North Shore condo, I talked my parents into making a stop for lunch. I tried 2 hard tacos, one with their in-house made Big Island kahlua pork and another with roasted chicken. While both were delicious, I definitely preferred the pork. Their taco shells are the real magic though. Crispy shells made fresh in house are my favourite!

Loki’s Shave Ice

You can’t visit Hawaii without tasting authentic shave ice! (yes, it’s ‘shave’ not ‘shaved’!) This authentic Hawaiian snack is made by shaving a brick of ice and dousing it with sugary flavours. We had several around the islands and they all seem fairly similar to my untrained eye, but Loki’s was the only one with an ice cake… a little bowl filled with a Popsicle-like frozen treat. We found these in the gift shop next door before wandering over for a giant bowl of shave ice. Do as the locals do (so I’m told) and add a scoop of ice cream to the bottom!

Dole Plantation

No trip to Oahu would be complete without a visit to the Dole Plantation! There are a number of fun things to do at the plantation, but the biggest must do is to grab a bowl of pineapple soft serve with fresh pineapple chunks on top. I first thought the flavour might be a little overbearing, but that wasn’t the case at all

Food Truck Park at Kahuku

If you didn’t catch on from the two places I mentioned above, the food truck park at Kahuku is definitely a foodies dream! From fresh shrimp to oven baked pizza and funnel cakes, every craving will be fed at this food truck park on the North Shore.