Eating reasonably in Hawaii

[gcgang]

Marukame Udon in Waikiki area, Kuhio street. $5-10 gets a great meal. But be prepared for the big line.

 

[fasteddie911]

Go where the locals eat. You’ll get more authentic local food and most locals aren’t paying anywhere near those prices. Ask around and you’ll have a more authentic experience.

Ironically, with internet, yelp, etc., all the tourists seeking local authenticity inundate these local spots, locals stop going, thus becoming a tourist spot.

 

[audreyh1]

We always sought out seafood shops. These often sell fresh seafood from a counter as well as cooked meals to order and poke. One place on Kuaui even invited us back to see into their fish locker where they had huge whole fish hanging from the ceiling like a whole ahí tuna and opa and some wahoo.

 

[dtbach]

Thanks for all replies. Will get some fruit and pastry for breakfasts, eat at Fast Food and food trucks for lunch and then do dinners at some tourist spots and some local spots. Should be fun.

 

[Sunset]

At the beach we found the little snack shacks that sold rice and chicken plates handy and cheap for a beach lunch.

 

[Finance Dave]

Happy hour is one solution. The other is to use VRBO or similar to rent a condo where you have a full kitchen, go to grocery store and make half your meals at the unit.

We went about 4 years ago and did this, worked out great for us.

 

[RobbieB]

If I was on Hawaii I'd eat as much fresh local fish as I could. And at least one Luau.

 

[audreyh1]

The fresh flowers in the grocery store are a good deal too. Best place to buy a lei. And the containers help preserve them in the fridge. We enjoyed our grocery store leis, we wore them to a nice dinner one night and were complimented by the hostess on our observing a local custom. They smelled so good! When we checked out, we gave the leis to the front desk. Apparently you aren’t supposed to throw leis in the trash.

 

[mn54]

Yes, restaurant food is expensive in Hawaii.

The last couple of times we were there, in the big island then in Maui, we stayed in timeshares with kitchen. Hello Costco!

I have a family trip coming up in less than 2 months. Airbnb this time. The 1st thing we are going to do after landing is to visit Costco. In Maui, Costco is closed to the airport anyway.

We will do some eating out, but having to look for a place to eat for every meal is not desirable to us anyway, let alone cost.

PS. Maui Costco is the place to get gas. The price difference to other gas stations is substantial. Again, it's a good place to fill up before returning the rental car.

getting gas at costco before returning the rental car is a good idea. unfortunately everyone has the same idea so the lines at the pumps are very long. give yourself lots of extra time to stop for gas.

 

[RobbieB]

Yeah, wait in line for half an hour to save 5 bucks. 10 bucks an hour, good wages!

 

[NW-Bound]

Nah. It was less than 5 or 10 minutes when we were there.

 

[Scuba]

Ironically, with internet, yelp, etc., all the tourists seeking local authenticity inundate these local spots, locals stop going, thus becoming a tourist spot.

Yeah, I like to ask people who live locally. Some may not want to divulge the secret local places, but I’ve had great results this way.

 

[Koolau]

getting gas at costco before returning the rental car is a good idea. unfortunately everyone has the same idea so the lines at the pumps are very long. give yourself lots of extra time to stop for gas.

Wait time at Costco gas on Alakawa (just N of China Town, off Dillingham) has dramatically improved since they added lots of pumps last year. Maybe 10 minutes wait time now on average. When gas prices have moved up rapidly, Costco can save you up to $1/gallon. Usually, it's more like $.30 (minimum) to $.40(average)/gallon.

It's more or less on your way to the airport.

 

[NW-Bound]

We were in Maui just four years ago, but the last and 2nd time we went to Oahu has been 25 years!

We stayed in Waikiki both times, and also this time. However, we get an Airbnb this time in Discovery Bay.

Just checked out the map to see the above Costco only 2 miles from the Airbnb. And Chinatown is on the way too. Another place to visit for some Chinese food. I still remember going there last time. Darn, it's been a long time. My 30-year-old son now was only 5 then.

 

[kgtest]

When in Maui, eat at Horjitos Taco truck off the beach by Kam III. Look for local labels in the grocer, and know that there are 3 classes of grocer, Safeway being the most stocked but most spendy. Farmers markets are on Saturday in Kihei, There might be another one some other place/time. I lived in Kihei so really know that area the best but fire away, I visited every single island and have the most visited City-Date HI post on that forum over there so I know my stuff. Mamas fish house is a must, go at lunch to save some money but always book reservations, even for just 2!

 

[Koolau]

Have a trip to both Oahu and Hawaii mid Jan 2020 and looking at Yelp was rather amazed at the restaurant prices! Appetizers mostly upper teens, entrees in the mid to high 40's. Plus I have 2 college kids with me.


Should I plan on doing food trucks a few times? Are there local hangouts that are more in the $25/person range? Best ways to find those?


Or just suck it up as the price to pay to eat in Paradise??

I haven't determined whether you will have access to a car on Oahu. IF you do, you can just about pay for the nightly parking fee at your hotel by driving to some (relatively) inexpensive eateries (and especially take-outs).

I would agree that it makes no sense to spend all your time driving around looking for bargains. Having said that, IF you can make it part of the Hawaii "adventure" you CAN save a bundle and still eat reasonably well AND healthy.

Some suggestions:

Slightly "institutional" in taste, but we really like to stop at ANY Times grocery store. Go to the deli. They offer 3 or 4 plate lunches/day (take out in a styro box) for about $8 on average. The menu varies location to location and day to day, but they have items like salmon, sliced steak, sliced pork, garlic shrimp, meat loaf, hamburger steak, and others. With entree you get 3 choices of mashed potatoes, fried potato choice, mixed veggies, salad AND a large fountain drink. WE can get TWO meals out of one styro box. WE like the taste, though you'll want to trim a bit of fat and gristle, etc., occasionally. WE take our boxes home OR to a nearby park. They may have a very limited outside seating area, but I'd opt for a park.

L and L (google locations). Decent food (if you like it) and lots of it for maybe $8 - they're everywhere. Very "local" food, maybe not the healthiest, but usually offer a decent fish. Lots of starches available. You'll be full, but will not rave about the food.

Yummy's BBQ (several locations - like Ala Moana food court.) $10 or so for a meal. Very good if you like this type of food.

Heh, heh, Panda Express. Also everywhere. We won't eat at Panda on the mainland (hauole's can't cook Chinese food IMHO). BUT on Oahu, for $10 you can stuff yourself with excellent wok'd veggies and or fried rice or chow fun plus at least 2 very tasty (not all healthy) entrees (Beijing Beef, Orange chicken, beef and broccoli, etc. etc.) Add a refillable drink for $2. Split 4 entrees and one drink between two people and you'll waddle out for $7/head.

Mentioned Ala Moana food court. 20+ choices at maybe $12 average/person - bring your own canned sodas. With several people, try splitting meals at 2 or more places. Pizza ('nyeaaah!'), decent burgers, decent Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, Panda, etc. You can share your way to less than $10/head. Oh, and 3rd or 4th floor of Ala Moana, there are several sit-down places (Mai Tai, Bubba Gump, Tanaka's of Tokyo, etc.) Not cheap, but not outrageous for lunch - plus decent atmosphere and even "water views" at some restaurants. You COULD walk to Ala Moana from the Ewa end of Waikiki.

Cinnamon's at the Ewa end of Waikiki. Sort of an upscale (no, really!) Denny's. $1/hour parking behind. Same area there is a Dead Lobster (oops! I mean Red Lobster.) Some other non-chain restaurants in the area you could browse - especially for lunch.

Speaking of Dennys - at the far Diamond Head end of Waikiki - on Kapahulu - across from the zoo - is a Dennys. Not our favorite Denny's on the Island, but with AARP discount, DW and I WADDLE out for $10 total WITH TIP (okay, maybe $12 total.) We do the $2-$4-$8 menu and drink water.

On Kalakaua ave a couple of streets Ewa of Kapahulu is Wolfgang Pucks. It ain't local. We split a nice salad and one entree for LESS than $18 or $20 TOTAL WITH a refillable drink and a chunk of banana bread or similar. We "tourist watch" from the outside tables. The beach is across the street.

Costco "window" has same fare and prices as mainland. Best pizza on the Island - sad to say. $2 for meal-sized slice. $1.50 for huge dog and refillable drink. Enjoy!

You don't have to pay a fortune to eat - even in Waikiki area. You just have to be flexible in your tastes and maybe be able to get a mile or 2 outside of Waikiki.

 

[NW-Bound]

^^^ Thanks.

One needs a long stay to use all the tips. Or he has no time left to do anything else.

 

[audreyh1]

On Maui we deliberately set out to find a Hawaiian food eatery which was not that far from the airport. It was quite inexpensive. We had a hankering for kailua pork and stuff wrapped in taro leaves (laulau) and baked - certain specialties that you ain't going to get anywhere else. Better than going to a luau for the food, IMO, although the luau experience as a whole can be very enjoyable. Poi By The Pound

Another one in that town had some local specialties - had that Japanese soup with the soba noodles (saimin). Also dishes like loco moco and a version of spam musubi that was breaded and deep fried! Restaurant might have been Da Kitchen.

Everything we found by browsing trip advisor. We went back to each of those two restaurants when passing through Kailua.

 

[Koolau]

A slight aside (go figure, Ko'olau with an aside!): There are SO many places to eat in Hawaii (especially in Honolulu) that you almost can't walk or even drive down a street without being assailed (in a good way) with the wonderful odors of cooking food. It's enough to make one hungry 24/7.

I honestly don't recall ever trying ANY food here that didn't taste good to me. Maybe it was too spicy (I'm not at all into especially hot spicy food) but other than that, this meat-and-potatoes haole has become a true omnivore. Even poke and sashimi (things I never thought I would eat) are some of the local temptations I'll eat.

Now the really good news: SO many of the restaurants here are the little "local" hole-in-the-wall places with the one-off names. Many of these are very inexpensive. I'm still just a bit leery of some places that look like maybe they aren't completely up-to-date on their health "plans." Every few weeks, one of them makes the TV news for having failed their health inspection (with graphic pictures.) Still, you could eat in a different restaurant every day and never repeat in a year. It's one of the "adventures in paradise" you can find here - even if you aren't a foodie. Naturally, YMMV.

Returning you now to our regularly scheduled thread.

 

[RobbieB]

That's what I plan on doing when I visit, eat the local stuff!

I didn't go to Hawaii to do burgers and fries at McD

 

[NW-Bound]

... Even poke and sashimi (things I never thought I would eat) are some of the local temptations I'll eat...

We eat fish, but not sashimi. And I tried poke there, but did not enjoy it.

Returning you now to our regularly scheduled thread.

But the thread is about Hawaiian food.

 

[RobbieB]

Bummer dude.

I enjoyed a $45 lunch today, mirugai sashimi, salmon skin tamaki and 4 raw oysters on the half shell. Drank water.

 

[SAinMinn]

Neat! I'll be there at exactly the same time.

I have family in Honolulu (I do not stay with them) so I have been several times. As others suggested, cooking your own stuff is a great way to save money. I always book places with full kitchens, but it sounds like your lodging is taken care of.

I could live on poke, and it's cheap and abundant. My cousin, his wife, and I ate like kings at a hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant near some mall -- very reasonable. For sure, eat where the locals do.

See you there!

 

[Scuba]

I haven't determined whether you will have access to a car on Oahu. IF you do, you can just about pay for the nightly parking fee at your hotel by driving to some (relatively) inexpensive eateries (and especially take-outs).

I would agree that it makes no sense to spend all your time driving around looking for bargains. Having said that, IF you can make it part of the Hawaii "adventure" you CAN save a bundle and still eat reasonably well AND healthy.

Some suggestions:

Slightly "institutional" in taste, but we really like to stop at ANY Times grocery store. Go to the deli. They offer 3 or 4 plate lunches/day (take out in a styro box) for about $8 on average. The menu varies location to location and day to day, but they have items like salmon, sliced steak, sliced pork, garlic shrimp, meat loaf, hamburger steak, and others. With entree you get 3 choices of mashed potatoes, fried potato choice, mixed veggies, salad AND a large fountain drink. WE can get TWO meals out of one styro box. WE like the taste, though you'll want to trim a bit of fat and gristle, etc., occasionally. WE take our boxes home OR to a nearby park. They may have a very limited outside seating area, but I'd opt for a park.

L and L (google locations). Decent food (if you like it) and lots of it for maybe $8 - they're everywhere. Very "local" food, maybe not the healthiest, but usually offer a decent fish. Lots of starches available. You'll be full, but will not rave about the food.

Yummy's BBQ (several locations - like Ala Moana food court.) $10 or so for a meal. Very good if you like this type of food.

Heh, heh, Panda Express. Also everywhere. We won't eat at Panda on the mainland (hauole's can't cook Chinese food IMHO). BUT on Oahu, for $10 you can stuff yourself with excellent wok'd veggies and or fried rice or chow fun plus at least 2 very tasty (not all healthy) entrees (Beijing Beef, Orange chicken, beef and broccoli, etc. etc.) Add a refillable drink for $2. Split 4 entrees and one drink between two people and you'll waddle out for $7/head.

Mentioned Ala Moana food court. 20+ choices at maybe $12 average/person - bring your own canned sodas. With several people, try splitting meals at 2 or more places. Pizza ('nyeaaah!'), decent burgers, decent Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, Panda, etc. You can share your way to less than $10/head. Oh, and 3rd or 4th floor of Ala Moana, there are several sit-down places (Mai Tai, Bubba Gump, Tanaka's of Tokyo, etc.) Not cheap, but not outrageous for lunch - plus decent atmosphere and even "water views" at some restaurants. You COULD walk to Ala Moana from the Ewa end of Waikiki.

Cinnamon's at the Ewa end of Waikiki. Sort of an upscale (no, really!) Denny's. $1/hour parking behind. Same area there is a Dead Lobster (oops! I mean Red Lobster.) Some other non-chain restaurants in the area you could browse - especially for lunch.

Speaking of Dennys - at the far Diamond Head end of Waikiki - on Kapahulu - across from the zoo - is a Dennys. Not our favorite Denny's on the Island, but with AARP discount, DW and I WADDLE out for $10 total WITH TIP (okay, maybe $12 total.) We do the $2-$4-$8 menu and drink water.

On Kalakaua ave a couple of streets Ewa of Kapahulu is Wolfgang Pucks. It ain't local. We split a nice salad and one entree for LESS than $18 or $20 TOTAL WITH a refillable drink and a chunk of banana bread or similar. We "tourist watch" from the outside tables. The beach is across the street.

Costco "window" has same fare and prices as mainland. Best pizza on the Island - sad to say. $2 for meal-sized slice. $1.50 for huge dog and refillable drink. Enjoy!

You don't have to pay a fortune to eat - even in Waikiki area. You just have to be flexible in your tastes and maybe be able to get a mile or 2 outside of Waikiki.

Great suggestions! I’m saving this post.

 

[valsdad]

Get out your google machine and search for Hawaii on a budget.