Best Restaurants for Wine Lovers in Honolulu
This list groups Honolulu restaurants by wine: Wine Spectator awards and exceptional programs. Four restaurants hold Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence: La Mer in Waikiki, Hy’s Steak House in Kapahulu, Stripsteak in Kapahulu, and Empire Steak House Hawaii in Waikiki. Five hold Award of Excellence: Mugen in Kapahulu, Orchids in Waikiki, Arancino at The Kahala in Kahala, Hau Tree in Diamond Head, and Merriman's Oahu in Ala Moana.
Stage in Ala Moana and 3660 On the Rise in Kaimuki have exceptional wine programs. Stage is sommelier-led and combines the dining room with an Enomatic bar of over 50 wines in the Honolulu Design Center. Hy’s Steak House and Stripsteak, both in Kapahulu, also hold Star Wine List awards. Hau Tree in Diamond Head holds a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence with a standard wine program.
How this list is chosen: Restaurants with a Wine Spectator Restaurant Award or a deep wine list, listed alphabetically. Updated October 8, 2026.
3660 On the Rise
Deep wine list
Situated on Waialae Avenue in Kaimuki, 3660 On the Rise has anchored Honolulu's fine dining scene for decades, translating Hawaii's Pacific Rim pantry into composed, technique-driven cooking. The address places it in one of Oahu's most food-serious neighbourhoods, where locals rather than resort circuits set the standard. It belongs to the tier of Honolulu restaurants where the kitchen's ambition is measured against the island's best ingredients, not the tourist trade.
Arancino at The Kahala
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
Arancino at The Kahala brings a precise Italian kitchen to the east edge of Honolulu's hotel corridor, earning consecutive Opinionated About Dining recognition in North America from 2023 through 2025. Dinner runs five nights a week from inside the Kahala Resort, where the mood sits closer to composed resort formality than casual beachside dining. For Italian on Oahu, this is the address that critics keep returning to.
Beachhouse at the Moana
Deep wine list
Set against the sands of Waikīkī, Beachhouse at the Moana occupies one of Honolulu's most storied waterfront positions at the historic Moana Surfrider. The dining room draws a loyal crowd who return for the combination of open-ocean views and a menu rooted in Hawaii's seafood traditions. For visitors, it offers a grounded counterpoint to the louder, higher-volume options along Kalākaua Avenue.
Empire Steak House Hawaii
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence
Empire Steak House Hawaii sits along Ala Moana Boulevard in Honolulu, positioning itself within a city whose steakhouse tier has grown considerably more competitive as mainland concepts and locally rooted dining rooms vie for the same reservation. The address places it steps from one of Honolulu's densest hotel corridors, making it a natural reference point for visitors and kama'aina alike seeking a structured, protein-forward dinner in the heart of the city.
Hau Tree
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence
Set on the lobby floor of the Kaimana Beach Hotel along Kalākaua Avenue, Hau Tree sits at the quieter, residential end of Waikīkī where Diamond Head begins to rise and the beach crowds thin. The restaurant trades on its setting beneath a sprawling hau tree at the edge of Sans Souci beach, making it one of Honolulu's more occasion-ready addresses for a meal tied to place rather than spectacle.
Hy’s Steak House
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
Hy's Steak House on Kūhiō Avenue has held a place in Honolulu's serious dining conversation for decades, earning back-to-back rankings on Opinionated About Dining's North America Casual list (#113 in 2023, #154 in 2024) and a White Star from Star Wine List. Open nightly from 5 pm, it represents the old-guard steakhouse tradition done with enough consistency to attract continued critical attention in a city increasingly shaped by newer concepts.
La Mer
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
La Mer sits inside the Halekulani hotel on Waikiki's west side, where ocean-facing doors draw in the tradewind breezes and the sound of breaking surf becomes part of the dining experience. Recognized by La Liste's 2026 global ranking with 79 points, it occupies the upper tier of Honolulu's formal dining scene.
Merriman's Oahu
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence
Merriman's Oahu at 1108 Auahi Street sits within Honolulu's Ward Village corridor, carrying the Merriman's brand commitment to Hawaii Regional Cuisine and direct relationships with local farmers and fishermen. Recognised by Star Wine List with a White Star designation, it represents the more produce-driven end of Honolulu's dining spectrum, where sourcing geography shapes the menu as much as the kitchen does.
Mugen
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
Forbes Five-Star and AAA 5 Diamond, Mugen occupies a 34-seat dining room on Kalākaua Avenue where a Japanese-inflected tasting menu follows the Hawaiian calendar. The five-course format offers per-course flexibility, supported by a 270-selection wine list and a cocktail program built around local fruit and island-distilled spirits. Dinner reservations are required; valet parking is available on-site.
Orchids
Wine Spectator Award of Excellence · Deep wine list
At the Halekulani on Waikiki Beach, Orchids has tracked a steady arc from hotel dining room to a ranked entry on Opinionated About Dining's North America list, reaching #477 in 2024 and climbing to #477 in 2025. The kitchen runs Italian and Mediterranean cooking under Chef Christian Testa, backed by a 115-selection wine program with 750 bottles in inventory and a sommelier team that tilts toward California producers.
Stage
Deep wine list
Stage occupies a Kapiolani Boulevard address that positions it within Honolulu's evolving mid-city dining corridor, away from the tourist-facing strip of Waikiki. The restaurant sits in a city where Pacific Rim cuisine has moved steadily from novelty to cultural identity, and where local diners increasingly set the standard for what ambitious cooking looks like in Hawaii. For visitors tracking serious dining beyond the resort bubble, Stage is worth locating in that context.
Stripsteak
Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence
Stripsteak occupies a prominent address on Kalākaua Avenue in Waikīkī, earning a White Star recognition from Star Wine List in December 2023 for the depth of its wine program. The format places serious meat cookery and considered wine selection at the center of a dining scene more often associated with casual Pacific Rim fare. It sits in the upper tier of Honolulu's hotel-adjacent restaurant corridor.
Planning restaurants for wine lovers in Honolulu
- Which restaurants on this list hold Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence?
- La Mer in Waikiki, Hy’s Steak House in Kapahulu, Stripsteak in Kapahulu, and Empire Steak House Hawaii in Waikiki hold Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence on this list. La Mer's program is exceptional and holds a World's Best Wine Lists 3-Star award. Hy’s Steak House and Stripsteak hold Star Wine List awards for 2026, and Hy’s Steak House has an exceptional wine program. Empire Steak House Hawaii keeps a list with craft cocktails and beer.
- Which neighborhoods on this list have Wine Spectator restaurants?
- Wine Spectator restaurants on this list are in Waikiki, Kapahulu, Kahala, Diamond Head, and Ala Moana. Waikiki holds La Mer and Empire Steak House Hawaii at Best of Award of Excellence and Orchids at Award of Excellence. Kapahulu holds Hy’s Steak House and Stripsteak at Best of Award of Excellence and Mugen at Award of Excellence. Kahala, Diamond Head, and Ala Moana hold Arancino at The Kahala, Hau Tree, and Merriman's Oahu, each at Award of Excellence.
- What list styles appear on this page?
- Styles on this list run from exceptional programs to steakhouse lists and a standard program at Hau Tree in Diamond Head, which holds Award of Excellence. Mugen in Kapahulu pours 270 selections with sake. Orchids in Waikiki holds 750 bottles, and the sommelier team tilts toward California producers. Stage in Ala Moana is sommelier-led, with an Enomatic bar of over 50 wines. Arancino at The Kahala in Kahala pairs an extensive list with sake.
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