Honolulu

Vintage 1901

Downtown Honolulu · Honolulu · Hotel Wine Bar

The Reliable

Vintage 1901 is a well-organized hotel wine bar doing exactly what it should — giving visitors something better than the minibar without demanding too much effort or knowledge. The port program is legitimately great and worth your time; the rest of the list is competent, if a little sleepy on value.

Tchin Tchin Bar

· Honolulu · Rooftop Wine Bar

The Reliable

Tchin Tchin is a perfectly pleasant place to drink wine with a view, and nearly everything being available by the glass means you can graze without committing to a bottle. Just don't come expecting discovery — come expecting a solid pour and a great sunset.

Appetito Craft Pizza & Wine Bar

Waikiki · Honolulu · Italian Pizza / Wine Bar

The Wild Card

Appetito is the Wild Card of Waikiki — a pizza and wine bar that quietly punches above its tourist-strip surroundings with fair pricing, a Brunello on the glass list, and enough Italian depth to make the wine worth ordering. Send a friend here and tell them to skip the Bonanza.

Kaimukī Storeroom

Kaimukī · Honolulu · Wine bar / small plates

The Wild Card

Kaimukī Storeroom is doing the bare minimum in quantity and the maximum in quality — three bottles, all bangers, prices that won't make you do sad math on your phone. If you're a natural wine person stuck in Honolulu wondering why every list is the same, come here first.

Fête

· Honolulu · New American

The Wild Card

Fête is quietly running one of the most interesting wine programs in the state of Hawaii, and most people eating there probably have no idea. If you care at all about what's in your glass, this is worth the trip.

Pai Honolulu

· Honolulu · Contemporary tasting menu

The Wild Card

Pai's wine list won't impress anyone counting bottles, but it will surprise anyone counting countries — seven wines, six regions, zero filler. If you trust the kitchen's tasting menu, trust whatever pairing the list is built around.

Amuse Wine Bar

Honolulu · Honolulu · Wine Bar / New American Small Plates

The Wild Card

Amuse Wine Bar is doing something genuinely unexpected in Honolulu: building a thoughtful, geographically diverse list with fair pricing in a city where most wine programs are an afterthought. If you're in Hawaii and care about what's in your glass, this is the room to be in.

StripSteak Waikīkī

Waikīkī · Honolulu · Modern Steakhouse

The Wild Card

StripSteak Waikīkī pulls off something genuinely rare: a hotel steakhouse wine program worth paying attention to, built almost entirely around an extraordinary by-the-glass selection. The prices reflect the zip code, but if you're eating steak in Waikīkī anyway, this is the room to do it in.

Merriman's Honolulu

· Honolulu · Restaurant

The Reliable

Merriman's Honolulu delivers a wine list that punches above the typical Hawaii resort-area offering — genuinely good producers, a clever small-format section, and enough variety to reward a curious drinker. The pricing skews steep and the list won't surprise anyone, but you won't be embarrassed ordering here either.

Brix and Stones Cafe @ Kaimukī

Kaimukī · Honolulu · Wine Café & Bistro

The Wild Card

Brix and Stones is doing something genuinely valuable for Kaimukī — bringing a thoughtful, accessible wine program to a neighborhood that needed one. The Caymus carafe pricing is a bona fide deal and the Meinklang shows real taste, but watch out for the bubbly markups and a list that could use a little more rotation to keep regulars coming back.

Brix and Stones

Kakaʻako · Honolulu · Wine Bar & Spirits Lounge (BYO Food)

The Wild Card

Brix and Stones is the kind of place that shouldn't exist in the form it does, in the city it's in — and that's exactly why you should go. The markup swings from genuinely fair to eyebrow-raising depending on what you order, but the natural wine focus and knowledgeable staff make it the most interesting wine stop in Honolulu by a comfortable margin.

Fresco Italian Restaurant

Waikiki · Honolulu · Italian with local Hawaiian influence

The Reliable

Fresco is a solid resort wine list doing exactly what it's designed to do: keep guests comfortable and the floor moving. If you're looking for adventure, you'll need to look elsewhere — but if you just want a cold glass of something decent with a view of the Pacific, it gets the job done.

Moku Kitchen

Kakaʻako / SALT · Honolulu · Hawaiian-inspired / New American

The Reliable

Moku Kitchen isn't a wine destination, but it's a reliable neighborhood spot that doesn't gouge you — and in Hawaii, that alone earns real points. Send a friend here for dinner, not for the wine list, but tell them the prices won't sting.

Beachhouse at the Moana

Waikiki · Honolulu · Steak and seafood with Hawaiian regional influences

The Reliable

Beachhouse at the Moana is a perfectly decent wine experience as long as you know what you're walking into: a hotel list with hotel markups and a stunning ocean backdrop doing the heavy lifting. Go for the Jordan with your steak, catch the sunset, and save the serious wine exploration for somewhere else on the island.

Orchids

Waikiki · Honolulu · Seafood / Mediterranean

The Reliable

Orchids is a reliable wine program wearing a luxury price tag — the sommelier is real, the pours are properly handled, and the list gets the job done for the room it's in. Just know that you're paying the Halekulani premium on every bottle, and budget accordingly before you sit down.

Hau Tree

Waikīkī · Honolulu · Regional

The Wild Card

Hau Tree earns its Wine Spectator nod — this is a genuinely considered list in a setting where mediocrity would have been completely forgiven. If you're in Waikīkī and want a glass of something real with your toes near the sand, this is the place.

Hoku's

Kahala · Honolulu · Seasonal Pacific Rim

The Wild Card

Hoku's is a genuinely impressive wine program hiding inside a hotel restaurant — Patrick Okubo keeps the list credible and the service sharp, and the ocean setting makes everything taste a little better. Markups trend steep, as expected for Kahala, but there are smart picks here if you know where to look.

Rigo Spanish Italian

Kapahulu · Honolulu · Spanish, Italian

The Wild Card

Rigo is doing something genuinely unusual: a focused, credentialed Spanish-Italian wine list in a converted Honolulu bungalow, staffed by people who actually know what's on it. If you care about drinking well in Oahu, this is a required stop.

Mugen

Waikiki · Honolulu · Hawaiian

The Wild Card

Mugen is the rare Waikiki restaurant where the wine list actually respects your intelligence — California and France done right, with a few anchor bottles that justify the trip. Markups keep it from being a steal, but the overall program earns its Wine Spectator stripes.

Island Vintage Wine Bar

Waikiki · Honolulu · Asian, Hawaiian

The Wild Card

Island Vintage is the wine bar you didn't think you'd find in a Waikiki shopping center, and that surprise is exactly why it earns the Wild Card. Bring a light appetite, skip the obvious pours, and let the setting do the rest.

Wolfgang's Steakhouse by Wolfgang Zwiener

Waikiki · Honolulu · American Steakhouse

The Rager

Wolfgang's Honolulu earns its Rager badge by delivering a genuinely serious wine program in a city where most restaurants are coasting on tourist traffic and markup. Monday half-price wine night is one of the best kept secrets in Waikiki — show up, order the strip, and let Jon point you toward something worth drinking.

Solera

Waikiki · Honolulu · Farm to Table, Regional

The Rager

Solera is quietly one of the most serious wine destinations in Hawaii, and the farm-to-table menu gives you plenty of reasons to open something special. Yes, you'll pay for the privilege, but a sommelier who knows the list and a cellar stocked with Conterno and Leflaive isn't something you find at every beachside restaurant.

La Mer

Waikiki · Honolulu · French

The Rager

La Mer is the real deal — a destination wine list in a destination restaurant, backed by a team that clearly knows what they're doing. Yes, the markups sting, but when you're sitting oceanside in Honolulu with a glass of Leflaive in hand, it's difficult to argue with the experience.

Hy's Steakhouse

Waikiki · Honolulu · American, Steakhouse

The Rager

Hy's is the rare Honolulu restaurant where the wine list feels like it was built with intention, not just filled in around the menu. The markups are real, Wednesday half-price night is your friend, and sommelier Prestyn Timas is worth the conversation — this one earns the Wine Spectator hardware.

Empire Steak House

Ilikai Hotel, Ala Moana · Honolulu · Steak House

The Wild Card

Empire Steak House is a Wild Card in the best sense — a legitimate wine list in a setting where you'd forgive them for phoning it in. The markups sting a little and no sommelier means you're navigating on your own, but the bones are good and the California-Bordeaux depth is real.