Empire Steak House
Prime Steaks, Ocean Views, Serious Cabernet
Ilikai Hotel, Ala Moana · Honolulu · Steak House · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 7, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
The wine list at Empire Steak House lands like the view from the Ilikai Hotel — bigger than you expected, with real ambition behind it. California and France are the clear headliners, and Wine Spectator agrees enough to hand them a Best of Award of Excellence. For a steakhouse perched above Honolulu's coastline, this is not a list that's coasting on scenery.
Selection Deep Dive
The California heavy-hitters are all present and accounted for — Caymus, Silver Oak, Jordan, Chateau Montelena, Stag's Leap, and Duckhorn Merlot for the crowd that still thinks Sideways was wrong. France shows up with genuine credibility: Chateau Margaux and Chateau Lynch-Bages anchor a Bordeaux section that earns its column inches, and Italy gets a seat at the table with Gaja in the Barolo corner. The list runs 200-400 bottles deep, which is real range for a Hawaii resort-adjacent steakhouse. The gap is anything adventurous — no natural wine moment, no unexpected Rhône detour, nothing that surprises — but for the format, it delivers.
By the Glass
Fifteen to twenty-five options by the glass is a solid pour program for a steakhouse, and the price range of $14-$22 is reasonable given the address and the altitude of the list. Don't expect the pours to rotate much — this feels like a set-it-and-forget-it glass program rather than something a manager is actively curating week to week.
Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon — $60–$80 range
Jordan consistently punches above its price point — it's approachable, food-friendly, and won't make you wince when the bill arrives. In a list full of three-digit Napa names, it's the move for a table that wants quality without the occasion feeling like a mortgage payment.
Chateau Lynch-Bages
Lynch-Bages is one of Bordeaux's best-kept open secrets — technically a fifth-growth, drinking like a second on a good vintage. Most tables here will reach for the California names out of habit. The table that orders Lynch-Bages with the dry-aged ribeye is the smartest one in the room.
Opus One
Opus One is a prestige pour and priced accordingly — but in a restaurant setting with a Hawaii market markup layered on top, you're paying a significant premium for a label that's already expensive at retail. It's a flex, not a value play, and there are better bottles on this list for serious drinking.
Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon + USDA Prime Dry-Aged Ribeye
Montelena is structured and earthy with enough backbone to stand up to the fat and intensity of a dry-aged ribeye — it doesn't try to overpower the beef, it works with it. This is the pairing that earns the view.
🎲 The Bottom Line
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.
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