Cost of Food in Hawaii: A Meal-by-Meal Price Guide for Oahu

The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks Honolulu-area prices every two months. In its October 14, 2026 release, food away from home (restaurant, cafeteria and vending purchases) was up 3.5 percent over the twelve months to September, and food at home (grocery store purchases) was up 4.1 percent. In the two months to September, restaurant prices were unchanged and groceries rose 0.7 percent.

Those are changes, not prices. Every dollar figure below comes from a menu read on October 14, 2026, and menus change without notice.

A plate lunch is the island’s default meal: a main, two scoops of rice and a scoop of macaroni salad, which Rainbow Drive-In prints at the top of its menu, with fries or coleslaw allowed as swaps.

Rainbow’s Kapahulu counter is at 3308 Kanaina Avenue and open daily 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., except Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day (Rainbow Drive-In). Tanioka’s prints ahi poke at “market price” with no per-pound figure, so its $14.95 bowl is built on tako, salmon, marlin, crab or tofu poke, and ahi costs $3 more. Our best poke on Oʻahu ranks the counters, and the best food on Oʻahu page covers the wider map.

Dinner is where the range opens. Duke’s Waikiki prints a lunch menu and a dinner menu with the same dishes and prices (print code DW 061126, June 11, 2026). Romy’s, a Kahuku shrimp truck, is the oldest price here: its menu post is from October 2025, so confirm it at the window.

Children eat for less: Duke’s keiki buffet is $17 at lunch and $24 at dinner, and Eggs ‘n Things’ children’s menu (10 and under) runs $5.95 to $7.95. For trucks beyond Romy’s, see our North Shore food trucks guide, and for a dim sum meal away from the Waikīkī strip, our Kapiolani Seafood Restaurant review.

These totals add menu prices for one adult across Kapahulu, Waikīkī and Kalihi, which takes a bus or a car. They leave out tax, surcharges and tip.

Two adults double it. Hotel costs sit outside these totals: our Waikīkī resort fees guide covers what each hotel charges.

A menu price is not always the final price. Four of the eight kitchens here print an extra charge or a gratuity rule, and the state’s tax page covers the one any Oʻahu seller can add.

Our Hawaii travel tips guide covers the other costs that are not on a price tag.

• Make the plate lunch the default. Rainbow Drive-In plates run $12.75 to $16.95 and Tanioka’s chicken plate is $12.95, each with rice and a salad. Our Oʻahu food tour guide strings stops into a route.
• Use a poke counter. Foodland’s seafood department sells poke by the pound, in bowls and in bentos at any store (Foodland). Tanioka’s Spam musubi is $2.75.
• Shop on a Friday. Foodland sells a kalua pork bowl, mini bentos and plates, select deli sandwiches and California rolls for $6 each, all day on Fridays, and posts the week’s Friday deals each Monday (Foodland $6 Eats).
• Plan a Don Quijote run. Honolulu Magazine reported self-serve hot food, salad and dessert bars at Don Don Donki Kapolei at $11.99 a pound in June 2025 (Honolulu Magazine, June 10, 2025), so check the price at the counter. Stores, hours and what to buy are in our Don Quijote and Don Don Donki guide.
• Know what Costco asks. Costco scans a membership card at the door and again at checkout (member policy, updated March 30, 2026). Its Iwilei warehouse lists a food court and gas.
• Time a happy hour. 53 By The Sea in Kakaʻako runs a weekend happy hour from 2 to 4:30 p.m. with Maui Brewing beers at $6, wine at $7 and cocktails at $12 (happy hour page). A Mai Tai at Duke’s is $18.

• Drinks. Duke’s Mai Tai at $18 costs more than Rainbow Drive-In’s $16.75 Mix Plate, and a 16 oz beer on tap there is $9 to $11.
• A sit-down breakfast. Eggs ‘n Things lists Portuguese sausage and eggs at $15.95 and specialty pancakes from $15.00 to $21.95, against $9.95 for Rainbow’s Breakfast Special. Four shrimp added to a dish are $6.20, and a credit card adds 3%.
• A buffet before drinks. Duke’s Prime Rib Buffet is $64 per adult, while the same dining room’s cheeseburger with fries is $23.50.