Chinatown, Honolulu

Updated on March 31, 2026

In my opinion, Chinatown is the most fascinating, culturally diverse and exciting of all the neighborhoods on Oʻahu — the one I gravitate to regularly for inspiration and good eating.

Honolulu's Chinatown was established during the 1840s along the waterfront southwest of Nu'uanu Stream by Chinese immigrants. It is a gathering place for immigrants, artists, farmers and food lovers, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of the oldest Chinatowns in the United States. The neighborhood's real texture comes from its aged brick architecture and small mom-and-pop businesses. There are lei stands that have occupied the same corners for generations, noodle and dim sum factories, herbal medicine shops, fresh produce markets, bakeries and butcher shops. Youʻll also find Buddhist and Taoist temples, vendors selling simple, working class foods like musubi and manapua and residents outside playing mahjong.

Hotel Street, a red light district in the 1800s, where U.S. soldiers congregated with prostitutes to rent cheap hotels by the hour (how the street got its name), is now lined with outstanding restaurants that rival any major city.

It's a bustling neighborhood that fosters the creativity of some of Oʻahu's most talented artists, makers and chefs, where people live, work, eat, meet for coffee and shop for daily groceries.

Here is my Honolulu Chinatown guide. Use it to plan your adventure and navigate your way around.

Quick Facts About Chintown

• Location: West of downtown Honolulu, officially bordered by Vineyard Boulevard to the north, the canal on River Street to the west, Nimitz Highway to the east and Nu'uanu Avenue to the south, although I think most locals would agree it extends past Nu'uanu to Bethel Street.

• Best time to visit: Morning for markets and lei stands, lunch or dinner for restaurants, First Friday and bars for nightlife.

• Getting there: TheBus routes 2, 13, 20, 42 from Waikīkī; Biki bikeshare; rideshare; limited street parking

• Free to explore: No admission to the neighborhood itself.

When to Come

The weather in Chinatown is mild year-round. Even on rainy days, I come here to shop or tuck into a restaurant or coffee shop for the afternoon. If you want to see the produce, meat and fish markets in full-swing, come early in the morning, as most markets close by 3 p.m. For dining come during lunch or dinner time. There are plenty of options, although on Sunday some of the restaurants are closed. If you enjoy nightlife, many of Chinatown's bars stay open until 2 a.m. — just note that most restaurants stop serving around 9:30 p.m.

What to Wear/Bring

Wear comfortable walking shoes and layers. If it's during winter, bring an umbrella or light rain jacket just in case. Dress casually. Even the nicest restaurants down here are used to seeing locals in shorts and sandals, or slippahs. Don't walk around in a bathing suit, you are not near the beach and that would just be weird. Bring some cash, although practically everyone takes cards many of the small businesses in Chinatown will give you a small discount if you pay in cash. It's also handy for tipping at bars.

How to Get Around

This neighborhood is completely walkable. To get here, you could drive, take TheBus (routes 2, 13, 20, and 42 all come from Waikīkī) take a rideshare or ride a Biki bike — Honolulu's bikeshare program that has bike stands all over town.

Parking

Street parking is scarce, but there are multiple parking lots. Here are a few:

• Chinatown Municipal Parking Garage — An underground parking lot on 155 N. Beretania Street.

• Chinatown Gateway Parking Garage — 1031 Nu'uanu Avenue, on Bethel Street between King and Hotel Streets.

• Smith-Beretania Municipal Lot — Beretania Street between Nu'uanu and Smith Streets.

• Eat your way through the neighborhood — Take a food tour, browse the markets, order a tropical fruit smoothie, eat at the hole-in-the-walls.

• Shop for lei on Maunakea Street — Come for the freshest lei in town made by family-owned businesses who have been here for generations. Come early in the morning (most open at 7 a.m.) for the best selection.

• Explore indie art galleries — The best time to come is on First Fridays, when all the galleries are open late and many are hosting art openings.

• Visit the Kuan Yin Temple — Dedicated to the Chinese deity of compassion, located at the entrance to Foster Botanical Gardens.

• Check out Hawaiʻi Theatre — Built in 1922, this historic landmark now hosts concerts, comedy shows, plays, The Hawaii Symphony Orchestra, film screenings and more.

• Visit the Sun Yat-sen Statue — The "Father of Modern China," located at 100 N. Beretania Street.

• Attend First Friday — On the first Friday of every month, visit galleries, bars and restaurants in Chinatown for a festive art and live music scene.

• Come for Chinese New Year — In early February, Chinatown celebrates with lion dances, parades, special new year foods and week-long events.

I may be biased, but for me the biggest draw to Chinatown is the food. Need an ingredient you can't find at a grocery store, or even the farmers market? Chinatown will likely have it. The variety of produce, meat, poultry, fish and grocery items you can find here is astounding. Most of the produce is grown locally. Some of the seafood is local too. Fresh talapia comes from a fish farm in Central O'ahu and wild reef fish, tuna and mahi are from either local fishers or the Honolulu Fish Auction. Tucked in between, are shelves of condiments and other ingredients for preparing Chinese, Thai, Filipino and a variety of other (mostly Asian) cuisines. Beyond that, there dozens of food stalls, eateries, cafes, restaurants and bars — my list of favorites below doesn't even scratch the surface. Don't know where to start? Try a Chinatown Food Tour.

Markets

• Oahu Market: Open-aire market with roast pork and duck, fresh produce and fish and a variety of prepared foods.

• Kekaulike Market: Open-air market with fresh produce and meat.

• Maunakea Marketplace: Home to a wide variety of affordable food stalls and gift shops.

Specialty Shops

• Chi Kong Look Funn Factory: Fresh look funn — long flat rice noodles made with mushroom, char siu pork or shrimp and green onions.

• Yat Tung Chow Noodle Factory: Freshly made noodles, wonton wrappers and dumpling skins.

• Royal Kitchen: Char Sui Manapua — Hawaiʻi's bao bun.

Bakeries

• Sing Cheog Yuan Bakery: Moon cakes, cookies and a variety of dim sum such as egg tarts, manapua and shrimp dumplings.

• Ocean Side Bakery: French pastries, quiche and caneles.

• Mille Fete: Cakes, cookies, bread, ice cream, savory pastries and more.

Hole-in-the-Walls

• Youpo Noodles: Hand-pulled biang biang noodles.

• HK Cafe: Hong Kong milk tea, peanut butter french toast and seafood laksa.

• The Daley: Smash burgers and fries. Beer and shots.

Restaurants

• Fete: Classic comfort food, craft cocktails and the best wine list in town.

• Giovedi: Modern Asian-Italian with Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese influences.

• Sing Sing Thai Street Food: Bangkok-style street food with an ever-evolving menu.

• Pizza Mamo: Brooklyn and Detroit-style pizza.

Bars

• Smith's Union Bar: Oldest bar in Hawaiʻi. Karaoke dive.

• Pigeonhole: Craft cocktails and pūpū, open late.

• Pewa: Coffee shop in the morning; lunch, pūpū and cocktails in the afternoon and evening.

• EP Bar: Japanese-style listening bar with craft cocktails and wide variety of tunes by local DJs.

• Bar Leather Apron: Award-winning craft cocktail bar. Reservations are a must.

Lei Stands

Walk down Maunakea Street for the best lei stands. Most are owned and operated by families who have been in the business for several generations.

Home Goods

Hound & Quail: A curated collection of vintage curiosities and lifestyle products from around the world.

Tin Can Mailman: Vintage shop with everything from cameras to books, prints, alohawear and more.

Bo Wah Trading: Everything for the kitchen including Chinese porcelain, teapots, cups and rice bowls. Open since 1976.

Ginger 13: Chic locally-made jewelry, home goods and plants.

Locally-made Apparel & Accessories

Roberta Oaks: Original aloha shirts and dresses.

Fighting Eel: Cozy knit dresses, tops, children's clothes in a variety of island-inspired designs.

Hook & Hide: Sea leather, apparel, leather bags, wallets and lei.

The Hawaiʻi Theatre, located at 1130 Bethel Street., was proclaimed the “Pride of the Pacific” when it opened in 1922 as a showplace for vaudeville, plays, musicals and silent films. In May 1996, the theatre reopened as a multi-purpose performance center, following years of disuse and a complete restoration.

The ARTS at Mark's Garage: A nonprofit arts center, home to more than a dozen performance and visual arts groups, which hosts rotating exhibitions, screenings, lectures and workshops. It is also the engine behind First Friday, the free monthly art walk that has drawn residents and visitors into Chinatown on the first Friday of every month since 2003. Located on Nu'uanu Avenue and North Pauahi Street.

Downtown Art Center: A nonprofit exhibition and classroom space that absorbed the beloved Louis Pohl Gallery collection and continues to champion local Hawaiian artists through rotating shows and community programming. Located on Nuʻuanu near Hotel Street.

Kaiao Space: Community space for local artists and makers, owned by Hawaiian cultural practitioner and aloha shirt designer Sig Zane. Art openings are every other Friday. Stop into Sig on Smith next door for aloha shirts every Friday.

Native Books: Independent bookstore and publisher that carries books and literature from Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.

Single Double: Rotating artist residence and vintage clothing store.

Skull-Face Books & Vinyl: Counterculture, comics and vintage books, vinyl and film.

Architecture

It may appear some of Chinatown's old building have been around for centuries, but really, most of what you see is 150 years of architectural improvisation. Nearly all the buildings were built after the catastrophic 1900 fire that leveled 38 acres overnight. The neighborhood quickly rebuilt in fire-resistant-brick, an aesthetic that still defines this area today.

Oahu Market: Built in 1904, this is a good example of the built-to-last commercial masonry that was used to rebuild here. It still stands as a functioning market, more than a century later, on the corner of King and Kekaulike Streets.

The Wo Fat Chop Suey Building: This first iteration of this building was burned down in the fire of 1886. It was rebuilt and burned down again in 1900, rebuilt again and torn down in 1937 to rebuild again in 1938. It blends Chinese and Italian architecture and was once the oldest restaurant in Honolulu, seating 850 people. Wo Fat, which means peace and prosperity, is located at the corner of Hotel and Maunakea Streets.

On Hotel Street, the two- and three-story brick commercial buildings with their plaster-coated facades exemplify early 20th-century Honolulu commercial architecture. The covered sidewalks and second-story windows of this former red light district were filled with sailors, prostitutes, merchants and laborers.

The Wong Building (1905) and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce (1912) have more formal facades reflecting the community's growing prosperity and civic ambitions in the early 1900s. The United Chinese Society office is here — first established in 1884 to receive Chinese immigrants and welcome them to Hawaiʻi.

Murphy's Bar & Grill: One of the few pre-1900 survivors in the district. This structure built in the style of Florentine Gothic and Renaissance Revival, with thick masonry walls and arched detailing, dates back to 1890. It originally housed the Royal Saloon, patronized by King Kalākaua and the longshoremen who worked at the port across the street. Pop in for a meal and a pint. Owned by Don and Marion Murphy since 1987, the Irish pub located at at 2 Merchant Street is legendary in Honolulu.

The Wing Wo Tai Building on Maunakea Street is where the first case of bubonic plague was discovered in Chinatown. You Cong (a Chinese bookkeeper who worked for Wing Wo Tai) died in dec. 1899. The ground-floor retail space and upper residential floors reflects the lifestyle the Chinese merchants brought with them from southern China.

Temples

Kuan Yin Temple: Located at 170 North Vineyard Boulevard near the entrance to Foster Botanical Gardens and dedicated to the Chinese deity of compassion.

Lum Sai Ho Tong: A taoist temple, founded in 1889 by Chinese immigrants as a gathering place. Located at 1315 River Street.

Izumo Taishakyo Mission of Hawaiʻi: A branch of Izumo Taisha Grand Shinto Shrine from Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture, Japan. Located at 215 North Kukui Street.

History

Chinatown remains firmly steeped in its history, a place where anything can happen and often does. Most of the buildings still sanding today were built in 1901 or later, due to the fire of 1900 — ignited deliberately to eradicate the bubonic plague. The fire displaced thousands of residents before the disease was ultimately contained.

Before Chinatown existed as a neighborhood, the shoreline in front of Honolulu Harbor was called Kou and served as a gathering place for Native Hawaiians. By 1809, Kamehameha I had moved his royal compound here. It was a whaling hub before it grew into the residential and business district it is today.

Immigrant Chinese families began to establish family stores in the area, growing in 1852 with the arrival of the first wave of contract laborers who came to Hawaiʻi to work on the sugar plantations. Eventually, many of these laborers left the fields and established businesses in Chinatown. The 25-acre marketplace has gone through many iterations between now and then, mostly due to the two catastrophic fires that burned the neighborhood to the ground in 1886 and 1900. Besides being a place of commerce, its been a red light district for the U.S. Navy. a place where you could find opium dens and illegal gambling rooms and home to Sailor Jerry's iconic tattoo parlor, which defined American tattooing in the 1960s.

First Friday Festivities

On the first Friday evening of each month, crowds show up to wander galleries and art studios. Many shops and bars have live music, art openings or performances of some kind and people spill out on to the street from restaurants and bars. Start at Capitol Modern down the street and make your way into Chinatown afterward, the party lasts until 2 a.m.

Chinese New Year

The Chinese New Year’s Celebration is Chinatown's biggest event of the year. It goes on for days, but early February is generally a good time to stop by for events and parades, complete with multiple lion dances along Hotel street and in and out of businesses.

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

One of the most important holidays in Chinese culture. The free festival is held in October when the full moon meets fall harvest and is celebrated with a lantern parade, lion dances, live performances, vendors and, of course, mooncakes.

This article was originally published on Nov. 11, 2015, and was updated March 31, 2026.