Hawaiʻi Eats guide · Plate lunch · checked October 2026
Hawaii plate lunch & drive-ins
Two scoops rice, mac salad and a main: 19 drive-ins, lunch counters and plate lunch kitchens across the islands. We read each one's 2025–26 menu or a recent local news story in October 2026.
The plate lunch, briefly
A plate lunch is Hawaii's everyday meal: two scoops of white rice, a scoop of macaroni salad and a main, often teriyaki beef, chicken katsu, kalua pork or a hamburger steak in gravy, served in a box or on a paper plate. Drive-ins and lunch counters sell it, and a mixed plate gives you two or three mains at once. Two of the 19 places here have “drive-in” in their name.
Where they are: six on Oʻahu, six on Maui, four on Kauaʻi and three on Hawaiʻi Island.
By town: Honolulu (4), Wailuku (2), Lahaina (1), Kailua-Kona (1), Hilo (1).
Dishes these menus name most: plate lunches (5), loco moco (4), teriyaki beef (4), chicken katsu (2), furikake mochiko chicken (2), hamburger steak (2).
How this list was made: for every place we read a 2025 or 2026 source, usually its own menu page or a dated story in Hawaii news, and matched the street address to it. A place whose only source was older, whose website had gone dark, or whose menu named the dish just in passing stayed off. Review sites played no part, and the places run by region and town, not by anybody's score. Menus change, so check before you go. Our sources are on the about Hawaiʻi Eats page.
On an iPhone or iPad, Hawaiʻi Eats puts this same list in order of distance from wherever you're standing, and a tap on a place brings up Apple Maps' card with today's hours, photos and directions.
Other guides: Hawaii poke counters & fish markets, Hawaii saimin stands, Hawaii shave ice stands, Hawaii malasadas & bakeries, Hawaiian food & okazuya, Hawaii musubi shops, Hawaii loco moco, Lahaina restaurants open again, Hawaii James Beard honorees, Hawaii's oldest restaurants, Hawaii restaurant inspections. City pages: Honolulu, Kailua-Kona, Hilo, Kīhei, Kapolei, ʻAiea, Waipahu, Kailua, Kāneʻohe, Kahului, Līhuʻe, Kapaʻa, Wailuku, Haleʻiwa, Pearl City, Kāʻanapali, Waimea (Hawaiʻi Island), Kōloa, Mililani, Waikoloa. Regions: Oʻahu, Maui, Hawaiʻi Island, Kauaʻi, Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi.
Jump to a region
- Oʻahu (6)
- Maui (6)
- Hawaiʻi Island (3)
- Kauaʻi (4)
Plate lunch questions
What comes on a plate lunch?
Two scoops of rice, a scoop of macaroni salad and a main. A mixed plate has two or three mains; a mini plate is a smaller one.
Why isn't my favorite plate lunch spot here?
The list grows as places are checked. A place is in only when a 2025 or 2026 source shows it serving this at this address. Tell us at nick@eatsranked.com.
Oʻahu
6 plate lunch spots, by town. The Oʻahu page has the region's other lists.
Ted's Bakery
59-024 Kamehameha Hwy, Haleʻiwa
Plate lunchMalasadas On the menu: chocolate haupia cream pie, plate lunches
A Sunset Beach bakery and plate-lunch counter, home of the chocolate haupia cream pie.
Alicia's Market
267 Mokauea St, Honolulu
Plate lunchPokeHawaiian food On the menu: 18 kinds of poke, Hawaiian plates, pasteles, roast pork
A third-generation Kalihi market, mainly a lunch spot closing at 2 p.m., that returned to its old space after a 2018 fire destroyed its kitchen.
Nico's Pier 38
1129 N Nimitz Hwy, Honolulu
Plate lunchPoke On the menu: plate lunches, poke
A Pier 38 fish market and restaurant on the Honolulu waterfront; its fish market vendor served poke at Frolic's 2026 Poke Fest.
Rainbow Drive-In
3308 Kanaina Ave, Honolulu
Plate lunchLoco moco On the menu: mixed plate, loco moco, teriyaki beef, chili
A family-run Kapahulu drive-in serving plate lunches since 1961.
Yama's Fish Market
2332 Young St, Honolulu
Plate lunchPokeHawaiian food On the menu: lau lau, kalua pig, ʻahi limu poke, plate lunch, haupia
A Mōʻiliʻili takeout counter for Hawaiian food, poke and plate lunches.
Tanioka's Seafoods and Catering
94-903 Farrington Hwy, Waipahu
Plate lunchPoke On the menu: spicy ʻahi poke, poke bowl with fried chicken
A Waipahu seafood and catering counter known for local-style poke.
Maui
6 plate lunch spots, by town. The Maui page has the region's other lists.
Tin Roof Maui
360 Papa Pl, Kahului
Plate lunch On the menu: mochiko chicken, deep-fried pork belly, garlic shrimp, fat chow funn
Sheldon and Janice Simeon's Kahului takeout counter for local-style kau kau tins (Suite 116).
Da Kitchen
1215 S Kihei Rd, Kīhei
Plate lunchMusubi On the menu: chicken katsu, kalbi ribs, deep-fried musubi
A Kīhei plate-lunch counter (Suite E) known for oversized chicken katsu and kalbi plates.
Aloha Mixed Plate
1285 Front St, Lahaina
Plate lunchLoco mocoReopened On the menu: Aloha Mixed Plate (shoyu chicken, teriyaki ribeye, fish), Aliʻi Plate (kalua pork, lau lau, lomi salmon, poi), fried rice loco moco
A Front Street plate-lunch restaurant on the ocean, open since 1996; it reopened at its original location and serves lunch and dinner daily.
Kalei's Lunchbox
55 Pukalani St, Makawao
Plate lunchLoco moco On the menu: hamburger steak, furikake mochiko chicken, loco moco, teriyaki beef
Kalei's Lunchbox in Pukalani, the family's second plate-lunch restaurant.
Kalei's Lunchbox
52 Maui Lani Pkwy, Wailuku
Plate lunchLoco moco On the menu: hamburger steak, furikake mochiko chicken, loco moco, teriyaki beef
An ʻohana-owned plate-lunch restaurant that began as a food truck in 2016.
Sam Sato's
1750 Wili Pa Loop, Wailuku
Plate lunchSaimin On the menu: dry mein, saimin, chow fun, manju, hamburger steak plate
A Wailuku noodle counter, a local staple since 1933, best known for its soupless dry mein.
Hawaiʻi Island
3 plate lunch spots, by town. The Hawaiʻi Island page has the region's other lists.
Café 100
969 Kilauea Ave, Hilo
Plate lunchLoco moco On the menu: loco moco (dozens of varieties), plate lunches
A family-run Hilo drive-in serving dozens of loco moco varieties.
Tex Drive In
45-690 Pakalana St #19, Honokaʻa
Plate lunchMalasadas On the menu: square malasadas, filled malasadas
A Honokaʻa drive-in known for its large, square malasadas, plain or filled.
Big Island Grill
75-5702 Kuakini Hwy, Kailua-Kona
Plate lunchLoco moco On the menu: loco moco, plate lunches
A Kailua-Kona local-food restaurant that HAWAIʻI Magazine readers named for loco moco and plate lunch in 2026.
Kauaʻi
4 plate lunch spots, by town. The Kauaʻi page has the region's other lists.
Hanalei Taro & Juice Co.
5-5070 Kūhiō Hwy, Hanalei
Plate lunchHawaiian food On the menu: poi, taro mac salad, lomi lomi salmon, kalua pig plate
A food stand founded in 2000 by the Haraguchi family, whose farm has grown kalo in Hanalei since the 1920s.
Kīlauea Fish Market
4270 Kilauea Rd, Kīlauea
Plate lunchPoke On the menu: poke bowls, ʻahi wraps, Korean barbecue chicken
A family-run fish market and grill in the Kīlauea Plantation Center that has served food since 2004.
Kōloa Fish Market
3390 Poipu Rd, Kōloa
Plate lunchPokeHawaiian food On the menu: poke bowls, plate lunches, kalua pig, lau lau
A Kōloa Town fish counter for poke, fresh fish and plate lunches.
Mark's Place
1610 Haleukana St, Līhuʻe
Plate lunch On the menu: mixed plate, chicken katsu, teriyaki beef, beef stew
Chef Mark Oyama's Līhuʻe takeout counter for plate lunches and bentos, open since 1998.