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What's not to like about a Chinatown? For anyone the least bit adventurous, this Chinatown is a delight. I will definitely order more Pineapple custard rolls From Hannah's. Soft, chewy and not Too sweet. $2.40 each and worth it! Enjoy . Would be better if More things to buy.
Hawai Chinatown is full of life with local residents and a handful of tourists. The number of tourists has dwindled since Covid. Local residents flock to Lee's Bakery for the custard pie. Sing Cheong Yuan is another bakery that serves up many Chinese treats. Enjoy
Honolulu's Chinatown doesn't really feel like San Francisco's or Manhattan's. I mean it does in the daytime when it's filled with local workaday shoppers when all the shops are open...the herbalists, the antique dealers, the lei makers, and of course, the purveyors in the overcrowded markets like Kekaulike Market and the Maunakea Marketplace with loads of seafood and exotic produce on sale. All that chaos is predictably interesting and frustrating. Regardless, Jamie W. and I found Chinatown a lot more intriguing after dark because there are stylishly eclectic restaurants open like The Pig & The Lady (review: https://yelp.to/u36lcwx4M6) and hip watering holes like Bar 35 (review: https://yelp.to/XuOm0N0jcG). Most of the shops were closed with the exception of select art galleries holding special exhibits. There's apparently a Chinatown art walk held on monthly First Fridays. We missed those festivities, but we saw the neon lights of the Hawai'i Theatre come to life at night (photo: https://yelp.to/l2kEdjI2AB). Some of the divier bars in town are right across the street from the theatre. There's also quite a nomadic homeless population, so be mindful where you walk beyond the more traveled streets. Yep, Chinatown definitely has a split personality. RELATED - Exploring Hawaii? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://bit.ly/3Kz5ksc
2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 stars. Quality/Quantity - Wow, it has been a LONG time since we visited Chinatown in Honolulu. And after today's visit, I know why... Many restaurants and food choices, including convenience and grocery stores. See pictures. But it does not seem tourist friendly?Are we leaving $$ on the table? It was all locals as far as my eye could see. Not necessarily a bad thing. Or am I here on an off day? Also available - Traditional Chinese restaurants, herbal shops, temples, markets, and bakeries, etc. Atmosphere - Cool decor throughout the city. Sadly, an increase in homelessness... Approximately 36 acres. Service - Just okay. Price - Inexpensive. Owner Comment - Congrats on your success since the 1900s!
A foray into Chinatown this past week. Yelp posted that it would be there and advertised the events and activities on 2/3/24! It did not disappoint. We walked from the Pacific Guardian Center building into Chinatown. It's a good walk and gave me time to check out the essence of Chinatown. A good amount of mom and pop stores and eateries. I took pictures of places I recalled visiting when I was a little kid. My popo (grandmother) would hold onto my hand and visit all the butchers and grocery stores for her daily needs. Great memories of Chinatown back then. Fast forward and there is a large amount of homeless in the area. The mayor is trying to clean things up in Chinatown and spruce up the area. There's a lot of tourists and stores geared toward tourists with plastic and stuffed charms and dragons and New Year items. The festival was mostly food trucks and vendors. Entertainment was dragon dances and martial art demonstrations. The parade was nice and had a hometown feel. The Sing Cheong Yuan bakery is busy as ever. Nam Fong's and Golden Palace are no more. I sometimes miss the old Chinatown. I tasted jai ( monk's food) and Sage ice cream at the festival. We even picked up Vietnamese spring rolls and crispy won tun like potstickers. At the bakery, we picked up a variety of dim sum and new years gau (sticky sweet Mochi). All in all a great time into the past and present in Chinatown.
Went to Chinatown today figure everyone would be at the beach or at the mall and because meter parking is free today and I was right! Lots of parking not as crowded in the shopping mall and areas! Also decided to check them out because the dillingham Chinatown market price has gone up so high it is just like going to a regular supermarket. Prices are up but not as high as the dillingham Chinatown market. The area has been cleaned up Thank too the city effort in trying to improve Chinatown. They carry more fresh seafood than the dillingham Chinatown market and was able to purchase some fresh Dungeness crab at a good price.
Chinatowns in any US city used to be a bustling beehive of activities. No matter what day or holiday, you could always count on finding a chinatown open doing business. With the event of CoVid, many businesses struggled and some closed. Honolulu's chinatown holds the same footprint it did many many years ago but there has been huge changes. Stores in this area now typically are starting to close around 2:30 to 3:00 pm with the entire streets a ghost town by 6:00 pm. You can still get the best chinese dry goods, fresh foods, vegetables, meats and seafood for low prices in any of the markets or stalls. Make a day of it and have breakfast or lunch at one of the many ethnic eateries in the area.
Iconic Chinatown in Oahu! My first visit after arrival from Texas! We parked at the cultural plaza where the parking garage is covered and felt safe. The fees were cheaper than most. So many restaurants and shops. Walk around and enjoy the culture. You'll find everything here, and you can bargain with them. Can't wait to come back and checkout other store I didn't visit.
We took Da Bus here. Didn't get here in 2022 so we made it a point in 2023. Really kinda beat up looking. There were some cool courtyards with multi levels shops and eats. A bunch of homeless and gruff types everywhere there but no troublemakers during our visit. We walked around for an hour and ate dim sum at Ginger & Garlic for an hour. Worth a visit. Some good values to be found here. It wasn't busy at all in March of 2023 during our vacation.
For my 900th Yelp review, I have selected a business that is meaningful to me: Chinatown. I was born and raised in Honolulu's Chinatown and lived there until I graduated from high school. This place will always hold a special place in my heart. My parents immigrated to Hawaii from Hong Kong and settled in Chinatown. As far as I can remember, I would follow my father and paternal grandmother all around Chinatown while they shopped for groceries, which was pretty much daily. You see, this must be a Chinese thing. My father would shop in Chinatown to see what was fresh or in season. He'd purchase just enough for the day and would shop again the very next day. I vividly remember our household's shopping patterns. Back in the 70's, I recall so many Chinese owned businesses all over Chinatown. Now gone are the iconic Chinatown landmarks of Wo Fat Restaurant, Tin Tin Restaurant, the red-light district of strip bars, adult stores, tattoo parlors and game arcades. I attended public school and recall those days where it was okay and safe for a young boy to walk into such establishments to sell candy for school fundraisers. I ended up selling all my candies and would return home to get my sister's candy and helped her sell all her inventory, too. Also gone are the mom and pop stores that sold assorted snacks, drinks, boiled and roasted peanuts. I recall Chinatown heavily populated with many Cantonese restaurants, Asian bakeries, and noodle shops. There were also businesses selling Chinese porcelain, martial arts supply and Chinese books, magazines, and newspapers. These businesses are now gone. In today's Chinatown, you will still find merchants selling fresh produce, meats, seafood, dried/canned goods, and household supplies. Still standing is the iconic Oahu Market with its red sign on the roof. You also have many who continue trekking to Chinatown for fresh leis and flowers for better pricing, quality, and selection. Toss in local crafts and arts, you now have diverse foot traffic to patronize this unique and special neighborhood that compliments well with Hawaii's multicultural society. With diversity, you now have many ethnic foods and contemporary restaurants that attract foot traffic to Chinatown. For all of you foodies out there, you now can select from Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino, Thai, Japanese, Mexican, contemporary fusion, and vegan cuisine. Lee's Bakery & Kitchen is still continuing many household traditions with their freshly baked pumpkin and custard pies during Thanksgiving. On the downside, Chinatown has been targeted with the homeless and the intellectually disabled which are some factors that keeps people away. Although this problem still exists, there is a HPD substation located on the corner of Maunakea and N Hotel St.. To a certain degree, HPD's presence has helped the local merchants in Chinatown. Multiple municipal parking lots were created nearby to accommodate foot traffic that is generated from special occasions such as Chinese New Year's events. Chinatown is special to me and my immediate family as that was our home for many years where we accumulated many fond memories. I still continue to, and will periodically visit Chinatown to support the merchants. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES: 1) As of 4/11/2020, 11 of my 17 ROTD's (65%) came from Chinatown businesses. 2) As of 11/7/2018, 10 of my 15 ROTD's (67%) came from Chinatown businesses.
Nov 2022- Honolulu's Chinatown is nothing compared to the Chinatowns in San Francisco or NYC. However it's still a cool place to check out because it does have unique eateries, coffee shops and it's where you can find speciality items. Parking is available on the street for metered parking or at any of the public parking garages. I recommend Chinatown Municipal parking across of Walmart on Bethel Street. It has very cheap rates. The public bus also runs frequently through the area and has several bus stops. Keep in mind the overall area can be a little sketchy since there are quite a few homeless in the area and sometimes smelly trash is just left on the street and sidewalks.
lots of fruit and veggie market, lots of small shops, but mostly look like 3rd world and very disorganized and chaos. As a Chinese, i felt like i walked into old 80's China. That's bad. I don't want to go back to 40 years ago..
10-24-2020 Guess in the past I've been gullible, but when it comes to a favorite food establishment I have to see it with my own eyes. It's big time sad but true. Char Hung Sut is locked up and looks solidly closed. Wish it wasn't true. All my life I have memories of that white box filled with steamed char siu bao, pork hash, half moon, pepeiau, yellow sponge cake, taro cake, layered rice cake with the brown top and regular white rice cake. Our favorites ma tai siu(How do you spell it?) Flaky crust similar to a manju but filled with the yummiest chopped fine filling. Oh my, just imagining it, I could eat two now, so good! with a cup of hot jasmine tea to wash it down. Our order also had to have gon lo mein or chow fun with that mixture of shoyu mustard concoction drizzled over the noodles before you took a bite. Ahhh nostalgia.
I was craving dim sum so we ended up here on a Saturday morning and got lucky with free parking on the street. When vacationing I like to make it a point to usually visit the local Chinatown. Ended up spending a few hours walking around and checking out the stalls of fresh produce, Chinese deli's, fish markets and bakeries. I noticed there were many Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants to dine at. I was surprised how large this Chinatown is and the only bummer was I noticed several homeless people on the outskirts of Chinatown. Overall we enjoyed breakfast and sightseeing for a few hours. read more
8 years ago
What is there to write about Honolulu's Chinatown? Plenty! Not a dull moment in the "hustle bustle" of downtown Honolulu's concrete jungle. It can be intense. Best to go with people and friends who know the area. Honolulu's Chinatown has "character (PRO)" and "characters (PRO+CON)." PROS 1. Honolulu's Chinatown is the historic, cultural, arts, and business district. 2. Honolulu's Chinatown is one of the oldest Chinatowns in the United States. 3. Landmarks within its proximity include (not an exhaustive list) a. Chinatown Cultural Plaza b. Maunakea Marketplace c. Sun Yat-Sen Statue d. Aala Park And Skatepark e. Chinatown Artists Lofts f. Hawaii Theatre g. Arts at Marks Garage h. Kumu Kahua Theatre i. Hawaii State Art Museum j. Hawaii State Capitol (Eternal Flame, King Kamehameha Statue, Queen Liliuokalani Statue, Father Damien Statue, etc.) k. Iolani Palace l. Aloha Tower m. Fort Street Mall n. Foster Botanical Garden o. The Korean and Vietnam War Memorial 4. Weekly open mic nights, monthly and annual events/block parties that take place (not an exhaustive list) a. Chinese New Year Festival b. Night in Chinatown: Chinese New Year Parade & Block Party c. Moon Festival (Mooncake! Mmmm mmm....) d. First Fridays (live music, art galleries, eateries, nightlife, etc.) read more
YELP 365 CHALLENGE 2014-(338/365) "Chinatown, Oahu" One of my first memories of Chinatown was a field trip we took in grade school where we walked around, took a tour of the various shops and food vendors, then taking a break at a sweet shop with Honey Twists, Banana Rolls, and Almond Cookies. I also remember during our high school days driving by Hotel Street being teenagers going to "spock da hookers" with the boys. What crazy times we had back in the day! Chinatown was also kinda dirty, trashy, and streets would be filled with homeless people...not the best memories, but it wasn't until I left home and experienced Chinatown in other cities (NYC, SF, LV) that I began to appreciate my own back home. things have definitely cleaned up here, and in my last few visits in the past few years, I've recently discovered Char Hung Sut, one of my usual stops now, and my first time ever having an Egg Puff. Streets are a lot cleaner, businesses continue to thrive, and seriously, some of the best meats, seafood,(live frogs too!?) and produce can be found here. More bookmarks have been added(Scatch Kitchen, Livestock Tavern, Maguro Brothers) thanks to fellow Honolulu Yeeps, I can't wait for my next foodventure in Chinatown. ALOHA!!! Shaka Meter: \uuu/ \uuu/ \uuu/ \uuu/ 4 read more
5 years ago
We decided to stop by to experience the Hawaiian Chinatown. It's your typical Chinatown with Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Korean etc. They sell an abundant of fruits, fresh produce, and fresh seafoods as well as jewelry and clothes. There was a few places that sold smoothies but every time I ask them, they said they were out so bummer. There were food courts in the market but, however, as I was going to them to take my orders, one customers or a few actually were not happy because the orders were taking too long. After a long time of waiting for them to even take my orders, we decided to leave and buy a can drink instead. As a tourist, I wouldn't recommend paying a visit if you're short on time unless you want to get fresh food from the market but you can stop by to experience it. read more
Rather disappointing I came here at the end of June and noticed this was no different than the Chinatown in NYC. Food is the same. The manapua tasted the same as the traditional baked char siu baos anywhere else. Unfortunately, even the people are the same. I encountered a handful of people at the Kuan Yin temple. They were mostly tourists who just stood in the way of everything. The local grannies were rude. If I wasn't in their shop, they pretended to not understand me when I asked for directions. I spoke to them in Chinese. I recommend to just check out the temples and shrines, but that's it. read more
8 years ago
I waited with the tourists and locals on Hotel street for the Chinese New Years Parade. Finally the drummers are insight followed by the lion dancers, and the Chinese martial schools marching proudly displaying their banners. I was glad to the see the Hawaii Wushu Center club in the parade wearing the schools colors,I have seen the skills of students at the Chinese Cultural Plaza many years ago. I enjoyed the seeing the beautiful smile of the Chinese Pageant winner. I have read the article of last years pageant winner Penelope Ng Pack about how she excelled in language,dance,calligraphy but it was her master performance skills she displayed on the Chinese string instrument Guzheng that really set her a part from the other contestants. She dedicated many years of her life to study these Chinese arts, and she is a beauty with classic Chinese features. My favorite part of the parade are the lion dancers that shows the years of martial arts training to be selected.I know the Chinese belief that to give a offering to the Lion will bring you much fortune as I learned from my Chinese girlfriend's mother many years ago.At every chance I have I give a gift to the Dragon ensuring me good luck will come to me in good time, but when the King of Lions comes manned by many martial arts students are the climax of the parade!! Chinatown benefits from The Chinese New Years Parade that kamaainas and malihini are here in Chinatown to bring revenue and exposure on the local news channels. Kong Hei Fatt Choy!! read more
5 stars, not for the every day happenings in chinatown since it's getting smaller each year with the Chinese restaurants being replaced with other ethnic stores, but for some markets and restaurants, and the 5 stars for the events happening during Chinese new year. This year we celebrate the year of the monkey and the events are switched where night in chinatown with all the booths set up is 2 Saturdays before cny (tonight as I write this) and choy cheng (eating of the greens with many lions blessing the stores with fireworks) is the Friday before cny. Tonight was a spectacular all day and night event with many kung fu and lion clubs participating in the events with fireworks, street performances and stage performances as well as a parade. However this only happens annually, so you'll need to wait until the next year if you missed it today, and choy cheng next week. Since they block off the streets, it's hard to find parking, but there are a few parking lots that charged $3 for all night. Otherwise, they need to clean the streets, and it's wise not to walk at certain parts of chinatown all other nights , maybe except for first Fridays. read more
9 years ago
Nelson Algren, Hunter S. Thompson, Yates, Wolfe, and even Ellis, would have all loved it here. Why, you ask? Cause it's grime threaded with splendor. Chinatown is a sixteen block section of Honolulu's downtown district that came about (as I guess do all Chinatowns) by the importation of contract labor for the sugarcane and pineapple plantations. When their contracts were up (and much wrangling, I'm sure), merchants came here to set up shop. It has burned a couple of times, survived the bubonic plague, the overthrow, and several wars. It's not just everyday (or night) that you see life on the edge here in Chinatown, and things have changed so much over the years. Back when I bought my first condo on the edge of Chinatown (by edge I mean Honolulu Tower) you couldn't go outside without some punk tryin to sell you a nickel bag of oregano. I remember, one night, walking by a trash can on the corner of Hotel and Bethel in front of Gateway Plaza and tossing something inside only to see it erupt into a volcanic explosion of rodents! And, before the enclosure of the pond at Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial park, there was most always something nefarious going on, but the slow crawl of gentrification has taken over. That's a good thing. Now, it's become the new spot for the cool kids to hang. Here you'll see the combination of Romanesque Revival buildings constructed of lava-rock mingle with Italianate structures with pagoda roofs and a throng of red brick walls dating back to the late 1800's, in short, it's architecturally hip. No where else will you be able to sample Ethiopian (Ethiopian Love), Ecuadorian (Grondin), Lebanese (Kan Zaman), along with local award winners Pig & Lady, Livestock Tavern, Fete (and there are so many more), and still see two guys screaming at each other in the street, while being watched by a amused six foot, cigarette smoking, platform boot wearing cross dresser. And, with an apparent fight looming, you realize they are just friends holding a highly animated conversation, much to the disgust of the other concerned party. True. I've only begin to scratch the surface. It's real raw Chinatown markets during the day, 1000 year old eggs, live bullfrogs, and archaic Chinese medicine with some of the best dinning and entertainment (check out Hank's and the Dragon Upstairs) by night, along with homeless, drunkards, nickel bags, bad parking and even the occasional rat. It's spice and color...and Aloha read more
6 years ago
It's so dirty here these days! There is so much homeless here that it makes it dangerous to come here in the evening. I wouldn't dare come at night. If grocery stores carried more Asian items then I wouldn't come here at all but I love cooking and trying new dishes out. The only consistent place I have found with all the ingredients in Asian recipes is in Chinatown and the prices are very reasonable. I hope they do something about the homeless there soon. read more
11 years ago
It's alright - but nothing more than that We always love to visit Chinatown in major cities. Some are really nice (like San Francisco, NYC, Melbourne and London) and some are not (like Brisbane and Adelaide). And I'm afraid this is an addition to the latter. It's a pretty run-down, shabby area and it really does have a homeless problem. We didn't really see many tourists here. But actually this Chinatown has a handful of interesting places. There are some indoor fruit, veggie, meat and fish markets with really interesting items that are hard to find elsewhere. And there's also a Mini-mall on Maunakea Street (corner of N Hotel Street) which has some good bubble tea and a handful of really good Filipino Food counters inside. A bit disappointing was the "famous" Chinatown Oahu Market....nothing you wouldn't find in the other stores in the area. If the area would be a bit better taken care of, then this Chinatown would have potential. It wasn't bad - but once was enough. Food is pretty good, but if you stay a bit further away, not really worth to come for. read more
8 years ago
15 years ago
Saturday, January 14, 2012, I attended and enjoyed the annual, "Night in Chinatown" street celebration. This street fair featured live entertainment, martial arts demonstration, ethnic and lion dancing on the streets, food booths, arts and crafts, souvenir and tee shirt vendors and a children's fair. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/U0OdA6tuEvq5ihAfbr8E1g?select=vZhoun23rUdu12mbl4vg6g http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/U0OdA6tuEvq5ihAfbr8E1g?select=xLwcXmikV0njinwOTd6Ivg http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/U0OdA6tuEvq5ihAfbr8E1g?select=b9Vy50GiCHkkX8FpFKj5uw "Night in Chinatown" was an event sponsored by the Chinatown Merchants Association for the people in Honolulu; to celebrate the up and coming January 23, 2012, Chinese New Year. The Chinese New Year is based on the Chinese Lunar Calendar [1] which dates back to around 2600 B.C., when a Chinese Emperor introduced the Cycle of the Twelve Animals (Eleven animals and a mythical Dragon) to designate calendar years. There are many legends about how the Cycle of the Twelve Animals started. This is the version that I know because I am Buddhist. The Buddha summoned all the animals of the world to visit him before he departed from Earth. Eleven animals and a mythical dragon came and gathered on a bank of a swift river to participate in a race to see who could cross the river, and meet the Buddha first. The first animal to cross the river was a Rat that cunningly jumped on the back of an Ox and rode across the river with the Ox until just before reaching the bank of the river; the rat hopped off and touched ground and ran before the Buddha first; thus winning the race. The Ox followed and then the Tiger, the Rabbit, the Dragon, the Horse, the Snake, the Sheep, the Monkey, the Rooster, the Dog and finally the Pig. This is the Cycle of the Chinese Lunar Calendar. As a reward for participating in this race, the Buddha ordered that all his followers honor the animal for one year; in the order that they would finish; for eternity. To additionally honor each animal, the Buddha, with his divine powers, would give all the people born within the year of the particular animal; personalities and characteristics of that animal. For instance, 2012 is the Year of the Dragon. The Dragon is a creature of myth and legend and a symbol of power and good fortune. People born in the Year of the Dragon have the following characteristics because of the Buddha's divine power. They are typically innovative, enterprising, flexible, self-assured, brave, passionate, conceited, tactless, scrutinizing, unanticipated and quick-tempered just like a mythical Dragon. I know this all sounds hard to believe but many Asians believe in the Chinese Lunar Calendar and Chinese Astrology. I for one believe in the teachings of the Buddha and Chinese astrology. I know Westerners do not believe in dragons and if they do they only know this dragon. http://youtu.be/yVsLxFPY1Ek To each, his own. But for your information, I love that dragon too and that is one of my favorite songs. P.S. You should check into the Chinese Zodiac and astrology. It may reveal things about yourself that you will find more than coincidental. You may become a believer too. http://www.chinesezodiac.com/dragon.php P.P.S. GONG HAY FAT CHOI!! [1] The Chinese calendar is different from our Western calendar because it is cyclical. The Western or Gregorian or Christian calendar is linear. The Gregorian calendar became the calendar of the western world when Pope Gregory XIII proclaimed it to be the official calendar of "Christian's" on February 24, 1582. read more
It is only fitting that with the Chinese New Year approaching (1/23/12) and the eager anticipation of the Year of the Dragon, we reflect on a historical part of Chinatown: The Great Honolulu Chinatown Fire of 1900 (January 20-February 6, 1900). It is believed that on October 20, 1899, the ship America Maru, off loaded a shipment of rat infected rice carrying the bubonic plague. Entering during a perfect storm of high Chinese immigration, crowded quarters, unsanitary living conditions and inefficient sewage solutions, 11 people were infected with the Black Death. The response by the Board of Health included incinerating garbage, renovating the sewer system, putting Chinatown under quarantine, and most of all burning infected and suspected buildings. Forty-one fires were deliberately set, but on January 20, 1900 winds picked up and the fire spread out of control to other buildings in the area. Like a menacing dragon, the runaway fire burned for seventeen days and scorched 38 acres of Honolulu. The fire campaign continued for another 31 controlled burns after the incident. The 7,000 homeless residents were housed in detention camps to maintain the quarantine until April 30. A total of 40 people died of the plague. While the people rebuilt, they began to live in suburbs while continuing to work in Chinatown, to avoid going homeless if another disaster occurred. In addition the post-fire architecture began using masonry rather than wood, since the stone and brick buildings proved much more fire resistant during the fire. Hence all the red brick walls you see around Chinatown. Many of the people who filed damage claims were represented by lawyer Paul Neumann, but he died before the cases went to court. So goes the cycle of life: Yin yang. It is with this reflection and much gratitude that I sit in my favorite Chinatown eatery, enjoying my dim sum and tea, and ponder the hardships and perseverance that has substantiated Chinatown's cultural significance into an undeniably alluring landmark of renaissance today. May in 2012, you emerge from your ashes as a triumphant testament to your glory. Kung Hei Fat Choy! read more
6 years ago
5 stars for bringing tears to my eyes when I saw 4 generations of my family -- great-grandmother, grandmother, father, kids -- walk side by side showing the kids how to haggle for groceries. 3 stars for it being a little filthy, a little stinky, and a little authentic -- just as any Chinatown should be, right? We stopped by this place called 'The Golden Palace' (see pics) for dim sum. Here's a tip -- order takeout, like everyone else does. Don't do what I did -- sit down and eat because the place is dirty and the bathroom is SCARY! If I remember the address of this place, I'd give them a proper review. Otherwise, overall, I suggest to go to Chinatown early in the morning and take the time to stroll the stands selling various fruits and treats -- you'll always find a good deal and come out with a full belly. read more
12 years ago
10 years ago
As I grew up in the area, I see the new changes but there's still the old charm left here in Hawaii Nei's Chinatown. Kekaulike Market and Mauna Kea Marketplace is still alive and thriving. These markets still host the freshest of fruits and vegetables or daily catch of the day seafoods. Bakeries, dumpling shops, or meat shops with roasted duck, pig, char suit style Roast pork still reside in the nearby areas. There are also lei stands that have been here since I can remember. As a kid who lived down the street, I used to love coming to Chinatown when it is starting to "wake up" and get an early breakfast of eggs and fried rice with Char Sui Pork. It's very nostalgic to walk these streets today. The most popular cross streets were Hotel and Smith street where, in the 80's and 90's the Honolulu nightlife for locals were located in this location. These bars were the go to places hosting live Hawaiian music and bands (many of which my uncles used to play and sing in) As a teenager, they would sneak me in on the weekends so I can join in and play keyboards. Today, they're now ghosts of the past replaced with hipster eateries with "new cuisine". Change is inevitable but I'm fortunate to have the memories of what it was. Old Chinatown is still there, I would recommend everyone to go visit and walk it's streets and try some good dim sum or eat in the food courts of Mauna Kea Market. :) read more
I actually grew-up near Chinatown when I lived in Hawaii. I always visit when I return. It is not a large Chinatown and the store hours are limited - everything shuts down around 4:00 p.m. There are many ethnic restaurants in Chinatown. It would take a long time to try everyone of them. Prices at the restaurants, and the food stalls, is reasonable. It was rather "Funky" eating at the Maunakea Market Place - a giant food court. Visiting the markets was fun. It brought back a lot of memories of my grandfather shopping each day for fresh food. The vendors offer there meat, fruits, vegetables, and other items in stalls. You have to really go to each vendor to find the best items. The main street, Maunakea Street, has a lot lei vendors - the sights and smell of the leis is great. Parking in Chinatown was always a "Pain". Therefore, I always walked to it or took the bus. read more
Been coming here since i was a keiki to help my grandma and mom help carry bags and grew up watching this place change not so much... Always the best deals on produce and meat and also everything asian The pee smell is killaz after the rain hits haha read more
9 years ago
I waver on a star rating for Chinatown. It can be an awesome place to eat dim sum, enjoy the Chinese New Year, support an array of small businesses, purchase fresh lei and have an additional choice of numerous ethnic restaurants. Then there is the other, not so attractive side which includes homeless characters of all types- most pretty harmless but definitely not all, scattered alcoholics, assorted drug users/dealers/abusers and of course pan handlers, but they are typically on traffic islands working the cars...I have mixed feelings about safety but I can tell you that this is my neighborhood as I live just a couple of blocks away. Chinatown has become more safe and does so every year. I encourage visitors to come and enjoy Chinatown, just use common sense, don't go down alleys, especially at night and remember its always best to have a friend or two with you. And the later it gets, the sketchier the crowd gets. Eventually everyone goes home and most of the people who are out live in the doorways of the now closed businesses. So come and shop, eat, celebrate and more...just use good judgment and double strap yer backpack/purse! read more
6 years ago
Very small and the vendors are not as friendly as some of the other chinatowns we have visited in other states. We were also repeatedly warned by everyone, from locals to uber drivers, to leave by 3pm for our own safety. Apparently that is when the drug users and sellers come out to play. We left at 2:48. LOL read more
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