The 15 Happiest Hours
Arnold’s Beach Bar and Grill
339 Saratoga Rd.
Get happy: From 8am-2pm daily with $4 bloody marys.
This is a sort of inverted happy hour–a post happy hour for those who took happy hour a little too far the night before. Stumble into Arnold’s in the early morning (or early afternoon) and cure that hangover for $4.
Bikini Cantina
Aloha Tower Marketplace
1 Aloha Tower Dr.
Get happy: From 3-7pm and 10pm-midnight daily with daily drink specials, including $4 margaritas and mai tais and daily pupu specials.
This Aloha Tower watering hole has two happy hours for two good reasons: industry workers who work late don’t miss the cheap eats and drinks and people on their way to a concert at Events at the Tower can get drunk before and after the show. Brilliant. Here, the drink specials vary with $2 selected domestics, $3 selected wells and $4 margaritas and mai tais and the food specials change daily, with nothing exceeding $13.
East Side Grill
1035 University Ave.
Get happy: From 11am-6pm daily with $2.75 domestics and wells and half-priced pupu from 4-8pm.
What better way to soak up a beer or three than with half-priced pupu that, at this busy sports bar, includes the ever-popular ‘puff doggies’ and ‘l’il pups’–the first are large, juicy rounds of kielbasa wrapped in puff pastry and then deep fried, the second are bite-sized corn dogs. Why eat anywhere else? And when a happy hour equals seven hours, you know you’re at the right place.
Giovanni Pastrami
227 Lewers St.
Get happy: From 3-5pm Mon.-Fri. with $3 drafts and free pizza.
At the recently opened Giovanni Pastrami, sports is king, which is why this is our pick for the best place to grab a few cheap beers and free Round Table pizza while we wait for kick off.
The Hideaway
1913 Dudoit Ln.
Get happy: From 6-7pm nightly with $1 domestic beers and wells.
For one hour everyday, domestics and wells sell for a buck. Watch the drinkers pour in to this Waikiki dive from surrounding bars at 5:45pm, often to stay long after or returning to their regular haunts an hour later–completely soused.
Hiroshi Eurasian Tapas
Restaurant Row
500 Ala Moana Blvd.
Get happy: From 5:30-9:30pm daily with $3 martinis.
If you want to get a good buzz on and still keep your dignity, drink $3 martinis at the bar at Hiroshi Eurasian Tapas. Bartender Scott will make sure your glass is always full without emptying your pockets. Choose from a decent menu of fun-flavored martinis (root beer and ’sexy lychee,’ for example) or go with one of Hiroshi’s signature foam martinis.
Hula’s Bar and Lei Stand
134 Kapahulu Ave.
Get happy: From 10am-3pm with $3.50 frou-frou drinks–including the virgin ones.
Hula’s is perhaps best known for its long list of specials all the time. (OK, it’s BEST known for being a catch-all for hunky men, but we’re talking about happy hours here, not happy endings.) Cheap drinks every day is the norm here, but we really like the fruity, over-the-top drinks that go for $3.50 on weekdays. And leave it up to the folks at Hula’s not to leave anyone out: Virgin mixed drinks are included in the specials, lest the designated drivers feel overlooked.
Indigo Eurasian Cuisine
1121 Nu’uanu Ave.
Get happy: From 4-7pm, Tue.-Sat., with $3.50 martinis and a complimentary buffet at 4:30pm.
Please pardon us for including in our exclusive list one of the usual suspects, but there’s no denying the draw of Indigo’s $3.50 martinis and free pupu. No one else lets you drink cheap and eat free. Indigo makes the list every time–and for good reason.
Irish Rose Saloon
478 ‘Ena Rd.
Get happy: From 10am-8pm daily with $2.75 domestic drafts and wells.
The new home of the old Irish Rose Saloon has an extra-long happy hour and though the place doesn’t serve food, you can bring your own, or wait until you’re completely hammered–and famished–and make the trip downstairs where Da Smokehouse lunch wagon sets up shop at 10pm. Get Louisiana-style hot links and barbeque sandwiches to offset the effects of the liquor.
Kincaid’s
Ward Warehouse
1050 Ala Moana Blvd.
Get happy: From 4-7pm and from 10pm-midnight with $3 drink specials and half off all appetizers.
With two times to get happy, Kincaid’s caters to 9-to-5ers, as well as to industry workers. Get an order of the king crab dip and an order of the baked brie with a macadamia nut crust plus a drink for under $20. Happy indeed.
Pigskins Sports Bar
1661 Kapi’olani Blvd.
Get happy: From 12-7pm daily with $3 Newcastle.
OK, so we’re partial to the dark, nutty beer, but at $3 a glass, who wouldn’t be? Plus, Pigskins is in out-and-out defiance of the smoking ban–and we’re also partial to that, because lets’ face it: beer and cigarettes make one hell of a happy couple.
Pipeline Sports Bar
805 Pohukaina St.
Get happy: From 4-9pm Mon.-Fri. with $2 wells and $2 pupu.
When it isn’t a concert venue, the Pohukaina Street haunt is a cheapskate’s paradise. Get $2 drinks and $2 pupu on weekdays from 4-9pm and go home drunk, full and happy without emptying your wallet.
Restaurant Epic
1131 Nu’uanu Ave.
Get happy: From 4:30-6:30pm Mon.-Fri. with $4 mojitos and half-priced pupu.
The new kid on the Nu’uanu block just got its liquor license and it’s already serving us well. Get an Epic Mojito–the restaurant’s mango twist on the Cuban classic is incredible–and an order of fork-tender baby back ribs for under $10. Sit at the small bar and let bartender Alissa keep your mint muddled and your glass full until your time runs out at 6:30pm.
Your best bet: Order one of everything on the half-priced appetizer menu (which includes Chef David Hoffman’s signature sushi rolls), a couple of drinks and wait out the city traffic.
Side Street Inn
1225 Hopaka St.
Get happy: From 2-8pm Mon.-Fri. with $3 drink specials and daily pupu specials.
It’s the food that makes this hour happy. Get Side Street’s signature ‘ono dishes–like the signature pork chops or the fried rice–for cheap (specials vary daily) and wash them down with $3 drink specials.
Wailana Coffee House
1860 Ala Moana Blvd.
Why is a coffeeshop on the happy hour list? Because it sells cheap liquor, that’s why. Get wells for $1.75 and half-priced pupu and chill here, where image is nothing and old-time, feel-good Waikiki culture is everything. If you’re looking for chic, this isn’t your spot–but if you want to drink on the cheap and talk story with people who’ve been throwing back mai tais here for decades, pull up a stool and settle in for an interesting a few hours. Plus, the eggs benedict is just a room and an order away.
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