10 foods worth traveling for (ranked)

One of them you can make at home. Most you cannot.

Author

Jeff Rehmar
June 04, 2026

THE WORLD UNFOLDING
I have been to Hawaii six times. Here is what I actually eat.

Read time: 3 min 58 sec

The best poke I have ever had came from a grocery store.

Not a restaurant. Not a bowl chain. A Foodland ( in Lahaina. Fresh ahi, seaweed, soy. I ate it standing in the parking lot. We just got back from Maui and I am still thinking about it.

That is the thing about Hawaii and food. The best moments are never where you expect them.

I have been to these islands six times in five years. I got married in Kauai. At this point Hawaii is less vacation and more second home. And every trip, the food conversation gets longer.

So here is what I actually eat when I am there. Not the tourist version. The real one.

10 THINGS WORTH EATING, IN ORDER

  1. Poke

Fresh ahi, cubed, tossed with soy and seaweed. The single best thing you will eat in Hawaii. The rule is simple: find the place with the most locals and the highest turnover. High volume means fresh fish. When you have no idea where to go, walk into a Foodland (https://foodland.com/hawaiis-home-for-poke/). You will not regret it.

  1. Saimin

Hawaii's noodle soup. Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino influences in one bowl. Cheap, hot, deeply local. It is the kind of food that does not photograph well and tastes incredible. Kids love it. You will not find it on the mainland.

  1. Acai Bowls

Yes, acai bowls exist everywhere now. No, they do not taste like this anywhere else. Fresh mango and papaya on top changes the entire equation. Good first call of the day, especially with kids who need breakfast before anyone is ready to make decisions.

  1. Plate Lunch

This is how Hawaii actually eats. An entree, white rice, mac salad. Every food truck, every diner, every local spot has a version of it. It is fast, filling, and usually under $15. With kids, this is your best friend on the road.

Family tip: Skip the sit-down lunch and find a plate lunch truck instead. Half the price, twice the experience. Line of locals out front is the only review that matters.

  1. Mac Salad

I have genuinely thought about this. Is Hawaii mac salad better or is it a placebo? The sun, the salt air, the fact that you are on vacation? Probably all three. Here is the honest truth: you could make this at home. Roy Yamaguchi, Hawaii's most famous chef, posted his mom's recipe. It is simple. Mayo, eggs, macaroni, potato. But it never hits the same back in Ohio. Order it everywhere. It comes with almost everything anyway.

  1. Shave Ice

Sugar syrup on ice. You are going to do it anyway, so do it right. Go to Ululani's and add the Roselani's ice cream on the bottom. Roselani is a Maui-made brand that has been around since 1932. That one add-on is the difference between a tourist photo and something you actually want to eat. Best after a beach morning when it is 85 degrees and no one wants to move.

  1. Loco Moco

Burger patty. White rice. Fried egg. Brown gravy. It sounds like a dare. It is genuinely good. I had mine at The Plantation House (at Kapalua Plantation Golf Course with an ocean view that made the whole thing feel more civilized than it had any right to be. It is heavy. Eat it at lunch, not before anything athletic.

Portuguese fried dough, rolled in sugar, eaten warm. We got ours from Pau's Bakery, which is Argentinian-owned, because that is exactly the kind of place Hawaii is. The food culture here is a collision of everything and somehow it works. They are good. Stop at two. You will thank yourself on the drive home.

  1. Fresh Pineapple

You think you have had pineapple. You have not had pineapple. Get it from a roadside stand, cut fresh, eaten with your hands. It is embarrassingly good. Even the kid who refuses to eat fruit eats this.

  1. Garlic Shrimp

Be selective here. We tried Joey's Kitchen in Napili. I would not go back. The garlic shrimp trucks on Oahu's North Shore are the standard everything else gets measured against. If you are on Maui, ask around before you commit. Do not just click the first Yelp result.

GETTING THERE WITHOUT GETTING RIPPED OFF

Hawaii flights feel expensive because most people book them wrong. Three things that actually help:

Nonstop or nothing

A connection adds 3 to 5 hours and doubles your delay risk. Maui (OGG) has nonstops from LA, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix, Denver, Chicago, and Dallas depending on the season. Check Google Flights (https://www.google.com/travel/flights) before you assume you need to stop somewhere. With kids, the nonstop is not optional.

Fly out of the West Coast if you can

LA, San Francisco, Seattle, and San Diego have year-round nonstops that are consistently the cheapest. If you are in the Midwest or East Coast, Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines (https://www.alaskaair.com/content/destinations/hawaii) are the strongest options from a West Coast positioning city. The combined network after their merger is solid.

Set a Google Flights alert and forget about it

Go to Google Flights (https://www.google.com/travel/flights), enter your route, toggle price tracking on. Fares move randomly. When they drop you get an email. Airlines change prices up to five times a day (https://beatofhawaii.com/find-cheap-hawaii-airfare-with-google-flights-alerts/) and the window to grab a sale can be minutes. Set the alert now, book when it hits. That is the whole strategy.

THE ACTUAL PITCH FOR HAWAII

Fresh Pacific seafood. Fruit picked the same day. A food culture shaped by Japan, the Philippines, Portugal, and Polynesia, all on American soil with no passport required.

Hawaii is the most underrated food destination in the country. Most people go and eat at chain restaurants on the resort strip. Do not be that person. Eat where the locals eat, skip the tourist menus, and you will come home talking about the food for weeks.

Summer with kids is the perfect time. Book the nonstop. Go to Foodland first.

READ THESE NEXT

My full Kauai travel guide: food, hotels, helicopters (https://theworldunfolding.com/p/twu-by-jeff-rehmar-3-6-2025)
Waikiki Isn't Hawaii. And You're Sleeping on Canada. (https://theworldunfolding.com/p/the-world-unfolding-april-10-2025)

What is the best thing you have ever eaten in Hawaii? Reply and tell me. Best answer gets featured in a future issue.

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Until next Thursday,
Jeff

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