Paris Baguette Is the Latest. Here’s What Else Has Opened Downtown

Recent openings that have turned Downtown Honolulu into a credible lunchtime destination.

February 26, 2024

Mari Taketa,

After a meeting at our Downtown office last fall, the hungry among us gathered to weigh our lunch options. Our marketing director suggested convenience store grab-and-go—which made everyone reflexively turn toward me. “What about you, Mari? What are all the good new places around here?”

I live for questions like this. As a remote worker, it’s not often I’m in Downtown, so I’d been agonizing for days: oxtail or jerk chicken at Irie Jerk (right in our building), premium nigiri sushi at Aloha Bento (one block away) or crispy fried goodness at Tonkatsu Sangi (one block the other way)? From the back of the crowd came the incredulous voice of our publisher: “There’s good tonkatsu Downtown?” So that settled it.

Honolulu’s business district has always had pockets where you could find good food—if you knew where to look. But starting last year and especially since the fall, we noticed a change: The pandemic that shrank the Downtown office force and closed multiple eateries has produced an array of new places that have, improbably, turned Downtown into a credible lunchtime dining destination. Newly opened Paris Baguette is just the latest. Here’s what else has opened recently.

Honolulu Seafood & Dim Sum

Photo: Mari Taketa

A Q&A with the man who opened a two-story Chinese restaurant in the old Mandalay space at the start of February. Dinnertime parking is $1.50 at Bishop Square with restaurant validation.

1055 Alakea St., (808) 538-8788

AC Hotel Honolulu

inside a cocktail lounge with dim lighting

Photo: Courtesy of AC Hotel by Marriott Honolulu

The recently opened Marriott boutique hotel on Bishop Street has three options for the hungry and thirsty: Dotted Line, an all-day restaurant that ramps up from breakfast to business lunch to duck breast and tomahawk steaks at dinner; Common Ground, a coffee bar; and Yours Truly, a hidden cocktail lounge.

1111 Bishop St., (808) 599-6006, marriott.com

P27

Open on Sundays, this coffee shop at the very edge of Downtown doesn’t upcharge for alternative milks and has books and board games.

1127 Nu‘uanu Ave., @p27.co

Alo Café

This vegan cafe opened at Bishop Square last fall with smoothies, wellness bowls, coffee drinks and a small lunch menu. Independently owned, its flagship eatery has been in Waikīkī since 2021.

1001 Bishop St., (808) 763-1127, alocafehawaii.com, @alocafe_hawaii

Aloha Bento

assortment of 8 nigiri sushi in a bamboo takeout container

Photo: Mari Taketa

Inside the lobby of Central Pacific Bank headquarters: premium conventional kaisen and Edomae-style nigiri sushi and rolls at lunch; izakaya menu from late afternoon. Validated parking is available in the building at happy hour.

220 S. King St., alohabento.com, @alohabentoco