Stand at the corner of King and Richards Streets in downtown Honolulu and you are looking at the only royal palace on American soil. ʻIolani Palace was home to Hawaiʻi’s last two monarchs. Kings ruled from these rooms. A queen was imprisoned upstairs. We send friends here all the time, and it still catches them […]

Smoke drifts across the highway, sweet and a little charred, and you already know what is cooking. Huli huli chicken. It is our weekend smell. Kiawe wood, shoyu and ginger, chicken turning over open coals. We grew up eating it out of foil trays at fundraisers and roadside stands. Still do. Huli huli chicken carries […]

A hot bowl of udon fixes a lot. Thick, chewy noodles. Clean, savory broth. A pile of tempura crackling on the side. Soba is the quieter cousin. Nutty buckwheat noodles, served cold with a dipping sauce in summer, or hot in a light broth when the trades turn cool. Oʻahu does both well, thanks to […]

We signed up to race the 2026 Hawaii Spartan Trifecta Weekend. Hurricane Lala had other plans. Instead of a normal race day, we got a 6:30 a.m. start, sideways rain, slick obstacles, and one of the most memorable mornings our family has had on a course. This is our full recap of the weekend and […]

Rain starts tapping the roof and our whole family thinks the same thing. Time for oxtail soup. This is our gray day bowl. Clear broth that clings to your lips, meat sliding off the bone, a small dish of grated ginger and shoyu waiting on the side. You spoon in hot rice, dunk the meat, […]

A cold smoothie hits different after a morning in the water. Fresh fruit, a little protein, and you are set until lunch. We drink a lot of them. Between beach days, school runs, and long drives out to the country, a good blend is part of the week. We are Reid and Mary, and we […]

We fly with a two-year-old a few times every year, and the shortest route off our island runs about 2,500 miles (4,000 km) over open ocean. Living on Oʻahu means every trip starts with five hours in a plane seat. There is no driving to grandma’s house from here. That kind of repetition builds a […]

Oʻahu runs on plate lunch, but the island has a serious sandwich game too. Think sweet local bread baked that morning, kalua pig piled past the crust, and crispy katsu tucked into pillowy milk bread. We chase all of it, from Haleʻiwa down to Kaimukī. Some of these shops have fed families for almost 50 […]

Chinatown sits on the western edge of downtown Honolulu, about 3 miles (4.8 km) from Waikiki. It is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the islands. We come here for the morning markets, the lei shops on Maunakea Street, and the old brick buildings that watched the city grow up around them. This is the […]

Okazuya is how a lot of us grew up eating on Oʻahu. You walk up to a glass case, point at what looks good, and someone behind the counter builds your plate as you go. Fried chicken. Cone sushi. Nishime. A scoop of potato mac if you want it. Everything is cooked already and ready […]