Honolulu, HIWine Bars

Martha Cheng started her Waikīkī wine crawl on the second level of Royal Hawaiian Center, where forty wines sit in self-serve dispensers and 1-ounce pours run from about $3 to $37 for the Opus One. Sit at the bar and wine director Mark Cartland will teach you what he knows. Her notes ran to a white rioja tasting of golden raisins, a quirky Portuguese white and a nebbiolo. The food is generously portioned: get the clams steamed in white wine, or the overflowing cheese plate. Happy hour from 3 to 6 drops glasses to $7.

A Hale ʻAina winner built around self-serve wine modules: staff load a card with any amount, you share it around the table, and most 1-ounce pours land in the $2 to $4 range. The magazine's advice is to skip the 5 to 6 p.m. window only if you dislike a bargain, since a $50 card goes for $30 then. Build your own flight, or mix two wines into a blend. The kitchen is Stage's, so dessert and a glass of Banyuls are the right finish.

Chocolatier Dylan Butterbaugh spent six years learning wine before turning his Kailua factory and tasting room into a natural wine bar in December 2022. After 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday the chocolate flights meet a rotating monthly list of small-batch European bottles, $10 to $18 a glass or $22 for three 3-ounce pours, some of them exclusive to this room. Order a flight and the single-origin chocolate tray; manager John Fujimoto will explain why the yeast is still alive.

Hale ʻAina Silver for Best Wine Program in 2026, and the casual counterpart to Taormina from the same management group. The menu runs from breakfast frittata to a kiawe-wood-fired oven, and Honolulu Magazine's first look picked out the ʻahi poke bruschetta with avocado and gochujang, the Parmesan-crusted cauliflower, and the crispy fried chicken seasoned with cayenne and Grana Padano over smoked pecorino fondue. For pasta, the strozzapreti with shrimp in arugula sauce.