2 Best Restaurants in Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, Oahu

If the Rat Pack reconvened for big steaks and a bigger red, they'd feel right at home at Hy's, which hasn't changed much since it opened in 1976. The formula: prime-grade beef cooked over an open kiawe-wood (mesquite) fire, "old-school" service, a clubby atmosphere, and a wine list recognized for excellence by Wine Spectator. In addition to the signature steaks, specialties include beef Wellington, miso-marinated sea bass, and ahi sashimi fresh from the auction. The restaurant is also known for its Caesar salad and those flambéed desserts rarely seen these days—both prepared tableside, of course.

The Honolulu outpost of the New York–based original serves good steaks that have been dry-aged on-site, as well as classic shrimp cocktails, slabs of Canadian bacon, crab cakes, creamed spinach, broiled jumbo lobster, and the token grilled fish selection. If it sounds like Peter Luger's on the Pacific, then it won't come as a surprise to learn that owner Wolfgang Zwiener was once head waiter at that legendary Brooklyn steak house. Stop by during happy hour for a prix fixe sampler deal, or wander in for lunch and then spend the rest of the day lounging on the beach.