Cocktail Bars in Honolulu
Honolulu's cocktail bars go past tiki, with deep whiskey lists, Japanese-style highballs and island ingredients such as lilikoi and Hawaiian chili. The best cocktail bars in Honolulu start Downtown at Bar Leather Apron, up on a lobby mezzanine, which won the 2023 James Beard Award for Outstanding Bar and placed No. 81 on the 51-100 list of North America's 50 Best Bars 2026. Nearby, Podmore pairs aloha with British polish, and EP Bar in Chinatown is a highball and vinyl room. In Ala Moana, Eleven pours from more than 90 whiskeys and Pint + Jigger runs a beer garden. Book Bar Leather Apron ahead; requests open a month out. These are the five we would start with.
NORTH AMERICA'S 50 BESTCocktail BarBar Leather Apron
A cocktail bar on the mezzanine level of the TOPA Financial Center lobby in downtown Honolulu, open since 2015. It operates Wednesday through Saturday evenings and takes reservations via OpenTable. The bar holds No. 81 on the North America's 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2026.
745 Fort Street Mall, Suite 127, HI 96813Wed-Sat 5pm-12amFull profile- Pint + JiggerWhiskey Bar
Pint + Jigger
Pint + Jigger is a neighborhood bar on the lobby level of the Ala Moana Hotel in Honolulu, built around whiskey, handcrafted cocktails and craft beer. The drinks are led by Dave Newman, whose program brought sous vide and barrel aged cocktails to the bar, and the kitchen serves elevated pub fare. A rotating tap list takes in craft beer, cider and mead.
Ala Moana Hotel, 410 Atkinson Drive, Suite 1F4, Honolulu, HI 96814Sun-Thu 4:30pm-12am, Fri-Sat 4:30pm-2amFull profile 
Cocktail BarEleven
Eleven is a cocktail bar tucked into a corner of Foodland Farms Ala Moana in Honolulu. Its cocktails are made by hand with premium spirits and house made bitters, aiming for simple execution and complex flavor, and the list runs to more than 90 whiskeys. Small plates, bar snacks and cocktail inspired desserts come from the kitchen, with brunch at weekends.
Foodland Farms Ala Moana, 1450 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu, HI 96814Wed-Thu 5pm-11pm, Fri-Sat 4:30pm-12am, Sun 5pm-11pm, Mon-Tue closedFull profile
Cocktail BarEP Bar
EP Bar, short for Extended Play, is a highball and vinyl bar on Nuuanu Avenue in Honolulu, entered from the Pauahi Street side. The menu opens with highballs built on Japanese whisky, shochu and house infusions, then moves to house cocktails such as a black sesame rye Manhattan and a rum drink with mango, clarified with coconut. Reservations are encouraged, and larger groups book by phone or email.
1150 Nuuanu Ave Unit A, Honolulu, HI 96817Mon 6pm-11pm, Tue-Sat 5pm-11pm, Sun closedFull profile- PodmoreCocktail Bar
Podmore
Podmore sits in the historic Joseph W. Podmore building at the corner of Merchant and Alakea Streets in downtown Honolulu. The husband and wife team behind Senia pair British comfort food from chef Anthony Rush with inventive house cocktails, made in house wherever possible, and half of the cocktail list now changes with the seasons. Guests are 21 and over after 7pm.
202 Merchant St., Honolulu, HI 96813Tue 3:30pm-10pm, Wed-Thu 11am-10pm, Fri 11am-11pm, Sat 10am-11pm, Sun 9am-2pm, Mon closedFull profile
More of Honolulu
These are the cocktail bars specifically. The full Honolulu guide ranks the best bars of every style, and the directory lists all 6 with a map and filters.
