About Mariposa
There is no other restaurant in Honolulu quite like Mariposa. Positioned on the third floor of Neiman Marcus Ala Moana, it occupies a panoramic terrace that faces Ala Moana Beach Park with the Ko'olau mountains behind. The combination of altitude, greenery, and the long horizontal sweep of the Pacific in the middle distance creates a dining backdrop that has no equivalent in the neighbourhood, and very few in the city.
The restaurant is a Honolulu institution. Its regular clientele dresses for it — not in the formal sense, but in the sense of people who understand that a meal at Mariposa is its own occasion. The popover cart arrives shortly after you're seated: warm, buttered, architectural, a signal that the service here is attentive in the old-fashioned way. The kind of attentive that doesn't need to announce itself.
The menu is refreshed seasonally with regionally inspired dishes that take maximum advantage of Hawaii's local ingredients. The wagyu hanger steak with local organic lettuces, Ho Farm tomatoes, and chili-lime vinaigrette is the dish that best expresses the kitchen's sensibility: classical framework, Hawaiian ingredients, a palate calibrated for the climate. The black truffle burger with roasted garlic aïoli has developed something close to cult status among Honolulu's lunch regulars. The signature lobster club sandwich is what you order when you're celebrating without wanting it to look like you're celebrating.
With over 1,100 reviews on Yelp and OpenTable, Mariposa is one of Honolulu's most consistently reviewed lunch destinations. The ratings are high and the mentions consistent: the service, the views, and the popovers. The three pillars of the Mariposa experience, as unchanged as the Ko'olau mountains behind them.
The Menu & Service Hours
Mariposa is primarily a lunch restaurant, open Monday through Saturday 11:00am–3:00pm and Sunday 11:00am–4:30pm. A Sunset Lounge Menu operates Thursday through Saturday 5:00pm–7:30pm, featuring lighter plates and cocktails against the best evening light in the Ala Moana neighbourhood. The kitchen's focus on local sourcing means the seasonal menu updates reflect what's genuinely excellent in Hawaii at that moment — not a marketing claim but a practice.
Best Occasion Fit
For closing a deal, Mariposa offers what most Honolulu venues cannot: a power-lunch environment. The third-floor terrace, the Neiman Marcus address, the clientele that tends toward Honolulu's business and creative leadership — these are the markers of a table that means something. A mid-morning meeting closing over the lobster club sandwich and a glass of something cold from the wine list is as civilised as business in Honolulu gets.
For a first date — specifically a lunch or early afternoon date — Mariposa communicates discernment without ostentation. It says: I know this city, I know what's good, I wanted the right table. The mountains and beach in the same frame provide fifty minutes of natural conversation. The popovers arrive, warm, without being asked.