RFK Rankings · Honolulu
Best Restaurants for Team-Dinner in Honolulu (2026)
Team dinners · Honolulu · 6 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published March 8, 2024 · Updated June 10, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
A Honolulu team dinner runs on private rooms and big tables, and the city's steakhouses and Hawaii Regional kitchens are built for them. Waikiki and Ala Moana hold the flexible group rooms, from a Michael Mina steakhouse that buys out for 242 to a 36th-floor seafood room with ocean views, while Kakaako brings the local-provenance option. The six below scale a work dinner from a private room of a dozen to a full-floor buyout.
1.STRIPSTEAK Waikiki
The most flexible large-group room in Waikiki; a Michael Mina steakhouse that scales from a 42-seat private room to a 242-seat buyout.
STRIPSTEAK, the Michael Mina steakhouse on the third-floor Grand Lanai of International Market Place, is the single most adaptable team room in Waikiki. The James Beard Award-winning chef's modern American steakhouse runs a private room seating 42, an outdoor lanai for 80, and a full buyout that takes 242 seated and up to 350 for a reception, with floor-to-ceiling windows and built-in audio-visual kit.
The duck-fat fries trio and the butter-poached and A5 wagyu steaks are the Mina signatures a team gathers around. Food runs roughly 80 to 130 dollars a head before drinks. For a corporate dinner that needs to flex from a dozen people to a few hundred, this is the first call.
2.Hy's Steak House
An old-school steakhouse with a wood-paneled private room and theatrical tableside service; the crowd-pleaser for a team night.
Hy's Steak House on Kuhio Avenue is the classic old-school choice, all dark wood, wine displays and kiawe-wood-broiled USDA Prime steaks. Its enclosed private dining room, plus partial and full buyouts, handle large parties, and the theatrical tableside service, from a Caesar salad tossed at the table to flambeed desserts, gives a team dinner a built-in show.
Dinner runs nightly from 5pm, with food around 75 to 120 dollars a head. Part of the G. Lion Hawaii group, it leans formal and reliable rather than trendy. Book the private room ahead for a group that wants a proper, theatrical steakhouse night.
3.Merriman's Honolulu
The best local-provenance pick; Peter Merriman's farm-to-table room takes groups up to about 160 with family-style menus.
Merriman's in Ward Village, Kakaako, is the team dinner for a group that wants a taste of Hawaii rather than another steakhouse. Peter Merriman, a co-founder of the Hawaii Regional Cuisine movement more than 35 years ago, built the original locavore kitchen, and the ocean-inspired spaces handle intimate groups of a dozen up to large parties around 140 to 160 with family-style menus and passed appetizers.
The wok-charred ahi and Kahua Ranch lamb are the Merriman classics to anchor a shared menu, with food around 55 to 90 dollars a head, the best value of the upper-tier picks here. Book the family-style group menu for a team that wants local provenance and room to spread out.
4.The Signature Prime Steak and Seafood
A 36th-floor steak-and-seafood room with a built-in wow; private dining up to 45 across three view spaces over the city.
The Signature Prime Steak and Seafood sits on the 36th floor of the Ala Moana Hotel, which gives a team dinner an ocean-and-mountain panorama without leaving the city core. Private dining runs up to 45 across three spaces, from an intimate table of eight to a full room of 40, with a wine-cellar experience for the wine-minded.
Prime steaks and the view-table booths are the draw, with food around 70 to 110 dollars a head. Open daily from 4.30 to 10pm. For a group that wants a memorable setting in the Ala Moana hub, the high-floor view does a lot of the work.
5.Morton's The Steakhouse
The dependable corporate choice; dedicated banquet rooms for 10 to 120 and predictable, guaranteed execution.
Morton's at Ala Moana Center is the go-to when a team dinner needs a guaranteed private room and predictable execution. Its dedicated banquet setup is the strongest here for a formal group, with private dining for 10 to 120 across a 40-guest Room A and a 24-guest Room B that combine for larger parties.
Prime aged steaks and the jumbo lump crab cake are the reliable order, with food around 80 to 120 dollars a head. It is a chain, which is precisely the point for a corporate dinner that values consistency over surprise. Book the combined banquet rooms for the biggest groups.
6.ZIGU
The high-energy, lower-key option; an award-winning izakaya with a 4-plus party menu, shared plates and a deep sake list.
ZIGU on Seaside Avenue is the izakaya pick for a younger or more casual team that wants shared plates and drinks over a formal steakhouse. The locavore Japanese kitchen runs a party menu for groups of four or more, with large-group reservations and private-space options, and the lively shared-plate format scales naturally for a work crowd.
A5 wagyu and island-sourced seasonal plates anchor the menu against an extensive sake list, with food around 45 to 75 dollars a head, the best value here. It took multiple 2026 Hale Aina Awards, including silver for Best Izakaya. Book the party menu ahead for a group.
Not for every team
When the room is wrong for a work dinner
Honolulu's best small counters are the wrong shape for a team of fifteen. Sushi Izakaya Gaku is outstanding but tiny and notoriously hard to book, a counter-and-small-table format unsuitable for a big work crowd, and Tokkuri-Tei is a beloved but compact izakaya that cannot comfortably seat a large group. Save both for a dinner of two or four.
A closure to note: the original Alan Wong's on South King Street, the flagship of Hawaii Regional Cuisine, closed permanently in November 2020, so do not try to book it. A new Alan Wong's was set to open in early 2026 at The Kahala Hotel, but it is too new and too fine-dining to recommend for a large team yet.
And the city's hushed omakase rooms, however excellent, run on quiet pacing and tiny seat counts. They are built for a quiet duo, not a buzzy department dinner, so steer a team toward the steakhouses and izakaya instead.
How to book a team dinner in Honolulu
For a large table, reserve the private room well ahead and ask about set or family-style group menus, which the steakhouses and Merriman's all run; STRIPSTEAK and Morton's have the most flexible banquet setups, and Merriman's and ZIGU build family-style and party menus for a crowd. The Waikiki and Ala Moana rooms book out around conference season, so plan early.
For the most adaptable room, start with STRIPSTEAK; for local provenance, Merriman's; for a casual, shared-plate night, ZIGU. Browse the full Honolulu dining guide and compare cellars in the Honolulu wine-list ranking before you decide.
Frequently asked
What is the best restaurant for a team dinner in Honolulu?
STRIPSTEAK Waikiki, the Michael Mina steakhouse at International Market Place, is the most flexible pick, scaling from a 42-seat private room to a 242-seat buyout with built-in audio-visual kit. For local provenance, Merriman's in Kakaako takes groups up to about 160, and for a casual shared-plate night, ZIGU is the izakaya choice.
Which Waikiki restaurants have private dining rooms for 20 or more?
STRIPSTEAK at International Market Place runs a 42-seat private room and a much larger buyout, Hy's Steak House has an enclosed private room plus buyouts, and at Ala Moana, Morton's offers banquet rooms for 10 to 120 and The Signature Prime takes private groups up to 45 across three view spaces.
How much does a team dinner cost in Honolulu?
The steakhouses run higher, roughly 70 to 130 dollars a head for food before drinks at STRIPSTEAK, Hy's, Morton's and The Signature Prime. Merriman's sits around 55 to 90 dollars and ZIGU around 45 to 75 dollars, which makes the Hawaii Regional and izakaya options the better value for a larger crowd.
Where can a work group get Hawaiian or local food with a private room?
Merriman's in Kakaako is the standout, with Peter Merriman's Hawaii Regional Cuisine and family-style group menus for parties up to about 160. Roy's Hawaii Kai, founder Roy Yamaguchi's Hawaiian-fusion room, also has a private dining room, though it sits farther east of Waikiki in Hawaii Kai.
Do Honolulu steakhouses take large parties or full buyouts?
Yes. STRIPSTEAK buys out for 242 seated and up to 350 for a reception, Morton's combines its banquet rooms for up to 120, and Hy's offers partial and full buyouts. Book the private room or buyout well ahead, especially during conference and holiday season when the Waikiki rooms fill.
Related rankings
More from RFK
Browse the full Honolulu dining guide, read the Merriman's profile and the Signature Prime profile, compare cellars in the Honolulu wine-list ranking, plan a tasting night with the Honolulu chef's-table ranking, or open the full RFK rankings index.
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