Pearl Harbor National Memorial takes most of a morning. You arrive early for your USS Arizona Memorial program, you walk the museums, and by the time you're back at the car you're hungry. The visitor center has a small snack shop with sandwiches and drinks. That's it.

The good news: the memorial sits at the edge of ʻAiea, a local neighborhood full of drive-ins, a saimin institution and a malasada window. Everything below is within about two miles of the visitor center.

What to Know Before You Go

  • The visitor center is open 7am to 5pm, and it's closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
  • Admission and the USS Arizona Memorial program are free, but book a program time in advance at recreation.gov. Arrive an hour before your time.
  • Bags that can hide things — purses, backpacks, camera bags — aren't allowed. There's paid bag storage near the entrance. Leave the cooler in the car.
  • Food and drinks are fine at the visitor center, but not in the theater, on the boats or at the memorial itself. Only clear water.

Rules can change, so check the National Park Service's Pearl Harbor page before you go.

Before an Early Program

The first programs start at 8am, which means you're parking at 7. Eat on the way. Leonard Jr's Hot Malasadas on Kamehameha Highway is the move if you want something sweet and hot in the car. ʻAiea Manapua & Snacks does manapua and dim sum to go, which travels well. Heights Coffee Shop & Drive In is the old-school sit-down breakfast if you'd rather start with eggs, rice and Portuguese sausage.

Lunch After the Memorial

Shiro's Saimin Haven is the ʻAiea institution: a family restaurant with a long menu of saimin variations and plate lunches. It's a sit-down place with booths, which is what you want after a morning on your feet.

For a classic plate — two scoop rice, mac salad, something fried or grilled — the neighborhood drive-ins are all close: Newtown Drive Inn, Moon Hoe Drive Inn and Halawa Plate Lunch.

Bautista's Filipino Kitchen does adobo and Filipino plates, a big part of local food that most visitors never try. For Korean barbecue plates, Soon's Kal Bi Drive In is about two and a half miles toward town.

Poke for the Road

Tamura's in ʻAiea has a poke counter in the store. Grab a bowl, some rice and chopsticks, and eat it on a beach on the way back. Remember the bag rule: don't bring it to the memorial. Eat it before you go in, or after.

If You Have More Time

Pearl Harbor is about fifteen minutes from Kalihi, the heart of local food in Honolulu. If you're heading back toward Waikīkī, it's on the way: Helena's Hawaiian Food for Hawaiian food, Tamashiro Market for poke. Going west instead, Highway Inn in Waipahu has served Hawaiian plates since 1947.

Hours change and our listings can lag, so check today's hours on each listing before you drive over.