Nori Bar Waikiki: Hand Rolls, Cocktails and a Table You Order From Your Phone

Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii

One of our favorite eating experiences in Honolulu. Nori Bar's Waikiki room on Kuhio Avenue, where you order craft sushi hand rolls and cocktails from your phone and the staff bring them to the table minutes later. A quick June lunch that has us wanting more.

Nori Bar Waikiki: Hand Rolls, Cocktails and a Table You Order From Your Phone
Blake at a green leather booth with chopsticks and a hand roll at Nori Bar Waikiki
Nori Bar Waikiki interior with the green marble counter, sushi chefs at work and a cloud patterned ceiling
Warm pendant lights over the bar at Nori Bar Waikiki with the back bar glowing behind
Nori Bar Waikiki storefront on Kuhio Avenue with a to go box on the patio table
Jasmine eating a bowl at an outdoor table at Nori Bar Waikiki, green rattan chair and hedges behind
A Nori Bar bowl on the green marble counter with branded chopsticks and a spoon
Three hand rolls in a wooden stand on the counter at Nori Bar Waikiki
Four hand rolls in a wooden stand reflected on the green marble patio table
A tall pink cocktail and a hand roll on the bar while a chef torches a dish behind
Sushi chef in an olive apron plating sliced fish at Nori Bar Waikiki
A yellow coupe cocktail beside a single hand roll on the bar
Amber cocktail on the rocks next to a hand roll in a wooden stand
Nori Bar to go box open on the counter, Let the good times roll printed on the lid
Hand rolls and a plate of sashimi with Nori Bar chopsticks
Sashimi plate on the corner of a green marble patio table
Chef torching the top of a bowl at Nori Bar Waikiki
Chef garnishing a finished bowl at the counter
Smiling Nori Bar chef in a bandana holding out a finished bowl
A saucy bowl and a hand roll on the patio table with Nori Bar chopsticks
A spread of hand rolls, sashimi, a bowl and a cocktail on the green marble table
Yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno slices in ponzu
Two tall cocktails and hand rolls on the bar with a chef behind
A hand reaching for a pink cocktail beside a white one and two hand rolls
Tall white cocktail with lime and two hand rolls on wooden stands
Blake at the Nori Bar Waikiki entrance with a cocktail
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Here is one of our favorite eating experiences in Honolulu, and it is a quick one.

Nori Bar is a sushi hand roll bar with two rooms on O'ahu. The original sits in Ward Village. The newer one, the one in these photos, opened on Kuhio Avenue in Waikiki in April 2026, a short walk from the beach, the shops and most of the hotels along the strip. We stopped in for lunch in June 2026 and left already planning the next visit.

Order from your phone, eat in minutes

The whole thing runs from your phone. Pull up their ordering app at the table, tap a hand roll or a cocktail or a bowl, and the staff bring it out the moment it is made. They ask you to order one item at a time, which sounds odd until the first roll lands in front of you with the nori still crisp. It is fast without feeling rushed, and it means you eat everything at its best.

What we ate

Hand rolls are the point: fresh fish, warm Koshihikari rice and seaweed that snaps. Between us we went through a stack of them, a plate of sashimi, yellowtail with jalapeno in ponzu, a couple of bowls the chef finishes with a torch at the counter, and cocktails from a short, sharp list. The rolls, the service and the whole experience are what has us wanting more.

Take it with you

They also do to go. Nori Bar packs rolls into a bright green box that says Let the good times roll on the lid, so you can take lunch back to the hotel, down to the beach, or bring it along on a sunset cruise. Order ahead on their site and skip the line.

The group behind it

Nori Bar is one of the concepts from Chao Restaurant Group, the Honolulu group that also runs Chao, the modern Vietnamese room in Nu'uanu, Thirty-Eight beside Nico's Pier 38, and Paradise Poke. Honolulu Magazine named them Restaurateur of the Year at the 2026 Hale 'Aina Awards, which tracks with what we saw at lunch: a clear idea, executed fast and with a smile. Pacific Edge Magazine has a good profile of managing partner Chancelor Kim if you want the story of the group behind the counter.

Worth knowing

  • Nori Bar Waikiki: 2255 Kuhio Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96815. Walking distance to Waikiki Beach, the Royal Hawaiian Center and the Kuhio Avenue hotels.
  • Nori Bar Ward: 1000 Auahi Street, Suite 130, Honolulu, HI 96814. The original room, and the one we also recommend if you are on that side of town.
  • Order from your phone at the table, one item at a time. It comes out fast.
  • To go is available, and reservations for both rooms run through OpenTable.
  • Waikiki guests get validated parking at the Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach.

Staying in Waikiki? We have written up Hotel La Croix and Wayfinder Waikiki, both an easy walk from Nori Bar.

If you want one lunch in Waikiki that you will still be talking about on the flight home, Nori Bar is the one we recommend. We think this spot is going to take off.

I shoot food, restaurant and hospitality photography on location. Get in touch to talk about a project.

Photography and video by Blake Wisz at Nori Bar Waikiki, Honolulu, June 2026. More videos on the YouTube channel. See more food photography.

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I’m Blake Wisz, a photographer and creative based in Palm Coast, Florida. I create food, hospitality, travel and brand photography across Northeast Florida and on location.

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