Herringbone’s Oyster Hour is at 4 pm, not 2 pm, and that is the first thing to know if your afternoon looks like ours. We normally start drinking around 2. For this one, we would push the whole day back two hours, because oysters at a bar counter on the third floor of International Market Place are worth the wait. We went in September 2017. Plenty has changed since, including who runs the place and what the oysters cost, so here is what the restaurant’s own page and menus say today, and what we had back then.
The window, as the restaurant states it today
Herringbone Waikiki sits on the Grand Lanai of International Market Place, at 2330 Kalakaua Avenue, between Kalakaua and Kuhio. The official page now lists it as owned by Aoki Group. Its “View Menu” button for happy hour leads to a one-page Happy Hour menu PDF uploaded in June 2026. Here is what the two say, checked October 12, 2026:
| What the restaurant says | |
|---|---|
| Hours | ”4 PM - 6 PM & 9 PM - CLOSE” (menu PDF) |
| Days | ”DAILY EXCEPT SELECT HOLIDAYS” (menu PDF) |
| Where | ”BAR & LOUNGE ONLY” (menu PDF); “exclusively at the bar and lounge” (official page) |
| Reservations | ”no reservations required” (official page, for Oyster Hour) |
One naming note: the official page calls this window “Oyster Hour,” while the PDF itself is titled “Happy Hour.” Same hours, same bar and lounge, so we treat them as one thing.
The holiday line matters if you are visiting around Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s. The menu does not say which holidays are excluded, so on a holiday, call before you walk over.
Bar and lounge only works for us, since we would rather sit at a bar for an hour than wait for a table. A group of six hoping for a big table at happy-hour prices will be disappointed.
The second window, 9 pm to close, is on the menu. We are reliably asleep by then, so consider that one reported, not field-tested.
What it costs now
The June 2026 happy hour menu has a short food list. These are the plates we would actually look at, with the menu’s prices:
| Happy hour plate | Happy hour price | Same dish on the July 2026 dinner menu |
|---|---|---|
| Three Oysters On The Half Shell | $12 | Oysters on the Half Shell, $6 each, minimum order of 3 |
| Gochujang Octopus | $13 | not listed (the dinner menu has Grilled Buffalo Octopus, $29) |
| Baja Fish Taco | $8 | not listed |
| Pulehu Steak (Washugyu) | $15 | not listed |
| Brussels | $8 | Brussels, $16 |
| Furikake Fries | $8 | Furikake Fries, $15 |
The full happy hour list also has an Island Chopped Salad ($11), Ahi Tacos ($12), Hamachi Crudo ($9), and two hot stone beef plates ($16 for American Washugyu, $24 for Miyazaki A5). The menu adds “Sorry, no substitutions if we are out of the item.”
So the oyster deal is now sold as a plate of three for $12, which works out to $4 an oyster. Three oysters off the dinner menu would be $18. The happy hour oysters come with kimchi mignonette, wasabi cocktail sauce and lemon, and the menu describes them as “Season’s best oysters.”
For drinks, the happy hour menu lists:
- $4 off craft cocktails and flights
- $2 off draft beers and glasses of wine
Herringbone’s verified Instagram account announced the same two discounts on June 26, 2026, when it said it had “expanded our Daily Happy Hour menu.”
The happy hour menu gives the discount, not the beer prices. Those are on the July 2026 dinner and drinks menu, which lists 16 oz drafts at these prices:
| 16 oz draft | Menu price | With $2 off (our math) |
|---|---|---|
| Kirin Ichiban | $8 | $6 |
| Longboard Lager | $9 | $7 |
| Lavaman Red Ale | $10 | $8 |
| Big Swell IPA | $10 | $8 |
The right-hand column is our own subtraction, not a price the restaurant prints. The draft list also includes Stella Artois, Big Wave Golden Ale and Aoki Golden Ale at $10, plus a seasonal draft at market price.
How the oyster deal has moved
Here is a dated trail of numbers, each tied to its source and year:
| When | Oysters | Other happy hour prices | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 2017 | from $2 each | (our own visit) | our visit |
| May 2018 | $2 each (regular dinner price $4) | Buffalo octopus $11, beers $5, wines $6, cocktails $7 | Honolulu Magazine |
| May 2022 | $3 each, three minimum | Fish taco $6, buffalo octopus $13, pulehu steak $15, cocktails $8, wine $7, beer $6 | Herringbone’s Oyster Hour menu, dated May 2022 |
| June 2026 | three for $12 | Gochujang octopus $13, Baja fish taco $8, pulehu steak $15; $2 off draft beer and wine, $4 off cocktails | Herringbone’s Happy Hour menu, June 2026 |
Back in 2018 Honolulu Magazine called it a “two buck shuck.” The 2022 menu called it the “Three Buck Shuck.” Some happy hour listing sites, such as Happyhour.Best, still show $3 oysters. The restaurant’s own June 2026 menu says three for $12, so go by that.
What we had in 2017
We went on a September afternoon, and our photos from that day are time-stamped just after 4. We started with Union Jack IPA, since IPA is still the style of beer we reach for first. Then came the oysters, on the half shell with three sauces, and we switched sauces from one oyster to the next.
Next came the buffalo octopus, in a spicy buffalo-style sauce, and the tentacles were thick and meaty. We also had the mussels tikka, mussels done in an Indian-spiced sauce, which is not what you expect to find at a California-style seafood bar in Waikiki.
The room is the other reason people go. It is an open-air space, with plants everywhere, and the official page credits the greenery to a local farm, Mari’s Gardens. It feels like more of an occasion than a happy hour usually does, without asking you to dress up for it.
Both of those dishes are still around, just not at happy hour prices. The July 2026 dinner menu lists Mussels Tikka Masala at $26 and Grilled Buffalo Octopus at $29. Neither one is on the happy hour list. The happy hour octopus is now the Gochujang Octopus at $13, and its listed toppings (slaw, black-eyed peas, anchovy aioli, scallion oil) are the same ones the dinner menu gives for the buffalo octopus. Union Jack is not on the current draft list; Big Swell IPA is the IPA on tap.
How we would use it now
Our normal plan for a happy hour is to arrive in its first hour, sit without waiting, order the discounted food first and then pick a beer to go with it. Herringbone fits that plan, just two hours later than usual. Here is how we would run it:
- Skip the 2 pm drink that day. Coffee and fruit in the room in the morning, a walk, and nothing at 2. Then walk over so we reach the bar right at 4:00. Bar and lounge seats with no reservations reward the people who show up early.
- Order a plate of oysters each, plus one hot dish. Two plates of three ($24), the Gochujang Octopus ($13) to share, and a Big Swell IPA each. If the $2 comes off the $10 menu price, that is $8 a pint, so roughly $53 for two before tax and tip, by our math.
- Be done by about 5:30. That gives us a slow 90 minutes and gets us out before the dinner crowd settles in. After that, back to the room; a takeout plate and a cold beer from the fridge would cover dinner, if anybody even wanted more.
- Skip the dinner reservation. For us the point is the bar counter, not the dining room. If you want the mussels tikka or the buffalo octopus at a table, that is the dinner menu and a different evening from the one we’re describing.
From Waikiki Beach Walk it is a flat walk along Kalakaua. If you want something earlier in the same building, we covered ShoreFyre’s happy hour, which starts at 3 on weekdays at International Market Place.
Before you walk over
- Hours and prices checked October 12, 2026, against the official Aoki Group page, the June 2026 happy hour menu and the July 2026 dinner menu. Happy hour menus change more often than restaurants update their websites, so a call to 808-797-5477 is the tie-breaker.
- Holidays are the exception. The menu says “daily except select holidays” without naming them.
- Raw shellfish: the oysters, ahi tacos, hamachi and several meat plates carry the menu’s standard raw or undercooked advisory. The fries, Brussels and salad are there if raw is not for you.
- Brunch is a separate thing. The official page puts it under the headings “Weekend Treats” and “Waikiki’s Favorite Brunch,” and says “Our Weekend Brunch menu is offered on Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.” The same section also says “every weekend,” so if you are hoping for Saturday brunch, call first.
Details
- Herringbone Waikiki, International Market Place, Grand Lanai, 2330 Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu, HI 96815
- Phone: 808-797-5477
- Official page: aokigroup.com/herringbonewaikiki
- Happy hour (Oyster Hour): 4-6 pm and 9 pm to close, daily except select holidays, bar and lounge only, no reservations (as of October 12, 2026)
If we were planning a single sit-down happy hour this trip, a 4 pm oyster stop like this would be on the short list. It just means skipping the 2 pm beer that day.
We also publish a Japanese-language version of our Herringbone write-up at debushofufu.com.
