If you pack one pair of closed-toe shoes, one collared shirt and one pair of long pants, you have the footwear, shorts, T-shirt and collar questions covered at five Waikiki-area steakhouses and Michel’s, the French restaurant at the Colony Surf, going by what each one publishes on its own website. That holds as long as the pants aren’t ripped jeans or sweats, the clothes are clean and not wrinkled, and there’s no ball cap. We checked Hy’s, Michel’s, Ruth’s Chris, Morton’s, Wolfgang’s and STRIPSTEAK on November 7, 2026. We spend nearly every Hawaii day in flip-flops, so the question we really care about is whether the flip-flops can come to dinner. In writing, only Hy’s says no by name. Michel’s discourages them, Ruth’s Chris Hawaii asks for shoes, Morton’s bans “beachwear” without naming flip-flops, and two say nothing.
The wording varies a lot, though. Some restaurants prohibit things outright, one “discourages” them, one asks politely, and two say nothing at all. Here is what each one actually says, and what we would wear.
The cheat sheet
Everything below comes from each restaurant’s own site, linked in the sections that follow. “Not mentioned” means the page does not name that item. It does not mean the item is fine.
| Restaurant | Official line | Flip-flops | Shorts | T-shirt | Aloha shirt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hy’s Steak House | Men: collared shirt and closed-toe shoes | Prohibited | Not mentioned | Prohibited | Not mentioned |
| Michel’s at the Colony Surf | Smart casual | Discouraged | Discouraged | Discouraged | Encouraged |
| Ruth’s Chris (Hawaii) | No formal code; asks for shoes and a collared shirt | Shoes requested | Not in the Hawaii FAQ (corporate FAQ: avoid cut-offs) | Collared shirt requested | Not mentioned |
| Morton’s Honolulu | Business attire or smart casual | Beachwear not allowed | Not mentioned | Not mentioned | Not mentioned |
| Wolfgang’s Waikiki | Nothing posted | — | — | — | — |
| STRIPSTEAK Waikiki | Nothing posted | — | — | — | — |
Written-down rules: Hy’s and Morton’s
Hy’s Steak House on Kūhiō Avenue has the most detailed list. Its policies page asks gentlemen for “Collared Shirts and Closed-Toe Shoes” and ladies for “Business Casual or Evening Attire.” The prohibited list includes beachwear (swimwear and flip-flops are named), athletic wear such as sweatpants and hoodies, informal headwear like ball caps and beanies, oversized or baggy clothing, sleeveless shirts for men, and T-shirts. Management “reserves the right to refuse service to any guest whose attire is deemed inappropriate, regardless of reservation status.”
That last line is not theoretical for us. One of us was once stopped at Hy’s host stand for wearing sandals, and the evening started with a hurried trip to a shoe store nearby instead of a drink. Shorts are not on Hy’s list, but in a room that requires collars and covered shoes, we would not test it. More on the room and the prices in our Hy’s dress code and happy hour piece.
Morton’s at Ala Moana is shorter on detail. The Honolulu location page says “Proper attire is required,” and the brand-wide FAQ asks for “business attire or a smart casual dress code.” Not allowed: beachwear, gym or athletic wear, jerseys, hats, tank tops, sleeveless shirts, ripped jeans and overly revealing clothing. Like Hy’s, management can refuse service even with a reservation. Flip-flops and shorts are not named. Whether your flip-flops count as “beachwear” is a judgment the host makes, not you, so we would wear shoes.
Smart casual, with a list: Michel’s
Michel’s dress code page says “Smart Casual” and then does something none of the others do: the first item on its encouraged list is “Aloha wear.” After that come dress or chino pants, dark tailored jeans, slacks, button-downs, polos, blouses, dresses, and toe-covering shoes or pumps. Blazers are optional.
The page splits what it does not want into two tiers:
| Tier | What Michel’s lists |
|---|---|
| Discouraged | T-shirts, shorts, slippers / flip-flops / thong sandals, caps and beanies, torn jeans |
| Not allowed | Tank tops, swimwear, clothing with inappropriate language or characters, dirty or wrinkled clothing, gym wear |
So flip-flops and shorts are “discouraged,” a step softer than Hy’s. We would still leave them in the room. One year we passed on dinner at Michel’s entirely because sandals were the only footwear we had packed. Our Michel’s guide covers reservations and the bill.
A request, not a rule: Ruth’s Chris
Ruth’s Chris is a little tangled because two official pages say different things. The brand’s corporate FAQ describes a “comfortable, family friendly” atmosphere, asks guests to avoid offensive graphics, exposed undergarments, cut-off shorts and tank tops, asks you to remove hats when entering, and says hats and team jerseys are welcome in bar and patio areas. It also says the dress code “may vary by location or region.”
The Hawaii restaurants’ own FAQ is more specific. Its English version returned a server error both times we tried on November 7, so we read the same FAQ on Ruth’s Chris Hawaii’s Japanese-language site. It says there is no particular dress code, then asks guests to wear shoes rather than sandals and a collared shirt rather than a T-shirt. Since the corporate page defers to local rules, we go by the Hawaii version for the Waikiki Beach Walk restaurant. Our Ruth’s Chris Waikiki happy hour piece has the rest.
Nothing posted: Wolfgang’s and STRIPSTEAK
Wolfgang’s Waikiki page, at Royal Hawaiian Center, and STRIPSTEAK’s Waikiki page, at International Market Place, say nothing about attire as of November 7. We are not going to invent a rule for either one. No posted code does not mean anything goes, so if it matters to your evening, ask when you book. We wrote up Wolfgang’s and STRIPSTEAK’s happy hour separately.
Does it count if you only sit at the bar?
This is the question that matters to us, because when we go to a steakhouse, it is usually for happy hour. None of the Hawaii-specific pages we read makes a bar exception. Hy’s and Morton’s both say they can refuse service regardless of a reservation, and neither carves out the bar. The only bar-specific line we found is in Ruth’s Chris’s corporate FAQ about hats and jerseys, and that page itself says local rules can differ.
So we treat a happy hour seat the same as a dinner table. For the timing, the official pages list these windows as of November 7, 2026:
| Restaurant | Happy hour on the official page |
|---|---|
| Wolfgang’s Waikiki | 3–6 pm daily |
| Morton’s Honolulu (“Power Hour”) | Sunday–Friday, 4–6:30 pm, bar area only; not on holidays |
| STRIPSTEAK Waikiki | 4–6 pm (days not specified on the page) |
| Hy’s Steak House | Nightly, 5–6:30 pm last seating |
Not one of them starts at our usual 2 pm, so a steakhouse is a late afternoon for us, not an early one. Wolfgang’s at 3 pm is the closest.
What we would pack
One pair of closed-toe shoes. That is most of the fix, and it is also the annoying part, because shoes take up a corner of the suitcase that flip-flops never do. We bring them anyway on any trip with a steakhouse on the calendar. Getting turned around at the door costs more than the space.
For the shirt, a collared one covers Hy’s and Ruth’s Chris Hawaii, and Michel’s is happy with aloha wear. A collared aloha shirt looks like it fits all three, but only Michel’s names aloha wear, so that is our reading of the wording, not anything a restaurant has promised. Long pants settle the shorts question everywhere. Only Michel’s names shorts in general, and Ruth’s Chris’s corporate FAQ names cut-offs, but the stricter rooms clearly lean formal. For women, Hy’s asks for business casual or evening attire, and Michel’s lists blouses, dresses and toe-covering shoes or pumps. That is a reasonable target for the others too.
If you have a steakhouse booked for a holiday dinner this season, check the suitcase for shoes now, not on the night.
Before you plan around this
- Everything here was checked on the restaurants’ own sites on November 7, 2026. Dress codes change without announcement, so look again before you go or ask when you reserve.
- Ruth’s Chris Hawaii’s English FAQ page was down when we checked. The Hawaii rule above comes from the same FAQ on its Japanese-language site, and the corporate FAQ says local rules may vary.
- Morton’s FAQ is brand-wide. The Honolulu page points to it but adds nothing beyond “Proper attire is required.”
- For Wolfgang’s and STRIPSTEAK, “nothing posted” is all we can report. Ask the restaurant.
- Happy hour windows and days can change. Use each official page as the tie-breaker.
