Oahu Restaurant Off the Beaten Path – Nico’s Pier 38

Do you love Hawaiian fresh fish at very reasonable prices? If so, you’ll love Nico’s Pier 38 in Honolulu. This restaurant is a bit off the beaten tourist’s path, but worth the effort to get there for its ‘ono food.

Nico’s Pier 38 serves lunch and dinner Monday – Saturday and lunch only on Sundays.  You can review their menu with this link. In addition to several tasty fish dishes, you’ll also find other favorite Hawaiian plate lunches like Hosin Barbeque Chicken, Chicken Katsu, and a Loco Moco.

Notice that most lunch items on the Nico’s Pier 38 menu are under $10. Most dinner menu items are under $15. For the quality of food, it’s a fantastic bargain on Oahu! It’s probably some of the best food you’ll eat off of Styrofoam plates.

Nico's Pier 38

Andy and I stopped in at Nico’s Pier 38 for a late lunch and the restaurant was packed with locals, which is always a good sign. We ordered Furikake Pan Seared Ahi with Ginger Garlic Cilantro Sauce and Fish and Chips.

As I mentioned, Nico’s Pier 38 is located a bit of the tourist’s path on what I describe as the western side of Honolulu. Their address is 1133 N. Nimitz Highway, Honolulu, HI 96817. From this link, you’ll be able to access MapQuest. Logistically, you might want to work in stop at Nico’s before or after a visit to USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor or exploring the historic downtown area of Honolulu. If I remember correctly, we ate at Nico’s on our way back to Waikiki after watching surfers ride the big waves on the North Shore of Oahu. We stopped here on another occasion after going to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet.

I’ll be updating my Oahu restaurant recommendations to include Nico’s at Pier 38. Considering the price and fresh quality of food, it’s a restaurant definitely worth recommending.

Through writing this blog, we tend to get lots of great recommendations from local Hawaii residents. Sometimes we feel like our Hawaii friends let us in on local secrets. Such was the case with Nico’s Pier 38. We have to thank Erin for recommending that Andy and I give Nico’s a try!

Have you tried Nico’s Pier 38? Did you like it? What menu item would you recommend?

5 comments
  1. Hey Keahl,

    Looks like you’re having a ball. We’re jealous.

    Do you know when the surfs up, so we can go online and watch the waves.?

    We were there in November, no luck. Understand its big in Dec. or Jan.

    Aloha,
    Barb

  2. Nico’s also has a new, bigger location right across their old one so they’re open in the evenings with live music and beer & wine on tap! You’ll have to visit again the next time you’re in town. I’ll meet ya there. 😉

    1. Hi Malia – I’d love to meet ya there anytime!

      We actually got to eat at the new location when were in in Honolulu in February. If I remember correctly, they had only been open at the new location for a week. It’s much bigger and nicer than the old location.

      I didn’t know they offer live music in the evenings now. Sounds great! When we first went to Nico’s, they weren’t even open for dinner.

  3. I haven’t gotten to go in the evening yet either, but our office regularly orders lunch from there even though it’s on the other side of town. Yum! =)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like