Most “view restaurants” make you pay for the glass. The Signature Prime Steak & Seafood, on the 36th floor of the Ala Moana Hotel, does the opposite for two hours a night: a happy hour where the steak items are genuinely half price, served in a lounge that looks out over most of Honolulu.
We are homebodies on vacation — our default evening is a drink in the room. This was one of the few places that pulled us out, because it stacks three things we care about: a real discount, no reservation game, and a sunset view you do not have to hike for. Prices have climbed and we have not been back lately, but the happy hour is still built the same way.
The current deal (official menu, checked September 2026)
| When | Nightly, 4:30 – 6:30 pm (drink specials run to 7:00 pm) |
| Where | Lounge seating only, walk-in only |
| Headline | Marked items at 50% off; most other appetizers discounted |
| Beer | All six on the list $6.95 (from $9.50) |
We pulled these from the restaurant’s official happy hour menu and website on September 26, 2026. Menus change — the official page always wins.
The half-price list is the reason to come
These are the items marked 50% off on the current menu, with the happy hour price:
- Steak sliders — $9.50 (from $19.00)
- Prime steak tips with mushrooms and onions — $11.00 (from $21.95)
- Ultimate cheeseburger — $12.00 (from $24.00)
- Ahi tartare — $11.95 (from $23.95)
- Spicy negi toro — $12.95 (from $25.95)
- Seafood trio (oyster, jumbo shrimp, ahi sashimi) — $12.00 (from $23.95)
- Steak tartare — $11.95 (from $23.95)
- Prime truffle meatballs — $11.00 (from $21.95)
- Smoked salmon spread — $10.95 (from $21.95)
- Avocado crostini — $10.95 (from $21.95)
Beyond the half-price list, most of the bar menu takes a smaller cut: the Signature loco moco runs $15.95 (from $19.95), sizzling steak on a hot stone $19.95, Buffalo jumbo shrimp $17.95, half a dozen oysters $22.95. Even a glass of Veuve Clicquot drops from $30 to $18.50, if that is your idea of a pupu.
What it is like in the lounge
The elevator opens on the 36th floor, and the room is ringed with windows looking across Ala Moana toward the water and back over the city — the kind of view that usually comes bundled with a resort-priced cocktail list.
Our orders were consistent: a cold beer each — the list now runs Asahi Super Dry, Stella Artois, Michelob Ultra, Kona’s Gold Cliff IPA and Light Blonde Ale, and Estrella Jalisco, all $6.95 — plus whatever steak-shaped thing the menu was doing best that year. The photos here are from June 2018.
The loco moco is the sleeper: a proper steakhouse patty, rich gravy, very Hawaii, and satisfying enough to count as dinner.
Back then we were devoted to the happy hour “pupu steak” — a real prime ribeye cooked a clean medium, $25 in 2018. It is not on the current list; the prime steak tips and the hot-stone steak are the closest thing now, so consider the photo below mood, not menu.
So — worth the trip from Waikiki?
Honest answer: yes, if you treat it as the evening’s main event and go at opening.
- It is a short trolley or bus ride from Waikiki, right next to Ala Moana Center. Pair it with a shopping run and the trip costs you nothing extra.
- The lounge is walk-in only, so arrive at 4:30 sharp — you get the golden-hour view and the full two-hour food window.
- Food specials end at 6:30 pm. This is an early-evening play, which suits us fine: dinner-grade food, sunset view, and you are back in Waikiki before 8.
One honest caveat: like everywhere in Honolulu, prices have climbed — our 2018 bill here came to about $93 with tax, and that is part of why we have not been back lately. But as steakhouse happy hours go, a genuinely half-price list with this view is still one of the better deals on the island.
Details
- Name: The Signature Prime Steak & Seafood
- Address: Ala Moana Hotel 36F, 410 Atkinson Dr, Honolulu, HI 96814
- Hours: nightly 4:30 – 10:00 pm; happy hour food 4:30 – 6:30 pm, drink specials to 7:00 pm (as checked September 2026)
- Official site: signatureprimesteak.com
We also publish a Japanese-language version of this guide: シグネチャー プライムステーキのハッピーアワー.
