The 5 Best Bakeries on Oʻahu in 2024
From malasadas to poi glazed doughnuts, these Oʻahu bakeries topped the list in our 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards.
Oʻahu has some of best—and most famous—bakeries in the Islands, and narrowing the list down of our favorites is nearly impossible. But thanks to our readers—who seem to love malasadas as much as we do!—we have the Top 5 bakeries on Oʻahu, as voted in our 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards.
1. Leonard’s Bakery
A malasada from Leonard’s Bakery.
Photo: Catherine Toth Fox
This family-run bakery is best known for malasadas—Portuguese fried doughnuts dusted with white sugar—but Leonard’s Bakery, which opened in 1952, offers much more than that. From cream horns to cupcakes topped with the fluffiest buttercream frosting, this is a full-service bakery with a menu that boasts apple turnovers, custard pies, butter rolls, cream cheese coffee cakes and pao doce (Portuguese sweet bread). You can even order a wedding cake! But its malasadas are what have make this Kapahulu bakery famous. They come coated in flavors beyond plain sugar—cinnamon sugar, li hing powder—and filled with everything from chocolate dobash to haupia (coconut pudding).
933 Kapahulu Ave, Honolulu, (808) 737-5591, leonardshawaii.com, @leonardsbakeryhawaii
2. Liliha Bakery
The popular Coco Puff from Liliha Bakery.
Photo: Courtesy of Liliha Bakery
With five locations on Oʻahu, Liliha Bakery, which first opened in 1950 (the oldest on this list), is a local favorite, serving favorites like loco moco, oxtail soup and custard pies. Its signature Coco Puffs—a cream puff filled with chocolate pudding and topped with Chantilly frosting—is one of its best-sellers. Other customer favorites includes poi mochi doughnuts, chocolate dobash cakes and butter rolls paired with neon-red cherry jelly. If you can, dine at the counter in its original location. It’s an experience.
Various locations, lilihabakery.com, @lilihabakery
3. Kamehameha Bakery
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The line that often snakes outside this Kalihi bakery is likely for one thing: poi glazed doughnuts. It’s the top-selling item at the bakery, which opened in 1978. Also popular are its banana bread, huge apple fritters and a taro bun filled with haupia.
1284 Kalani St., Unit C106, Honolulu, (808) 845-5831, kamehamehabakeryhi.net, @kamehamehabakeryhawaii
4. Halekūlani Bakery
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Located across the street from the luxe Halekūlani Hotel in Waikīkī, this bakery—in the Halepuna Waikīkī lobby—features artisan breads, specialty coffees, savory bites and, of course, the famed Halekūlani coconut cake. Grab lunch here, too; the menu boasts soups, salads and sandwiches, many featuring local ingredients.
2233 Helumoa Road, Waikīkī, (808) 921-7272, halekulani.com/dining/halekulani-bakery/
5. Sugarlina Bakeshop
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Founded by two sisters, this bakery in Honolulu creates treats that are (almost) too pretty to eat. With a large selection of cupcakes to choose from, Sugarlina Bakeshop offers classic flavors like red velvet and vanilla while highlighting island flavors like mango, lilikoʻi (passion fruit) and guava. It also features a signature flavor of the month for its cupcakes. Other popular items include its banana pudding, macarons and mini cupcakes.
1200 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 6000130, Honolulu, (808) 200-5169, sugarlinabakeshop.com, @sugarlinabakeshop
See all of the winners of our 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards in our latest issue, which you can buy here. Better yet, subscribe and get HAWAIʻI Magazine delivered to right to your mailbox.
