The Bishop Museum Café by Highway Inn

The Bishop Museum didn’t have a restaurant on sight for over a year so I was stoked when I found out Highway Inn was moving in! It makes perfect sense for the Highway Inn to be at the Bishop Museum! The perfect way to enhance one’s learning of the Hawaiian culture is by topping it off with good olé Hawaiian food. Of course there’s the Hawaiian Plate which consists of kalua pig, poi, lomi salmon and mac salad. And we can’t forget about poke, shoyu chicken, beef stew, fried noodles and our local favorite snack: spam musubi. Are you drooling yet? Just wait… it gets better! Nothing screams Hawaiian food like sandwiches, grilled vegetable wraps, greek yogurt with granola, and blueberry bagels with cream cheese!
I get it… a lot of tourists come to The Bishop Museum and there’s the whole movement of offering healthier choices to locals and tourists alike, but I was beyond bummed that the menu did not offer more Hawaiian and local dishes. Tourists don’t come to Hawai’i to eat foods that they can eat at home! I certainly wouldn’t go to China to order a freakin’ cheeseburger! So why does the Highway Inn menu have more «American» food on their menu?
Or perhaps the menu is limited because there isn’t a full kitchen and chef? So where is the loco moco, pipikaula, and corned beef? Surely these can be made the Kaka’ako kitchen and brought down in large batches then kept in warmers?
I’ll be back because there isn’t any other food options at the Bishop Museum and I’m often too lazy to pack lunch to go for a family of 5, but I’ll sit there eating my egg salad sandwich wishing it was short ribs instead.

We went to the museum without planning on going to the café. My husband didn’t want to eat the peanut butter sandwich I packed and so he ran in to get something. He came out with a poke bowl and yogurt with granola. The poke bowel was made fresh right in front of him– and it was the best poke I have tasted on the island! Sooo good! Needless to say– I ate most of it. A little pricy but it is good food!

Nice place to grab a bite when you’re at the Bishop Museum. I have a picky girlfriend and she didn’t want to eat here, but after some convincing she gave the Kalua Pork a try, while I went for the Poke. The poke is fantastic, though it’s a hard dish to screw up. The lady ended up loving the pork. What was really great was the pork came with poi, lomi salad, and haupia so you get a nice taster of Hawaiin food. Overall really great, so when you’re visiting the museum be sure to grab a bite here!

Highway Inn is the new café resident at The Bishop Museum! Quality local food is a huge step up from the old museum café which had boring sandwiches and expensive frozen-​fried food.
If you are an Oahu resident, you know that Highway Inn is a local favorite. I love that they offer Hawaiian Plates and Poke bowls here. We ordered both and the servings were large enough for our family of four to share those two dishes. The Kalua pig was very tasty and the poi was Ono! Shoyu ahi poke bowl came with a seaweed salad. They offer other items such as paninis, wraps, beef stew, and sweets.
Items are quite pricey, though that’s to be expected for a museum eatery. I was a little surprised that they don’t have a children’s menu. This is a museum that has children’s attractions, so it would be nice if they offered children’s meals or items (other than spam musubi).
Overall, I’m happy that we have a nice option for food and snacks while visiting The Bishop Museum. If you have Museum membership, be sure to show your membership card as they offer discounts to members. They are only open during lunch so be sure to get your food before they close.