Should I pre-book restaurants before we leave home?

9 sleeps and counting until we leave for our child-free vacation and my 40th b%26#39;day present!

8 nights of blissfully uninterrupted dinners and cocktails....have been researching madly, and have a short-list of restaurants from various reviews that I thought would be nice.

Should any be booked in the week before we go?

My short-list includes Dukes, Hula Grill, House Without a Key, Roy%26#39;s and Michel%26#39;s.

Plus open to further suggestions of romantic venues for a lovely dinner ( whilst our beautiful 4 kids are at home in Oz with Grandma...)

Should I pre-book restaurants before we leave home?

Restaurant reservations cost nothing. If you know which one and when then by all means make a reservation as far ahead as you can.

Should I pre-book restaurants before we leave home?

lisa31jane,

There is really no need to do so until you get there. I would wait, there are so many restaurants, you may find places you like better.

I%26#39;d book Roy%26#39;s if it is one of the first nights, just in case.

Maybe not Roys but all the others have rail seating, and you will not get a rail seat if you have no reservation. Make it a week early and request the oceanfront table. Dukes, Hula Grill, House and Michels have fabulous views so you want the best table possible.

Book them all in advance. Now. Then you can stop worrying. Remember to write down the dates and times and phone numbers to bring with you. If you need to change something, no biggie.

Booking is advance is smart. You never know when large groups come in, there is a conference in town, a wedding reception (birthday, Bar Mitzvah, etc.) that will crowd out a restaurant.

FYI -- take a look at House Without a Key on-line. They do not have a full dinner menu. Lots of pupus. Loved the scallops! Just so you know.

I%26#39;ve never made early dinner reservations in all the years we%26#39;ve been to Hawaii, but maybe we have just been lucky. Most of your choices don%26#39;t have a big problem with seating. I%26#39;m not sure what a full dinner menu is; however, House Without a Key does offer Spaghetti, Seafood Pasta, Catch of the Day and Prime Rib besides the appetizers. A really romantic venue for a lovely dinner is La Mer at Halekulani.

Book ahead. Can always change if you want to, but it%26#39;s nice to have a good seat reserved and not have to stand in line. I think it%26#39;s worth doing for the really popular places like Duke%26#39;s and high end places.

Although you%26#39;ll find diminished tourism is freeing up seats everywhere.

Booking ahead is never a bad idea, especially if you want special seating, but high end restaurants in HNL look like they are hurting right now and I can%26#39;t imaging hard to get into too many places (except Cheesecake Factory %26amp; PF Chang%26#39;s, go figure).

';Getting in'; and getting in at the exact time you want with the best table are different things. Reservations never hurt.

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