Chinatown Cultural Plaza

If you read our review about Legends Restaurant you'll know how we came upon finding the Chinatown Cultural Plaza in Honolulu. Besides having a number of locally owned restaurants, the Plaza is a great place to visit if you are looking for a cultural experience in Honolulu. Located in the heart of Chinatown, it is home to a variety of restaurants (offering different cuisines- not just Chinese), souvenir shops, and other businesses which are staples for local people. The plaza is also home to a number of cultural events, such as festivals and art exhibitions and a small temple within easy walking distance nearby. A parking garage is offered. The service, the selection of all the stores and the value of the items you can find in this place is incredible If you're in Chinatown definitely worth adding to your itinerary.

Chinatown Cultural Plaza was like a deserted area with many businesses that closed due to the hard times every business is facing to stay open.There was one restaurant that was open and it was empty after looking over the menu my wife wasn't interested in eating any of the items on the menu.So we didn't have the chance of trying their dishes.Hope the menu helps others who is looking for a Taiwan restaurant, you can find it at the Chinese Cultural Plaza.

I've always referred to the Chinatown Cultural Plaza as the Chinese Cultural Plaza. Well, now that I'm living next door, I have to be more conscious of the name. From now on it we'll be the China Town Cultural Plaza. This is the venue for the major Chinese cultural events. In the courtyard, there is a beautiful stage for hosting these events. Many eateries and small shops. Also, an open market. Time for me to explore. Enjoy

The Chinese Cultural Plaza located in Honolulu. Known for its unique blend of restaurants and various cultural shops with a splash of jewelry stores and travel agencies. They hold seasonal events for the Asian Community. The largest is the Chinese New Year celebrations that last for a couple of weeks. Most recently they've added a Fall Festival Event. A family event that had fun and games for the keiki as well as food and souvenir booths. There was live entertainment on stage, Martial Arts demonstrations and a Dance and Drumming presentation. Awesome stuff from the games to the food and entertainment.

This almost five decades cultural destination has many feeling nostalgic...Not me never if ever been here during my childhood...rarely stepped into Chinatown if ever well fast forward to 2023, I wasn't able to enjoy the Lunar New Year events held here due to work schedule but with my Yelp besties have found myself slowly getting to know this beauty.I've fortunately been to Jolene's a few time with a friend but honestly had no idea what other gems they have here. Thanks to Nadine C to welcome Yelp besties from San Diego not my first dim sum experience but it just felt so authentic at Fook Lam was amazing and since I was clueless where it was I came early to browse only to have found the Dragon Boat and the stunning Moongate Stage. There's so many tenants here from open market, jewelry, travel services, and of course countless restaurants and eateries, including another recent visit to Kukui Cafe.I have yet to scratch the surface of what makes this area the place to be though parking yes in comparison to the municipal is a lot more for it's convenience, if you're lucky there are street parking available most time a short walk is the trade-off as it seems unlike the past they no longer validate parking as far the places that I've been to, come explore and take in all it's beauty!Thank you!

1-12-23 When I was growing up we seemed to visit here more often to attend special celebration parties. Over the years restaurants have come and gone.In the 70s, geez half a century ago jade was very popular- bangles and pendants predominantly. But earrings, and rings were popular too. Plus 24k gold jewelry. I used to love window shop as well as purchase here and Ming's and another downtown business.Reading the Yelp reviews and recommendations by Yelp elites we've come a few times during the pandemic to have dim sum at Fook Lam. I spotted Sandy's too.It was very quiet and empty in the center courtyard. Lots of action by the River with men socializing playing games and standing around.Bound to get busier with Chinese New Year.Parking is plentiful and I still love to look into well lit jewelry shop windows with their exquisite display of jade, 24kvjewelry and even Hawaiian looking gold jewelry.

I remember visiting here often in my younger years to accompany my grandmother or on my own to pick up baked char siu bao, steamed char siu bao, and black sugar bao at Royal Kitchen. Dining at Empress Restaurant for weddings and birthday celebrations. Going to dim sum at Legend during weekends with relatives. Buying some jin dui/jian dui and nian gao. My favorite is watching lion dances at Moongate Stage, in the crowd and feeding them money. We bought a few items for relatives and our home, enjoyed some handmade duck noodles from Youpo, jai and egg rolls from Bo's Kitchen, live entertainment from kung fu to lion dances to ring in longevity, peace and prosperity. Happy to see festivities live and full swing in 2023! Be vigilant of your surroundings as there are some questionable people that roam or hang around this area.

Sometimes a place can be hidden right in front of you. We've been to businesses in this complex with street entrances recently, but I never had a need to walk behind them. On a recent visit the pup and I explored to get some sniffing time waiting for food to be prepared. I was hit with a sudden rush of nostalgia; I know I had been here on a family vacation over 15 years ago. The plaza is essentially an open-air mall; it's two stories of shops and offices around a central courtyard with two stages. It's kept very clean on the inside (not as much around the statues along the canal. As of this writing it's certainly a little lacking from over a year of reduced tourism - there are a lot of empty shops some with thank you messages when they closed after years of business. It's comfortable and pleasant to walk around. If you're visiting and exploring Chinatown, it's worth coming over here for an ice cream and respite from the sun. They also have restrooms that any business can give you a key for. Parking is in a shared garage attached to the complex.There are lots of great food choices to explore here, it's worth a visit!

Better part of Chinatown, events are held here and a couple of the nicer restaurants are in here. Easy access from Waikiki by bus, and maybe if you're less adventurous, this might feel safer than walking through the rest of Chinatown.

My family and I have been coming and going to this Chinatown Cultural Plaza since it was designed and built in 1974. This cultural plaza has been and still is a center and point of action of Honolulu's Chinese community. A well-organized and popular event that is held here is the celebration of the Chinese Lunar New Year. For 2 days, multiple vendors from Chinatown as well as all of the tenants "open their doors" to the festivities such as the Chinese Lion Dance, Chinese cooking demonstrations and food stalls, lunar new year souvenirs and apparel stalls and live entertainment. In addition, Chinese artwork, calligraphy demonstrations and music stalls are scattered about the plaza. During the course of the year, we're usually here to dine at some our favorite Chinese restaurants such as Lee Ho Fook, Legend Seafood, Taipan, Won Kee and Fook Lam. Over the years, we've seen many of the original tenants leave only to be replaced by some smaller business or just remain vacant. Um, does anyone remember Doong Kong Lau (Hakka), Fat Siu Lau Chop Suey, Empress or Forum restaurants?There have been a couple of high-end Chinese jewelry shops in this plaza but I think only 1 remains. I can't say that I've ever done business at any of these shops but every so often, I've ogled the 24K bangles as I pass by.I've shopped in the Chinese stationery shop for Chinese Good Luck envelopes (lai see-Cantonese or hongbao-Mandarin) and even got some Chinese opera and movie Blu-Ray discs for my father before he passed away. The shop owners are pretty friendly but understand that English isn't their primary or first language so there might be a bit of language barrier.BACKGROUND:Honolulu's Chinatown Cultural Plaza was designed and built with combined efforts of six societies and organizations to the Chinese Community. Chee Kung Tong, Kuo Min Tang, Leong Doo, Lung Doo, Dr. Sun Yat-sen School and Mun Lun School shared a vision to perpetuate the Chinese culture and tradition in the community, and to provide a gathering place where people of all cultures and heritage can enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of Chinatown.How quickly the years have gone by as you can see the environmental wear and tear and perhaps inexpensive construction materials and workmanship. We wish that the property managers would stress better maintenance as there are many good casual dining spots here and Chinese cultural events that many residents and vIsitors come to enjoy here.