When bars and cabarets stop pouring, how a dispenser or cabaret license is granted, the liquor cards your staff carry, what the bill and the team cost, and the nights that fill Waikiki, for anyone running a club, lounge or bar in Honolulu.
Honolulu’s night runs on two tracks. Waikiki carries the visitor trade, with rooftop lounges along Kalakaua Avenue and, on Kuhio Avenue behind it, Playbar open every night until 4 a.m. Chinatown is the other track, with underground bars and clubs in its older buildings, busiest on the First Friday art walk. Across from Ala Moana Center, The District runs Friday and Saturday club nights on Kapiolani Boulevard. The year’s peaks spill onto the street, when festivals fill Kalakaua Avenue with block parties and parades, and on New Year’s Eve, when fireworks go up off Waikiki. Most rooms stop pouring at 2 a.m. The ones that keep the dance floor going later hold a different license, and the rules start there.
On Oahu the line between a bar and a nightclub is drawn by the license: a dispenser stops pouring at 2 a.m., and a cabaret keeps its dance floor going later. Hawaii law gives each county its own liquor commission, so on Oahu the City and County of Honolulu’s commission sets the hours, the licenses, the staff cards and the noise limits, and the State sets the tax and the minimum wage. Liquor licenses come from the Liquor Commission of the City and County of Honolulu.
Hours are the same everywhere on Oahu for each class of license. There is no drinking-up time: no liquor may be sold, served or drunk, or left open in a glass, outside the hours. After 2 a.m. a cabaret may serve only where the dancing, the music for dancing or the show can be seen and heard; elsewhere in the room the bar closes at 2 a.m. The Commission can extend or cut hours on a holiday or other occasion, so ask it before you plan a late New Year’s Eve.
Managers must be 21 or older and bartenders 18 or older.
Read the ruleIn a bar or cabaret, everyone who handles, serves or sells liquor where it is sold or drunk must be registered with the Commission before starting work. A registered manager must be in active charge whenever the room is open.
A registration covers one premises and lasts four years, so someone who works in two rooms registers twice.2
A card is valid only at the premises it was registered for.
Read the ruleEach liquor card has a $10 processing fee and a color for the role: blue for on-premises managers and assistant managers (21 or older), yellow for bartenders (18 or older), gray for general staff and hosts (18 or older), and red for bartenders and staff aged 18 to 20.
Blue and yellow cards run four years from the server training, gray cards four years from issue.4
Classes run on Zoom every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 10 a.m., except on holidays, so book a new manager or bartender in before their first shift.
Read the ruleManagers, assistant managers and bartenders take the Commission’s server training and pass an online test before they can get a liquor card. The course covers the liquor laws and rules, intoxicated guests and drunk driving.5
Someone whose only job is taking tickets at the entrance is excluded.
Read the ruleHawaii’s Board of Private Detectives and Guards counts an employee who keeps a post for their employer, a bouncer for example, or patrols the premises, as acting in a guard capacity, subject to the guard training and other requirements.
Ask the Board where your own door team stands before the first night.6
A license not renewed by its expiry date lapses, and the guard may not work, so track renewal dates for the door team.
Read the ruleThe Board licenses guards, guard agencies and guard employees, and a new guard employee application calls for the Board’s initial 8-hour training.7
School IDs, expired documents and check-cashing cards don’t count.
Read the ruleLicensees are responsible for checking the ID of anyone who wants to buy liquor. Accepted ID is a state driver’s license, a military ID, other official government photo ID, or the digital REAL ID-compliant Hawaii driver’s license or state ID, unaltered, undamaged and laminated.
The Commission’s under-21 warning sign must be posted where it can be read from 10 feet.2
Changing category takes a new license.
Read the ruleA bar holds a Class 5 dispenser license in a category, such as a standard bar or a room with live or recorded music and dancing. A nightclub holds a Class 11 cabaret license, issued only for premises that serve food, have a dance floor for guests and offer live or amplified recorded music or professional entertainment.
A standard bar in a commercial district may try music and dancing once, for up to 90 days. A cabaret license can’t be issued in an apartment mixed-use subprecinct of a tourism-based special district.1
The mail goes out at least 45 days before the hearing, with an affidavit of mailing within seven business days.
Read the ruleA new dispenser or cabaret license, or a transfer of one, goes to a public hearing at least 45 days after the first published notice. You mail notice of the hearing to at least two-thirds of the owners, lessees, registered voters and small businesses within 500 feet, three-fourths within 100 feet, and to each condominium and cooperative.1
After a denial, the same applicant can’t apply again for the same premises for a year, and the next applicant there must show a substantial change in circumstances.
Read the ruleIf a majority of the registered voters within 500 feet, or of the owners and lessees of record within 500 feet, file protests, the application must be refused.1
The rule doesn’t apply in areas the county designates for resort purposes, or to hotels.
Read the ruleThe Commission may deny or restrict an on-premises license within 500 feet of a school or a playground used a lot by minors, and must deny it if 40% of the nearby voters or owners protest.1
Draw the dance floor on the floor plan you file; staff check a room’s suitability for live music or entertainment before the license issues.
Read the ruleGuests may dance only on an approved dance floor of at least 150 square feet. No form of lap dancing is allowed, and karaoke needs the Commission’s written permission.2
No all-you-can-drink for a fixed price, no drinking games and no events that depend on drinking.
Read the rulePrice lists must say whether a service charge is included and how much it is, and whether any tax is added. Bottle service is allowed, with the seal broken at service, but you may not store any part of a bottle a guest has bought.2
There is no grace period.
Read the ruleDispenser bars may trade from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. No liquor may be sold, served or drunk outside those hours, and no bottle or glass may be left open and ready to drink.
Call last orders early enough that glasses are empty at 2 a.m.2
Bars away from the dance floor close at 2 a.m., so plan the late service around the floor or the stage.
Read the ruleCabarets may trade from 10 a.m. to 4 a.m., but after 2 a.m. only where the dancing, the music for dancing or the show can be seen and heard. A cabaret must offer at least four hours of dancing or professional entertainment between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m.2
Where zoning is mixed, the lowest limit applies, so a complaint from a Waikiki hotel or apartment neighbor is judged at 50 dBA after 10 p.m.
Read the ruleNo noise from the premises may draw a complaint from a nearby resident or tenant and exceed the limits: 60 dBA by day and 50 dBA after 10 p.m. where apartments, businesses, hotels and resorts are zoned, and 55 and 45 dBA in residential areas. It is measured at the complainant’s property line, for two minutes in any 20, and must be at least 3 decibels above the ambient level.2
Liquor sales on City property need the Commission’s approval, and a permit runs at most six months before you apply again.
Read the ruleThe City’s outdoor dining permit lets a ground-floor business next to City property, such as a sidewalk, put tables there once its own outdoor space is used. The permit fee is $50, with no use from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., 36 inches of sidewalk kept clear, and no live or amplified music.8
The Honolulu Liquor Commission grants every license on Oahu. A new dispenser or cabaret license, or a transfer of one, goes through a public hearing with notice to the neighbors within 500 feet. The steps run in this order.
The Commission won’t accept a new application where the area, counted by state house district, has reached its maximum for that class; transfers are exempt. No license issues without a zoning clearance from the Department of Planning and Permitting, or from HCDA in Kakaako and Kalaeloa.2
File with personal history for owners of 25% or more, a scale floor plan with the licensed area in red and the dance floor marked, the lease or deed, a tax map and a list of owners, lessees and condominiums within 500 feet, and proof of funds for the first six months. Request criminal history, zoning and tax clearances and the registered voters list.23
The hearing notice is published in two consecutive weeks, with the hearing at least 45 days after the first, and mailed to the neighbors within 500 feet at least 45 days ahead. For a new license, the chair of the neighborhood board is told by certified mail. A deposit covers the cost of publishing, and any unused part is refunded.12
Protests should reach the Commission at least three working days before the hearing, and a majority protest from the voters or the owners and lessees within 500 feet means refusal. Otherwise the Commission decides within 90 days of the hearing, or 120 if it extends the time. A request for reconsideration is due within 15 days.12
Issued by the Liquor Commission of the City and County of Honolulu
General information, not legal advice. Laws and license conditions change and vary by venue. Confirm with the Honolulu Liquor Commission before acting on it.
Hawaii has no sales tax. A Honolulu bill can carry the excise tax the venue chooses to pass on and a service charge, and the posted price list has to say whether either is added.
| Minimum spend | $1,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Service charge 20%, added by the venue | $200.00 |
| GET passed on, Oahu 4.712% of the spend | $47.12 |
| Guest pays | $1,247.12 |
| Tip the guest chooses to add | No tax |
Hawaii has no sales tax. The general excise tax is on the business: 4% plus Honolulu’s 0.5% county surcharge, 4.5% in all on Oahu. A venue may pass it on visibly, up to 4.712%, because the tax passed on is itself taxed.9
Passing GET on is a choice, and guests must be told and agree. Charging more than the venue will pay is prohibited, and so is saying there is no tax on a taxable sale.10
In a 2025 release on rideshare companies, the Department of Taxation counts a mandatory tip, such as an automatic gratuity, as gross income. The example passes GET on for the table’s spend only, so ask the Department of Taxation how it treats a bar’s service charge before you print a bill.11
A hotel or restaurant that adds a service charge to food or drink must pay it to staff as tips or clearly tell the guest it covers other costs, the Hawaii Supreme Court has said in quoting the law.12
Rough estimates for tickets and bottle-service tables, from public listings and venues’ own pages.
$15 to $30
Typically about $20
Scarlet charges $20 at the door on its own site, the one regular cover a Honolulu club publishes, and The District lists nights with no cover. With one room to go on, this is set against San Diego’s general estimate of $15 to $40, itself generalized from other US cities. Holiday and headliner nights run higher.
$500 to $1,500
A typical table, about $750
No Honolulu venue publishes a table minimum on its own page; The District, Playbar and Buho take table requests by form, phone or email. This is set between the starting prices published in Miami ($1,000 to $2,000) and on the Las Vegas Strip ($750 to $1,500) and San Diego’s general estimate ($300 to $1,000), before GET and service charge.
Figures are estimates from the sources and samples listed. They change often and may be wrong. Check with the venue or the relevant authority before relying on them. Venues and events named here aren’t affiliated with VenueStack and haven’t endorsed this guide. Price sources: Scarlet Honolulu, The District, Playbar, Buho Cocina y Cantina.
Every bartender and manager on the floor carries a Commission card. Past that, the work is setting pay against the State minimum, a small tip credit and what the metro already pays.
| Role | Range, low to high | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Bartenders$14.43 to $51.11 | $36.22 | |
| Servers$14.00 to $48.89 | $28.96 | |
| Hosts$14.22 to $29.83 | $22.65 | |
| Security guards$16.90 to $27.08 | $20.47 | |
| Cooks$14.55 to $30.07 | $20.41 | |
| Bar and floor leads$18.05 to $37.65 | $23.23 | |
| Managers$20.46 to $59.35 | $41.05 |
Minimum wage $16.00 an hour, since 1 January 202613
Bar: lowest to highest wage reported. Dot: median. 15
Hawaii’s minimum wage is $16.00 an hour since 1 January 2026 and $18.00 from 1 January 2028. The law sets no new rate for 2027, and there is no separate Honolulu minimum.13
In 2026 and 2027 an employer may pay a tipped employee $1.25 below the minimum, $14.75 an hour, only if the employee regularly gets more than $20 a month in tips and wages plus tips come to at least $7.00 above the minimum, $23.00 an hour. From 2028 the credit is $1.50 and the threshold $25.00.14
A service charge on food or drink must go to staff as tips, or the guest must be clearly told it covers other costs. Ask the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations about tip pools and card fees on tips.12
Waikiki’s big nights spill onto the street: festivals fill Kalakaua Avenue with block parties and parades, and the year ends with fireworks off the beach.
The morning after the fireworks night, and a day off for state and federal staff.
A long weekend, so Sunday night trades like a Saturday.
A long weekend.
Parade crowds on Kalakaua Avenue and fireworks over Waikiki on the Sunday night.
Official siteA state holiday; when it falls on a Friday or Monday, state staff get a long weekend.
A state holiday and a three-day weekend for state staff, so Thursday and Friday nights lift.
The City’s celebration runs at Kapiolani Park from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., a daytime crowd at the Diamond Head end of Waikiki.
Official siteA long weekend and the start of the summer season.
A state holiday; a long weekend when it falls on a Friday or Monday.
A Friday night block party closes Kalakaua Avenue right outside Waikiki’s bars, with a parade on the Sunday.
Official siteA big holiday night. On a weekend it is observed on the Friday before or the Monday after.
A state holiday that always falls on a Friday, so Thursday and Friday nights lift.
A long weekend.
The Waikiki Ho’olaule’a turns Kalakaua Avenue into a Saturday evening street party, and the Floral Parade runs there on a Saturday morning.
Official siteClubs from The District to SKY Waikiki run Halloween weekends, with costume contests and parties over two or three nights.
A midweek night or a long weekend, depending on the day.
The night before is a heavy bar night across the US.
Visiting runners fill Waikiki hotels for the weekend, and with a 5 a.m. start their Saturday night ends early.
Official siteA quiet night; Christmas Eve and the week after run like holiday weeks.
Fireworks from a barge off Waikiki at midnight make it the year’s biggest night. Hours stay the same unless the Commission extends them, so ask it early.
Official site
Those street nights land in Waikiki, but the rooms spread wider, to Chinatown’s older buildings and to Downtown.
The main strip of shopping, dining and resorts, where the nightlife and live music carry on after sunset.
Underground bars, clubs and restaurants in older buildings, busiest on the First Friday art walk.
The center for government, business and the arts, with dining and nightlife around every corner.
SKY Waikiki, on the 19th floor above Kalakaua Avenue, is the room guests look up most, ahead of Scarlet, which calls itself a drag palace.
| Rank | Venue | Nights | Music | Published price | Monthly searches |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SKY WaikikiLoungeWaikiki (Kalakaua Avenue) · 2270 Kalakaua Ave, 19th floor2425 | DJs Fri and Sat from 9 p.m.; open to 2 a.m. those nights | Not listed | Not listed | 1,500 |
| 2 | Scarlet HonoluluClub2426 | Fri and Sat, 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. | Drag shows on the Pineapple Stage | Cover $20 at the door; tables sold by event | 600 |
| 3 | PlaybarClubWaikiki (Kuhio Avenue) · 2310 Kuhio Ave2427 | Every night, 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. | Top hits and old school favorites | Not listed | 250 |
| 4 | The DistrictClubAla Moana (Kapiolani Boulevard) · 1349 Kapiolani Blvd2428 | Thu 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Fri and Sat 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. | Not listed | Not listed | 150 |
| 5 | Hula’s Bar & Lei StandClubWaikiki (Kapahulu Avenue) · 134 Kapahulu Ave, 2nd floor2429 | Daily 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.; DJ and dancing to 2 a.m. on Saturdays | Not listed | Not listed | 150 |
| 6 | Buho Cocina y CantinaLoungeWaikiki (Kalakaua Avenue) · 2250 Kalakaua Ave, rooftop2430 | Tue and Thu to Sat, 5 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.; Sun DJ night, 8 p.m. to midnight | Not listed | Not listed | 100 |
Ranked by monthly Google searches in the United States for each venue’s name with Waikiki or Honolulu, as Ahrefs estimates them, so this measures demand, not size. Only rooms that their own site shows open are listed. Venues named here aren’t affiliated with VenueStack and haven’t endorsed this guide. Details come from each venue’s own pages and can change; a venue can ask us to correct or remove its entry.
Waikiki’s trade rests on an island that takes in millions of visitors a year on top of its own residents.
Sell tickets, take table bookings with deposits, run the guest list and check guests in at the door, in one place. Built for clubs, lounges and bars.
Dispenser bars sell from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., and there is no drinking-up time: no liquor may be served, drunk or left open after 2 a.m. Cabarets and hotels may trade to 4 a.m. The Commission can extend or cut hours on a holiday, so ask it about New Year’s Eve.
A club with a Class 11 cabaret license may trade to 4 a.m., but after 2 a.m. only where the dancing or the show can be seen and heard. It must offer at least four hours of dancing or professional entertainment between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m.
$16.00 an hour since 1 January 2026, and $18.00 from 1 January 2028, with no new rate in 2027. In the Urban Honolulu metro area, BLS data for May 2025 puts the median bartender wage at $36.22 an hour.
Apply to the Honolulu Liquor Commission with a $375 filing fee, a floor plan, proof of funds for six months, and zoning, criminal history and tax clearances. After investigation and a preliminary hearing, notice is published and mailed to neighbors within 500 feet at least 45 days before a public hearing. The Commission decides within 90 days of the hearing, or 120 if it extends the time.
A general dispenser license for a standard bar is $1,800 a year and a standard cabaret license $3,000, each plus a percentage of gross liquor sales less a deductible, capped at $25,000 for a dispenser and $30,000 for a cabaret. The filing fee is $375, and each staff liquor card costs $10.
No. Hawaii has a general excise tax on the business, 4.5% on Oahu with the county surcharge. A venue may pass it on to guests visibly, up to 4.712%, and must tell them.
Yes. In a bar or cabaret everyone who handles, serves or sells liquor must be registered with the Commission before starting work. Managers and bartenders must first pass the Commission’s server training and exam, and their cards last four years. Each card has a $10 processing fee.
In 2026 and 2027 an employer may pay a tipped employee $1.25 below the minimum, $14.75 an hour, only if the employee gets more than $20 a month in tips and wages plus tips reach at least $23.00 an hour. From 2028 the credit is $1.50 and the threshold $25.00.
A hotel or restaurant that adds a service charge to food or drink must pay it to staff as tips or clearly tell guests it covers other costs. Price lists must state any service charge and its amount, and whether tax is added.
Yes. If a majority of the registered voters within 500 feet, or of the owners and lessees of record within 500 feet, file protests, the application must be refused. Protests should reach the Commission at least three working days before the hearing.
Noise that draws a complaint from a nearby resident or tenant must stay under the limits measured at their property line: 50 dBA after 10 p.m. where apartments, businesses, hotels and resorts are zoned, and 45 dBA in residential areas. Where zoning is mixed, the lowest limit applies.
Hawaii’s Board of Private Detectives and Guards counts an employee who keeps a post, a bouncer for example, as acting in a guard capacity, subject to the guard training and other requirements, starting with 8 hours of initial training. Someone who only takes tickets is excluded. Ask the Board where your door team stands.
VenueStack publishes this guide for general information. We take care to keep it accurate and list our sources and review dates, but we can’t guarantee it is complete, current or correct, and we aren’t responsible for decisions made on it. Nothing here is legal, tax or financial advice. Prices, minimums and wages are estimates from the samples described and don’t represent any particular venue. Venues, events and organisations named here aren’t affiliated with VenueStack and haven’t endorsed this guide.
Data gathered in October 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
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