This plate-lunch legend draws legions of locals and tourists from Waikiki. Wrapped in rainbow-colored neon, it's a throwback to another era. Construction workers, surfers and gangly teens order down-home favorites such as mixed-plate lunches, loco moco and Portuguese sweet-bread French toast. Everything's fresh, although there are better plate lunch places, such as Kahai Street Kitchen over by the University of Hawaii.
Started by an island-born US army cook after WWII, Rainbow's regulars have included a teenage Barack Obama, who said he lounged away many a day at the shady picnic tables.