Ward Centers

The Ward Centers is a collection of shopping, dining and entertainment stores in Honolulu. Located just west of the Ala Moana Shopping Mall and Waikiki, the Ward Centers can easily be reached by taxi, bus, trolley or on foot - for the ambitious people it is 3 miles away from Waikiki. Ward Centers can be broken down into 4 main areas: Ward Centre, Ward Warehouse, Ward Entertainment Center and Ward Gateway Center.

The Ward Centre is where you can find covered parking and a parking valet. When I go to the Ward Centers for dinner, I always valet park. It's only $5 and it saves you a lot of hassles because parking can be a chore on weekends. The stores in the Ward Centre are more of an upscale or boutique type. Ryan's Steakhouse is in this section and is a great place for dinner. There are also a couple of sushi restaurants, a hamburger place and a couple of cafes. If you're looking for University of Hawaii souvenirs, you can find them at the Rainbotique. (The name of the U of Hawaii sports team is the Rainbow Warriors).

Next is the Ward Warehouse. Here you will find many boutiques and unique stores. If you're looking for good quality Hawaiian souvenirs, there are a couple of very good stores here: Nohea Gallery and Na Mea Hawaii. Want some girly-girl clothes? How about a pair of fancy flip-flops? (in Hawaii they are called slippers). Looking for a flag? Find them all here at Ward Warehouse. There is a small outdoor food court serving up sushi, Hawaiian food, Korean food, etc... On the second floor are two more restaurants: the Spaghetti Factory and Kincaids.

Across the street from Ward Warehouse is the Ward Gateway Center. Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Wahoo Fish Tacos, Sports Authority and Marukai Market Place are the main stores here.

The last section is the Ward Entertainment Center. There are a couple of clothing stores but the main attractions are the theaters and restaurants. The Ward Theaters has 16 movie screens. However, you should have dinner before the movie. Problem solved. Eat at the Big City Diner if you want some homestyle food. In the mood for Italian food? Go to Buca di Beppo and enjoy some family style servings of pasta. In a hurry? Panda Express has fast food Chinese. Let's not forget Dave and Busters. It's a bar that has food and games.

With everything that Ward Centers has to offer, you can see why it is a popular place - especially on the weekend. Here's a link to the Ward Centers website:

www.wardcenters.com