Bon Appétit just named this Honolulu hot spot as one of its Best New Restaurants in the U.S. for 2025, placing a Chinatown spot among only twenty restaurants selected nationwide. It is the first Hawaii restaurant to make the list since Lineage earned the honor in 2019, and the first Oahu restaurant to land there in years. The restaurant is Giovedi, which was also named Best New Restaurant in Hawaii in the 2025 Hale ‘Aina Awards.
The recognition arrives roughly eighteen months after Chef Bao Tran and his wife, Jennifer Akiyoshi, opened Giovedi’s permanent home on Hotel Street, right next to Fête. Before that, the restaurant existed as a pop-up, with a following among diners who understood what Tran was doing with Italian technique filtered through Asian flavors. The permanent location opened in May 2024, and the national attention followed faster than most Hawaii restaurants ever experienced.
We visited on a crowded Saturday evening and were disappointed to be seated in the atrium behind the restaurant, which is also behind Fete and other businesses. The atrium is also used by patrons of Fete who walk through to use the restroom. It felt removed from Giovedi, even though you are only steps from it…