Overview
Nanding’s Bakery is a long-running Filipino bakery on Gulick Avenue in Kalihi, with a second Honolulu location elsewhere on Oʻahu. For travelers, the main draw is straightforward: very early hours, low prices, and a strong reputation for Filipino-style breads and pastries that people often buy for breakfast, snacks, or takeout. The Google Places record for this location is still operational and consistent with the current public-facing address and phone number. (nandings-bakery.edan.io)
What makes it worth noticing is not a polished café experience but a neighborhood bakery that has become part of Honolulu’s everyday food culture. It is especially relevant for visitors who want an easy, inexpensive local stop rather than a destination meal. The strongest identity signals point to the Kalihi shop at 918 Gulick Ave #1, Honolulu, HI 96819, with no website listed in the Google record. (honolulumagazine.com)
Cuisine & Specialties
The bakery’s lane is Filipino baked goods and sweet breads, especially Spanish rolls, ube pastries, ensaymada, pandesal, and assorted filled buns and pockets. The best-supported pattern across official/primary and review-style sources is that people come here for warm, soft, inexpensive breads and a broad tray of snackable pastries rather than for full meals. (honolulumagazine.com)
- Overall menu style: Filipino bakery with sweet breads, pastries, rolls, and some savory bread items; more grab-and-go than sit-down dining. (postcard.inc)
- Notable specialties: Spanish rolls; ube Spanish rolls / ube pastries; ensaymada; pan de sal; balintawak; fruit pockets such as mango or apple; sausage rolls and other savory rolls appear repeatedly in traveler reports. (honolulumagazine.com)
- Traveler spend expectation: Very budget-friendly. The Google price level is the lowest tier, and multiple reviews describe the bakery as inexpensive, including examples of a small bag of pastries costing only a few dollars. (honolulumagazine.com)
- Dietary usefulness / limitations: Useful if you want Filipino breads and pastries, but it is not strongly supported as a place with broad vegetarian/vegan/gluten-free accommodation. The food is bread- and pastry-forward, so it is not ideal for travelers seeking a protein-heavy breakfast unless they choose the savory rolls. (postcard.inc)
Notable Features & Ambiance
This is a compact neighborhood bakery rather than a linger-over-coffee destination. The most consistent impression from traveler accounts is that it’s a small, busy, no-frills stop where the appeal is the food itself, especially if you arrive early enough for fresh items. (honolulumagazine.com)
- Service model and seating style: Primarily counter service and takeout; several reviews describe it as takeout-only or note no meaningful dine-in setup, though some directory sources mention dine-in broadly. The stronger firsthand pattern is grab-and-go. (postcard.inc)
- Atmosphere and decor: Functional, modest, and not visually showy. Reviewers repeatedly frame it as a local bakery that “doesn’t scream” from the outside, but that people value for the bread case and freshness. (postcard.inc)
- Useful practical features: Very early opening hours are a major advantage; the shop is also close to central Honolulu travel corridors and is often treated as a breakfast or pre-work stop. One travel source notes limited card minimums, and parking can be tight. (honolulumagazine.com)
- Best fit: Breakfast, snack runs, pastry boxes for the road, or a quick local-food stop. It also fits travelers who enjoy cultural food spots with strong neighborhood identity. (honolulumagazine.com)
- Weaker fit: People looking for a café atmosphere, full-service dining, extensive seating, or a quiet sit-down brunch are likely to be disappointed. Freshness timing matters, so late arrivals may have fewer top items left. (postcard.inc)
History & Background
Nanding’s Bakery was founded in 2001 by Fernando Paez, who moved to Honolulu from the Philippines and initially sold baked goods to Filipino hotel workers at bus stops before opening a legal bakery under his nickname, “Nanding.” That origin story is central to the bakery’s identity and helps explain why it reads as a deeply local Filipino institution rather than a generic bakery chain. (honolulumagazine.com)
Review Sentiment Snapshot
What People Love
The recurring praise is very consistent: Spanish rolls, ube pastries, and other Filipino breads are often described as fresh, soft, buttery, and cheap for the quality. Many reviewers specifically mention buying boxes of rolls, coming back for a second visit, or treating it as a must-stop breakfast bakery. The strongest positive pattern is freshness, especially early in the day. (postcard.inc)
Common Gripes
The main complaints are also fairly consistent, though not overwhelming: some items are better when fresh, later-day stock can be sold out or less soft, service can feel brisk or impersonal, and a few reviewers mention inaccurate closing times or arriving to find the shop closed earlier than expected. These are better understood as recurring operational cautions than as major quality problems. (postcard.inc)
Practical Visitor Tips
- Best to go early in the morning if you want the softest, freshest rolls and the widest selection. (honolulumagazine.com)
- The published hours on current sources are daily, 4:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; several traveler comments suggest that closing-time behavior may not always match the listed hours, so don’t cut it too close. (honolulumagazine.com)
- Expect a quick counter-service stop rather than a leisurely meal. (postcard.inc)
- Parking may be limited at the Gulick Avenue location, so a short, targeted visit is easier than a casual browse. (mapquest.com)
- If you want the signature items, ask for Spanish rolls, ube pastries, ensaymada, and pan de sal rather than assuming the whole pastry case is equally strong. (honolulumagazine.com)
- If you pay by card, one review reports a minimum purchase requirement, so cash can be useful. That detail is from traveler feedback, not official confirmation. (postcard.inc)
Verification Notes
- Official/current identity anchor: Nanding’s Bakery, 918 Gulick Ave #1, Honolulu, HI 96819, USA; (808) 841-4731. Google Places and secondary directory sources agree on the Gulick Avenue location and phone number. (nandings-bakery.edan.io)
- The Google record shows Operational status and no website. (honolulumagazine.com)
- There is a second Nanding’s Bakery location on Martha Street, so identity drift is a real possibility if a source mixes branches; this report is for the Gulick Avenue shop only. (honolulumagazine.com)
Sources
- Google Places / provided place details —
https://maps.google.com/?cid=9924233097044518131— retrieved 2026-04-02. Most useful for the baseline identity anchor: official name, address, phone, hours, rating, price level, operational status, and category. - Honolulu Magazine, “Where Time Stands Still: Nanding’s Bakery” —
https://www.honolulumagazine.com/nandings-bakery/— retrieved 2026-04-02 via web crawl. Most useful for founder history, origin story, and the core specialty lineup, including Spanish rolls, ensaymada, balintawak, and pan de sal. - Postcard aggregation of Yelp/other traveler reviews for Nanding’s Bakery —
https://www.postcard.inc/places/nandings-bakery-urban-honolulu-Ec9D-eHFDi4— retrieved 2026-04-02 via web crawl. Most useful for recurring traveler sentiment, freshness timing, service style, card minimum mention, and common praise/complaints. - MapQuest listing for 918 Gulick Ave —
https://www.mapquest.com/us/hawaii/nandings-bakery-12325610— retrieved 2026-04-02 via web crawl. Most useful for confirming the Gulick Avenue branch, recent review snippets, and practical location notes. Some descriptive details are directory-generated and should be treated as secondary. - Aloha Street shop listing —
https://www.aloha-street.com/shop/422983/— retrieved 2026-04-02 via web crawl. Most useful for confirming hours, phone, and the existence of the Gulick Avenue and Martha Street branches; a helpful cross-check on operating schedule.
