Empty Bowl

Empty Bowl is an annual charity event for Hawaii Meals on Wheels. Their mission is to end hunger in Hawaii. With the help of the Hawaii Potter’s Guild, every year 5,000 bowls are made by high school students and members of the guild. 26 restaurants also participate in the collaborative event by providing 26 different soups for donors to choose from. At $ 20 presale/​$ 25 door, participants can choose a bowl, select 1 soup of their choice and help in the effort to combat hunger.
There is only one line to get into the event, so show up early! I got there 5 minutes before 6pm (opening time) and the line had already snaked around the street running parallel to the entrance. Fortunately, the line moves and I was inside within 30 – 40 minutes of waiting.
Once inside, there are individual lines for the rows of bowls on display. There is a huge selection and volunteers frequently replenish the supply. No bowl is alike and each comes in its own unique shape, color and size.
When you’ve chosen a bowl, you «cash out» and have your bowl wrapped for you. Then you can enter the soup room where there are many different types of soups to choose from.
Overall, a great concept that engages the community, brings together local organizations and supports Hawaii’s Meals on Wheels. The crowds can be overwhelming and the venue this year didn’t have much space to sit down (I ended up driving home to eat my soup), but it just goes to show how popular and fun this event is. I’m so happy my area has such a wonderful event and I am looking forward to participating again next year!

The mission of Empty Bowl Hawai’i is wonderful. Everyone pays $ 20 in advance or $ 25 at the door to help Hawaii Meals on Wheels provide meals for elders and disable people. In return for our «donations,» people will able to choose a handcrafted ceramic bowl and a bowl of soup from one of the many well-​known restaurants, including Alan Wongs Pineapple Room, Café Kaila, Mariposa, and Nico’s Pier 38.
I’m not sure how the past events were, but this year’s Empty Bowl was incredibly successful. A lot of people were there, the organization offered a great amount of stunning and intricate bowls, and the soups tasted amazing! The only downside was the long wait to enter into the warehouse. Other than that, I would definitely go again!

Love the concept but not what I thought it would be. I thought we would be able to taste the soups not just pick one per bowl. If this is supposed to be a «simple meal» as touted, the Meals on Wheels recipient would still be hungry. The soup I picked was hardly a «meal» and we ended up going to Highway inn for dinner down the street. I think they should have made ‘heartier” soups to drive home the point that they really are feeding people… not leaving them hungry. I also think they would make more money if they had the option to purchase «just soup» tickets so we could go around and tasted as many as we liked. Overall, the five of us were disappointed and will not be going back the next time it’s on.
Lines were too long. I think a better idea would be to get your soup first then casually peruse the bowl selection. If you do go next time, grab and hold onto the bowl you might even think you like cuz some guy just grabbed one that I had just put down to pick up another to look at. :(
Also didn’t like the fact that Styrofoam bowls were used.

Ok, so the concept of this fundraiser street fair style dinner is great! What better than to have pottery bowls donated along with soup and for $ 20 you get to pick your own pottery bowl and soup (you can buy as many as you want), and all the proceeds go to charity. Plus there is live music all night. I love the idea.
Apparently everyone on the island loved it too and there were thousands lined up around the block and down the streets of Kaka’ako. Here is why they are getting 4 stars instead of five: they need to better manage the event and maybe even see about getting permits to conduct it as a street fair like Eat the Street or Night Market.
There weren’t many line attendants, so people were cutting the line left and right. There was hardly a police presence to manage the crowd and people were standing in the street in line, but the streets were still open to traffic. There were no signs directing traffic to parking. Overall it was very disorganized outside the warehouse. Inside the warehouse the pottery picking was okay and the check out lines were a bit better.
I waited 45 minutes outside before getting in the warehouse to pick my bowls and I got there right at 6 pm when the event started. I have two great soups (about 7:30pm), but by the time my friends got through the lines (8:30pm) half of the soup vendors had left. Plus they had a table for wine and beer (extra $$) and water and soda (extra $$), which I should have figured, but would have been nice to know ahead of time so I could bring more cash.
I like that you can pre-​pay for your tickets, but the lady on the phone told me there would be a separate line for the pre-​paid tickets, so you can get in faster, which was NOT the case. I think this is a wonderful event that is getting the attention and response it deserves, but they should expand to meet the crowds. Can’t wait for Empty Cup and Empty Plate.

So the last time they had this event was in 2013 in the Sears parking lot at Ala Moana. I’m glad they brought this event back because it’s for a good cause and a lot of fun.
So you could have bought presale tickets on the website or by calling Empty Bowl Hawaii for $ 20 each. You could also purchase tickets at the actual event, but it was a little more expensive.
This year the event took place at Kakaako Agora which I think was a little small for the event but it worked better than I thought it would have.
There were about 5000 bowls to choose from made by high school students as well as the Hawaii Potter’s Guild. Each bowl is unique. I made sure that I got there early and was one of the first people in line because I know how indecisive I can be and I wanted to be able to peruse the bowls without a huge crowd. There were big ones and small ones in different shapes and colors. It took me about a half an hour to choose among the 5000 bowls and even then I decide to buy another ticket for $ 25 since I couldn’t decide between two bowls.
I chose two bigger bowls… one was light and shimmery while the other was heavier and textured.
Next was choosing the soup among 26 different restaurants that participated. I decided to go with the gumbo from Hula Grill Waikiki and the hearty vegetable and grains from Town restaurant. I really enjoyed the gumbo. The gumbo was a Hawaiian Style Gumbo with Kauai shrimp, Kukui Sausage Company Andouille Sausage, Ho Farms okra and Hau’ula tomatoes. It was hearty and not too spicy.
The event is for a great cause… the Meals on Wheels Program. These two bowls are gray new additions to my collection.

Great cause & a great way to support it! We got three lovely ceramic bowls and three delicious soups: Roasted Veggie & Grains from town, Corn Chowder from Mariposa, and Baked Potato from JJ Bistro… happy tummies and will be happy again tomorrow when I fill my Empty Bowl with cereal :)

Empty Bowl is an every other year fundraiser put on by the Hawaii Potter’s Guild for Meals on Wheels. For $ 20 you get a handcrafted ceramic bowl and a bowl of soup from one of 26 participating restaurants.
Come early and be ready to stand in line, which can be a couple blocks long, but does move. It’s for a good cause so be patient, relax and have fun.