It seems most O'ahu residents make their dinner reservations for 6:30 sharp — in and out and at home in time to watch the 9 o'clock news. But more and more people find that a snooze. They prowl Honolulu and are hungry for a civilized bite 'round midnight. So we asked readers where they like to go for after-restaurant-hours eating.

The responses ranged from the tried and true to a Chinatown newcomer and a place many might not even know serves food.

BAR 35

35 N. Hotel St., between Nu'uanu Avenue and Smith Street, 537-3535

Pizza served: 5-9 p.m. Mondays to Wednesdays, 5 p.m.-midnight Thursdays and Fridays, 7 p.m.1 a.m. Saturdays

Price for one pizza: $9-$11

Pizza, that standby post-partying snack, takes on new dimension at Bar 35, a top pick of three readers.

Guido Carlo Pigliasco writes: "Tuscan chef Francesco Valentini has taken a contemporary approach to Italian pizza, reshaping it, reflavoring and renaming it in a tongue-in-cheek parlance, successfully blending it with the Hawaiian melting pot. His Bombay Decadence, Cantonese Kiss and Italian Perdition — to name a few — speak (and taste) the language of spices, style and subversion. One more comment: Bar 35 offers an outstanding beer selection. In Italy, pizza goes hand in hand with beer, not wine, (in spite of) what people think due to some local spurious representations of the Italian cuisine."

Bar 35 is also the "favorite late- evening watering hole in the new, resurgent Hotel Street" of real-estate agent Tom Kenney, who had his first drink in Chinatown at the Pantheon Bar on Smith Street in 1964.

"Where else can you get a Rasputin beer for four bucks, and superb selection of other hard-to-find beers?" he writes. "For an excellent late-night pupu, there is that delightful selection of "fusion pizza" by chef Valentini. Pizzas are cooked right on the premises and are just right in weight and crispness. You can actually find chef Valentini there many nights, cooking up a storm.

"The club's atmosphere can be lively, without being too rambunctious. Perhaps clients are little young for an old geezer like me, but that's all right — I'm there for beer and pizza."

WAILANA COFFEE SHOP

1860 Ala Moana at 'Ena Road, 955-1764

Open 24 hours

Entrees: $9-$12. Cheeseburger: $5.60

There aren't many 24-hour spots in Honolulu, and after an all-night binge at the Wave, there's only one place to go. It's so well-known, it's in all the guidebooks, a lead that brought on this reminiscence from Kit Cameron and Peter Vaccaro.

"Our first meal in Honolulu was at 3 a.m. We flew in on Garuda Airlines to spend four days here before heading to Bali. Rather than get a hotel for the remainder of the night before we could check in, we decided to eat early breakfast. Our Lonely Planet guide recommended Wailana Coffee Shop. While the place itself was pretty much like a similar venue on the Mainland — bustling, cheerful wait staff, basic eggs and bacon and an overabundance of bright lights and shiny leatherette — we noticed some crucial differences. The soft Island voices around us told us we weren't in California anymore. The hula-maiden statues across the street at the Hilton gradually revealing themselves in the dawn light gave us further clues. And then the sun burst forth (over my fifth cup of coffee, as I remember) and we gaped at the swaying palms of Fort DeRussy. We fell in love with Honolulu, right there in the Wailana Coffee Shop. And, while we have eaten many memorable meals here, that one will always remain special in our hearts."

PIPELINE CAFE

805 Pohukaina St. at Ko'ula Street, 598-1999

Pupu served: 4 p.m.-4 a.m. Mondays-Saturdays

Pupu: $1.25-$12. Plates: $5.75-$10. Cheeseburger: $5.50

Restaurant professionals, hungry after a long night's work, are always good barometers for wee-hours food. Who knew one of our best concert venues is the place for 3 a.m. grinds?

According to R. Abrams, "a good place to grab 'ono late-night food is Pipeline Cafe. A lot of us restaurant people go there, especially on off-club nights like Monday, Wednesday and Thursday to eat, drink, play darts or pool. There is a lot of parking on those nights also. I particularly like their blackened 'ahi (the best around), New York steak pupu style and their spicy chicken wings."

But for Abrams, the icing on the cake is the "beautiful bartender, Lisa, on Monday and Thursday nights."