Tourist restaurants sell the view. Local spots sell the food, because the regulars aren't coming back for scenery.
If a menu has photos of every dish, a gift shop attached, and a hostess stand out front, that's usually a sign you're paying for the experience more than the meal. Nothing wrong with that once in a while. Just don't mistake it for how people actually eat here.
The real plate lunch spots are usually small, sometimes just a window and a few picnic tables, cash preferred, line out the door by 11:30. Two scoops rice, one scoop mac salad, and whatever the protein special is that day — kalua pork, mahi, teriyaki chicken. No menu you need to photograph.
Ask a local where they'd actually take their own family on a random Tuesday. That question filters out every tourist trap without you having to guess.