Not sure -- did not fly AA on the return.

But honestly you might want to consider the hard product (eg seats) as the catering on any carrier to HNL will be mediocre at best, especially if you're willing to pick up something before hand to carry with you.

FWIW I'd prefer AA from ORD (over UA) due to the better seat and just buy whatever I wanted to eat at the terminal before boarding.

You might also want to review trip reports from here, airliners.net, and milepoint as they are often times accompanied with detailed pics and commentary on the service offerings.