Ululani's San Diego — Restaurant in Chula Vista

If you’ve had Ululani’s on Hawai’i, you’ll be disappointed in this location. After first having Ululani’s on Maui, and then on O’ahu I was super excited that they were opening up a location near San Diego. Went there today and of course there was a line out the door as expected. We got in line just past the restaurant next door, still it took 2hrs to get to the front of the line to order. The inside was busy, lots of kids, the music was a bit too loud for my liking especially with all the kids… my son and I found it annoying but we powered through. My nephew is on the spectrum & has noise sensitivity so unfortunately this would not be a friendly space for him especially considering the wait. My usual order is double pineapple coconut w non dairy Haupia ice cream and Haupia cream drizzle. I was disappointed that the non dairy Haupia ice cream was not available at this location, they did have mango sorbet but I don’t prefer that. At least they do have a non dairy option. My son ordered blue raspberry, watermelon & pink lemonade with vanilla ice cream and Haupia drizzle. Once our order was in we waited about 10 min for my son’s to be ready and then another 4-5 minutes for mine. Now for the taste test. My last trip to O’ahu was in April-May. I was there for 3 weeks and had Ululanis at least 3-4 times while I was there. I’ve never had Ululani’s that was less than a 9/10… until today. Just based on taste alone I had to give it a 7/10. There was something off about the taste from what I’m used to. I feel like I could taste the freezer if that makes sense and there was a bit of an after taste with that that I did not enjoy. It was disappointing, especially after waiting 2 hours. Add the lack of non dairy Haupia ice cream and I chose to give it a sad 6.5/10. My son gave his a 7/10 because of the weird taste and the wait. In summary, maybe if I hadn’t had it on Hawai’i I might think this location was great, but because I know better I thought it was just mid. Sadly I won’t be back (except maybe to get the Cali location t-shirt) because I’d rather wait to go back to Hawai’i for 10/10 than wait 2...

Arrived around 12:50pm on a Tuesday afternoon. Only other time we tried going, was just after their grand opening and the line stretched all the way to Manna BBQ, so we didn't try that time.

This time, the line only extended to a few people outside the actual entrance. We thought we were going to be in and out in relatively quick fashion, but we were sorely mistaken.

When you're standing outside, you can't really see how deep the line is inside. I'd say we were about 8 people deep from the actual entrance when we arrived.

It took 10 minutes just to reach the actual entrance and avoid the beaming sun that was outside.

Once inside, there was still a good 20 people or so ahead of us, waiting to order. Plus another 15 or so that had actually ordered and were waiting on their orders. By the time it hit 1:20pm, 30 minutes of waiting, there was still about 15 people ahead of us waiting to order. Yes, it took about 20 minutes for roughly 5 people to place an order.

There were about 6 workers or so, but it was frustrating how long it was taking for just one person to place an order. We estimated we'd be there well over an hour if we waited, and that's when we decided to leave. I had read other reviews stating it takes upwards of two hours to order and eventually receive said order, and now I can see why/how.

I will just go to Wahine Kai next time I'm craving shave ice. They seem to be much more efficient in...

I ordered the sunset beach and it was amazing! Anyone giving bad reviews + low star ratings for long wait times might need to realize that Ululanis San Diego literally just opened the end of May. They are very popular and people have been waiting for this so they don’t have to travel to Hawaii or LA, hence the long wait times. The music was not loud as mentioned by one reviewer and yes there are kids in there because guess who wants shaved ice/ice cream the most: KIDS! Anyone complaining about a flavor that they currently do not have, you are more than welcome to look at the menu from the website and I also believe that they rotate flavors as well occasionally. These workers are working their butts off nonstop for 3 weeks over 9 hours a day because the volume of people coming in. The line is long every day because of the popularity of the store, not because of poor work efficiency. Some of these bad reviews are simply rude and just show that people want things their way or the highway. I will gladly wait in line 2 hours again and again if I have to so I can enjoy the amazing shaved ice that Ululanis offers. I love to see small businesses in San Diego thrive and I know that this establishment will...