Waiola Shave Ice — Restaurant in Honolulu

Having been a huge fan of Ululani’s Shaved Ice in Maui, I was so very excited to try Waiola Shave Ice, so off we walked on a warm sunny afternoon to Waiola Shave Ice. I was so excited to see the line of people. Hubby stood in line and ordered Passion Fruit and Coconut flavor for him and I chose the Hawaii 5.0 (since we are huge fans of the show). The ice was soft like Ululani’s so we both really enjoyed our shave ice.

While we were enjoying our shave ice, I heard someone order ice cream, that piqued my curiosity having never had ice cream in a shaved ice place before. Hubby insisted I order one so this time I stood in line to order it. Again being so clueless, I didn’t know that the ice cream would be topped with shave ice and you have to choose the flavors like you do for shave ice, I was quite taken aback when the girl behind the counter asked me what flavor? Flabbergasted it took me a few seconds to really figure out what she was asking, when the guy working with her rudely again asked me for what flavor. He seemed really annoyed with me. Taken aback, I quickly gathered my thoughts and chose coconut, passion fruit and condensed milk.

Like the shaved ice, the ice cream was really delicious but the rudeness of the staff left a bad taste...

Ok so just save yourself the hassle and find a different shave ice location. The father working here got all offended when I took two bites of my shaved ice only to realize they forgot to add my scoop of ice cream underneath. He wouldn’t stop yelling at me about it costing an extra dollar. Finally after ten minutes of watching him go on with himself at me, he told me if I wanted him to remake the now melted ice I’d have to rebuy it. In an attempt to quiet him down, I offered to just rebuy the shave ice for him to remake it correctly. The guy behind me told the father he’d even pay for it if the guy would just remake it and let me go on my way. I couldnt get a word in. The ice cream scoop is just a bit larger than the amt you’d pull out with a tablespoon. Honestly I wish I’d have gone to one of the million other shaved ice places around Waikiki because I wasn’t prepared to enter the blast zone. If you enjoy your peace and want friendly service I don’t recommend this location. He acted as if I was offensive for asking for the ice cream I wanted. Went to north shore yesterday and had a wonderful experience with better tasting shaved ice around all in a good mood at Matsumoto :) so worth the drive and...

Sorely disappointed with my experience at this shave ice location. I heard Oahu shave ice is one of the best in comparison to all other islands and was excited to try the highly rated Waiola. The one good thing about this spot is that they have parking (which is surprisingly rare to find around the island). The shop is a small convenience store with no seating but a small bench outside.

The employee that was working at the time did not seem to be interested in taking our business. Shave ice locations offer so many options that I always like to hear suggestions from the cashier. He was more perturbed with our questions and didn't put forth any effort to make recommendations. I ended up ordering the melona (honey dew) with li hing mui. Unfortunately,for some reason...we got passion fruit instead! The worker rushed through our order and made the shave ice taste bland (maybe not enough syrup?). The ice wasn't as fluffy as Hawaii shave ice has become so well known for. We also ordered mochi, but somehow got red beans as a topping instead. I'm not a difficult person to please, but my overall experience at this location was sour from...