Aoki's Shave Ice — Restaurant in Oʻahu

A great experience. We started at Matsumoto's across the street but the line was ridiculously long. We sent my son out as a scout and he found Aoki's right across the street with no line at all.

Ordering is super simple - tell the first guy the size and any add-ons you want. Then, tell the next person what flavors you want. As we found at most shave ice places, the small is plenty huge for one person!

The service was super friendly, both employees were happy to answer our questions; we had a lot since we're novices to shave ice!

I tried their seasonal ginger flavor and it was the best of any of the flavors we had. The lilikoi was our least favorite, only because it's more sweet than the sour we usually like in passionfruit. (This was the case at every shave ice place, though, so it's probably more our preference.)

We'd definitely recommend the quick and friendly service here over waiting in a long line...

The outdoor setting at Aoki's has a fun retro design and feels like a place you're supposed to have a shaved ice. The staff was friendly and made suggestions for us to try. I like that they have flavor combinations or a build your own option.

The flavors of the syrups were delicious and not overly sweet. The serving cup design and table holding stands are great for keeping your ice from melting while holding it in your hand. The shaved ice stayed frozen till the last bite and retained it's original colors. We tried Matsumoto and we ended up with a melted bowl of brown sugar water before we could even finish. I noticed that everyone eating a Matsumoto was throwing out a bowl of brown or green water before finishing.

If you you are trying to decide where to get a shaved Ice in Haleiwa, go to...

We've gone to Haleiwa a couple times hoping to try the signature shave ice spot known in the North Shore but there's always such a long line. Instead we go across the street to Aoki's. Short line if any, always has seating and not because there's anything wrong with it. They're actually really good. Their shave ice is nice and fluffy. Their syrups are fruit flavorful and not sugary sweet. They have a good list of combinations and if you can't find one to your liking just order your own. They have nice shave ice holders which is a plus. Add sweet cream as a topping to sweeten things up. Very few places to park on this block. If you can't find one in the lot across the street, there's very few on the side...