Kaka’ako Kool

No excuse to complain about the humid days in Hawai’i. Especially when there’s places like Kakaako Kool serving up shave ice town side. Places like this are awesome.

Clean fun & cute! 2 shave ice for $ 6! So cheap & Ono!!!
Loved the condensed milk :) we got lihing & pineapple!
We parked at Fresh Café… I hope that was ok. Outside benches were nice to sit on at 4pm. We were in the shade & enjoyed people watching.
My 2 year old gives them 2 thumbs up.

Stopped by when they were supposed to be open but place was locked up.
Update. Stopped by again at 1pm. Still not open despite listed business hours.

I love Kool places! How ’bout you?
My heart belongs to small «mom & pop» businesses that could…
Y’know, the little engine that could!
Kaka’ako Kool, no relation to Kaka’ako Kitchen, is a tiny local convenience store located next to the original Fresh Café on busy Queen’s St., in Kool, but controversial Kaka’ako!
So, why do I love this place?
5. I love supporting LOCAL! All things local and loco… Local biz, local foods, loco people!
4. I love places that sell vintage, collectible toys/​action figures on the side! Yes, there’s a difference between action figures & dolls, yo!
3. I love the friendliness here! Nice, nice! Truly Kool and lovable!
2. I love the yummy & fresh breakfast bentos & musubi! It’s cheap too! Just be aware they have a limited number and once sold out– that’s it!
1. I love the underdog. The «David» versus «Goliath» story. I will ALWAYS choose small business over corporate giants! You should too!
Kaka’ako Kool is tiny, but packs a decent punch! They offer many local comfort foods like Shave Ice and Portuguese Sausage/​Eggs/​Rice breakfast bentos– they use real butter too– I can taste it– yum! I know they also have a hotdog/​chips combo w/​jumbo drink for $ 4.50 (tax included)! The last time I walked in I also noticed the highly sought Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter, it’s on the pricier side ($ 8), but heck 7 – 11 sure as heck doesn’t have TJ Cookie Butter! Picnic style benches outside for you to enjoy your Shave Ice.
So, yes I would recommend Kaka’ako Kool for anyone Kool… Yup, it’s tiny, but offers local munchies, ono Shave Ice, and a «mom & pop» feel that’s becoming a thing of the past… Let’s fight this sheepish trend and keep these small businesses alive in Kaka’ako!
BIG KAHUNA TIP: This is one place to Unilocal-​Check-​In if purchasing Shave Ice! You get a free topping with your check-​in! Ignore the creepy stalker types that linger around Unilocal and borrow my baseball bat if need be.
BIG KAHUNA TIP #2: Parking is shared with Fresh Café, so parking on both sides of the café is ok! Shared tables & benches too.
OVERALL GRADE: 4.1-STARS!
LIVE ALOHA…
Unilocal REVIEW #284

It’s a small store with snacks, beverages, and toys next door to Fresh Café. I found out about this place from a friend who walked in to grab breakfast while I was waiting for my drink at Fresh Café. He walk out with a small plastic box which had spam, portuguese sausage, scrambled eggs and 2 small scoops of rice. When I saw that it made me want to go in and grab the same thing too but he said he took the last one. I gave him an evil look. So the following week, I went back and they did not have the combo. Instead I got the spam, eggs, and rice. It was $ 3.50 and it kept me full for the next 3 hours. For those folks with a bigger appetite, you should probably get 2. They also have spam musubi’s for $ 2.

Kool place to go to lol. You can pick up the normal things you’d get from a convenience store ie candy bars, musubis, drinks or anything like that. You can also pick up some toy collectibles like my personal favorite, the Millennium Falcon (Star Wars)!
Best of all they carry the original Cookie Butter in all flavors, and are usually in stock.
Great place to check out.
Nico

This little convenience store is next to Fresh Café in Kakaako. It’s very unique because it has little trinkets and collectibles everywhere — from old Peyton Manning figures still in the box, to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle figures from the 80s. Looks like they are for sale.
There’s your typical soft drinks, hot dogs, musubis, ice cream and some unique Japanese drinks/​snacks. And then there is their specialty: shave ice. They have many flavors to choose from, and interesting toppings such as condensed milk and of course ice cream for the inside of your shave ice. There’s also haupia ice cream!
I didn’t try the shave ice but my co-​workers did and it looked delicious. It’s pretty affordable too. I was too full from eating at Fresh Café and opted for a small ice cream. Next time, I will definitely try a shave ice though.
Parking is limited, but if you’re ever craving shave ice, chips, drinks or a cigarette in the Kakaako area, this is the spot.

Out of the way store with great variety of snacks and tchotchke. There are not many places in Kaakako to grab a candy bar and soda yet. But the two times I have visited Kaakako Kool I have been pleasantly surprised. The lady who works there is really friendly and seems to enjoy chatting with customers. Almost like an old fashioned candy store.

This is one hard place to find. I always get confused when they say it’s around kakaako… meaning the Kakaako Waterfront area or something. So after days of craving shaved ice. I Unilocaled, and found this. I’ve been wanting to come here for months. It’s literally right next to Fresh Café.
It’s a random and cute mini convenience store. So we ordered the small size shaved ice with passion orange and li hing mui flavor. If you check in on Unilocal you get a free topping. So we got the snow cap (mixed:condensed milk and evaporated milk). OMG! It was soooo goood. The flavor wasn’t watery tasting. It was not too sweet. It tasted amazing with the snow cap. It was $ 3, no tax.

Definitely a place to stop by. If you want shaved ice but don’t want to drive to the north shore then just come over to Kakaako Kool! The staff is VERY friendly and the prices are affordable as well! I think the main reason why I love this place is because it is so convenient.
And if you love action figures, this is the place to go. They have everything from old Wolverines to Godzilla action figures for sale here! They also have the usual stuff you find at convenient stores if you need snacks or a few household goods.
And by the time you leave this place you will leave knowing that you have supported a local Mom and Pop shop which is something to be proud of!

I think the time when I went they didn’t rinse out something… their shave ice tasted like… soap! I gotta go back and see if it was my taste buds… but wait! I tasted 5 other shave ice from my friens that came with me… theirs tasted like soap too! it could have been the taste of like… um… sour patch kids, too.
they did give me a Unilocal check in deal for a 1 free shave ice topping/​extra that I will come back for more to be sure there’s no soap or sour patch taste

Good service
Good shave ice favors
Used the check in for free flavor :)

First of all, there is only so much you can compare when it comes to shave ice. However, I like this place best because it, as the name suggests, is pretty k3wL. the inside is air conditioned, which is nice as you wait for your shave ice to be made. the outside is also pretty breezy with shade over the benches.
I got the shave ice with the snow cap (melted ice cream/​condensed milk sweet goodness) and also haupia ice cream. They add just enough syrup to have all the ice covered!
The inside is like a gas station store where they sell candy and cigarettes, but it is also like a little boy’s dream bedroom with super hero action figures hung up on the ceiling. The lady at the counter was also very friendly.
Parking is a bit troublesome as I had to double park behind a car of someone who was just getting off of work at Fresh Café. I ended up having to move my car for her to get out and returning to finish my melted shave ice. I definitely will be coming back here for more shave ice if I am in the area.

This is a story of my waivering willpower.
My friend instant messages me and I at home, in front of my computer and I respond but the computer tells me my message will go straight to his mobile device. Wow, bad dream!
Wake up due to my cell phone going off, then answering the call and going back to bed only to have your alarm on your cell phone go off. See there are 3 new voice messages for you. Texts messages and instant messages too. Check your email, forums, Unilocal,skype, gmail,
mail, update your blog, twitter, dig it or not dig it. Get your coffee, maybe skip breakfast, no time for the real world, when you got all the whole world online. I have OCD, multiple personality disorders and many other undiagnosed but pretty legit issues. I need something.
Later that day, I’m in in my car at the intersection of Queen and Kawaiahao. The cars around me are mostly BMW’s and Mercedes and I see a bumper sticker on a lifted truck that says «New York London Paris Milan Waimanalo.» This makes me think «Waimanalo has great weed» and then «I wanna smoke» which logically leads to — well you know where it leads to.
That’s right. Kakaako Kool. In and out, nice and clean. Green and chic!

I wasn’t able to make it over the weekend but was able to celebrate Memorial Day and to kick off a great summer, with my free shave ice today! I got there right as they opened this morning, at 10:00 am and got my favorite flavor, lychee. Tip jar was located on the window sill/​ordering window.
I’m glad the lychee flavor wasn’t some neon colored syrup!
The free shave ice is still going on, until 4:00 pm today. They are located to the left of Fresh Café.

Totally random place. I had a massage two buildings down. I had to have shaved ice before I left for a flight home so Unilocal led me here. I didn’t even have to repark! The shaved ice was super yummy. I even got to eat it indoors in the café next door that they also own.
Three highlights happened on this trip:
1. I got my shaved ice!
2. I bought a le sport sac tokidoki bag there (random right)
3. The café next door had a small event going on where i got to take a pic with the actor Daniel Dae Kim.

SUMMARY:
— Cheap and ono ice shave when you don’t want to bother with waiting in long times, or driving to the North Shore for that other overrated place
— Convenience store sells a variety of fountain drinks, musubi (spam, spicy papaya, etc.), beverages & small selection of household goods
— Parking available next door at Fresh Café
— Clean, simple store that also offers a small selection of kawaii (cute) Hello Kitty bags and Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku Lover bags
Located between da WeSellThings4U building and Fresh Café, Kaka’ako Kool is an unsuspecting, slightly offbeat and kitschy convenience store found in the heart of an urban industrial area. I tasted their onolicious ice shave at Unilocal Honolulu’s 1^st Burstday last summer, and recently stopped by again to try one of their spam musubis for $ 1.99.
Try da ice shave + coconut ice cream! Winnahs!!! Da coconut ice cream is made locally and it’s broke da mouth!
They were out of their spicy papaya musubis (I neva’ know spicy papaya was so popular; reminder to try ‘em next time I go and if get). Interestingly enough, dey also sold da spicy papaya in small batches in da refrigerated section.

Finally made it to the store itself. The cashier, who also made the shaved ice was very friendly, and accomodating. For $ 2, my sons didn’t want to share just one shaved ice, so she let us split one big serving into two smaller servings with different flavors, and not charge us extra for the bowl! Excellent customer service, and very cheap compared to the other stores.
I wouldn’t walk here from town because there’s no sidewalk, but I found out that the $ 5 parking at fresh café is only during their special events, so you can park on the left side since that store has closed, right in front, or at fresh café on the right for free as long as they don’t have a special event.
Although they don’t have as many as additional toppings to go with the shaved ice, you can’t beat the service, the price and the location of it being so close to town.

This is a small convience store in the middle of no where next to Fresh Café. Good Shave Ice for a great price.
When my friend and I entered we were greeted by the shop keeper who imediately remembered us from a trip there before. I am always appreciative of that fact because I have a hard time remembering names and faces sometimes. Its funny that we came here for the same reason one of the reviewer did. Shimazu was closed that day. Needed a good alternative. Kakaako Kool is a great alternative to your favorite Shave Ice place or the overrated place in Haleiwa. How can you go wrong for $ 2 for shave ice and 50 cents for ice cream add on. I don’t like it when stores are stingy with the syrup. There is no problem with that here at Kakaako Kool. They pour it on here. Perhaps I little too much because the center caves in but I’m not complaining. Ice is cheap, the syrup is not. They have a pretty good variety of flavors. I have tried the Li Hing, Grape, Pinapple, and Guava. Loved them all. The ice is very smooth and fine and very consistant. Just the way I like it.
Service: It was so good I felt guilty not buying more items. The Shop Keeper is very nice and helpful.
Ambiance: Lawn chairs and tables outside. They share it with Fresh Café.
Everyone has their favorite Shave Ice place, Shimazu, Aoki, Waiola, and that overrated place in Haleiwa. Kakaako Kool is convenient and a great alternative if you don’t want to stand in line in the hot sun after driving an hour to find your favorite place. I highly recommend this place.

This has got to be the world’s cleanest convenience store. Located next door to Fresh Café, Kakaako Kool is a small store for neighborhood smokers to feed their two pack a day habit. It’s really cute how they decorated the exterior by painting a tree on the outside and inside hang old school glass fishing balls. You can tell there is a lot of thought and care put into the décor. Someone is a neat freak and I like it! Other than a wall of cigarettes you can find bananas, mangos, Harajuku Girl bags (weird I know), ice cream, candy and a hodge podge of local snacks. I love that they sell pork rinds, which are my secret guilty pleasure. No lady would be caught dead eating pork rinds in public. Good thing I ain’t no lady!
After a failed jaunt to Shimazu Shave Ice we headed to Kakaako Kool because I knew for sure that there would be no wait. I love Shimazu but not enough to where I am going to stand in the sun for 30 – 40 minutes waiting for my shave ice. Nothing tastes that good when you’re pregnant. Okay maybe shave ice but this baby is like walking around with a furnace inside me. I am hot all the time and this Summer heat is not making it any better for me.
Parking is tough during the afternoon at Kakaako Kool and it was a good thing a lady was leaving because I was about to make my son break down into tears (again) by telling him we’d have to forgo shave ice for today. Darn six year old boys and their emotions! The only thing worse are four year old girls. Too bad I have both! I’m joking of course but when you tell a kid they’re going to get shave ice you’re totally committed.
Walked into Kakaako Kool and ordered a shave ice with rootbeer, strawberry & mango. We had originally wanted orange but they were out. My daughter wanted pink and argued with me about ordering strawberry. She honestly didn’t care about the flavor she just wanted to eat the color. Geez. Shave ice at Kakaako Kool is only $ 2 for their one size and $.50 for extras like azuki beans and ice cream. Our shave ice came out a little weird looking because I don’t think the girl knew how to pack the ice. I wanted to tell that she makes shave ice that needs to be served in a bowl and not in a cone. Oh well, as long as it makes the kids stop whining for 10 minutes, I don’t care if it mutates and starts walking.
We sat outside in the shade and devoured our shave ice. It was really soft but the shape had been lost once the cashier had poured on the syrup. It had holes in it but little kids don’t care so they dug in forcefully. I really mean it, the shave ice almost collapsed because they practically jumped on it. Initially it was really refreshing but half way through I found the syrup to be waaaay too sweet. I know shave ice is suppose to be sweet and I love sugar but this was really over the top. I think they need to either use less or cut it with some water. Not the best shave ice I’ve ever had but considering I didn’t have to wait 30 minutes in the hot sun and only cost $ 2, it would do for now.