Waiola Shave Ice

What’s better than that satisfying feeling after working out? Treating yourself afterwards of course!
After a pretty long afternoon of being outside playing some volleyball at Ala Moana Beach Park, someone suggested shave ice and I was totally in! Not only had I been craving it, but I had completely forgotten that a Waiola had opened up in the Ward Village Shops area.
Located across from the Dairy Queen, this location looks much more put together than the original; less mom & pop if you know what I mean. I do really appreciate that the menu is very clear unlike the overwhelming amount of signs and handwritten menu items at the original location. There also seem to be more shave ice options like their ice milk, which sounds very similar to Snow Factory. Prices also looked like they were the same, which is awesome.
I went with my usual Large cup, li hing mui with mochi balls ($ 3.50) — YUM! The quality was still the same and I left as a very happy customer. Like it’s original location, this one also had a nice seating area that it shares with Dairy Queen and two other food establishments in that area. It was a nice place to hang out, relax and enjoy a much deserved treat. I mean you have to #treatyoself sometimes right?
So in summary, this location is super convenient with ample parking (score!) and the quality hasn’t changed one bit. I can’t wait to come back again!

I spotted this shave ice place @ The Ward Warehouse.
The small shave ice counter seems to be pretty popular. The worker was not friendly :(
Large shave ice with ice cream, mochi balls and red bean ($ 4.50): the ice itself was finely shaved. The texture was nice, but my Hawaii 5 – 0 rainbow flavor was blah. I couldn’t taste the syrup… it was actually pretty bad. The mochi balls were too big and hard. The red bean was okay.
2 stars! I forgot I didn’t like the other Waiola location too.
Waiola shaved ice is not yummylicious!

Love this place! All the flavours are so tempting. I’ve had the obama rainbow and the mango ice. Soooo ono! Friendly service and tables outside to sit down and relax or walk around and do some shopping. Can’t wait to come back!

Now I understand, since Waiola’s ice is very fine, it’s harder for the syrup to reach the middle

Over the summer, after spending a couple of hours at the beach, my sister and I decided to get shave ice at this Waiola location. My favorite flavor at Waiola has always been li hing mui so that’s what I ordered but I was disappointed in the flavor of it. It wasn’t the same as the original Waiola location. My sister enjoyed her strawberry shave ice, but I probably won’t order the li hing mui if I come here again.

Waiola shave ice has been my favorite old fashioned local shave ice establishment for decades. In my opinion it is the best on the island, and I’m happy that they now have several locations. My go to flavor is banana with a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream. Their syrups are delicious, and the texture of the ice is fine and luxurious. The prices are good, the service is always fast and efficient, and this location is friendly and generous with their syrup. Thank you Waiola for a lifetime of amazing shave ice!

Go to Waiola for the quality and texture of the ice! Waiola Shave Iced has been on my top shave ice list for a while; however, now that there are many places with high quality ingredients like homemade flavors and mochi balls, it hadn’t been on the top of my list recently… but my love for Waiola is still there!
Plain shaved ice with two flavors are the best option. I personally love the Haupia and Lilikoi. I don’t particularly like their condensed milk or mochi balls, but the ice cream always gives it a plus. More than anything, go for the ICE! Something about the texture that no other place can copy.
This location is also perfect because you can grab yourself some yummy food and then go immediately to Waiola for dessert!

I love the shave ice here! It’s been incredibly humid the past few months and this place is definitely one of my pit stops! I love it because of value and taste!
Pros:
–Pretty inexpensive starting at a little over $ 3 each! If you’re famished get the specials around $ 5!
–Syrups are very tasty and made with cane sugar! I believe everything is natural and homemade too!
–The optional add-​ons like mochi, azuki beans, ice cream or condensed milk are always fresh. I believe add .50 cents each. I suggest adding at least one!
–The ice is like snow! Seriously like snow! I believe the fluffiest such snow out there!
–Service is FAST!
Cons:
–The bland service! Haha! Nothing to really complain about except maybe shooting up your sugar levels!
My favorites include green tea and strawberry! I love the mochi balls and azuki beans as adds! One of my favorite snacks if it’s another typical hot day on the island!

It’s the fineness of the ice shavings that makes Waiola’s really stand out. I used to think shave ice was just a Hawaiian snow cone. Absolutely not.
Their milk ices (where they mix milk and flavoring into the ice) are supposed to be this special thing, and in addition to the standard syrup flavorings, they also have special toppings like azuki beans, lilikoi, and condensed milk. But I still like the old-​fashioned shave ice with syrups only — haupia (coconut cream) and mango being favorites. I’ve come to enjoy the lilikoi topping — worth the extra cost.
It’s light; it’s refreshing; and it’s fun! We consider this a must-​do for visiting friends.

The ice here is so fluffy! Had the li hing mui and lilikoi flavor. So far my favorite shaved ice place.
Got the medium size and it looked like the girl poured a lot of syrup, but didn’t reach the bottom… Worth a trip though, I’d definitely would recommend.

Less crowds than the one by Kapahulu.
Cleaner tables too.
Same fine texture ice.
Easy parking.
Traditional shave ice flavors are good. Milk ices and other special items also worth trying.
Occasional stink eye from lady behind the counter.
They might use child labor sometimes.

After experiencing less-​than-​satisfying shave ice elsewhere in Oahu, I decided to give it another try. This is apparently the second Waiola Shave Ice place that opened, and Ala Moana Shopping Center is the perfect place! Simple setup with just one window to take orders and serve delicious and refreshing treats. Plenty of seating throughout the mall to enjoy.
Now THIS is the shave ice I had been searching for in Hawaii — I would recommend this to any tourist or local looking to cool down from a hot day. I’ll admit that I forgot why shave ice places offer a flavor called Obama until I remembered that Hawaii is his home state… oops. Obama Rainbow consists of cheery, lemon-​lime, and passion fruit syrups. YUM! Of course I got my small size shave ice with ice cream and condensed milk. They are very generous with the amount of syrup, ice cream, and condensed milk, totaling $ 3.50 for a small size.
Love this place. I wish I could have tried the original location but this one was more conveniently located. I’m sure either one will do, though.

Classic Waiola Shave Ice, just like original location.
Saw this newer location while on a shopping excursion at Ward Warehouse and stopped by for a refreshing, sweet treat.
The Location.
As I am used to the original location on Waiola Street, I liked the fact that there was ample parking at Ward Warehouse. The shop window is located across of the Dairy Queen’s within a little eating area. Enjoyed walking around the crack seed store behind the window. Lots of goodies to be bought!
The Food.
Got my usual Waiola Shave Ice flavors: Creamy Blue Vanilla and Creamy Strawberry with ice cream. Yum! The ice is so soft and the syrup is generous. Very consistent with the original location, which I enjoy.
Overall.
Definitely stop by this Waiola Shave Ice!

This location in the Ward Warehouse is open at night until 8:30pm!
Hands down the best shave ice I’ve ever had. The ice is super fine, and if you add condensed milk, it takes on this consistency and taste that is almost like ice cream. I got the Obama rainbow with condensed milk and mochi. I don’t love their mochi so I will hold off on adding that from now on. The ice cream and azuki beans are nice additions if you are craving something sweet, although I think their plain shave ice is so good you don’t even need the extras. The small cup is definitely a lighter snack portion, so keep that in mind.
Overall, love Waiola, had a good experience at this location, and very glad I can get my fix after the sun sets!

You have to try their Strawberry Milk Ice! It’s so good! I’ve had their regular shave ice before but the milk ices are really good — so smooth and sweet. I like that they put condensed milk in it because I absolutely LOVE condensed milk in my desserts.
Mmmm… Their POG shave ice is also really good — be prepared for lines and keep in mind they do close at the same time as the rest of the shops in Ward Center so come early!

We’ve always been a fan of Waiola for as long as we’ve been visiting Oahu. We use to go to the flagship store, but the lines were always long and there’s very limited seating.
Now, we don’t have to worry about that anymore because this location at Ward is great! The place is newer and much cleaner. There are plenty of tables and chairs for us to enjoy our shave ice under the shades.
The shave ice still tastes great. I always stick to my usual, the azuki bowl, while my son gets the Obama rainbow or whatever other rainbow he decides to pick for that day…
I actually came here to meet up with a few of my high school classmates last year. It’s funny that we didn’t see each other for over a decade while living in Cali; but when they moved to Oahu, it was easier to reach out and set a date to meet up. I guess it’s part of human nature to take people/​things for granted when they’re so close and wait to reach out when we know we may never have the chance to see them again. Such is life!

Yay! I love this location! It’s small and usually not as busy at the original location. I like to get vanilla flavor with condensed milk on top. Mmmmm so good!

So glad I found this place on our trip since I’ve had one of their other locations bookmarked forever! Also very happy they opened this new location at Ward Center because I don’t think I would’ve been able to get to/​find the one I had bookmarked.
When I walked up to the window I saw so many flavors that I didn’t know what to order if it wasn’t for the photos of specialty bowls numbered 1 through 6. I went with a mango milk ice bowl and Rachel S went with a custard bowl with haupia flavor. The specialty bowls are $ 5 each, as are any bowls since that’s their largest size.
The mango milk ice was sooooo good! Lots of mango flavor! The custard bowl was alright… not a very strong coconut taste in the haupia flavoring and Rachel said it tasted like sugar water. The custard, which is basically just egg pudding, was good but wasn’t enough to flavor the ice alone.
I liked the consistency of the ice here. Before ordering I had thought it would be more like Hawaiian shaved ice which is like a snow cone. However, the ice here had a more slushie texture and was almost like snow ice if it were a bit softer/​finer.
While eating our treats at the nearby tables outside, I read through all their flavors and wished I could try a few others. Will definitely be back next time I’m in Oahu!

When I think of good shave ice, I think of Waiola! I love how they make their shave ice. They have so many delicious flavors and toppings and the ice is so fine like powder. I prefer my shave ice in powder consistency rather than being chunky.
My go to favorite has always been the Azuki & Mochi bowl. It is milk flavor with azuki beans, mochi, and condensed milk topping. My new favorite is now the Mango Ice Milk. Exclusive only to this location. It is made the old way which means natural flavors are mixed together, shave ice is then mixed in, then toppings are added. Besides mango flavor, they also do strawberry and chocolate done this way too.
Just like the original location on Waiola Street, you order from a window on the side of the building and there is a shop with snacks inside. Parking is in the Ward Warehouse parking lot.

WAIOLA opened in WARD WAREHOUSE and they take credit cards over $ 10.
Open EVERYDAY, and til 8:30pm Mon-​Sat. That is all you need to know. End of review.
A few weeks ago I really wanted a cold icy dessert. It was a Monday right around 6p. (But this occurs almost on a daily basis too). Everyone is closed on Mondays! It was so hot and muggy and I just wanted a shave ice, and I couldn’t find one. I wish I had known about this place because THEY OPEN EVERY DAY.
HOURS: Mon-​Sat 10:30a-8:30pm, Sun 10:00a-6pm.
LOCATION: Ward Warehouse in the food court area with Dairy Queen and Diem Café
PRICE: yeah, it’s pricey but you can use your credit card for over $ 10.
They have THREE NEW FLAVORS that are not offered at the other two Waiola locations. For $ 5 you can get a bowl of Strawberry milk ice, chocolate milk ice, or mango milk ice. I got the mango milk ice. They put mango nectar, milk & cane sugar, mixed it up in a bowl, and then put the ice into the bowl to let the flavors infuse. Just to be a complete piggy, I added a custard underneath for $ 2 more.
So for a whopping $ 7 I had a bowl of MANGO MILK ICE with custard and I’d do it all over again, probably on a Monday, since a lot of other places are closed on Mondays (not to mention names but VG, MSI, YK, and S are all closed on Mondays):