Why Waiola Shave Ice is an Endearing Favorite

At Waiola Shave Ice, there’s a comforting sense of nostalgia, even for first-timers. Whether it’s the familiar syrup flavors or the charm of the shop—or both—Waiola Shave Ice remains an endearing classic on Oʻahu.

The family-run shop, tucked in Mōʻiliʻili about a 10-minute drive from Waikīkī, has specialized in shave ice since the late 1970s, luring beachgoers after a day in the sun. Early on, people would hear about Waiola Shave Ice through word of mouth. Once it served as a backdrop on the rebooted “Hawaiʻi Five-0,” its popularity took off. Today, food bloggers on social media have helped establish Waiola Shave Ice as a must-visit destination on Oʻahu.

And for many locals and visitors, the business is a place to visit time and time again.

Waiola Shave Ice tucked in Mōʻiliʻili about a 10-minute drive from Waikīkī.
Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

Through the decades, the goal at Waiola Shave Ice has remained: to serve families and keep prices reasonable. “After a day at the beach, we want families to come and to be able to afford shave ice for everyone,” says Walter Lee, who handles business operations at his family’s shop. A small cup of shave ice is $4, a large bowl is $5, and a jumbo bowl is $8, with additional charges for extra toppings.

Lee is his dad’s right-hand man, providing help wherever it’s needed. He laughs when he recalls stocking cans at the shop when he was 5 years old. By the time he turned 10, he was managing the cash register. “I got $5 a day and a shave ice,” he says with a smile.

One of the sweetest parts of his job, he says, is seeing return customers: “These people have been a part of our community and feel like extended family.” Lee’s dad will often introduce him to longtime customers who remember Lee as a little kid at the family shop.

In the late 1970s, the Lee family decided the business—originally a general store—should specialize in Hawaiʻi’s favorite sweet treat: shave ice.
Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

In the 1940s, Lee’s great-granduncle (his grandmother’s uncle) opened a general store on the corner of Waiola Street in Mōʻiliʻili. Lee’s father, Jerry Lee, immigrated to Oʻahu from Taiwan at the age of 14 and worked in the store as a teenager. By the time Jerry Lee was in his 20s, he took over the shop and in the late 1970s, he decided the business should specialize in Hawaiʻi’s favorite sweet treat: shave ice.

“Shave ice culture is really neat,” Walter Lee says. “It was introduced by Japanese immigrants but so many cultures have touched it and put their spin on it.”

Finely shaved ice drizzled in a rainbow of syrups is famously associated with Hawaiʻi but it’s also emblematic of the multiethnic traditions that shape local cuisine.

Through the decades, the goal at Waiola Shave Ice has remained: to serve families and keep prices reasonable.
Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

During the Islands’ plantation days, Japanese immigrants to Hawaiʻi introduced kakigori, a humble treat of ice shaved down into powdery flakes and doused with sugar or fruit juice. Like many of the foods shared during the plantation era, shave ice became a cornerstone dish of local cuisine. And to prove it, shave ice stands dot the Islands today.

The Lee family even opened a second shave ice shop on Mokihana Street in Kapahulu in 2009. “My parents knew Kapahulu would be a big food destination,” Lee says. The second location is less than a quarter mile from Leonard’s Bakery and less than a mile away from Rainbow Drive-In.

Customers can shop Waiola Shave Ice merchandise in stores and online.
Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

Like poke shops, shave ice is a contentious subject. Locals and visitors have their favorite spots on the island, and they’re usually pretty loyal about it, but Lee claims there’s no animosity among the local shave companies. In fact, he says he wants their shops succeed, and points out that many of them are family-owned businesses passed down through generations, just like his.

Lee says it was a difficult day for him when Uncle Clay’s House of Pure Aloha in ʻĀina Haina closed in February after nearly 30 years, and he praised the business for its genuine customer service: “We always want to bring that type of aloha to Waiola.”

Lee admits to “a little bit of pressure” when he thinks about the future of his family’s business. “But it subsides when you hear the positive feedback,” he says. Along with its well-known neighbors, including Leonard’s Bakery and Rainbow Drive-In, Waiola Shave Ice has become an iconic Island institution.

While one of the endearing qualities of Waiola Shave Ice is its old-school charm, the business has evolved over the years, in large part due to Lee.

As he works toward a master’s degree in psychology, Lee has helped implement a new ordering system and simplified the menu by highlighting the top-selling flavors and cutting unpopular ones. Lee also expanded the business’s merchandise—which he also designs. Customers can buy Waiola Shave Ice T-shirts, bucket hats, baseball caps and tote bags. (You can shop for the merchandise at the shops or online.)

The azuki bowl is a top-seller. The decadent treat is coated in condensed milk and topped with azuki beans and mochi.
Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino

But of course, Waiola Shave Ice is worth visiting because of its specialty shave ice. “I always remind myself, people are having shave ice sometimes for the first time, or this could be one of the dozens of times someone is having it, which is pretty cool,” Lee says.

Waiola Shave Ice offers everyone’s favorite tropical flavors. Lee’s go-to order is li hing mui, mango and lychee, topped in li hing mui powder and condensed milk. But he always recommends the top-selling azuki bowl, a decadent treat coated in condensed milk and topped with azuki beans and mochi.

2135 Waiola St., Honolulu; 3113 Mokihana St., Honolulu. waiolashaveice.co