Haleiwa Shave Ice

My family and I just spent $66 here and the service was terrible . From the moment we walked up to order the lady’s energy was off. No greeting just a backhanded smile and barely said anything. Our shave ice had barely any toppings, the ice was so chunky, and surprisingly they were bland which idek how you do that to shaved ice… I don’t care to leave reviews but the fact that we just spent $66 for terrible service AND bad shave ice is unacceptable. I should’ve read the reviews on this place beforehand.

STAY AWAY!!! If I could give a zero I would!!! Stopped to get hawai’in ice. They only take cash so they had a sign hanging on their plexiglass counter (which, why do they need a plexiglass wall in a hawai’in ice place unless you are a scammer) to go to the ATM for cash. While doing this, they have a tow truck stored on the other side of the parking lot, behind a gate under a carport and they have a young guy on the lookout. Once they see you leave the ice store , they immediately tow you. It happened to an Australian couple an hour before they scammed us! They then take your car 10miles away and make you pay $185 IN CASH to get your car back. Oddly enough, our check engine light on the rental is now on after they took our car. HI state law requires towing companies to offer all forms of payment, so if you were towed and had to pay cash, contact the consumer protection agency and report the crime! They take advantage of unsuspecting tourists! DO NOT GO HERE UNLESS YOU WANT TO PAY $185 for the illegal tow! Dude behind the chain link fences watches, worker in shaved ice place directs customers to go to ATM and bam, your car is gone! To top it off, they do crappy towing service and messed up the entire rental car we had. Idk if it was during the tow or after I called the police and was yelling what awful humans they are and they did something to it intentionally…..either way, they will be held liable since it was not a legal tow nor are they a law abiding towing business!!

Service was great and atmosphere was awesome but it was not what I was expecting for shave ice. It was basically like a snowcone which was not what I wanted. Find a better shave Ice place because this is not it. I was hoping for real fruit flavors and got none of that.

Just go wait in the line at Matsumoto. We used to go here years ago and it was great with lots of options. Now it looks like a front and based on the other reviews and the car I saw get towed, I think it might be. The lady working was rude and acted put out that we were there (maybe because I didn't park in their lot). The price is double compared to others, cash only, and a very limited selection now. They don't even have size options. Our order came out wrong, even though we were the only customers waiting. I definitely wouldn't risk parking in the lot if you do stop here.

It was our first time to the North Shore and we wanted to stop for Shave Ice. We had the best experience, great customer service and the Shave Ice was amazing. We wanted the works so my whole family ordered the Pineapple Express. It was so creamy and delicious which also included coconut jelly. We’ll definitely be back for more the next we’re in Hawaii.

I don’t write reviews but had to for this. Save your time and money. This place is the worst shave ice in Haleiwa. Go to any of the others instead. Service =trash, food=trash, and atmosphere =trash. One hour wait for an overpriced shave ice that had no flavor.

I understand that shave ice is a requisite dessert to have on the north shore, and this is my stop every time I make this drive. I do not know what coconut jelly is. It looks like little translucent maggots. Don't be scared. It's heavenly!!!! Very messy, very sticky, very mouthwatering and refreshing, this over the top mess is worth the drive!

Echoing other reviews — something about this place is off. The shave ice was pretty meh at best, and way overpriced. The parking lot was really sketch, as others have noted. If you aren’t waiting BY YOUR CAR, they will tow it away! We were waiting 15 minutes for our shave ice, and in that time the tow guy was going around asking about each of the cars in the lot. Had we not been standing there, pretty sure our car would have been towed. This is super sketch and predatory. Beware, and don’t be tempted to park here or buy the shave ice. Not worth it.

This place is good, but very expensive for what you get. They really capitalize on tourist, but I guess you can't blame them. This is their place and if the reason why I'm giving it four stars, I'm all for showing respect. They say that was great, but the fruit is so amazing in Hawaii that I'd rather have that with just some lime juice on it, that bite itself is already incredible.

Compared to other shaved ice places, this was very mediocre. High price for the quality. The quality is what I remember as a child, so it is very very standard. Nothing fancy at all. The service was fine. It was a bit odd that they made it so you pick your shaved ice from a side window, but okay. The place is small and very hole in the wall. There is a bench to the side to eat at, but it is in the sun.

Not worth the money. Over priced for a shack /stand with nasty tables and poor quality shave ice. Not as fluffy as it should be ..chunks of ice present ... syrup seemed watered down . Have had much better... Alas, the usual places we hit for shave ice in the area were closed since it was later in the day...so we took a chance.....lesson learned.. $60 worth of lesson .. in cash mind you because they don't accept any other form or payment.

Pineapple Express was so yummy. Loved the toppings. I'm not a shaved ice person but I've been converted. Halo halo flavor was alright but toppings were yummy, mango was good. Alooooohaaa

Broke da mouth!! Nuff said! Don't pass this up!! matsumotos line is like an hour long this line was minutes!!! Cash only.

We tried this shaved ice place, because it didn't have a line. There is another one right up the street, that I guess is really popular. It had a line out the door and around the corner. At first we were thinking that the busier one had to be better, but we met a local man there and he said that there both the same, the other one just has a big following so they are always busy. He said that he never goes to the other one. He was right, this shaved ice was very good and had all the same options.

This isn't Matsumotos but the shave ice here is good and hit the spot. The line for Matsumotos was very long and we only had a small time frame for some shave ice. We decided to go to Haleiwa Shave Ice which was a short walking distance away located at the old Aiokis. This place is just a small walk up. 12 steps from the door to order. There was no line and just one employee. The employee was very nice and the shave ice was made quickly. The flavors we ordered were yummy. They also have toppings such as boba, condensed milk, azuki beans, and other to name a few. We also noticed that they serve halo halo there. The famous Filipino dessert. It was not bad at all and others came as well while we were there.

Great little hole in the wall to get shaved ice. Service was quick and friendly. Business only except cash, and the only thing I found odd was that there was no trash cans to throw your trash in.

As advertised- light fluffy shave ice and sweet sticky condensed milk with red beans sweetened topped with pre made mochi balls. I am okay with all that! You can get this with vanilla ice cream or just the shave ice. I like it with no ice cream. This is "top heavy" and when I went to grab it- it tilted and spilled. The nice person made me another one. Be careful when grabbing it. I got here on a Sunday at 5:45 pm. North Shore shops were about 75% closed. The more famous shave ice place where they make their own mochi balls was closed. This place rocked on and was open. Small but mighty and had consistent people in and out of the place. 20 plus flavors. Cash only. Pay at door, go to the side by the bars and get the sweet dessert. Use BOTH hands to pick up- top heavy and will tilt and spill. Very messy, I ate it over the grass. And still got some on my pants and shirt. I guess when in Hawaii- it's okay to be a little messy, sweaty, and happy on sugar.

Took just over an hour to actually receive our order of 4 shave ice. Very light on the flavorings so it was mostly ice. Disappointing.

Very good, friendly service and no line on a Sunday afternoon! Just steps from Matsumoto, so if you don't like waiting in lines, give it a go.

This place is a blink of an eye. If your lucky not to miss it and find this jewel, you'll be greeted by an awesome cashier. Who made my daughter's evening and mines. She was so patient speaking with my child making sure she had ample time to order. As a parent, customer, human being. I'm so satisfied with this establishment. I want to share with everyone in this community. The shaved iced was in point I got mines with condensed milk, and the serving was generous to say the least. The price is more than equal to the pocket when your receiving, this absolute superb service a bang for your buck and your supporting a small business owner of this community thank you so Haleiwa shave ice! You guys are awesome!!!

We wanted to go to Aoki's shave ice but we ended up here cuz of traffic and no parking. My wife insisted we go to Aoki's but I said, "nah, we hea awready, should be da same ting. We go give dem one try" WRONG!! We ordered 3 Traditional Mango wit condensed milk, mochi, ice cream, an azuki beans, $9.50 ea + tax. Didn't taste anything like mango, more like watered down orange syrup. Mochi balls were like freeze dried. She poured it out of a plastic container. We were expecting a soft textured mochi, haha. Da azuki beans was meh . Niece said it tasted like boiled peanuts . Only thing dat was real, condensed milk, vanilla ice cream and the ice. Texture of ice doesn't compare to Matsumoto's or Aoki's. Overall it was edible. I neva like waste my money so I ate most of it. If it was da odda 2 shave ice place, my cup would've been empty. If u from hea an go ova hea, no blame me cuz I wen warn u. Go stand in da long line at Matsumoto's o bettah yet go Aoki's, da line mo short.

Matsumotos is next door with a pretty long line so this is your stop if you're in a time crunch. Flavors were tasty though I like my shave ice extra sweet hehe. Pretty expensive if you start adding a bunch of toppings but nonetheless a refreshing dessert after a hearty lunch. Very colorful and inviting place but keep in mind it is cash only and no indoor seating.

We were visit ohana and decided to play touristas for the day. So of course we went to the north shore. Ummm, we totally forgot how it was up there and were so surprised that Matsumoto's line was insanely long. We wanted shave ice, but it wasn't that serous that we would only eat Matsumotos. So we stumbled down road and ended up at Haleiwa Shave Ice. We all got one of the specials and it really hit the spot! The mochi and popping boba were delicious and fun to eat.

What a great find! Generous, tasty and lots of toppings to choose from. No wait was the best. Highly recommend. Best Shave ice had in Oahu

If I could add this review with zero stars, I would! This place SUCKS!! I don't write bad reviews because I feel like it was my own experience and you might have a better experience than me, but this one I had to write to warn others. My family and I wanted some shave ice on New Year's Day and unfortunately, Matsumoto's and Aoki's were closed. Haleiwa shave ice line was super long, thinking it was good shave ice. Come to find out, they were busy only because Matsumoto and Aoki shave ice was closed. The cashier and workers were very rude, they look like they all did not want to be there, not welcoming at all and not inviting to their customers. While we waited, I took notice how dirty the place was. Then other locals talked about how much difference the customer service was and the quality with other shave ice companies were. We were letting other tourist know if they really wanted good shave ice, come back the next day and head to either Matsumoto or Aoki's. We received our shave ice along with everyone else one hour later! One hour for shave ice?!!The shave ice was so messy, the condensed milk dripped everywhere, there were only 3 pieces of mochi balls and the flavors sucked! It's New Year's Day and the other shave ice stores nearby were closed and they had the audacity to raise the price! Bad business. We locals knew this would be the only time they can do that. If the other shave ice stores were open, they wouldn't profit as much. We asked the worker, do you know how long we've been waiting and let them know one hour. They did not apologize. They just said "oh." We let them know they should at least let the people ordering know how long the wait time is and let them decide if they want to wait or not. The locals and I let others know the wait time was about one hour. We then heard a customer asked the cashier how long the wait time was, the cashier replied 20 minutes! Lies! If this company keeps running their business like this, I won't be surprised if they go out of business anytime soon. All these other comments about how great their shave ice is, I wonder if you really had good shave ice?! Go to either of the other places, Matsumoto's or Aoki's. They have been in business over 70 years, so that should indicate how good their shave ice is! Haleiwa shave ice sucks! I repeat Haleiwa shave ice sucks! Save your money! Never again!

The shave ice had amazing texture and they had a ton of natural flavors! (The passion fruit had real fruit in the syrup) It's located in a cute little gift shop with a bunch of fun items. Great service would absolutely come here again!

A bit disappointed. We went to get shaved ice, and got there around 735pm, they close at 8pm. It's as if the lady saw us arrive and immediately left to go on a break. Sign posted said to come back later. We waited until 8pm, and she didn't come back. Well, you lost customers.

Delicious shave ice. They use sustainable utensils and products, which I appreciate. They closed at 6:30, which we didn't realize but they happily took our order when we walked up at 6:40.

Great shave ice! Nice service. Sometimes busy with only one person working but worth the wait. Very cool locally owned store.

I don't like to post negative reviews but the service here was SO incredibly slow and so I'm posting this in hopes that you guys hire more employees and keep your store more stocked! the shave ice itself is yummy and it's such a shame that the service was soooo slow :(( came here on a Saturday afternoon with my family (including 3 younger children) because the Matsumoto shave ice line was around the corner, and we figured that this store would be quicker. boy were we wrong! there were ONLY 3 groups ahead of us in line and it took more than a half hour to just get our order in. :(( then when we went to order, they were missing syrup flavors. the employee herself was nice thankfully. it ended up taking about an hour from the time we got in line to receiving our shave ice which is quite silly considering there were again, only 3 orders ahead of us. if u come here, be prepared to wait longer than you would in the Matsumoto queue of 60+ people :(