Honolulu, HI
No local rankings yet · editorial below
Finely shaved ice with syrup, mochi and condensed milk, from the trailer in a Waikele parking lot that took a third of Honolulu Magazine’s reader vote to the McCully window, the Kapahulu classic, a Diamond Head window and a Waimalu sweet shop.
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Press picks, until locals rank their own Top 5s. Sourced from the local food press. As seen in Honolulu Magazine. Updated September 2026.
Mountain Magic Shave Ice · Waikele
Honolulu Magazine's readers gave this food trailer twenty-nine percent of the entire vote, more than any shop on the island, and it works out of a shopping center parking lot in Waikele rather than a storefront. It has moved around the center over the years, from a cart near Lowe's to the fence by Dick's Lechon. Order a sugarloaf mountain of ice dressed with syrups, mochi, ube caps and li hing powder.
Waiola Shave Ice · Mōʻiliʻili
The McCully shop, second in Honolulu Magazine's reader poll with 7.7 percent of the vote and a staff pick in the magazine's own roundup. Parking is difficult at peak times and the ordering rules are strict, which regulars accept. Order the rainbow with mochi: finely shaved snow that the magazine says is splashed rather than drenched with syrup, in a cup rather than a cone if you want to eat it quickly.
Shimazu Shave Ice · Kapahulu
Honolulu Magazine's readers put Shimazu Store fifth on the island with 6.3 percent of the vote, and the magazine calls the counter inside Hawaiʻi's Favorite Kitchens in Kapahulu a must-stop in its own right. Its staff like that the syrups run from classic flavors to newer ones and that the cones stay large for the money. Order The Larry, the mound the magazine says is bigger than your head, or a standard cone.
Monsarrat Shave Ice Natural Organic Fruit · Diamond Head
A tiny window next to Pioneer Saloon with no fixed rhythm, so Honolulu Magazine advises a sunny weekend closer to noon and warns about the parking. The magazine describes silky ice and fresh organic fruit syrups layered into a bowl until a sugarloaf forms. Order the coconut syrup, which the writer calls borderline haupia, or the sweet mango, with chewy mochi and a scoop of Meadow Gold vanilla.
Baldwin's Sweet Shop · Waimalu
A Waimalu shop that Honolulu Magazine's staff roundup credits with pouring lemon peel syrup before the lemon peel craze reached everyone else, one of a run of local kine flavors it keeps on the board. The writer went back and found grated lemon peel, the dried salted kind, added as a topping, so the chewy peel now turns up in every bite of the tart ice. Order the lemon peel shave ice with the peel on top.