My favorite Hawaiian treat so far is shave ice. And I’ve had a few. There are good eats in Hawaii.
I don’t know if it’s called shaved ice or shave ice. I call it shave ice, so correct me if I’m wrong.
For the first two weeks we were here, I went a little shave ice nutty, until my husband reminded me that we should not, in fact, spend the entire grocery budget on flavored frozen water. My excuse was that we arrived during record-breaking heat, and we needed it in order to survive. It cools your insides. After a swim and a shave ice, I felt positively cold. Quite a trick when it’s 92 and humidity’s 90%.
Shave ice, for those of you who haven’t had it, it’s different than a Slushie, Slurpee, or Snowcone. It’s ice shaved into flakes so fine that they melt like cream on your tongue.
There are, of course, famous places to get shave ice. People have told me about a few, like one up north and one downtown (I actually forgot the name of the one downtown). I haven’t been to any of those yet. If you recommend one, please leave it in the comments. I’ve only been to Island Snow in Kailua and Koko Nuts in Koko Marina (Hawaii Kai). We took the grandparents there last Saturday and there was a line out the door. 20 minute wait. One machine was down, the girl was overwhelmed, and our ice had chunks and was considerably smaller than usual. Boo-hoo!
It still tasted good on a hot day.
MARGARET DILLOWAY 
Make sure to hit Waiola Shave Ice in Mo’ili’ili (just up the street from Waikiki). That’s my childhood favorite and I still feel like its the best one. Matsumoto’s on the North Shore is another “famous” shave ice shop, it’s a great stop after a day at the beach. Pretty much anywhere you go to eat on the North Shore will be really yummy though.
Thanks, I’ve heard great things about Waiola. It’ll be our next shave ice stop.