Cafe Boba

We were visiting the farmers market, and we decided to do a smoothie bowl here. At first, I wanted…read moreto do the shaved ice, but the call of a smoothie bowl was too much to ignore. They have an amazing menu for shaved ice! They also have a great selection for smoothie bowls. I was honestly impressed for a shaved ice place to have so many options for smoothie bowls. Anyway, the employee who took our order was very nice and efficient. We even had substitutions we requested, and she was super cool and nice about it all. The tables allow you to people watch since the tables are right in front of the café and next to the farmers market. Also, little birds were very interested in the area and potential snacks, so that was cute to watch! Our smoothie bowls were excellent! Honestly, now that I'm back across the pond, I'm seriously craving another! Wonderful flavor combinations and very fresh. I wish I would've tried their other creations, but that just means something to look forward to for next time!

After stopping by the Farmer's Market across the street, my wife and I walked over to Kula Shave…read moreIce for some shaved ice. As a disclaimer, I'm not the biggest fan of shaved ice because of how sweet the dessert tends to be, and because more often than not, there are a bunch of artificial colors used in the fruit juices. When we looked at the menu, I was impressed and excited to see the emphasis on quality of their ingredients: no artificial flavors or colors, no aspartame, no high fructose corn syrup, and no preservatives. I was sold. Although we were tempted to create our own shaved ice, we ultimately went with "The Local", a soursop and liliko'i combo topped with haupia cream. Between the two flavors, I enjoyed the sour sop side a bit more since it was the one that was less sweet. The cream on top was absolutely delicious, and reminded me of the light and airy frothed milk cream you find on many boba drinks these days. There's a generous amount ladled on top, ensuring you can have some in every bite without having to carefully ration out the cream. Overall, I'm a fan of Kula Shave Ice. Definitely a great dessert to enjoy on a hot day. Worth checking out if you're ever in Hilo.

Half orange and half blueberry

The Hapa (choc, coconut flakes, haupia ice cream) & The Local (love the local - lilikoi, soursop w ice cream

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Açaí bowls

Da Hawaiian Brain Freeze Shave Ice & Ice Cream

4.5(294 reviews)

1.3 mi

•$

Best bang for your buck. The shaved ice here is HUGE!! We couldn't even finish it…read more Lots of shaved ice flavors and ice cream flavors. HAPPY ICEING!!

After snorkeling with turtles, a sweet treat before driving back to Waikoloa was necessary. Da…read moreHawaiian Brain Freeze was worth the wait. It took about 15 or so minutes to get three halo halos, but the flavor, and love thats put in them was delicious! Thankfully, after being in the hot sun there was AC in there as well as seating.

Mini shave ice is huge!!

Ube & Honey Dew Mochi

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Halo halo

Wilson's By the Bay

4.6(80 reviews)

•$

I ordered a keiki with lilikoi and coconut and was underwhelmed by the shave ice. The shave ice…read moregrain was similar to mainland snow cones and the flavors were overly saccharine. The proportions are large and served in a small paper cones and there is no spots to sit in and enjoy.

I try to visit Wilson's every time I'm back home. This time I was with my wife and we made a pit…read morestop before dinner at Cafe Pesto lol My wife wasn't familiar with the different add-ons they offered but the owner took the time to explain everything on the menu. We ordered the biggest size on the menu which Included azuki beans & ice cream. We then topped it off with Lychee and Passion Fruit. Absolutely delicious! A hui hou

The regular size

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Pineapples Island Fresh Cuisine

4.3(2.6k reviews)

Came as a party of 2 at noon on a Sunday, and we were seated right away! The ambiance definitely…read moregives a nice island sports bar vibe. Only street parking is available. There was also live music with a lady playing guitar solo and singing! Service was amazing! We never had to wait long to order/get the bill. We were most impressed by the fact that the waitress made sure to split our Hilo local plate into two plates to make it much easier to share! We almost thought we had received two orders because of how well-plated they were. - Poke tower (8/10): Solid choice for an appetizer! There were ample portions of poke, and the flavors were nice. Not a super stand out dish though. - Hilo local plate (9.5/10): If you want to taste a wide range of Hawaiian cuisine in one dish, I would highly recommend getting this one! The Kalbi ribs were sooo good! They were juicy, tender, and bursting with flavor. The Kalua pork was pretty good, and both meats paired well with the rice which had an interesting savory haupia sauce drizzled on it. The mango chili slaw and pineapple salsa added a nice tang to balance everything out. - Triple lilikoi pie (5/10): Wayyy too sweet and sugary for our liking, and you can barely taste the lilikoi flavor. We ended up just picking at the graham cracker crust and couldn't finish the rest. It seemed like one of those desserts that are premade unfortunately, and we wish we hadn't ordered this dessert.

We chose Pineapples Island Fresh Cuisine because it's one of the highest-rated sit-down spots in…read moreHilo, but it ended up being just okayyyy. The menu felt very "meh"...nothing particularly exciting or memorable. The cocktails looked great in photos, so we ordered the piña colada flight, but it tasted like there was little to no rum in it. Pretty presentation, but very mediocre overall. Food was just okay. The burger wasn't bad, but definitely not anything special. The fried shrimp dish was disappointing and lacked flavor. The big letdown was the ambiance. We were seated facing the street and parking lot the entire time ...no view...., just sad street. Overall, it didn't live up to the hype. Not terrible, but definitely not worth going out of your way for. The staff were all very nice though. Service friendly.

Bar with loads of fresh pineapples

Ahi poke tower

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Dr. Pepper

Big Island Ice Shave

4.4(10 reviews)

9.3 mi

One of their trailers happened to be parked at one of the out of the way beaches, and that was a…read morewonderful unexpected treat. Reasonable prices, lots of flavor options, and fun toppings like sour spray was a hit with my boys.

Went in, ordered a large shave ice with sweet cream. Workers are friendly and polite and a little…read morekolohe ( rascal). Store is clean and has an in and out atmosphere.

Root beer

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Chillville

4.9(55 reviews)

0.2 mi

A great place to grab a late night snack! Chillville is an ice cream shop located in downtown Hilo…read moreon Haili Street. Parking is freely available along the street or in parking lots in the area, so generally it's not too hard to find a parking spot. The interior of the shop is cute with pops of blue and white, with seating available in the form of wooden benches inside the shop. There are various games shelved to the side if you want to play something as you wait. Service was very helpful and friendly! The menu features various base flavors such as chocolate, vanilla, ube, matcha, etc that you can choose from, with various mix-ins and toppings that you can add. I got my chocolate ice cream with strawberry and oreo bits mixed in. My order came out promptly, and it was delicious! If you're craving a sweet treat, make sure to stop by and check this store out!

My niece recommended this place to my BIL and SIL as they had not tried it before. They thought it…read morewas really cool to watch them make it. Great little shop. They have kid's toys for little ones to play with. Will definitely come back again.

Menu

Ube Rolled Ice cream with Fruity pebbles topped with Brownie & condensed Milk.

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Interior + chocolate with Oreo and caramel + whip cream

Hilo Ice Shave

4.8(28 reviews)

1.4 mi

By far the best price in Hilo for shave ice…read more Staff was really friendly and patient with my 3 little kids. A great place for a break right before merrie monarch~!

BEST PRICE AROUND! You can't beat the price. 4$ for a huge…read moreregular. It's insanely huge. 3$ for half size and maybe that's the best way to go. The regular was a chore to eat alone - def recommend for 2. ADD MORE FLAVOR! They have a bar where you can add more flavor - you'll need it because the thing is so huge! SERVICE IS GREAT Friendly and fast. AMBIANCE Clean and welcoming - eat it outside on the bench and enjoy the weather :)

Rainbow with condensed milk

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The Shaved Ice Machine

Makani's Magic Pineapple Shack

4.3(543 reviews)

0.2 mi

New owners just took over and they are the best! So kind and friendly! One of the best Açaí…read morebowls I've had! So fresh and delicious!!! Highly, highly recommend!!! You will not be disappointed!!!

Ice cream was great as expected which this place is known for. I prefer the ube one…read more The staff was really nice and she helped adjust a coffee that we ordered. I'd recommend getting coffee elsewhere- the cold brew is a bit watered down. Small seating inside but super close to other stores so a great stop after a meal!

Unicorn ice cream in pineapple bowl

Soft Serve Ice Cream: Unicorn (Ube and Dragonfruit) on a Pineapple from 8.23.2024

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Cookie monster

Hilo Farmer's Market

4.3(565 reviews)

This market was a blast. Everybody was super friendly and nice and holy guacamole. Did you see the…read moresize of those avocados? I will say everyone was super friendly and kind. I was happy to get to try a couple of samples from some of the vendors and some educated me on a lot of different things that I didn't know about the island. There are multiple species that you don't ever see outside of Hawaii or often at least. Was happy to know that I'll never see an avocado of this size in Alaska, but it still made me sad because it did taste delicious.

Amazing fruit and veggies available Beautiful flowers and…read moreplants Huge and will take a nice portion of the day. Very clean

Rambutan

At Hilo Farmer's Market

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At Hilo Farmer's Market

Kula Shave Ice

4.8(28 reviews)

10.2 mi

Our family stopped at this cute shaved ice shop after walking to the epic Akaka Falls in a…read moredownpour. We have littles and the staff were so kind and patient with our wet family. They were kind enough to let my 6yr old try some of the ice cream to help make his dramatic decision. And there were cute little books for my 2yr old to look at while we waited. We really did enjoy the more natural flavoring of shaved ice juices. They weren't overly sweet and were more authentic to the real fruits. All of the ice cream flavors we chose were great too and very big scoops! Loved the macadamia nut flavors! This shop was such a lovely stop. We were so happy it was close to our adventure!

Let me set the scene: it was raining, around 3 PM, and I was craving shaved ice. I'd been on the…read moreisland for three days and hadn't had the chance yet, so when our tour guide recommended Kula Shave Ice, we decided to give it a try. I was a little disappointed that there weren't many flavor options, but I did appreciate the portion sizes--and they do have condensed milk, which is always a plus. I ordered coconut and strawberry, and my sister went with strawberry. The presentation was beautiful, but I noticed the syrup was very light. I think I'm used to the thicker, sweeter syrups some places use, which makes the flavors more vibrant. This felt more like a lighter, juice-style shaved ice. That's not a bad thing at all--it just wasn't what I was craving, and it didn't quite hit the spot for either of us. That said, this review isn't meant to knock the business at all. I definitely recommend trying it for yourself and ordering what you like. I may have ordered the wrong flavors and probably should've gone with one of their specials (the lava flow sounds like the move). The staff was fantastic, the location was extremely clean, and they even have a small shop, which was a nice touch. Overall, it was a good experience--just not quite my personal preference flavor-wise. I wish this business nothing but continued success