The family-owned Aloha Hawaiian Shave Ice (4348 Telegraph) in South County offers more than 100 flavors of its signature dessert, along with fruity island drinks, bubble waffle ice cream sundaes, and scoops of Cedar Crest ice cream from Wisconsin. Customers can watch the intricate process of the ice being shaved, filled with ice cream, coated with syrup, drizzled with a “snowcap” of sweet vanilla cream, and served with an array of toppings by brothers Dennis Berberich and Joey Maguire. Here’s what to know before you go.
The Menu
A chalkboard wall just inside the door is filled from top to bottom and side to side with an alphabetical list of all the syrup flavors, from standards (blue raspberry, cherry tiger’s blood) to the unexpected (butterscotch, ube) to the downright unusual (green watermelon, jalapeño).
In keeping with the owners’ dedication to authenticity, most of the syrups are imported directly from Hawaii, with a few, such as Mardi Gras cake, coming from New Orleans, another hotbed of shave ice. It’s a distinctly different product from snow cones, which are made of crushed ice.
Berberich is used to walking new customers through the characteristics that make their shop’s products unique. For one, the freshly shaved ice allows the syrup to fully saturate the dessert, instead of settling at the bottom. For another, Hawaiian-style ice has a “snowcap” of house-made cream sauce over the top and a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the middle.
“The whole idea with the ice cream and the snowcap is new for people around here,” Berberich says. “I was skeptical at first too, but it works well together.”
Customers can order a straightforward syrup flavor or an even more decadent interplay of flavors in combinations such as turtle, s’mores, mocha cappuccino, or pumpkin pie. “Strawberry shortcake is our biggest seller,” Berberich says. “But key lime pie is popular, too. People really love it because it tastes just like the pie.”
If the flavor selections seem overwhelming, then Berberich is happy to explain the nuances. Take the melon options, for example. “Green watermelon is kind of sour,” he says. “Pink and red are sweeter. But my favorite is the melona. It tastes like honeydew and vanilla.”
The syrups come in concentrated form, using a base of cane sugar. Berberich and Maguire can quickly mix up a fresh batch if any of the dozens of bottles in their case run low. They also offer a line of natural flavors without artificial flavors or colors for those who are avoiding dyes. Maguire explains that the all-natural syrups have a milder taste, more like fruit juice, and are typically clear, rather than brightly hued. There are sugar-free syrups available as well, in addition to a snowcap made of oat milk for customers who don’t eat dairy.
For customers who prefer ice cream as the centerpiece, Aloha offers scoops in cones, bowls, or bubble waffles with any of its toppings. It also offers smoothie-style island drinks made with fruit, cream, and ice shavings.
The Atmosphere
True to its name, the shop (formerly a Boardwalk Waffles location) is full of Hawaiian-inspired décor. After ordering and paying at the counter, guests can stop by the selfie station (which has the requisite tropical background) and then head into the recessed dining area, where Disney movies playing on a wall-mounted TV add to the kid-friendly vibe.
But the shop is popular with all ages, from tots to teens to adults, and the owners say they have regulars, especially among people who previously lived in Hawaii and are excited about the authenticity that the family has worked hard to achieve. Those customers are more likely to make up their own combinations, Maguire says, because they’re already familiar with the concept.
Over the summer, Berberich and Maguire say, young customers were coming in to film themselves eating bubble waffles. The owners seem amused to be part of a social media trend, but they’re also savvy restaurateurs who are eager to experiment with whatever resonates with clientele. This includes offering sample cups of the pumpkin pie shave ice combo (which does, in fact, taste like pumpkin pie).
The Team
Berberich and Maguire co-own the shop with their mother, Carla Berberich, and another brother, James Berberich. The original idea for the business started seven years ago, when their mother obtained the business license, thinking she would start a snow cone stand. “Then she started researching and went down a rabbit hole,” Berberich says with a laugh. He credits their mother with all the legwork, from choosing the location and décor to selecting syrup, ice cream, and other vendors.
In her research, Berberich said, she discovered that this style of dessert goes back thousands of years, but its history in the United States is relatively short. Shaved ice became popular in New Orleans in the 1920s and in Hawaii in the 1950s, when Japanese plantation workers imported a traditional ice-based dessert that dates back centuries. Shaved ice’s growing popularity in the continental U.S. convinced her to make it the shop’s signature menu item.
Maguire and Berberich both have deep experience in the restaurant industry, along with other entrepreneurial ventures. They handle day-to-day operations, while their mother and brother continue to help with other aspects of the business.
“We spared no expense on the products and equipment,” Maguire says, gesturing toward a $4,000 electric ice shaver. The small-batch ice cream is such a coveted brand, there are online maps showing locations that serve it outside of Wisconsin, and Maguire says they rotate the flavor lineup for customers who travel in just for the ice cream.“We wanted to take it up a notch.”
Aloha Hawaiian Shave Ice
📍4348 Telegraph, Oakville
📞314-200-3030
⏰2–9 p.m. Wed–Sun
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