Tats Shaved Ice

«Friendship Garden»…
Doesn’t that sound like a cool place?
I was looking for this hiking spot in Kaneohe, Oahu, when I saw the bright yellow Shave Ice truck on the side of Kaneohe Bay Drive, right after passing Castle High School. Since I wasn’t able to find Friendship Garden, I drowned my sorrows in Tats Shave Ice. Good move, since it was a «HOT» 83 degrees on a warm January day in Hawaii…
The truck was parked on the grassy area in the shade in front of the Bay View Mini-​putt & Zipline, next to the Bay View Golf Course. There is free parking alongside the truck, on the lawn. There was a short line, but it moved fairly quickly. Service was quick and friendly — they even humored me when I asked that they hold my shave ice lower where the sun could shine on it and I could get a better picture of it with the sign in the background — haha!
I ordered a plain, small Rainbow flavored shave ice. The 3 primary colors of red (strawberry), yellow (banana), and blue (vanilla) are the best deal because the colors merge and form 3 additional colors: Orange, green, and purple — so pretty! Small size (which is quite large) is $ 3.50, and large size is $ 4.00. Cup holders are 50 cents — a good idea since the paper cone gets mushy after a while. Next time, I would bring a large bowl and pour my shave ice into the bowl! LOL!
Other flavors available include regular ones like grape, rootbeer, cherry, lemon-​lime, and orange; and tropical flavors such as lychee, li hing mui, pineapple, coconut, and lilikoi. The creamy flavors are 25 cents more (strawberry frost and orange frost). You may order up to 3 flavors maximum at one time. If you want additions, azuki bean is 25 cents; li hing powder is 50 cents; white cap (condensed milk) is 50 cents; and ice cream with specks of vanilla bean is 25 cents!
Tats Shave Ice is available for parties, fundraisers, and special events. Just call them at (808)221−7525 or get on the mailing list:
. Ask them where they will be next!
My personal tips for better shave ice enjoyment:
1. Face the wind — unless you have a ponytail or crew cut!
2. Lean forward — so it doesn’t drip on your lap or feet!
3. Consume in the sunshine — you’ll get cold soon!
4. Alternate spoon and straw action!
5. Enjoy!

These guys are awesome. Very friendly and full of Aloha. Ono Shaveice with fast service!!! Highly recommended!

The best shave ice ever. Been eating it since high school days. I normally have half coconut half lychee with double snow cap.

Tat’s has the best, finest shaved ice anywhere. Its a small kid time kine that hasn’t gotten all fancy and snotty with all kinds of crazy concoctions. They’re big and those great wide-​brimmed, plastic cups have saved many of those big rainbow treats. The line can get long but its worth the wait! Those guys work hard and its a good value when it hits the spot on our hot Hawaiian days :-) You can find them by checking in at WhereIsTat’s online if they’re not parked at Bayview on Kaneohe Bay Drive.

Good shaved iced.
No crazy, exotic flavors like crème brûlée or durian. Just the basics. Good thing my girls like the basic flavors — strawberry and banana. Always the same, everywhere we go. Makes it easy to order, no wasting time trying to decide between a hundred different options.
On this particular occasion, their shaved ice truck was hired for a 1^st birthday luau (yes, the same luau I’ve referenced in my last three reviews). I’ve also seen them at a couple other events. I don’t know how much their services cost, but I can’t imagine it’s cheap. Still, it’s a nice addition to have at a party, particularly at a kids party.
Anyway, no complaints here. Good flavors. Good size. Friendly. Fast. And it was FREE.

Soft melt in your mouth shave ice. Today there was a pretty long line, about 10 people in front of us… mind you about 8 behind us. Only one hard working guy making and taking the Shave ice orders.
Price is reasonable:
$ 3.00 for a small and $ 3.50 for a large
$ 0.25 for ice cream
$ 0.25 for azuki beans
$ 0.50 for condensed milk
$ 0.25 for Lihing mui
$ 0.50 for cup holder

It’s all about the basics and nostalgia with Tat’s. It all begins with the colorful, rainbow-​hued van. Before the food truck industry became popular, the Tat’s mobile was around for years serving up shaved ice.
You won’t find crazy concoctions at Tat’s — azuki beans, li hing, and frost is as exotic as it comes. The syrups are traditional with some contemporary additions. The syrup isn’t too sweet or tart and has the right amount of flavor. When your cone is just about melted down, you’re in for a treat sucking up the dregs through that mini straw.
Price and size are Tat’s forte. You get a heaping mound for $ 3 – 4 (depends if a special event). A wide brimmed holder is available for the kids. The syrup distribution is just right where you won’t find unflavored patches of ice.
Since Tat’s is mobile, he can cater events and come by the workplace for a fund raiser. Nothing beats a mundane day in the office like Tat’s rolling up outside. Their two-​man show can crank out a finished cone roughly every 30 seconds, so lines and waits are short.
Normally located on the Windward side, Tat’s is one of the best, factoring in taste, cost, and preparation. Just look for that rainbow van.

This was the place to go. Their shave ice was the BEST! Super soft ice and great flavors and the price and size was worth it. But recently, we caught the truck at a baseball game and went to get their shave ice. To our disappointment, they raised their price to $ 4.00 and the size was a lot smaller. It just wasn’t the same. The last time we ordered from them it was $ 3 something and was super big. We were so disappointed. Maybe I’ll give them another chance. Maybe it was a bad day. But for now, back to Shimazu until we can find Tats again.

We hired tats for our daughter’s graduation party. It was a definite hit! I mean, how many parties have a shaved ice truck pull up and you can order whatever you want? The ice was snowy smooth and the flavors and toppings totally tasty.
It was a sunny, hot day, and the shaved ice hit the spot. Several parents are already considering tats for their parties next year. Told them to book early because tats does a lot of fundraisers and parties. No surprise that they’re in demand.
Thank you kelvin and your assistants for the great service and yummy shaved ice. I will highly recommend you! Get on their e-​mail list to find out where they are.

Love it. Actually I like Shimazu better, but considering parking to be easier and a lot more space to enjoy the shave ice, I’d definitely would come back more often for Tat’s.

Used to go to Tats as a kid, It was the best shave ice around back then. Over the years its been hit or miss finding this elusive truck! (my white whale) But my eyes got really big when i saw it at Eat the Street! Got a strawberry /​mango with ice cream. Ahh… just like i remember! brought me back to my hanabata dayz when they were outside the Bay View driving range. Aunty used to take me there, i used to have to look way up, the guy had to stick his head out and lean over to give me the shave ice.
This place is among the top shave ice places, Im just not a fan of Waiola cause is so small. Tats is much bigger, it was the first place i can remember to offer strawberry cream.
Thanks for the memories!

I love Tats! And i will stalk them if necessary. Why drive all the way to North Shore to eat shave Ice when we have the best shave ice on the planet in our district :) I think Ive tried almost all the flavors they’ve had over the past years. Every single one was good. The ice is super melty not semi chunked like at other places. The Strawberry frost is my fave, it’s sooooo good! prolly the reason I’d stalk them lol. My entire Family on my mother’s side are Tats fanatics. We’ve had Tats do shave ice at more than 5 family parties in the last 3 yrs. It’s not cheap by any means but it’s totally worth it. Endless Shave Ice at your disposal for an 1hr and a ½ is priceless lol. When the time is up everyone is usually layed out with cold aches and the kids are wired which is the only downfall. And idk why they choose to have shave ice competitions with each other but the most Ive seen a dummy eat was 8. I almost chirped and died just watching it. Poor Tats had a constant line that never died down. The people that own it are super nice. Good people and awesome shave ice. Usually they park by Bay View Golf course but you can stalk them on twitter if you cant find them. Love my tats :)))

Just ate Tats at Eat the Street in Mililani. The ½ teaspoon of ice cream in my shave ice was a ripoff. If its sold out, it’s sold out, dont cheat the customer. This is the first time Tats did me wrong, how disappointing.

I don’t know if the reason why i thought the shave ice was just ok because it really was or because my friends hyped it up so much.
My hubby and I went mini golfing at bay view and what do we see… Tat’s Shave Ice. I told my hubby that people I know rave about this place… so we decided to try.
The verdict: Soft shaved ice and good flavors, but overall the taste not as good as Waiola’s or Matsumotos.
Also just an FYI, I saw them at the Garlic Eat the Street and they upt their prices during this event. I believe at the event it was $ 4 and at the bay view mini golf it was $ 3. what’s up with that…

Tat’s Shaved Ice participated in the Sept. Eat the Street event. My son quickly eye’d it out since he loves shaved ice, and it was something refreshing for him to eat on a humid sunny afternoon:
Rainbow Shaved Ice — 3 stars — for $ 4, we got the rainbow shaved ice. Although the shaved ice they gave was pretty huge, compared to other shaved ice stores we’ve been to, there wasn’t much of a selection for additions (only icecream, azuki beans or li hing mui flavoring), and a little pricier for basic shaved ice.
Service — 4 stars — staff was friendly and courteous.

For a truck this is good but compared to Waiola’s or Matsumoto’s? It wasn’t that good. Waiola is still my #1 shave ice spot. Tat’s had really nice workers but the actual ice itself was hard and I threw away most of it. Even with the condensed milk topping it wasn’t that good. I wasn’t to fond of the syrups either.

After weeks of trying to seek out Tat’s after our weekly Tuesday basketball games, we finally succeeded in finding the bright Yellow truck parked by bay view golf course.
For me, it was my first Tats experience, I was exhausted and ready for some good Shave Ice. While waiting in line I was scanning the menu and I looked over and saw some kids eating a giant mound of shave ice in one of those anti-​spill cones.
I asked my buddy «So is that the large?»
He responded, «Nah that’s the small»
W. T. F. Seriously, so I opted for the small because well that was more than enough Shave Ice for me. I went with 3 flavors — Banana, Orange Frost, and Lemon Lime.
The frost flavors are 50 cents extra, I think it’s $ 3 for a small and $ 3.50 for a large somewhere around there, with the usual $.25 — $.50 cent add ons for toppings.
Now the Shave Ice itself was great super soft just the way I like it. Syrup was good, at first I didn’t think he put enough when I was watching him make my cone, but I was wrong there was the perfect amount — SO Good!
I’m not a fan of Matsumoto’s and I prefer Waiola myself but damn Tats sure makes a good competitor, so if you see the bright yellow truck, downshift and drift into a parking stall it’ll be well worth the manuever. Be Prepared for lines, we were lucky and barely had to wait but shortly after there was a line of about 10 – 15 people who had to wait for quite some time.

Texture is great and syrups are good (not to sweet). Recommend u give them a try! If you can find them.

Bomb that’s all I have to say! The only thing is that they are not set in one location so you have to follow them at
to see their next location!

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So happy to finally have had Tats again today! It’s been a while since I last experienced their shave ice but it was a very nice treat after a long run. As far as shave ice goes, they are one of the best on the island. The ice is not as finely shaved as Waiola’s but it is very close to it. And they do have about 14 or so flavors. Each shave ice comes in a holder and costs $ 4.00 with ice cream (vanilla with bean specks), azuki beans, and a few others being 25 cents. I think it was 50 cents to get condensed milk on top and the creamy flavors (strawberry and orange cream) are an extra 25 cents.
Service was quick and they didn’t take too long in taking orders and delivering the goods. Especially since the sun was out, it really made the walk back up the hill a nice walk since I pretty much ran back to get some cash after my run. Haha. So happy that there was a baseball game going on which usually brings them out. Also, the guy in charge was teaching the younger one which parts of the ice were harder and how to really create that fine texture which, to me, makes shave ice taste Ono!
They are also offering a frequency card that after 12 shave ice purchases you will get one free small, plain shave ice. To call or for further information, you can reach them at (808)221−7525 or (808)239−2823.
So even though it is on the pricey side I will rate them as a 5 for being one of the best mobile shave ice businesses!