1
Mosa's Ice Cream
Tiny, beloved ice cream shop in Moiliili with an almost cult-like following. Unusual flavors made in small batches — the taro and haupia are perennial hits.
2600 S King St #106, HI
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20 spots on Oʻahu
Best Sweets & Desserts
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2
Hammond's Ice Cream
A Hawaii Kai ice cream destination drawing fans from across the island. The flavors rotate seasonally and the scoops are legendary in size.
Known forIce CreamSundaesShave IcePancakes
7192 Kalanianaʻole Hwy d103, HI
3
Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice
Maui's most decorated shave ice, brought over to Kapahulu. David and Ululani Yamashiro opened a 65-square-foot stand in Lahaina in 2008 and had to double it within three months; this is the brand's first Oahu shop. Ask for a snow cap and ice cream underneath.
909 Kapahulu Ave unit 4, HI
4
Waffle and Berry
A locally owned counter tucked into a Waikiki lower level, built on acai and waffles made to order. Nothing carries fillers or added juice, there is a small superfoods bar for building your own bowl, and the walls are covered in photographs of regulars. Get an acai bowl and a waffle to split.
Known forAcai Bowl
2250 Kalakaua Avenue, HI
5
Vintage Books
A bookstore front with a speakeasy hidden behind it. Travis Sasaki, once co-owner of Bas Books, designed the room to feel like a private club and opened in December 2024 in the old 3660 on the Rise space; the shelves out front are genuine out-of-print Hawaiiana, not props. Ask for the Private Collection at the counter — the password is please.
Known forTacosShave IceHaupia
3660 Waialae Ave Ste 101, Honolulu, HI 96816
6
Poke For The People
Twenty years as a Hawaii public school teacher, then a poke counter. Chris grew up in Central Oahu fishing and diving the North Shore, and opened here in 2018 to sell Hawaiian-style poke built on that same water. Get the spicy ahi.
Known forPoke BowlCrab SaladSpicy Ahi
66-214 Kamehameha Hwy Unit A, HI
7
Drip Studio Coffee Honolulu
A coffee nerd's room in the middle of downtown. Drip Studio pours single origins from small independent roasters, DAK among them, dials in every pour over, and cares about the ceramic it lands in. Order a pour over and take the bar seat.
Known forLatteMatcha
1114 Fort Street Mall, HI
8
Please Come Again
An ice cream shop that is also a surf and skate shop, which in Kailua tracks. Jo and Kyle Wai Lin moved over from the Bay Area and opened in November 2024, churning sixteen flavors in Kailua on seasonal local ingredients, with affogatos pulled on Tradition Coffee Roasters espresso. Get the matcha soft serve — it runs deep without turning bitter.
Known forMatcha
322 Kuulei Rd, Kailua, HI 96734
9
Cafe Miro Kaimuki
A shave ice window on Waialae Avenue that almost nobody has written about. The handful of people who have found it rate it near perfect. Go for the shave ice.
3446 Waialae Ave, HI
10
Niu Soft Serve
Coconut-based soft serve that never reads as a compromise. This Hawaiian-owned Moiliili parlour makes everything dairy-free and rotates four flavors a week through ube, pandan and coconut. Get it as the hot kulolo sauce sundae.
Known forUbe Soft ServeSoft Serve
2320 S King St, HI
11
GeckoGirlz
Cane sugar syrups, never corn syrup, in flavors that actually grow here. Gecko Girlz has been at this since 1997 on the Big Island and brought it to Diamond Head Center — lilikoi, lychee and mango over shave ice, with a coconut-based snow cap for anyone off dairy. Add azuki beans and mochi.
Known forShave IceMochiHaupiaCold Brew
3045 Monsarrat Ave, Honolulu, HI 96815
12
Asato Family Shop Waikiki
A shave ice omakase, which is not a phrase many places could carry. The Asato family opened on Pali Highway in 2018 and put this counter inside a Waikiki clothing store across from the Duke statue; Neale Asato and family were James Beard nominated in 2026, and the ice comes off a machine imported from Japan. Come for the four-course dessert tasting, not just a scoop.
Known forShave Ice
2424 Kalākaua Ave ste 113, HI
13
Hi Pie Bakery
A North Shore bakery producing some of the finest pies in Hawaii. The lilikoi cream pie and the guava chiffon are worth the drive from town.
Known forPiesPastriesLatteMatcha
66-526 Kamehameha Hwy, HI
14
Choco Le'a
Around twenty kinds of truffle a day, all made by hand from a family recipe. Erin runs it with her uncle Colins Kawai — they met at a wedding expo and worked out they were related — and after four years without a storefront the shop landed in Manoa Square. Try whatever lilikoi truffle is in the case that day.
2909 Lowrey Ave, Honolulu, HI 96822
15
Island Shave Ice & Creamery
Shave ice with mochi made the same morning. This Kapolei shop churns its own ice cream — ube, haupia, chocolate macadamia — and rolls mochi daily in strawberry cream, peanut butter chocolate and ube to go on top. Add the mochi to the shave ice; that is the whole trick.
Known forShave IceIce CreamMochiHaupia
711 Kamokila Blvd, HI
16
Sing Cheong Yuan Bakery
A Chinatown bakery with forty years behind it before the current owners arrived. Wesley and Jie Mei Fang came from Guangdong and took it over in 2008, keeping the har gow and manapua in-house on family recipes while adding mochi mooncakes and crack seed. Try the half moon — the one most visitors walk straight past.
Known forHalf MoonBaked ManapuaMoon Cakes
1027 Maunakea St, Honolulu, HI 96817
17
Epiya Bakery
A Japanese-inspired bakery in downtown Honolulu turning out immaculate pastries. The custard croissant and matcha rolls disappear fast.
Known forCroissant
1296 S Beretania St. #105, HI
18
Bar Maze
A cocktail bar running an omakase, taking both halves equally seriously. Justin Park of Bar Leather Apron built it with chef Ki Chung, whose kitchens include The French Laundry, Benu and The Fat Duck, and the drinks borrow ingredients from the courses so the pairings genuinely interlock. Go for the full cocktail pairing; that is the point of the room.
Known forBourbon Barrel Smoked Salmon ToastTriple Seared Wagyu SteakMiyazaki Wagyu
604 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu, HI 96813
19
Sage Creamery
A small-batch creamery started in a pandemic and named for a brother. Zachary Villanueva lost hours in spring 2020 and began churning ice cream named for Daniel, the brother he lost to blood cancer in 2018; he and Courtney now build it on organic dairy with Laie vanilla, Manoa chocolate and Manoa kiawe honey. Try whichever flavor is running on the local honey.
91-3575 Kauluakoko St #3005, Ewa Beach, HI 96706, USA
20
Midorimatcha Honolulu
Kaimuki's matcha haven. Every drink is made with care, the aesthetic is minimal and calming, and the matcha quality is legitimately exceptional.
Known forMatcha LatteMatcha Soft ServeMatchaLatte
Kūhiō Ave. #143 Honolulu, HI
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