Annie’s Island Shave Ice

After walking through Lahaina, this is a good place to cool off with some good shave ice.
Free public parking is right across the street.
In April 2013 I discovered Annie’s Island Shave Ice is now BREAKWALL. Same good shave ice.

I first went to this place in 2008. Apparently, they have moved up to an actual physical brick and mortar location. Back then, their location was basically a tarp, a counter, and a cooler

I’m not into shave ice, but my husband loved it. I tried the pineapple coconut ice cream– delicious! Remember, this place is cash only.

Tiny place by our parking and I’m glad we tried it out!
This is the only place in the island that has lycheé ice cream, I wish I would have tried it out, I’ll make a note to go back when we visit Maui again.
I had the shave ice and remember to get the small! The small is more that enough, I can’t imgaine what the large looks like. The lady who worked there was very nice and made the short, but fun experience even better.
I love the décor!

Wow, this place was a complete disappointment. The sign in the front reads Maui’s «AUTHENTIC» shave ice, but sadly, there’s nothing «authentic» or great about it. I got the shave ice with ice cream, for an additional buck (for what seemed like a measly tablespoon sized scoop).Two shave ice with ice cream cups came out to something like $ 13.00! I might have paid that much willingly at Matsumotos, Waiolas, or Aoki’s in Oahu, but this place was terrible. Like other reviewers said, there were hard chunks in the middle, and the syrup was lackluster. My guess is that tourists might think that it’s good because they don’t know what good, «AUTHENTIC» shave ice is supposed to taste like. I was unimpressed, to say the least.

We happened to try this place first, and then on another day we went to just one other shave ice place off the highway. This place is wayyy better. I had mine with the Maui vanilla ice cream on the bottom. It was yummy! The shave ice here is flavorful through and through, you’re not left with just chunks of residual ice. There are plenty of shave ice places all over the island, but this one is probably one of the better ones.
One last tip: If you are planning on going to Maui, be sure to bring a few re-​usable shopping bags. None of the stores hand out plastic anymore.

I waited to review this strictly for the nostalgia… it’s a chilly winter night here in the SF Bay. I can’t tell you how much I miss it… and you guys. Thanks for always putting a smile on my face…
it’s so much fun to sit there and watch the sinewy line of faces turn so happy and rainbow-​coloured as they walk away, hands chilled & buzzed on sugar water. So simple! =) Thank you!
(see you soon)

You’ll find Annie’s on Prison Street (named for the old prison several blocks away) just around the corner from all the tourist activity on Front Street in Lahaina. We just sort of bumbled onto it after parking the car. What a find!
The place was pretty quiet when we got there, there was plenty of seating and the service was quick, courteous and helpful. The suggestion to add some ice cream to the bottom of the cup was stellar.
Being the cheapskate I am, I thought «Six bucks for a snowcone?» But my wife talked me into it and the shave ice is fabuous. Nothing like the sorry little snowcones I’ve had before. There was enough syrup to flavor everything, and I really liked the little bit of ice cream at the bottom. Annie’s rocks!

It was pretty good — plenty of ice and syrup. Ice cream in the bottom isn’t included in the price but is routinely asked if desired.
Location is convenient and the weather definitely makes shave ice more appealing.

The shave ice here is great! The blade is sharp, so the shave ice comes out snowy, not slushy. I like the POG and rainbow flavors. Sometimes they give you a coupon for a free future ice cream add-​on, who can complain about that? The couple times I have been here, it has been one dude who’s making shave ice. He is super-​nice, regardless of how busy he is.
Skip the shave ice places on touristy Front Street. Head to Annie’s on Prison Street. Yep, that’s right folks, Prison Street. It is right across the street from an elementary school, too, so lots of kids line up here after school. No worries, Lahaina is not dumb enough to place an elementary school next to a REAL prison. I certainly would not get shave ice here, either, if a real prison was next door. Unless it is a prison for bad shave ice.

Away from the crowds on Front St. is a small little establishment, that many would barely notice except for the free-​standing billboard placed on Front Street to let people know Annie’s is just around the corner. Besides that, this place could go by almost completely unnoticed. What Annie has that many other shaved ice establishments do not, is an indoor area with 3 – 4 high-​tables with stools to sit and hang out. Situated on each table is a metal bucket with napkins layered in a floral-​like arrangement. Annie is a very friendly and talkative person who will look at every opportunity to strike a conversation with you when there’s not a lot of people in the shop.
Prices are a bit higher than the local competition (i.e. Ululani’s Shave Ice). A large shaved ice will include 2 flavors and will bring you down $ 5.50. Each additional flavor is $ 0.50. It can get a bit tricky if your eye tends to wander to the suggested combinations, which usually include 3 flavors. Because of that, you can expect to pay an additional $ 0.50 for each flavoring above the 2^nd. I guess the higher price can be attributed because of the added overhead of being indoors with seating.
Annie’s has the same turqoise-​colored ice maker as Ululani’s and uses similar sized blocks of ice, but I found the shaved ice to be slightly sticky and dense, making it a bit difficult to scoop with the spoon. Because of this, the syrup only flowed ²⁄₃ down from the top. It’d probably be a good idea if she poked holes with a straw into the ice, so the syrup could get to the lower half. If you find yourself wanting a bit more flavoring, just let Annie know and she will gladly oblige. The syrup was passable in flavor though seemed to be lacking in that wow factor. It was good, but I guess I had higher expectations since I had tried Ululani’s first.

My husband found this place on Unilocal.It is off of the main street in Lahinia. However, though it doesn’t seem really busy, it did taka a bit to get our shave ice. The thinly shaved, lightly packed ice is worth the wait. They make their own syrups which is a plus in my book. I had sour plum and mango; my husband got one of their special combinations. We had our shave ice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream — yum!

annie’s shave ice is on maui. unfortunately I could not localize properly. but well .:
At annie’s shave ice, there is the best shaved ice I have ever tasted!
You can choose between the wonderful flavors, and depending on ice-​cream and sweet beans are pleased to still get under the shaveice.
one shave ice costs:
«Small» (which is already quite large!) 4dollar incl 2 flavour
and large 8dollar
I’ve ever ordered only the small. The ranges also perfect!
this shave ice is a thousand times better than all the others at frontstreet.
you can walk with your annie’s shave ice to the banyan tree — the shave ice from the other shops are going to melt long long before ^^
so try it yourself:) it’s fantastic!

Outstanding shave ice and service to boot.
Just like how the Original JoJo’s is around the corner and hidden from the main road in Kauai, you should skip all the pretenders and head around the corner to Annie’s. It’s phenomenal!
The previous reviewers have done a great job outlining WHY this shave ice is the best. Let me just add that the server has got to be one of the most friendly and generous ones around.
The first time we went, there was a modest wait (to be expected when the product is this good), but he hooked us up with some ice cream because he felt bad. We then decided to go out with our shave ice for a walk in the park, but couldn’t find a place to throw out our cup when he noticed us passing by and actually came OUT of the shop to take our used cups and toss them for us. Crazy!
Do not leave Maui without stopping by Annie’s!

This is by far the best shave ice place I’ve ever tried. Why? First, they use filtered water, which is then run through the finest ice shaving machine around. The result is shave ice that is so fine that touching it will melt it and eating it tastes like cool air. The syrups are far from cloying, and they allow numerous combos, such as POG and the Volcano (root beer/​cherry). The best is the tart plum, which they also carry in powder form (if you’ve ever had tamarindo or chili saladitos, you’ll recognize the flavor). If you’re smart, take up the offer of a scoop of maui vanilla ice cream at the bottom. The price is right, too; it’s $ 4 for a «small», which pushed me to my eating limits. I can’t imagine eating a large. Their lone employee Brian was a friendly expat from Nor Cal, and he offers up samples and info on everything they serve.
I was planning on coming back to Maui anyway, but now I’ve got another reason. Don’t waste your time on the tiny neon colored Shave Ice you’ll find on Front Street; you’ll regret that purchase the moment you try Annie’s.

Enormous, sweet, refreshing, syrup covered snowball when you’re ready to pass out from the heat. Get the secret ice cream on the bottom and share one. They’re very large.
The people who work there were super friendly too.

I think JT’s review has it right. This place is THE place to go for shave ice in Lahaina. Too bad its around the corner and out of main sight, and you see so many other tourists just eating their shave ice from shallow neon plastic cups.
The real deal is Annies. According to my friend, who had a conversation with the owner, they make their own syrups in house and grate their ice finer so it suspends the syrup better. The result is in the great taste. They definitely pack the ice in a large cup, more than any other shave ice place I’ve been to. I thought it was cute they use a rice spoon to pat it down and shape it.
Get the snow cap!

How could this place get five stars???
They syrup too sweet and had no flavor.
Don’t waste your time and money. Try Ululani’s down da blocks. If you have more time den try Tom’s Mini Mart in Wailuku.
Friendly staffs, I give you that.

CASH ONLY, there’s an ATM outside the clothing shop next door.
Awesome on a hot, sunny, Lahaina day. Delicious flavors. Try the one with ice cream on the bottom.
Huge even for the small size, remember it’s just ice and water.
We tried one with watermelon, and loved it. The strawberry banana one was a little artificial tasting but good. The ice cream on the bottom rocked our world. Perfect after salt-​water sports such as surfing. Or also awesome after a walk down sultry front street.

Do you really want to be one of the typical tourists on Front, scraping shave ice out of the neon plastic cups? Those things are deceptively low volume. Like me, you want quality and quantity, right?
Come here and you will be SO glad you did. People totally get their money’s worth in excellent shave ice at Annie’s. It is absolutely worth the trip to this quiet end of Front Street.
Four bucks for a «small» that basically, isn’t. They dish out a humongous portion and it is GOOD. The velvety ice is double or triple again the height of the foam cup it’s served in. No lie.
This shave ice was not sickly sweet like one I tried from a shack in the parking lot of Café O’Lei Kihei. You can just tell and taste that Annie’s uses high quality natural flavourings.
POG [passion orange guava] is amazing and refreshing. The Volcano [root beer, cherry] is great too. There’s a big list to choose from.
If you’re not just thirsty, you can get hot dogs here too, including a Hawaiian red dog which I really wanted to try, but my damn stomach was bloated from the massive shave ice already.
I’m a sucker for a great deal, but when you get amazingly awesome taste to boot? That makes it hella win.
Annie’s rox.
:D