Cancel

Open app

Search

Wahine Kai

4.5 (672 reviews)
Open • 12:00 pm - 9:00 PM
Updated a few days ago
Loading...

Wahine Kai Photos

Business Info

WAHINE KAI ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Moderate noise
Good for kids

You might also consider

More like Wahine Kai

Recommended Reviews - Wahine Kai

Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
Yelp app icon
Browse more easily on the app
Review Feed Illustration

Reviews With Photos

Strawberry bingsu
Alice Y.

Ordered the strawberry bingsu and it is massive!! Great value for the price with how much they give and perfect for sharing. I appreciate that there was a lot of fresh fruit that came with the shave ice and it also includes condensed milk and mochi. I wouldn't say it's the same taste as Korean bingsu dessert spots since this is a Hawaiian shave ice store, but it was really refreshing on a hot summer day. There was only one gentleman working when I went with a friend and he was really kind. There was no wait and the store has a handful of tables available for seating.

Iced Kona Coffee
Jack M.

Oddly enough, I did not have shaved ice at this place, but an iced coffee, because I was dearly in need of one. They use Kona coffee, which is a little more costly, but it certainly fits the theme of this place. The Kona iced coffee was very good. It had good flavor, a medium strong, and certainly hit that afternoon spot. It could have used a little more ice given that it melted pretty quickly. The service was friendly. They offer inside seating and a variety of tea based beverages as well.

Sunset Beach - passion fruit, mango, guava shaved ice over coconut pineapple ice cream with condensed milk topping
Maria C.

Wahine Kai is a wonderful family owned dessert shop located in Scripps Ranch right off of the 15 freeway. I was amazed by all the different types of cold treats that they offer on their menu. They have everything from shaved ice, kakigori, bing su, smoothies, and teas. I ordered the Big Kahuna (large) , Sunset Beach Triple Crown ( 3 flavors) shaved ice, which is served over ice cream. The shaved ice was so fluffy and soft! Shaved ice with ice cream is a must, and also topped off with condensed milk for creamy deliciousness! The staff here were friendly and kind. It was fairly busy when we arrived on a warm summer Saturday evening. With only two workers it took a bit of time but it was worth the wait because they care about the quality and presentation. My family and I were all pleased with our orders. Everything came out perfectly and tasted great! I'm happy to have discovered this place via yelp. The only downside I would say is that theres limited seating inside. Perhaps that shopping center doesnt allow outdoor tables for additional seats. Interior wise the restaurant could also use some updating and their bathroom was out of service. But other than that, the desserts that they offer and the staff were excellent! I will be definitely be returning again

Mango kakigori and tigers blood shave ice
M C.

Softest ice in San Diego. A lot of flavor options. $15 mango kakigori does NOT come with ice cream, condensed milk AND mini mochi. You have to choose whether you want ice cream OR condensed milk OR mini mochi. For that price, you should get all 3 options on top. When we mentioned the sign to the worker, she said , "OH... sorry" Visit 3:30pm 7/3/26

Wahine Kai shave snow
Andrea R.

I'm unfamiliar with shave snow so I definitely didn't realize how big the portion size would be. It's massive! I mean an entire family can share it!!! The Thai tea flavor was delicious and milky as usual, not a big fan of mochi myself but they did seem fresh and perfectly soft. Such a fun beach interior. I was surprised it was empty as we popped in for dessert after dinner on a Friday night. They have SO many flavors, but definitely go hungry since the portions are so large. I could see this being a fun stop after sports games!

Nikki Y.

This place is hands down some of the best shave ice I've had since going to Hawaii! The mango and POG combo was pure perfection. It was so soft, flavorful, and hit the spot. I'm already planning to go back to try the halo halo next time! Service was amazing and there were seats available inside.

Mango Kakigori + strawberries
Nancy T.

Local mom & pop shop with many new added menus such as Korean Bingsu, Kakigori, & a few others since I've last visited. Service is quick, and my favorite part is the amount that you get for what you pay! The shaved ice is soooo fluffy. The atmosphere is simple & island vibes. Nothing extravagant. It was perfect for a hot day!

Mango tango shaved cayenne powder on outside.
Dave M.

This is Hawaiian SHAVED ice, not snow cone granular ice. Many flavors, boba and pop boba, soft mochi. Also ice cream and smoothies. Hawaiian feel inside; bamboo, murals. Vietnamese coffee and egg cream coffee.

Bird of Paradise
Annie T.

Wahine Kai is hands down the closest thing to authentic Hawaiian shaved ice you'll find in San Diego. From the moment you walk in, the laid-back island vibes hit--great Hawaiian music always playing and comfortable indoor seating that makes you want to slow down and enjoy every bite. They offer so many delicious flavor options, but our go-to will always be the Bird of Paradise--perfectly balanced, refreshing, and full of tropical flavor of pineapple, mango and coconut ice cream. The ice is soft and fluffy, just like in Hawaii, and every visit is consistently great. If you're craving a true taste of the islands, Wahine Kai is a must-try. Highly recommend!

Hula Girl
Adessa R.

We just moved to the San Diego area and wanted to find a shaved ice place that also has ice cream in it as well. This place is really cute and it was SO GOOD. I got the Hula Girl, which was peach and piña colada syrup with vanilla ice cream inside, and I'm still thinking about it two days later. It was worth the 30 minute drive to get it. The man who helped us, which I think might've been the owner, was very nice and it was really fun to watch him make the orders. Me and my family will definitely be back!

Kahuna and Big Kahuna

We got two shave ice, portions are huge. Good serving and flavors. Nice treat! We did the pick your own flavors and condensed milk topping on one.

Main counter/ordering area

Everything was great! Reminded me so much of being at Hawaii. Such great staff, very welcoming, and big portions for a great price!! Great decor as well definitely Hawaii/beach vibes!

Blue Hawiian over vanilla ice cream.  This is the SMALL!!  Perfect to share.

After a long hot day at the Safari Park, this shaved ice was perfect!!! Was hoping it had ice cream at the bottom & it does!!! So yummy!

Strawberry kakigori shave ice with mochi, condense milk, and coconut pineapple ice cream

See all

16 days ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

28 days ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

5 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 month ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

7 months ago

Helpful 5
Thanks 3
Love this 3
Oh no 0

9 days ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 month ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 1
Love this 1
Oh no 0
Photo of M C.
71
132
77

3 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

10 months ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0

2 months ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 2
Love this 2
Oh no 0

8 months ago

Helpful 4
Thanks 2
Love this 6
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 4
Thanks 0
Love this 3
Oh no 0
Photo of Dave M.
9
23
11

7 months ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

9 days ago

Business owner information

Photo of Michael H.

Michael H.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

9 months ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0

4 months ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 1
Love this 1
Oh no 0

10 months ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0

2 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

2 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Amy G.
35
26
32

3 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 5
Thanks 0
Love this 3
Oh no 0

1 month ago

They have good amount of yummy choices & Patbingso was good, my fav there. A bit far from our place, so haven't been there recently.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0

4 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

4 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of T B.
11
2
0

5 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

2 months ago

Everything about this place is glorious. Everything on the menu looks delicious. I loved the vibes inside. I want to go here everyday

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 4
Thanks 1
Love this 2
Oh no 0
Photo of Nana M.
4
157
81

1 year ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 3
Oh no 1

2 years ago

Helpful 4
Thanks 2
Love this 3
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 1
Love this 3
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 4
Thanks 2
Love this 3
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 0
Love this 3
Oh no 0

3 years ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 1
Love this 6
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0

4 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Amy B.
5
51
5

1 year ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 1
Love this 3
Oh no 0

Page 1 of 17

Ask the Community - Wahine Kai

Is this business kanaka owned?

Yes

Is Wahine Kai offer shave ice training school now?

Yes

Is the taro milk tea with boba supposed to have white waxy bits in it?

The owner makes the taro milk tea with powdered taro and real taro. The white bits are the taro chunks. It gives the milk tea a thicker consistency because of the starch from the taro. Most places in SD make their taro milk tea out of powder.

Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

You might also consider

The French Oven - La Ficelle, Latte, Chocolate Bouchons

The French Oven

4.6(634 reviews)
2.1 mi•Scripps Ranch
•$

Ordered this for dinner on Friday: Daube de Boeuf Provencale Braised beef with tomatoes, onions,…read moregarlic, white wine, served with pasta and roasted yellow squash and zucchini with garlic cream. Since I was online, I figured I'd avoid temptation at the bakery and also ordered a banana bread, garlic sourdough loaf, pate and oatmeal raisin cookie. Website and Yelp aren't currently showing the correct hours because they're still working back into having dinners. Both sites showed closed at 2, so gave them a call. Yes, they're open. Nice quiet parking lot with lots of parking. Customer service was very friendly and my bags were ready to go. The beef was nice and hot along with the pasta. On my long drive home (to Valley Center), couldn't resist and tried the oatmeal cookie first. It was delicious - probably best cookie i've had ever. Flavorful, nice and moist. The garlic sourdough loaf was made with roasted garlic. Some of the best bread I've ever tasted. That with the chicken liver, pork & pistachio pate (when I got home) was truly delicious. On to the main course. The pasta was nice and al dente. Roasted vegs were yummy and the garlic sauce was delicious. The beef was nice and tender and well seasoned. Generous portions of both - enough for leftovers. Definitely keeping an eye on this place - It's a splurge every now and then, but life is short. Sorry for no photos, hunger took over. :)

10/06/26 today's baguette improvement needed. Got two this…read moremorning. - both were over cooked. No time to bring them back. Noticed too late. - few hours later the bread was so hard that it is clearly not a fresh made bread. Fresh bread of the day does not harden that much in just few hours. I hope French Oven will pay more attention because it used to be better. Looking forward to that quality baguette again.

Photos
The French Oven
The French Oven - Royal cake, White Chocolate cake, fruit tart, lemon tart.

Royal cake, White Chocolate cake, fruit tart, lemon tart.

The French Oven - That's the brioche cut right in the middle. On the top right you see the total amount of "Nutella filling".

See all

That's the brioche cut right in the middle. On the top right you see the total amount of "Nutella filling".

Hinar - Banana Krokan Cake

Hinar

4.4(278 reviews)
0.2 mi•Scripps Ranch
•$$

5 stars for consistency alone, but luckily the coffee is actually really good too!…read more You know how sometimes you go to a coffee shop and your experience depends entirely on which barista happens to be working that day? Not here. Every single time I come in, the coffee is consistently good. The baristas are clearly well trained, and it shows. This has officially become my go-to coffee spot when I want a reliably great cup of good ol' coffee. No guessing, no "hopefully they make it right today" -- it's just good every time. And the desserts deserve a shoutout too! They're just as delicious and definitely worth ordering, although they're the perfect size to share with a friend... if you're feeling generous. Love finding a place that just gets it right every time!

Terrible. Don't go. I ordered: 1. Mushroom and chive tart:…read more stale old pastry. She offered to warm it so I accepted. It came out room with A. Room temp stale non-buttery pastry. B. COLD MUSHROOMS. I ate the middle because I was starving and threw out the pastry. What a disappointment. Pathetic 2. Kouign amann: because if I see one I have to try it. Stale. Not crispy fresh, not buttery, no flavor- sweet or otherwise. Struggling bakeries like this one skimp on expensive butter and good sugars. The results are obvious- stale stale stale. Not caramelization of the sugars. To add insult to injury, I paid with a tip thinking to sit and beat the heat for an hour but there was ZERO seating and the staff even passed me my un-warmed pastry in a to-go container because they knew there was no place for me to sit. People at the long 'community table' were lined up filling all the seats with their backs to the wall. All the seats on the other side either had bags or were so awkward because they faced another person with no room for my things on the narrow table. And it wasn't even that cold inside. Terrible terrible. What a waste of an afternoon and my precious cash.

Photos
Hinar - Seating area

Seating area

Hinar - Such a beautiful presentation!

Such a beautiful presentation!

Hinar - Iced Vanilla Matcha Latte

See all

Iced Vanilla Matcha Latte

Jaunt Coffee Roasters - Interior

Jaunt Coffee Roasters

4.6(859 reviews)
3.4 mi
•$
Free WiFi
Outdoor seating

I love this place and that's I have to stop by here at least 2-3 times a week. From their service…read moreto their drinks they really do give a damn about how people feel. One of the girls literally remembers me and my brothers. Him and I never been there together. She just knew by looking at us haha. Honestly she really does give off good energy in the morning to start your day. Theres also a couple of guys always being attentive to giving you any extra things you need behind the counter! The other thing I love about this place is the food! The burritos and pastries are amazing. A bonus I really like is their support for other businesses for example like a local hot sauce company with their food. Or the chocolate they use for their drinks is from a local San Diego company. This is truly amazing!!! You have to stop by and give it a try. The only down side I would say is the parking spaces are very tight but this isn't their fault!

I love the creations that this coffee shop comes up with! I tried their seasonal salted vanilla…read morelatte with pistachio cold foam, and it was outstanding. If you're bringing your furry friend the outside space is limited. It's a canopy tent with four tables underneath. It does look like this place gets crowded so might be better to leave the pups at home. Additionally I saw that since this place has to negotiate parking space with the other tenants they recommend parking your car on the street if you're planning on working/studying. The parking in the lot is difficult to come by even if you're just swinging by to pick up a beverage. For this reason I give this place a 4, but for their drinks alone it's a solid 5

Photos
Jaunt Coffee Roasters - Freshly baked empanadas are available in beef, chicken, mushroom & goat cheese, sweet corn & basil, bacon & egg, and ham & cheese.

Freshly baked empanadas are available in beef, chicken, mushroom & goat cheese, sweet corn & basil, bacon & egg, and ham & cheese.

Jaunt Coffee Roasters - Five different breakfast burritos! Comes with a side of salsa.

Five different breakfast burritos! Comes with a side of salsa.

Jaunt Coffee Roasters - Flat White

See all

Flat White

O'Brien's Boulangerie

O'Brien's Boulangerie

4.4(770 reviews)
3.8 mi
•$$
Grab-and-go
Catering service

Cannot recommend this place enough!!! Been here a couple…read moretimes for the dinner service (100/10 btw) but today was my first time coming for their breakfast. WOW WOW WOW!! The crowd of people was what you would expect for 10 am on a Saturday but there was virtually no wait. Just enough time to thoroughly browse the menu, take in the beautiful display case of baked goods, and by the time you've decided what you're in the mood for, you're at the register. After placing our order we headed upstairs to find a table and no less than 10 minutes our food had arrived hot and fresh. I ordered the Short Rib Benedict which was heavenly and the Coconut Matcha Cloud with oatmilk and seriously one of the best matchas i've had in SD. Thank you to everyone at O'Briens for the wonderful experience and outstanding service!

What an awesome french style bakery! Its an unusual bakery building setting. Its nestled on the…read morecorner of Stowe. When you enter youll notice all the parking to your right is all taken, but dont fret, there's more parking in the back. If that's all full you can park on street i suppose where a lot of cars were parked. I came on a Sunday so it was rather full and I almost parked on the street until I gave it another go at the parking lot. A lot of people come and go quickly though. A lot of people make phone and online orders so you see the doors to the entrance opening and closing a lot around lunch. There are also tables outside of the restaurant under a canopy like cover. The benches have qr codes for the menu. When you enter you go to the order dine in line or online/phone orders line depending how you ordered. There's only 2 tables downstairs but the rest of the tables are upstairs. There's a bathroom upstairs and downatairs. You can also order through the kiosk for to go orders or you can go to the register to order for dine in and to go. At the line youll see your pastries and the bread and there will be a menu book right before you get in line and at the register. You order and then they call your name when your order is ready. You can find a table after you pick up your food. Or you can order at your table and someone will serve it to you. I got a strawberry eclaire and a banana creme brulee. I also ordered a cubano... bc you know. I loooovvve cubanos. I got into it when I watched Dexter when it first came out. Dexter loved cubanos! The eclaire was fantastic. The custard was good and the whip cream was delicious! This was a very nice eclaire. The banana creme brulee was good, just different than what i was used to. It tasted cakey. Still good though. My cubano was pretty good too. I loved that it was on a panini flat bread and toasted perfectly. The pork was bland but the ham made up for that. The cheese was great in the sandwich and overall this sandwich was good, not bad at all. The fries it came with was pretty good also. Its a bit pricey but I think the quality and taste makes up for it. The cashier was nice and helpful. By the time lunch was about over, maybe around 2pm, it wasnt as busy at all. Id definitely come again!

Photos
O'Brien's Boulangerie
O'Brien's Boulangerie
O'Brien's Boulangerie

See all

Wahine Kai - shavedice - Updated October 2026

Loading...
Loading...
Loading...