Jo Jo's Shave Ice

One of my favorite stops while we were in Kauai was Jo Jo's Shave Ice in Waimea. This place came highly recommended from my "Hawaii travel bible", also know as a book called Kauai Revealed. Now, my love for shaved ice runs deep, so I was really excited to check this place out - and it did not disappoint, it was da 'bomb!

I made it one of my missions while on vacation to test several shaved ice stands and none of them even came close to Jo Jo's. What gave it the edge for me was how tightly packed they got that ice. Must have been the old school shaving machine Jo Jo's uses to shave the huge chunk of ice. They also have to sharpen that blade several times a day to keep up with all the people who stand in line for this fun treat. Enjoy the "tour" of this Kauai gem!
There's nothing special about the building, in fact, it looks kinds scary from the outside, but don't let that stop you if you're ever in the area. This place has a crazy amount of syrup flavors, over 60 to be exact and they've also created some specialty combinations. Some of the flavors that caught my eye were: butterscotch, cinnamon, coffee, mai thi, papaya, and root beer.
In the end, JJ and I ended up going with some simple flavors considering all that they offered. I ordered Strawberry and Passion Orange, and JJ decided on Cherry and Grape, a combo Jo Jo's calls, the plain and simple!
The aftermath....That's right, I even drank the syrup once the ice was gone, that's how good this shaved ice was from Jo Jo's! I tried to convince JJ to drive back to Jo Jo's for one more time before we flew out, but it was a little out of the way, so I guess I'll have to wait until we go back to Kauai, and believe me, we're going back, for sure!