544 E. Morrell StreetA few years ago, the kids got a snow cone machine from Santa. We don’t use it all that often. It’s not really a pain to use the machine itself. We just have a dozen of those big bottles of flavors and the kids have to mix like every color which leaves a mess all over the counter. I don’t love cleaning it up.
L has kind of forgot about it but B asks all the time. “Can we make snow cones? Can we make snow cones?” We almost always tell him no and then he gets sad and then I feel bad.
He asked J last Friday if they could make snow cones. She said no, but she told him after dinner, maybe we could go some place that does shaved ice and he could get a big one with whatever flavors he wanted.
That place is Hau’oli Shave Ice in Otsego. It’s a little shack set up in a parking lot on Morrell Street and East Allegan Street (M-89) on the east side of Otsego. The small building is tucked along the fence next to the H & R Block and B & C Trophy.
There’s a lot to choose from. This isn’t just a snow cone place where you pick your flavor. There are other options, including adding ice cream, to make this a pretty unique experience in West Michigan.
We all kind of did something different when it came to ordering.
I was the boring one so we’ll start there. I got small with just orange flavoring. It’s the only thing I ever get when I get snow cones or shaved ice. I like the boring old orange flavor.
L also only did one flavor but she got ice cream with hers too. She did the mango. She likes everything mango right now so that wasn’t really a surprise. She also stuck to the small size. The ice cream is in the bottom so it soaks up all of that flavoring that drips out of the ice.
B did two flavors with ice cream and he got a medium. Sometimes his eyes are bigger than his stomach. He wanted the biggest one but we compromised on a medium. He didn’t finish it so we were right and got to tell him so. His flavor choices were kind of an odd combination. He got cotton candy and pineapple. And while they don’t seem on the surface to go together, he loved it and even J took a bite and said it was actually pretty good.
J was the fancy one among us. She ordered the Hau’oli. This signature creation is a mixture of tropical flavorings and includes ice cream and whipped cream on top.
We noticed as we got to the bottom of our bowls there’s a fun little addition to the shaved ice. All of us had a frozen gummy bear hidden somewhere deep inside the mound of ice. After I found the mine, the kids went digging to see if they could find one in their bowl too.
One thing we also noticed as we were picking up our bowls from the side window of the building is that they’re not stingy with the flavor. All of ours had pools of extra flavoring in the bowl, but if you don’t think there’s enough, just ask for more.
Our cost for our after dinner snack was a little over $20 before tip.
Hau’oli is such a simple concept but, as I mentioned earlier, it’s pretty unique to Southwest Michigan. You can find snow cone places at the county fairs but Hawaiian shaved ice is different. Shaved ice is fluffier than crushed ice used in snow cones and the flavor combinations lean towards the tropical. I guess the ice cream in the shaved ice is something popular in Hawaii….I wouldn’t know..never been there…but I know people get excited about it.