Brian's Shave Ice

Everything about Brian’s Shave Ice evokes the tropics: the bright mural of surfboard and palm trees on the wall, the tiki-style furniture, and syrups made of cane sugar flown in from Hawaii. The sweet sauces decorate spheres of fine snow crafted using ice shavers from Japan. Their flavors have included watermelon, mocha frappe, and a strawberries-and-cream flavor with strawberry syrup that’s made in house. Patrons can opt to fill their ice balls with azuki beans, creamy dollops of ice cream, or mochi—a dulcet rice paste that assumes a pleasant chewiness when chilled. Shelves in the shop brim with intriguing ingredients, including green-tea paste, pearls of tapioca, Ghiradelli chocolate, and organic acai. Brian’s also serves cones of Dole Whip, a pineapple-flavored soft-serve treat normally difficult to find outside of Oahu, Disneyland, or kitchens where somebody is trying to figure out what a platypus eats.