New SLO County shave ice spot opens with Hawaiian flavors. Take a look inside
A new shave ice spot has landed in San Luis Obispo County, with signature creations and plenty of inspiration from Hawaii.
Kai Shave Ice in Morro Bay had its soft opening June 18, serving shave ice bowls from two manual ice machines, acai bowls and poke bowls coming soon.
“It doesn’t even feel like we’re working, it just feels like we’re hanging out here with family,” co-owner Hector De La Fuente told The Tribune. “There’s so many good memories we have with shave ice and people, the locals, they appreciate it.”
De La Fuente owns Kai Shave Ice with business partners Alejandro Flores and Marco Lucatero, and would often all travel together to the Hawaiian islands with their families.
The itinerary they most looked forward to on their trips? Shave ice spots.
“That’s the one thing that brings us together every time, is shave ice places,” De La Fuente said. “We’ve been eyeing this place for the past year, and we were always thinking, ‘What can we open here? What does Morro Bay need?’”
The business partners got the lease for 255 Morro Bay Blvd. in January, and spent half the year getting permits, licensing and perfecting their signature shave ice desserts.
The spot’s logo is a smiling shave ice bowl, with the ice taking the same shape as the Morro Rock, the co-owners said.
What’s on the menu at new shave ice spot in SLO County?
Kai Shave Ice is known for its signature shave ice bowls, with syrups made in-house, with even a few dye-free options for syrups.
“By making some preset options we were able to show people what Hawaiian shave ice is all about,” De La Fuente said. “If you go to Hawaii, you’re supposed to know what all the ingredients are. Here we make that easier.”
Popular shave ice bowls are the tropical island with mango, watermelon and pineapple syrups, ice cream and popping boba and the coastal breeze with guava, lilikoi and mango syrups, ice cream and mango sauce.
“I had told another customer, if you sit outside, enjoy your shave ice, close your eyes, listen to the music, feel the breeze, you can pretend you’re in Hawaii,” Flores told The Tribune.
The shave ice spot also serves acai bowls and tropical dirty sodas. Flores noted the popularity of dirty sodas in Hawaii, and that it appears to have brought the craze to Morro Bay, selling 10 sodas the first day the drinks were added to the menu.
Poke bowls will be the last addition to Kai Shave Ice’s menu, and will be ready to order in the next few weeks, Flores said, once permitting allows.
“It feels like we’re just serving smiles all day long here,” De La Fuente said.
Kai Shave Ice will also celebrate its grand opening on July 19, and is already slotted to be a vendor at Walgreens’ grand opening in Morro Bay on July 31.
For more information
Kai Shave Ice at 255 Morro Bay Blvd is open every day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
For more information about the new shave ice spot, visit its Instagram at kaishaveicemb.