After Years of Searching, Finally, A Great Hawaiian Shaved Ice in Las Vegas

Our search has spanned a decade, but finally we have found a great Hawaiian-style shaved ice in Las Vegas. Where? At the place that also serves the city’s best ice cream: Lappert’s at the California in downtown Las Vegas.

We’ve long touted the ice cream at Lappert’s, but during a recent visit, another temptation  caught our eye. This bad boy stands nearly a foot tall, no joke.

Shaved ice Las Vegas
Summer just got schooled.

Yes, there are other places that sell snow cones in Las Vegas. Lame. Hawaiian-style shaved ice is the ultimate frosty treat.

How do we know? We grew up in Hawaii. And while we didn’t care for very much of the cultural cluster that is Hawaii, the shaved ice was truly epic. (Oh, and we’re fully cognizant of the fact they don’t call it “shaved ice” in Hawaii. There, it’s “shave ice.” But we think that sounds moronic, so we’ll stick with the English version. By the way, Lappert’s calls it “shaved ice,” too.)

Proper Hawaiian shaved ice doesn’t have big clumps of ice. It’s shaved finely, so when the colored syrup is poured over it, it sticks, rather than turning the ice into sludge.

Lappert's shaved ice
Come to daddy.

The massive serving of shaved ice at Lappert’s is a mere $3.50, a fact which makes it even more delicious.

You may not listen to a Las Vegas blog when it suggests you try a chicken parm sandwich somewhere, or if it steers you away from a nightclub (all of them) or show (“Defending the Caveman”).

But trust this one when it says you must put a visit to Lappert’s on your Las Vegas bucket list. Oh, and we’re right about that other stuff, too.