Best of Cleveland 2017: Hawaiian Shave Ice

Nick Kudej loves Hawaiian shave ice and had a feeling that Clevelanders would too. So he bought the Fairview Park building that now houses 808 Shave Ice and signed the contract — all while vacationing in Maui last year. “Shave ice in Hawaii is our ice cream,” says the former commercial banker who’s visited Hawaii 20 times. “It’s on every corner.” Customers can watch as Japanese shaving machines turn freshly frozen ice blocks into powder. “It drops right into the cup like snowfall from the sky,” he says. That snow is then drenched in your choice of more than 30 flavorings — think blue raspberry, cherry and kiwi — flown in from Honolulu. “I’m not advocating that we’re a replacement for ice cream — my wife and I just went out for ice cream two days ago,” he says. “But we are something different and unique.” 21280 Lorain Road, Fairview Park, 808ice.com