Overview
Tropical Ice Cream And Café is a casual dessert-and-cafe stop in Kīhei on Maui, not just an ice cream counter. The available evidence points to a place that mixes sweet treats with a broader food-and-drink menu, and it appears to stay open late enough to work as an after-dinner stop. Google Places lists it as operational at 1913 S Kihei Rd Unit C with a 4.9 rating from 248 reviews, and the restaurant’s own site matches that same address. (tropicalicecream.net)
For a traveler, the appeal is simple: this looks like a high-rated, easygoing place for dessert, coffee, and possibly a light meal in South Maui. There is one small identity wrinkle worth noting: third-party listings sometimes describe the business using slightly different wording or building context, but the core identity, phone number, and address are consistent across the strongest sources. (tropicalicecream.net)
Cuisine & Specialties
The best-supported picture is that Tropical Ice Cream And Café serves ice cream and dessert classics alongside a wider café menu that includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, drinks, and fresh juice. TripAdvisor and the property’s own site both describe it that way, and a tenant listing from Kihei Kalama Village says it offers “treats and sweets” plus a “full food and drink menu,” which is broader than a simple ice cream shop. (tripadvisor.com)
- Overall menu style: casual café plus dessert shop; the lane is broad enough for a sweet stop, coffee break, or light meal. (tripadvisor.com)
- Notable specialties with support: banana split, sundaes, waffle cones, soft-serve Dole Whip, vanilla, chocolate, cookies-and-cream, cappuccino, macadamia nut, coconut, and tropical-flavored ice cream show up in third-party review snippets and listing summaries. (local.yahoo.com)
- Signature identity angle: the business and tenant listings emphasize “Made on Maui ice cream” and a long local history dating to 1932, though that claim comes from the restaurant’s own/tenancy-facing copy and should be treated as self-reported. (tripadvisor.com)
- Spend expectations: traveler-facing listings place it in the moderate, casual range rather than fine dining; one TripAdvisor listing shows a
$$ - $$$posture, though no menu prices were captured in the sources here. (tripadvisor.com) - Dietary usefulness: the menu language suggests there are “healthy foods” and fresh juice options, but the evidence is thin on actual dietary filtering. The strongest practical takeaway is that this is likely useful for both dessert and a lighter café-style stop, not only sugar-heavy treats. (kiheikalamavillage.com)
Notable Features & Ambiance
This looks like a straightforward, traveler-friendly neighborhood stop rather than a destination dining room. Review snippets mention outdoor seating, a clean and cute space, and an efficiently laid-out venue, which suggests a practical setup built for quick visits and casual lingering rather than a long formal meal. (tripadvisor.com)
- Service model and seating: table service is listed on TripAdvisor, and multiple sources mention outdoor seating and a casual sit-down format. (tripadvisor.com)
- Atmosphere and decor: the vibe is described by reviewers as cute, relaxed, and clean; that is consistent with a beach-area café more than a polished restaurant. (local.yahoo.com)
- Practical features: Wi‑Fi, free off-street parking, outdoor seating, card acceptance, and dog-friendliness are all mentioned on third-party listings, though those amenities should still be treated as platform-reported rather than fully verified by the restaurant itself. (tripadvisor.com)
- Best fit: a dessert stop after dinner, a casual coffee-and-sweets break, or an easy family stop in South Maui. (tripadvisor.com)
- Weaker fit: travelers looking for a refined meal, a chef-driven tasting experience, or a high-privacy setting may find this too casual and utilitarian. That is an inference based on the menu mix and review tone, not a direct complaint. (tripadvisor.com)
History & Background
There is some meaningful backstory, but most of it is self-reported by the business or its tenant listing rather than independently verified. The strongest recurring claim is that Tropical Ice Cream is a Maui-made ice cream operation with roots going back to 1932, and the site language positions it as a long-running local café on South Kihei Road. (tripadvisor.com)
That said, the public evidence gathered here does not provide a clean founder story, relocation timeline, or ownership history beyond the “Made on Maui” / 1932 framing. If that heritage claim is important for downstream copy, it should be presented as the business’s own narrative rather than as fully independent historical fact. (tripadvisor.com)
Review Sentiment Snapshot
What People Love
Reviews cluster around a few consistent positives: friendly staff, creamy ice cream, good flavor range, and a convenient location for a dessert stop after eating nearby. Several recent snippets specifically praise banana splits, waffle cones, and tropical flavors, and the tone is broadly enthusiastic rather than merely polite. (tripadvisor.com)
Common Gripes
There are not many strong negative themes in the material captured here. The main limitation is simply that the review base is still small on some platforms, so sentiment looks positive but not yet deeply proven at scale; in other words, the downside evidence is weak and mostly absent rather than clearly negative. (tripadvisor.com)
Practical Visitor Tips
- Hours: Google Places lists daily hours of 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM, which makes it a plausible late-evening dessert stop. TripAdvisor shows the same hours. (tripadvisor.com)
- Reservations: this appears to be a walk-in casual place, not a reservation-driven restaurant. No reservation system was surfaced in the evidence gathered. (tripadvisor.com)
- Timing: based on the late hours and dessert-focused appeal, it likely fits well after dinner or during an afternoon break; the review snippets reinforce that use case. (tripadvisor.com)
- Parking/location: the address is on South Kihei Road in Kihei, and third-party listings specifically mention free off-street parking, which is useful in a beach-area corridor. (tripadvisor.com)
- Order expectations: travelers should expect a casual café counter-style experience with dessert appeal first, broader food second. If you want a full meal, check the menu in advance; the public evidence confirms breadth, but not depth of every category. (tripadvisor.com)
Verification Notes
- Official and Google-matched core identity is consistent: Tropical Ice Cream And Café, 1913 S Kihei Rd Unit C, Kihei, HI 96753, (808) 572-6284, website
http://www.tropicalicecream.net/. (tropicalicecream.net) - Operational status appears active; Google lists it as OPERATIONAL and the website/contact page is live. (tropicalicecream.net)
- Minor drift note: one Kihei Kalama Village tenant page associates Tropical Ice Cream with 1941 S Kihei Road and Unit #1913 C, which likely reflects plaza/building-context wording rather than a different business, but it is worth treating carefully. (kiheikalamavillage.com)
- No major verification issues found beyond that address/context wording. (tropicalicecream.net)
Sources
- Google Places details —
https://maps.google.com/?cid=14169087982757845195— retrieved 2026-03-31 — most useful for canonical identity, operating status, hours, rating, and phone. - Official site home page —
http://www.tropicalicecream.net/— retrieved 2026-03-31 — most useful for official branding, address confirmation, and self-described menu positioning. Self-reported history claims should be treated cautiously. - Official contact page —
http://www.tropicalicecream.net/contact-us/— retrieved 2026-03-31 — most useful for address confirmation and contact details. - TripAdvisor listing for Tropical Ice Cream And Cafe —
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60632-d33375806-Reviews-Tropical_Ice_Cream_And_Cafe-Kihei_Maui_Hawaii.html— retrieved 2026-03-31 — most useful for menu breadth, meal-time framing, hours, and traveler review snippets. - Kihei Kalama Village tenant page —
https://www.kiheikalamavillage.com/tenant/tropical-ice-cream/— retrieved 2026-03-31 — most useful for the “Made on Maui” / 1932 heritage claim and broader café description. - Kihei Kalama Village food-and-drinks directory —
https://www.kiheikalamavillage.com/tenant-type/food-and-drinks/— retrieved 2026-03-31 — most useful as a corroborating property context source for the same descriptive claims. - Yahoo Local/Search result page —
https://local.yahoo.com/info-228391262-tropical-ice-cream-and-cafe-kihei— retrieved 2026-03-31 — most useful for third-party snippets on menu items, parking, and recent review language. Platform-surfaced review data should be treated as a secondary signal.
