Taro Ko Chips Factory - Eleele

Takes me back to 50 years ago.. like a time capsule.. Food is great but the nostalgia is irreplaceable

Maybe everyone hyped them up but we didn't find the taro chips to be anything special. We stopped by twice because the first time, it was closed. The second time we were able to stop by and grab some. The lihing ones were probably the most flavorful but even then it was still pretty underwhelming.

First time we visited on a Sunday and the door was closed. So visited again on a Tuesday, the door was open. We went inside, the nice old man showed us three boxes, one had the taro chips, the other had plain salted potato chips, and then we took the last bag of li hing mui flavored potato chips that was the tastiest of them all. Each bag is $6, so we handed the owner a $20 bill and left quickly. He chased after us to give us our change but he seemed like a nice old man so we told him to keep the change. The younger man in the back was busy frying up a fresh batch of taro chips, you can smell it across the street. The taro chips are definitely fresh and light. Ambiance of the place was nothing special, looked more like a shack, but definitely a great stop to get authentic Hawaiian snacks. They even sell fresh fruits out front, they had coconuts at the time.

My mom, God bless her soul, used to by chips directly from the maker. She said it was the best she has eaten in her life. And it is till this day, I prefer!

The chips themselves are super delicious. Thin, super crisp, perfectly seasoned. The place itself is a little house and you enter through an assuming side door that leads straight into kitchen. There you sill find two medium sized brown boxes with whatever chips they have left for the day. Dinged the place a star (but only a star bc the chips so dang good lol ; Don 't expect a friendly greeting when you enter lol. I greeted the two men with a friendly aloha and all I got were death stares. The most words that I got from the man by the counter said was him repeating my new grand total (every time i pulled a bag out of the box . Cash only! The lack of interaction/ death stares almost makes me feel like these gentlemen would prefer not to sell their goods to tourists. (If thats the case, maybe they should tell Hawaiian airlines to take their business off their website . All in all, just come here for the chips- they are pretty tasty!