Eating fruits is always more fun when they’re covered in chocolate. When Max Moncur graduated from Brigham Young University-Hawaii, he knew he wanted to start his own business, according to Moncur’s sister, Kate Staley.

“He was a business entrepreneurship major,” Staley says. “Max and his wife, Tessa, decided that this (creating Bananza!) was something they could be passionate about. They came up with some of their own flavors and ideas of the banana creations they wanted to sell.”

Staley, who is the manager at Bananza!, says her brother saw custom chocolate-dipped frozen bananas being sold at other places, but thought his team could spice things up.

“They thought they could add different toppings to them,” she says. “People have told us they appreciate that our bananas are softer — they’re easier to bite into and not as frozen.”

You can find the Bananza! food cart in the Haleiwa Store Lots’ courtyard by Teddy’s Bigger Burgers and Rajanee Thai. The business recently celebrated its one-year anniversary.

“Originally, Max and Tessa wanted to open in Laie, but they found this place and thought it would be a good location, partially because of all the families that come by,” Staley says.

Some of the most popular chocolate-dipped banana desserts include The Boardwalk (pretzel and caramel), The Max (crushed Oreos and peanut butter sauce), The Island Fever (shredded coconut and sea salt caramel sauce) and The Golden Hour (crushed Biscoff cookies and Nutella), per Staley.

“We use a semisweet chocolate (for dipping),” she says. “We have a hard shell chocolate that we mix with Ghirardelli chocolate chips to give it more of a consistency and taste that we like.

“Customers can always create their own dessert, which comes with one topping and sauce,” she adds.

Keep your eyes peeled for monthly specials. In November, Bananza! is featuring Pumpkinana, which is a chocolate-dipped banana that’s covered in pie crust and pumpkin pie sauce.

Bananza! is open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. You can stay updated with the biz on Instagram (@bananzahawaii).

Bananza!

66-111 Kamehameha Hwy., Haleiwa
Instagram: @bananzahawaii
Hours: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays
How to pay: Cash, credit card, Apple Pay
How to order: In person