Have an ice day
With the temperature starting to hit 90 and beyond, now is the time to think about snow cones. Or raspas. Or water-ice.
By Ricardo Gándara | Photos by Brian K. Diggs
American-Statesman Staff
May 25, 2005
"A taste of frozen heaven," says 14-year-old Emily Kane.
The girl savors another heaping spoonful of the wedding cake and piña colada shaved ice. "If you are ever having a bad day, a snow cone is perfect. It's healthy. It won't make you feel as fat."
The line outside the Tropical Sno stand in the parking lot at Far West Boulevard and Woodhollow Drive can get 25 people deep on any afternoon, but particularly on days like last weekend when the temperatures hit the high 90s. Their musings about shaved ice in a cup are as sugary sweet as the treat itself:
"My first bite is my favorite second of the day," says Matthew McHenry, 25, a student at Texas State University-San Marcos, of his Tiger Blood selection. It has cinnamon and other ingredients that stand owner Linda Stone is unwilling to divulge.
"It just makes me happy. Snow cones got me through driver's ed this year," says Rachel Drolet, 15, of her extra-large Tiger's Blood with cream ($3.50).
"Cool. Tropical. Flows though my body and brightens my day," says Daniella Zakon, 15, who visits the stand at least three times a week. "An extra large on Friday. I splurge on the weekends."
Kenneth East, 46, who's been one of Stone's customers for years, routinely stops by at lunchtime for a large cherry flavor ($2.50). "Nice. Cold. Pleasant. The texture is fluffy," he says. "And they put on the right amount of flavoring."
Snow cone. Shaved ice. Snowball. Raspa. Water-ice. Whatever the name, the rounded mounds of flavored ice crushed, shaved, chipped or blended, signal the onset of summer. Packed now into Styrofoam cups (the old paper cones are too messy), the ices take us to a time when life was simpler and the choice was either cherry, strawberry or orange at neighborhood stands that seemed to be on every street.
Today, catchy names such as "Jamaica-Me-Crazy," "Peach Razzmetazz" and "Fuzzy Navel" await watering mouths on a hot day on the streets, or at festivals, fairs, carnivals and field days at school. Sugar-free flavors are even available. Stone offers 78 flavor selections but really countless more when you mix two or three.
Her stand is one of dozens that show up each summer across the Austin area. They are owned by people who want to cash in on one variety or another of the popular cold treat that is just the right choice on a hot day.
For the Astran family on East Cesar Chavez Street, their stand is a longtime side business for family members. Jim Moy moved to Austin from Philadelphia to open his shop on Sixth Street. Shaved ice helped Stone put her kids through college.
Flavored ice also has triggered an industry of home snow cone machines from $15 to $300. For $1,500, you can buy a commercial-grade shaved ice machine.
How can something so simple bring such joy? "Easy," says Irma Sepeda, who drives from San Marcos just to eat the New Orleans-style snowballs at Casey's, another family operation, at Airport Boulevard and 51st Street. "When I was a kid, we called them raspa in Spanish. Every time I have one, it takes me back to my childhood. They are so good. They make me happy. They're fundelicious. Is that a word?"
Jim-Jim's on Sixth Street is yum-yum
Jim-Jim's Water-Ice
615 E. Sixth St.
Open noon -8 p.m. Sunday-Tuesday, noon- 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, noon-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday
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Philadelphia transplant Jim Moy, top, makes his water-ice concoctions, above, with real fruit.
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Water-ice is made with real fruit or fruit puree and blended into fine ice to form a soft, smooth texture. The ingredients, including sugar, are blended in a large machine for 20 minutes and undergo a quick freezing process. The 20 flavors are put in 2 1/2-gallon buckets and scooped into Styrofoam cups ($1 to $3) for customers. Moy keeps his water-ice at 24 degrees so it remains in a soft state.
"We add stabilizers to bond the flavors to the water longer. What you get is a flavor throughout the whole product," he says. The flavor doesn't sink to the bottom as it can with snow cones and shaved ice.
"In Philly, people will eat a pretzel with water-ice to offset the sweetness." he says.
Moy, a former systems analyst for a computer company, stumbled into the business. Living in Philadelphia, he was entertaining an Austin friend in 1993 and took him to a street corner for water-ice. The friend said, "I wish we had this in Texas."
Moy thought hard about his Austin friend's comments. To learn the trade, he volunteered at a water-ice business in Philadelphia to learn the trade and eventually brought it to Austin. His water-ice carts also can be found at Deep Eddy Pool, the east entrance to Barton Springs Pool and Westlake Farmers' Market through the summer.
No business like Sno business
Tropical Sno
Far West Boulevard and Woodhollow Drive
Open noon-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-7 p.m. Saturday and 1-6 p.m. Sunday
Linda Stone wants it known she sells "shave ice," not snow cones. She uses a machine with a blade that spins rapidly to shave the ice from block to a fine, powdery substance.
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Top: Gwyneth Yeager, 3, right, and her brother Harrison, 5, dig into shaved ice cups at Tropical Sno. Above: Linda Stone has been making her 'shave ice' treats in Austin for 18 years.
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Stone has been at this for 18 years. At one time she owned six Tropical Sno stands, a franchise, throughout Austin. Her children and her children's friends ran the stands. It was hectic. When they went off to college, Stone scaled back. For 13 years, she was set up outside the Randall's at Mesa Drive and Spicewood Springs Road. For the past five, she' been on Far West Boulevard.
She doesn't depend on her stand to pay the bills anymore. She does it because her customers expect her to open after Easter. "I've been doing it so many years that I know the kids would be disappointed if I closed," she says. "This is who I am."
She doesn't know all her high school and college age customers by name, but they often tell her they've been coming since toddlers.
Jeff Hargrove, 21, is sure he's been coming since age 3. "Why? You can get ice cream at stores. Snow cones? You have to get them at a stand and it has to be here," he says.
"It's our ritual," says Aaron Seriff-Cullick, 13, who on this week has managed to come every day. "What a great afternoon snack. You can sit on the grass, which makes it a fun atmosphere," he says.
Stone says Fridays are her busiest day. "I think parents bribe their kids during the week with my shave ice. If they've been good, they come as a reward," she says.
It makes for happy children.
Treats close to home in East Austin
Goyita's
2016 E. Cesar Chavez St.
Open daily, noon to 9 p.m.
Goyita's is old school, going back to when snow cone stands sprung up in front yards. The Astran family has been serving the neighborhood for 35 years from their yard on East Cesar Chavez Street.
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Matthew Monreal, 5, cools off with a snow cone from Goyita's, the stand in front of his family's home. With him is his mother, Marta Monreal. The stand she and her husband own is named after her mother.
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"Yeah, we like to do it the old-fashioned way," says Monreal, who is married to Marta Astran, the daughter of the late Gregoria Astran, for whom the business is named.
"Maybe we'll get a shave ice machine to keep everyone from having to drive elsewhere."
He and his wife can't bear the thought of closing it down even though both have day jobs.
"We've decided to keep it going in Goyita's name," he says.
The stand in front of the humble family home sits sideways. A neon snow cone on one side of the stand signals he's open for business. A banana tree in front of the stand and a pink flamingo is Monreal's modest attempt at a tropical theme.
But it's the raspa that makes him proud. Especially a "diablito," a little devil, that is his specialty. The snow cone has salt, lemon juice and red chili powder.
"It's a remedy for hangovers, I'm told," he says. "I don't know why, but people love it." A small cup is $1.
"Yeah, business is slow," he says without a worry. "After a while something like this becomes a service to the neighborhood. You know what happens? When I close, the customers come and knock on the (family home) door. When I'm open, they don't come. Maybe the best thing to do is close and then for sure they'll come."
rgandara@statesman.com; 445-3632
