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Popfancy’s popsicles are made with fresh, organic juices and purees.
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Where to Cool Off With Icy Frozen Treats in Houston

A guide to the city’s finest paletas, shaved ice, and more refreshing desserts

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Popfancy’s popsicles are made with fresh, organic juices and purees.
| Popfancy / Facebook

Houstonians know that even though summer officially starts in June, the real heat of the season can last all the way into September, sometimes even October.

With 2021 set to bring one of the city’s hottest summers ever, it’s a good time to explore the variety of icy treats available in this melting pot of a town. From frosty bingsu — Korean shaved ice — to fruity paletas and raspas to the finest New Orleans-style snow cones, find some of the city’s best chilly treats at these 17 essential Houston spots.

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Tarascos Ice Cream

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Tarascos has an extensive menu of creative creamy paletas, including pops flavored like Fruity Pebbles cereal, elote, and cheese curds, as well as more standard flavors like creamsicle and Mexican caramel. They also make mangonadas.

Tampico Refresqueria

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Lines regularly form outside this North Main refresqueria for the ice cold raspas, which come in candy-like flavors including sour green apple, root beer and picosito, as well as naturally flavored syrups like lime, lemon and tamarindo.

Meet Fresh 鲜芋仙

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In addition to various Taiwanese shaved ices, Meet Fresh also offers build-your-own icy bowls with taro or grass jelly as a base, and boba, beans, ice cream, nuts, and other toppings to add on.

Sul Bing Su

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One of the most popular versions of bingsu at this Katy Asian Town spot is the strawberry mango shaved ice, a refreshing treat that’s perfect for summer. But look deeper on the menu for flavors like cheesecake, black sesame, and Earl Grey bingsu.

Popfancy - Galleria Mall

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This popsicle joint, with locations inside the Galleria and in Bellaire, makes seasonal fresh ice pops daily, with flavors like passionfruit, spicy-salty mangonada, and strawberry lemonade, made with fresh squeezed lemons and berry puree. They also offer creamy pops, including a sweet avocado and a horchata popsicle with a dash of cinnamon.

Cloud 10 Creamery

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With three locations throughout Houston — Midtown, Upper Kirby and The Heights — Cloud10 might be best known for its ice cream. But they also feature some creative non-dairy sorbet flavors like lime lemon mint and guava black tea, as well as a rocky road popsicle, a peanut butter and jelly ice cream cookie sandwich, and even doggie ice cream shaped like little bones.

La Brisa Ice Cream

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This Eastside spot makes Mexican-style paletas and other icy treats for take out from its Canal Street ice cream shop and at taquerias and refresquerias across the city. Unique offerings include the hot-and-cold diabolito bar, a popsicle with a chili center in flavors like lime, tamarind and cantaloupe; and a bubblegum-flavored pop.

Snowy Village

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As the name implies, this shop at Bellaire’s Dynasty Plaza specializes in fluffy, snowy bingsu with toppings like espresso, Oreo cookies, Captain Crunch cereal, and all manner of fruit.

Nu Cafe

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This shop’s Taiwanese “ribbon ice” takes 10 hours to prepare and has the consistency of ice cream. The result is a beautiful, flaky, melt in your mouth dessert that is topped with fruit, syrup, jellies, and more.

Kravin Fruit Bar

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Kravin makes cookie-topped snow ices in flavors like taro, topped with egg pudding and sweet red beans, and milk tea, topped with various cereals. They also make a mangonada snow ice.

Kona Ice

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This fleet of shaved ice trucks roams the city, serving up frosty treats at events big and small. Flavors include lavender lemonade, mai tai, and bourbon black cherry vanilla.

Atomic Snowballs

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This shaved ice shop at Bissonnet and Dairy Ashford offers 56 flavors, 40 of which are available sugar-free. They focus on New Orleans-style shaved ice, which is finer and fluffier, and all of the syrups come from the original New Orleans snow cone maker, SnoWizard. Flavors are pretty traditional — mango, strawberry, cherry, coconut and the like — but it’s also possible to add chewy boba or chamoy drizzle to spice things up.

KICPOPS

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KICPops is a series of ice carts which can be found at Berings Hardware stores and several tourist destinations throughout the Houston area, including the Downtown Aquarium, Kemah Boardwalk and Galveston Pleasure PIer. Flavors include blackberry lavender and burnt butter brownie, as well as alcohol-inspired pops like the salted watermelon tequila. If you can’t find a cart out and about, order online.

Friohana Shave Ice

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This Hawaiian-style shaved ice truck hangs out near the Buffalo Bayou Cistern, serving up extra-fluffy snow cones to denizens of the park. The menu rotates weekly, but the syrups are always made from scratch and many include flavors with infused herbs and spices.

Be More Pacific - Filipino Kitchen and Bar

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The desert menu at this Filipino restaurant features halo halo topped with Amy’s ube ice cream, red beans, coconut jelly, crispy rice, evaporated milk and more. The halo halo comes in two sizes — a lunch serving for one, or a larger bowl big enough to share.

Sno Dreamz

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This family-owned shaved ice shop has been serving NOLA-style snow cones for a decade, with flavors like spiced apple, wine cooler, and “Pick a Dilly” — syrup of your choice topped with a layer of Kool-Aid pickles.

Armadillo Snow Cones

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Diners rave about the customer service at this snow cone stand in Eastwood, which serves up flavors like pink lemonade, natural tamarindo, and passionfruit. Toppings include cream, fresh fruit, chamoy, and more.

Tarascos Ice Cream

Tarascos has an extensive menu of creative creamy paletas, including pops flavored like Fruity Pebbles cereal, elote, and cheese curds, as well as more standard flavors like creamsicle and Mexican caramel. They also make mangonadas.

Tampico Refresqueria

Lines regularly form outside this North Main refresqueria for the ice cold raspas, which come in candy-like flavors including sour green apple, root beer and picosito, as well as naturally flavored syrups like lime, lemon and tamarindo.

Meet Fresh 鲜芋仙

In addition to various Taiwanese shaved ices, Meet Fresh also offers build-your-own icy bowls with taro or grass jelly as a base, and boba, beans, ice cream, nuts, and other toppings to add on.

Sul Bing Su

One of the most popular versions of bingsu at this Katy Asian Town spot is the strawberry mango shaved ice, a refreshing treat that’s perfect for summer. But look deeper on the menu for flavors like cheesecake, black sesame, and Earl Grey bingsu.

Popfancy - Galleria Mall

This popsicle joint, with locations inside the Galleria and in Bellaire, makes seasonal fresh ice pops daily, with flavors like passionfruit, spicy-salty mangonada, and strawberry lemonade, made with fresh squeezed lemons and berry puree. They also offer creamy pops, including a sweet avocado and a horchata popsicle with a dash of cinnamon.

Cloud 10 Creamery

With three locations throughout Houston — Midtown, Upper Kirby and The Heights — Cloud10 might be best known for its ice cream. But they also feature some creative non-dairy sorbet flavors like lime lemon mint and guava black tea, as well as a rocky road popsicle, a peanut butter and jelly ice cream cookie sandwich, and even doggie ice cream shaped like little bones.

La Brisa Ice Cream

This Eastside spot makes Mexican-style paletas and other icy treats for take out from its Canal Street ice cream shop and at taquerias and refresquerias across the city. Unique offerings include the hot-and-cold diabolito bar, a popsicle with a chili center in flavors like lime, tamarind and cantaloupe; and a bubblegum-flavored pop.

Snowy Village

As the name implies, this shop at Bellaire’s Dynasty Plaza specializes in fluffy, snowy bingsu with toppings like espresso, Oreo cookies, Captain Crunch cereal, and all manner of fruit.

Nu Cafe

This shop’s Taiwanese “ribbon ice” takes 10 hours to prepare and has the consistency of ice cream. The result is a beautiful, flaky, melt in your mouth dessert that is topped with fruit, syrup, jellies, and more.

Kravin Fruit Bar

Kravin makes cookie-topped snow ices in flavors like taro, topped with egg pudding and sweet red beans, and milk tea, topped with various cereals. They also make a mangonada snow ice.

Kona Ice

This fleet of shaved ice trucks roams the city, serving up frosty treats at events big and small. Flavors include lavender lemonade, mai tai, and bourbon black cherry vanilla.

Atomic Snowballs

This shaved ice shop at Bissonnet and Dairy Ashford offers 56 flavors, 40 of which are available sugar-free. They focus on New Orleans-style shaved ice, which is finer and fluffier, and all of the syrups come from the original New Orleans snow cone maker, SnoWizard. Flavors are pretty traditional — mango, strawberry, cherry, coconut and the like — but it’s also possible to add chewy boba or chamoy drizzle to spice things up.

KICPOPS

KICPops is a series of ice carts which can be found at Berings Hardware stores and several tourist destinations throughout the Houston area, including the Downtown Aquarium, Kemah Boardwalk and Galveston Pleasure PIer. Flavors include blackberry lavender and burnt butter brownie, as well as alcohol-inspired pops like the salted watermelon tequila. If you can’t find a cart out and about, order online.

Friohana Shave Ice

This Hawaiian-style shaved ice truck hangs out near the Buffalo Bayou Cistern, serving up extra-fluffy snow cones to denizens of the park. The menu rotates weekly, but the syrups are always made from scratch and many include flavors with infused herbs and spices.

Be More Pacific - Filipino Kitchen and Bar

The desert menu at this Filipino restaurant features halo halo topped with Amy’s ube ice cream, red beans, coconut jelly, crispy rice, evaporated milk and more. The halo halo comes in two sizes — a lunch serving for one, or a larger bowl big enough to share.

Related Maps

Sno Dreamz

This family-owned shaved ice shop has been serving NOLA-style snow cones for a decade, with flavors like spiced apple, wine cooler, and “Pick a Dilly” — syrup of your choice topped with a layer of Kool-Aid pickles.

Armadillo Snow Cones

Diners rave about the customer service at this snow cone stand in Eastwood, which serves up flavors like pink lemonade, natural tamarindo, and passionfruit. Toppings include cream, fresh fruit, chamoy, and more.

Related Maps