FROZEN

frozen treats

COOL FOOD FOR HOT SUMMER DAYS

The birthday cake creation includes vanilla snow, sweet milk, strawberries and rainbow sprinkles.

snow cone, meet ice cream

Healthy desserts have been trending for a while. With dairy-free, gluten-free, organic and no-sugar-added options, there’s something for everyone. To compete with all the available goods on the market, one Lakewood neighbor had to get creative.

The Snowbaby story started when founder Chrissy Kuo tried Taiwanese shaved ice. She thought it was delicious and noticed the few shops offering it in Dallas were marketing treats toward the Asian community. Doing research, she discovered that the shaved ice contains high fructose corn syrup and artificial colors and flavors.

“I’m a ’90s kid. I’m totally OK with junk in our food,” Kuo says. “But whenever I started having kids, I realized, hey, you know, all this stuff that’s in our food is not very good for us.”

There had to be a better, healthier option.

Kuo spent a year developing the vanilla flavor. She had to test recipes and make sure the texture and consistency were perfect – creamy, refreshing and satisfying. While she was working full time and raising kids, she tested her creations at carnivals and other events to see if the treats appealed to other demographics. They did.

“I started to get a following, and I was encouraged,” she says. “I’m like, OK, this is something different, and it benefits everybody because it’s actually as healthy as you say.”

Kuo opened her business in Lakewood Shopping Center and called it Snowbaby.

“Imagine if a snow cone and an ice cream had a baby,” she says. “It’d be a snowbaby.”

Families are the main customers at the shop, but Kuo is also hoping to ramp up the catering business. She bought a used snow cone trailer on Facebook, but it was stolen right before spring break. She just got a little food truck to replace it.

Customers can pick from an already-designed creation or build their own treat. The most popular creation is birthday cake, which features vanilla snow, sweet milk, fresh strawberries and natural rainbow sprinkles colored with fruit and vegetable juices. Her go-to order is the coconut snow with vanilla cake bites from Unrefined Bakery, sliced almonds and sweet milk.

Snowbaby is offering seasonal flavors for summer: pineapple, lemonade, key lime and horchata.

“Our mission is to provide healthier treats to feed your inner foodie,” Kuo says. “And to create memories.”

fro-yo for you

Vanilla soft serve and fresh strawberries are the most popular picks at TCBY. Kids especially like the rainbow sprinkles.

TCBY has been a Lakewood dessert shop for more than 20 years. Since 2001, it’s been run by Doug Sanders.

Sanders is no stranger to the frozen yogurt business. He studied architecture at Texas Tech but changed his career path after college. Sanders headed to Durango, Colorado, where he opened a frozen yogurt shop. Eventually he moved back to Dallas. A few years later, he purchased a TCBY. He knew it was a good location, having grown up in town and graduated from Lake Highlands High School.

The Lakewood location is the only remaining TCBY in Dallas, and Sanders says some customers drive 30 miles to get their hands on the frozen yogurt. Not even a pandemic could slow down demand for the treats. Neighbors helped the TCBY see its highest revenue last year, and it’s on track to exceed that this year.

“I knew it would be a good business, but nothing like it is now,” he says.

Since the emergence of selfserve yogurt spots, neighbors want to customize. Sanders says many customers stop by to order multiple flavors mixed with multiple toppings.

By far, the most popular yogurt flavor is vanilla. There’s also a strong appreciation for the white chocolate mousse and coffee. Fresh strawberries are the most common toppings, and kids like rainbow sprinkles and gummy bears.

He says what sets TCBY apart is its health benefits and “fantastic flavor.” The soft serve yogurt contains seven types of live and active cultures, calcium, protein, fiber and vitamin D. Plus, each serving contains no more than 120 calories.

“I don’t think most people come in for the health aspect anyway,” Sanders says. “It’s just because it tastes great.”

In addition to soft serve, TCBY has hand-scooped yogurt and sorbets. . Cakes and pies are available for special occasions.

For its 40th anniversary, TCBY sold a birthday cake hand-scooped flavor. The brand also released special cups to mark the occasion. Toward the end of summer, keep an eye out for scratch cards to receive additional rewards.

“I think people like being around a vibe that’s doing well,” Sanders says. “When you’ve got that many people coming in here, usually the vibe is good.”

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cool as cucumber & lime

Josie Ice Cream & Grill has many ice cream flavors available, including the vanilla, chocolate and strawberry used in banana splits.

Oraldo and Josefina Guerrero have a long history in the food industry. They both worked in restaurants in the U.S., where they met. They fell in love, got married and decided to open a business. In 1988, Josie Ice Cream & Grill opened its doors on Capitol Avenue.

The idea to sell fresh fruit and complement it with ice cream was a natural move. Before she moved to the U.S., Josefina had her own fruit stand and juicery in her home country of El Salvador.

Josie moved to Fitzhugh Avenue about three and a half years ago. The Guerreros continue to own it, and their kids, including daughter Jocelyn, also work at the store.

“I think a lot of our customers kind of like to sit down and enjoy with their families,” Jocelyn says. “Ice cream to go is kind of weird.”

The business does serve food, like pupusas and tacos. But most people come in for dessert. Ice cream, banana splits and milkshakes are typical finds in dessert shops. But many of Josie’s offerings are less common. They’re homemade, traditional Latin American desserts. The drinks satisfy a variety of tastes and preferences. For those who love a kick, there are rusas and mangonadas. Rusas are citrus-based sodas spiked with

chamoy or chili powder, and mangonadas are frozen mango drinks with chamoy or Tajin.

For those who would rather have sweet beverages, Josie offers aguas frescas, which are displayed in large, clear tubs right by the cash register. They’re made with water, a little bit of sugar and fresh fruit. Cool and refreshing, they come in a bunch of flavors, the most popular being mango pineapple and cucumber and lime. Oraldo particularly likes the banana and papaya.

Licuados are another option. They’re similar to a milkshake, just not as thick, and they contain real fruit. Jocelyn says they’re one of the more popular orders during the summer.

All of the produce is bought at Dallas Farmers Market. It’s used to make the store’s many fruitbased offerings, including fresh-pressed juice. Green, carrot and orange juices are usually on hand, but the staff is happy to make custom drinks for guests. The Guerreros are looking for more ways to experiment with fruit. One idea is to add it as a topping on snow cones, along with condensed milk.

“I think it really goes down to the roots of your everyday if you’re in Latin America,” Jocelyn says. “And we try to represent that, have a little taste of the homeland in the U.S.”

Josie Ice Cream & Grill, 500 S. Fitzhugh Ave.

Welcome to this delightful English Tudor built in 2003 with all the charm and style this M-Street neighborhood deserves. Complete with four bedrooms, three and a half baths, and two wonderful living areas. With the spacious master down, an open design plan and center stair design the home lives beautifully, with the chef’s kitchen, with GE professional six-burner gas range, pro-vent and island prep area, you are ready to entertain. The kitchen opens to the incredible family room with vaulted and beamed ceiling, cast stone fireplace, and overlooking outside living space via banks of light filling atrium doors. With wonderful formal living spaces, three bedrooms and second living up, this home offer great separation of space. Additional amenities include attached rear entry garage, wood privacy fence, landscaped and sprinkled grounds, and within walking distance to lower Greenville shops and restaurants.

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7021 Lakeshore Dr. $948,500

6245 Woodcrest Ln. $525,000 6915 Lakeshore Dr. $1,250,000

6139 Monticello Ave. $650,000

719 Parkhurst Dr. $399,000

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WAYA Japanese Izakaya

Lakewood Smokehouse

Time—lapse:

LAKEWOOD SHOPPING CENTER

Story by RENEE UMSTED | Photography by KATHY TRAN

Lakewood Shopping Center is one of the hubs of our neighborhood. When forces threatened to alter it, neighbors banded together to preserve the fountain, the clock and the theater. Over the years, many restaurants have called the area, with its iconic architecture and central location, home. Take a look at how today’s restaurants came to be.

COCK & BULL NEIGHBORHOOD

PUB is one of the oldest spots in the center. It opened in 1997 in place of UPTOWN CAKERY & CAFE, which was only there for a year. In 1994, TAOS SOUTHWEST CAFE CO. opened as the first restaurant to occupy the space. Before then, 6330 Gaston Ave. was an office.

SNOWBABY was the first dining space to open at 6404 Gaston Ave. It came to Lakewood in 2017, taking the place of SPORT CLIPS, which started in 2007.

YOGURTLAND opened in 2019, replacing YUMILICIOUS FROZEN YOGURT. Before Yumilicious arrived in 2011, JOHN PAYNE PHOTOGRAPHY INC. was the tenant. It was the second photography studio to open in the space, with the first opening in 2001. A store called ARMHOLE took the space in 2003.

MI COCINA set up a location in our neighborhood in 2012. It replaced Tex-Mex place MATT’S RANCHO MARTINEZ, which opened in 1997.

UNLEAVENED FRESH KITCHEN

opened for business in 2015 in the spot of another restaurant, SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS, which occupied the building on Abrams beginning in 2001.

Before LAKEWOODSMOKEHOUSE was established in 2015, there was ALI BABA MEDITERRANEAN. That restaurant had been in business since 2008.

LAKEWOOD DONUT came to the shopping center in 2018, replacing DONUT PARADISE, which had been there since 2001. A catering company called DONUT.COM was there in 2000, and before then, the space was occupied by film studios. FILM LESS PHOTO was there in 1995, and FOX PHOTO leased the building in 1982.

LIBERTY BURGER has been in Lakewood since 2013, and it was the first restaurant to be housed in its space. A store called CATALINA 5 G took the space in 2011, and GREEN LIVING moved there in 2003. An arcade called NICKEL RANCH was there in 1997.

ROOTS MARKET AND JUICERY

opened for business in 2016. It took the place of a catering company called SUPER SUPPERS, which started in 2005. FITNESS LIFESTYLE opened in 2002.

SASA SUSHI has been around since 2016. The sushi bar rolled up to Gaston Avenue after JERRY’S WOOD FIRED DOGS left. Another restaurant called LAKEWOOD BAR & GRILL occupied the space starting in 1994.

WAYA JAPANESE IZAKAYA came to Lakewood in 2017. It replaced THE CREEK CAFE, which came after THE

PHILLY CONNECTION. EXCLUSIVE

CLEANERS took the space in 2003, and ALLSTATE had the location in 2000.

WATER TIGER MASSAGE THERAPIES

moved into Lakewood in 1995.

BLAST FROM THE PAST:

6400 Gaston Ave. was home to DIXIE

HOUSE, THE BLACK EYED PEA, SUGARBACON PROPER KITCHEN

and KOZY KITCHEN.

COMING SOON:

FAJITA PETE’S is set to open soon at 1920 Abrams Parkway.

We know the neighborhood.

9767 Spring Branch • $1,350,000

6466 Sondra • $649,900 6718 Anita • $1,295,000

6406 Vanderbilt • $599,999

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