Cherry sno cone sprinkled with tamarind
It’s a rainy summer night at Sno Gourmet Shaved Ice and despite the weather, every table is full of customers. The line continues to build as packs of teenagers and families come in and out in waves, all while owner George Rubio and his team of employees furiously crank through the orders – small cotton candy, medium pina colada, “Texas-sized” cherry and lime.
Perfecting the art of snowball-making is all in a day’s work for Rubio, a lifelong north Dallas resident who set his sights on opening a shaved ice business back when he was an undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin.
“I had this idea that I could start this business that would do really well in the summer, and then I’d have the winter to travel,” Rubio says. “I love traveling for long periods of time. In college I traveled a lot and did study abroad.”
After graduating from UT’s law school, Rubio decided to make his dream a reality. He set up his shop ten years ago near the intersection of Greenville and Park.
“When we first opened it was a success, but it was just a bad location for parking so it didn’t grow very much,” Rubio says.
One year later he decided to pack up and take his shop into a back corner of Doc’s Food Store at Meadow and Central, a strategic money-saving move he hoped would also allow for more customer access. And that’s exactly what happened. Word of Rubio’s snowball magic spread, particularly among local high school students, and gradually Sno became the hottest place to get a frozen treat fix.
After six years of success as a hidden gem inside Doc’s, Sno reopened as its own location. Rubio didn’t have to go far to do that – in fact, Sno’s present location is directly next door to Doc’s in the shopping center at Meadow and Central.
Icy treats like snow cones and snowballs are practically a necessity during the brutal Texas summers, and they’re not too hard to find. But what sets Sno apart from its numerous competitors is the fact that all the flavored syrups are made in-house. It even boasts a full menu of all-natural syrups made from fresh fruit and free of preservatives and chemicals.
“A lot of places say ‘all natural,’ but they mean made from an all natural processed powder or concentrate or something. We actually buy the fruit and blend it and make it,” Rubio says. “The natural flavors are a lot less sweet, but since we make them homemade, they’re still flavorful.”
Sno’s menu displays a long list of flavors – too many for Rubio to count, but he estimates the number to be around 70. The overwhelming favorites among customers are natural mango and coconut and tiger’s blood. Rubio says he and his team of employees are always adding new flavors, and they’ve recently debuted a game-changing way to enjoy shaved ice even more.
“We’re putting frozen yogurt into the snow cone, so you can get a flavor and the fro-yo,” Rubio says. “It hasn’t taken off yet, but word is definitely spreading and it’s selling more.”
New and innovative ideas like that are what keep Rubio on his toes and ensure that people keep coming to Sno even after the summer heat subsides. The shop is open year-round, but Rubio says business slows in the winter to the point that his employees can manage without him. And with Sno’s abounding success since moving to its own location, Rubio might just be able to do more of the globetrotting he’s been dreaming about this year.
“I used to be working non-stop, but now that Sno is more successful, there’s a lot more freedom,” Rubio says. “I love what I’m doing.”
