On Oct. 12 “ La Michoacana”, the newly-established Mexican ice cream parlor, opened its doors to the public. Located at 1821 Boone’s Link Rd, it has had both Hispanic and non Hispanic customers visiting to try Mexican delights. Owner Isabel Romero and her employees have been working hard over the past month to make the parlor a popular place among St. Charles. 

“My family always supported me with this,” Isabel said. “ They told me to work hard and congratulated me when we opened up. We’ve always liked the idea of making ice cream.” 

Isabel had to learn how to make natural Mexican ice cream and “ paletas”; Mexican popsicles. It was a long process but she was able to learn new skills through another Mexican lady who had been doing it for a long time. Once having the process down and coming up with the recipes, Isabel was confident in making the recipes for the food herself. 

“What makes our ice cream and paletas different is the flavors, the freshness of our fruit and the different flavors we offer than most ice cream parlors,” Romero said. 

Among the most popular flavors of ice cream and paletas that La Michoacana has to offer are oreo, lime, pistachio, purple sweet potato, chamoy; a mix of sweet and salty sauces. Isabel tries her best to come up with new flavors, even if they seem on the weird side such as a corn flavored “paleta” or a gansito “paleta”. The gansito paleta comes from an already tasty Mexican pastry , but wrapped in ice cream with a strawberry filling in the center. 

“I would say a majority of customers that walk in the door say how they can’t believe a Mexican ice cream parlor has opened up, because most of them are on the coast,” worker Abril Romero said. “Non Hispanic customers are more intrigued to try different things they have never tried before that we offer.”

Besides ice cream and paletas, La Michoacana offers other Mexican treats such as Dorilocos, a bag of Doritos with pico de gallo, shredded carrot, jicama, Japanese peanuts and hot sauce. Mangonadas, a sweet and sour mix of chopped up mango, squeeze of lime and chamoy sauce is a popular request. Natural fruit beverages such as horchata, strawberry, pineapple with cucumber and melon are also requests. An esquite is made up of a cup of hot corn, mayonnaise or sour cream, lime and chilli powder to top it off. For more heavy foods, Isabel has included authentic Mexican street tacos, tortas and quesadillas, all of which are Isabel’s recipes.

“People who are unsure of going should try it because you never know what you might end up liking,” worker and junior Jessica Chavez said. “ There’s a lot of flavors to choose from everything and it’s all made fresh here.”

Isabel has shown dedication and time to making La Michoacana work since she has wanted to open it for the longest time. With organization and teamwork from her employees, she hopes to further bring people to enjoy her Mexican delights. 

“My favorite part about my job would be preparing anything from the ice cream to the tacos and seeing the customers smile as they try our food,” Isabel said.