Some business ideas come from years of planning. For SNO Gourmet Shaved Ice owner George Rubio, it started with a reluctant trip to a snow cone stand.

Photography by Jessica Turner

When Rubio was in college at the University of Texas at Austin, his roommate frequented a New Orleans-style snow cone shop. And Rubio had no interest in tagging along.

“I was thinking it’s going to be like a typical country carnival thing,” he says.

When he eventually caved and went, he was pleasantly surprised. The style of snow cone was unlike what he expected, and after asking many questions and learning techniques from the owners, an idea was born.

He graduated from college in 2003 and opened SNO the following year in the back corner of Doc’s Food Store at Meadow Road and Central Expressway.

The shop blended New Orleans-style shaved ice with flavors inspired by traditional Mexican fruit drinks. New Orleans snoballs use finely shaved ice rather than crunchy, granular crushed ice. Mexican snow cones, known as raspados, also feature finely shaved ice but drenched in natural, fruit-based syrups.

“I thought if I combine the Mexican-ness with the northern stuff, it can be like a hybrid,” he says.

After eight years of operating at the convenience store, he opened a full location in the same shopping center.

The shop’s retro diner aesthetic reflects Rubio’s childhood.

“(It reminds me of) when I was a kid, my dad would always play the oldies,” he says. “Elvis and stuff.”

The majority of the flavors are made in-house using fresh ingredients. Pineapples are chopped by hand, mangos are peeled weekly, and limes are squeezed for recipes that are now menu signatures.

“(Customers are) like, ‘Wait, so y’all actually chop the pineapple?’” Rubio says. “Yeah. The natural (flavors) we make in-house.”

Some flavors, he says, were made by accident. While working on a syrup recipe with his uncle, who is a chef, they ran into a crystallization issue. Rather than throwing it away, they turned it into a cucumber-lime flavor that became the shop’s first natural fruit offering.

Now, mango is the top-selling flavor, often paired with chamoy and chili powder. Coconut follows closely behind, while Tiger’s Blood remains the shop’s most popular traditional syrup.

As trends in desserts have shifted over the years, SNO has remained rooted in the same approach Rubio started with: finely shaved ice, house-made ingredients and a menu that reflects both New Orleans and Mexican influences.

SNO Gourmet Shaved Ice, 10455 N. Central Expressway, 214.265.5550