On a triple digit hot weather, me and my dog went to get a shaved ice to cool down. We went to the…read moreTropical Sno to give this place a try. I ordered a small shaved ice for myself and ordered another small shaved ice for my dog. The staff was friendly and gave my dog a small shaved ice for free. If you need a frozen treat for you and your dog friend, highly recommend this place ^_^

Several of my friends had recommended a new place that had opened up in Portales that specialized…read morein shaved ice. With the incredibly hot weather and the need for something sweet, it really didn't take much to convince me to give this place a try for myself. This place can be a little tough to find. Luckily I could pull it up on Yelp and navigate to the location - it's on the other side of Pizza Hut by the railroad tracks. Kind of unexpected to have a little shack set up that sells shaved ice, but it works! The yellow shack and the flags that wave "Tropical Sno" are definitely "alerters" to let you know that you've reached your destination. Like most other places in Portales, Tropical Sno also has a to-go window where cars can pull up to the side of the shack and order/pick up their order without getting out of the car. I opted to get out so I could take pictures of everything. Apparently Tropical Sno is a franchised dessert company where anybody can open up his or her own Tropical Sno location and start selling shaved ice. A pretty neat idea - I liked that everything inside the store seemed legit: from the syrups that were used to the color changing spoons, I was pretty sold. And the menu is pretty extensive for a shaved ice place. -1st step is to pick a size (small is $2.95, medium is $3.50, and large is $3.95 - not including tax). -2nd step is to pick a flavor: you can choose from popular concoctions that have been built up to taste like a specific item (i.e. root beer float, wedding cake) or build your own with 3 different flavors. -3rd step is to choose any add-ons such as coconut cream, caramel, etc. (You can also make it Hawaiian style and add ice cream for an additional $1.00) I was in the mood for something sweet that afternoon, so I ended up choosing the small Strawberry Shortcake ice (strawberry, birthday cake, and vanilla cream). The ice came in a Styrofoam cup with a plastic material to keep the ice from dripping on the table (or on you). Really enjoyed this sweet treat - I think having it Hawaiian style definitely would have made this even better, but the fact that it was just ice was still really good. I could taste all the various flavors, and it wasn't overwhelmingly or cloyingly sweet. For the price point, this was a very worth it treat. And the color changing spoons were a special touch! They have cute wooden benches with pretty lights strung overhead as a seating area if you want to eat your dessert right then and there. The people who own this joint were super friendly. They also offer a buy 9 get 1 free stamp card, which is really cool. No minimum on credit cards, and I think they even accept Apple pay. tl;dr - Would recommend this place to anybody who is looking for a refreshing dessert on a hot day in Portales and wanted to try something other than ice cream shakes. With all the various flavors and creation possibilities, you can revisit a zillion times and never be bored! I enjoyed the strawberry shortcake flavor, and if I ever get to try this place again, I'd want to try a more tart combination.