Name: Paletalandia – Turlock
Location: 537 N. Golden State Blvd.
Contact: (209) 416-0829
Hours of Operation: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday to Sunday
History of Business: When thinking of traditional ice cream parlors, one might imagine whipped cream, banana slices and chocolate syrup. But at Paletalandia, Turlock’s newest ice cream shop, which opened on Valentine’s Day, combinations include mangos, limes and chile powder as the employees serve up spicy frozen treats originating from Mexico.
One of their main specialties, mangonadas, has customers lining up, waiting to get their hands on the delicious treat. Whether it is someone wanting to try the Mexican frozen drink for the first time, or others who grew up with it as a family tradition, Paletalandia’s famous mangonadas have made the small business a hit.
“Our mangonadas are our best seller,” said Angelica Aguilar, who owns Paletalandia with her husband Alex. “We’re very happy that people like our store, and we hope that it continues to do well in Turlock.”
Priced at around $5, the mangonadas are made of mango sorbet, chunks of fresh mango, chamoy — a Mexican savory sauce made from pickled fruit, with a flavor that is salty, sweet and spicy — lime, salt, chile powder, and a tamarindo stick, which is a straw wrapped in Mexico’s famous tamarind candy, having a sweet and sour taste with a hint of spiciness from cayenne chile.
But for those whose taste buds are not keen to savory or spicy options, Paletalandia offers 28 flavors of homemade Mexican ice cream, waffles and several sweet selections such as the delectable “Adriana’s cup,” featuring strawberries, bananas, Grandma’s Secret Recipe cream, raisins, granola and Maria Cookies from Mexico, or bionico – a popular Mexican dessert made with strawberries, bananas, grapes, apples, granola, raisins, honey and sweet cream.
As a small family owned business, the newest Paletalandia in Turlock joins the family’s chain of other shops located primarily throughout the Central Valley, including two locations in Modesto, Manteca, Riverbank and Gilroy. Another store in Lodi is set to open in the next two weeks.
“We have friends in Turlock, and we came to find out that it’s a very family-oriented city, and a perfect fit for the type of business that we have,” said Alex Aguilar. “That’s why we decided to come to Turlock, and also we wanted to fill a void that was there for a Mexican ice cream shop. Turlock is not your typical big city and we like that about it. We had customers that were coming from Turlock to Modesto or Riverbank for our mangonadas, so we wanted to bring our products to them.”
Although the Turlock location has only been open for one week, Aguilar says the store has been extremely busy.
“My broker says that we’re the next Starbucks of Mexican ice cream,” laughed Alex Aguilar. “We hope that we continue to have success in Turlock and with all of our stores.”
Business Specialty: Mexican ice cream with 28 flavors, mangonadas, fresas con crema, tostilokos, bionicos, chicharrones preparados, escamochas tapatias, 22 different flavors of raspados made from 100 percent natural fruit.
