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When Paramvir Dhillon and his wife, Dolores came across a vacant ice cream shop in a shopping center off Dunne and Monterey in Morgan Hill last summer, they knew they had found the perfect location for their ice cream and treat shop.
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Sure, they have strawberry and vanilla ice cream in their cold case, but their mainstay is botanitas, or specialty fruit snacks, and traditional Mexican-flavored ice creams. Married for four years, the young couple opened up Las Delicias Ice Cream & Botanitas at 16999 Monterey Road in August 2015.
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Dhillon says that the majority of Las Delicias’ customers are Hispanic, but that when he added window signs showcasing their offerings, he began to attract a more diverse clientele.
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He says he likes that they sell healthy snacks, since large portions of fresh fruits are included in their foods. Even their frozen confections are made from fresh fruits and nuts.
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Las Delicias works with a local ice cream maker to create traditional flavors like nuez, which is pecan, or mamey, a sweet tropical fruit with a creamy texture that tastes like sweet potato and pumpkin. Other traditional flavors include corn, queso, a cheese-flavored ice cream, and arroz con leche. They even have tequila ice cream, but their most popular flavors are mango and guava—a single scoop is just $2.50. In addition to their authentic Mexican ice creams, their best-sellers are typical Mexican street foods.
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Our party was excited to find elote preparado ($5.49), or corn, typically served on the cob, this dish combines corn with mayonnaise, cheese and hot sauce.
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While we enjoyed our elote preparado, we sipped a coctel de fruta ($7.99) of fresh pineapple juice, blended into frothy goodness.
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A frequently requested menu item, Tostilocos ($6.50), or “crazy chips” are tortilla chips topped with cucumber, jicama, lime juice, chamoy, chili powder, japanese peanuts, tamarind candies and cueritos, which are pickled pig skin or “little leathers.” There’s a little bit of everything in there and this botanita hits on almost all the flavor points too, striking up a savory, sweet and hot balance on the palate.
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Las Delicias also serves Tostielote ($6.50), a dish that combines crunchy tortilla chips with the fixings from elote preparado.
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Their Mangonada ($5.50), which includes fresh mangos, mango ice cream, lime juice and chili powder with a tamarind-covered straw, is another popular menu item.
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Dhillon says Las Delicias buys locally sourced fresh produce several times a week. “Aside from the ice cream, nothing is frozen. We don’t have a delivery person—we go and pick it out ourselves—it’s the only way to have control over our product.”
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“They have a really great fruit cup,” says Morgan Hill resident Zulema Birruete, who has eaten at Las Delicias every Friday since they opened a year ago. “It’s authentic,” she says of their Tostilocos, “and it’s hard to make on your own. It’s really delicious. You should try it.”
