Step through the door at El Michoacano Fruteria Y Neveria #2 (6010 Hampton) into a colorful world of Mexican ice cream treats, show-stopping fruit delights, thirst-quenching drinks, and piquant street snacks. Here’s what to know before you go.
The Menu
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The menus are currently in Spanish, but English versions are in the works. The inspirations for the dishes are informed by the owners’ connections to Michocoán, a state in western Mexico known for avocado production. The street foods, for instance, come from the dishes that they enjoyed there. But there’s a twist: The team blended Western elements, such as Hot Cheetohs and Doritos, into traditional snacks.
The fruit drinks and cups were inspired by visits to fruit stands or fruiterías, which are common in Mexico. The stands not only sell fresh produce, but they also make agua frescas and fruit cups, made with a mix of melons, jicama, pineapple, oranges, mango, cucumber, and strawberries flavored with lime juice and Tajín seasoning (a blend of dried chili peppers, sea salt, and lime). The savory Tajín complements the fruit’s sweetness.
The house ice creams and paletas come in a range of flavors. There are the classics—strawberries and cream, blue bubblegum, pineapple and coconut ice cream—and more unexpected options—such as cajetes (made with a caramel sauce that’s similar to dulce de leche but made from goat milk) and Rompope Con Pasas (which tastes like eggnog and raisins).
The snacks menu includes vegetarian nachos made with corn, jalapeño, mayo, and cheese. Look for a special take on street corn, made four ways and served in a cup. The Diabolito Loko (“little crazy devil”) snack is a combination of shaved ice with mango, cucumber, and jicama spears and topped with orange juice, tajin, tamarind bites, and chopped peanuts.
In cooler months, try the house-baked bolitos or conchas, made fresh each day. It’s too hot to bake in July and August, but look for the treats later this year. Cakes are also made to order and available for showers, birthdays, and other special occasions.
The Atmosphere
Graphics of ice cream treats and snacks adorn a lime green and lemon yellow banner outside. Enter a small lobby to order ice cream and paletas (a creamy fruit and milk-based pop on a stick) from glass cases.
The dining room seats 36 and is available for private parties and meetings. The walls, tables, and chairs are a festive orange, yellow, and lime. A large cartoon of patriarch Ismael Espinoza on his motorbike grins from the center of each table. Traditional punched paper streamers, papel picado, flutter across the ceiling. A statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe looks out from one wall.
Customers can park in a lot in front of the restaurant or along Hampton.
The Team
The family-run business originated in Fairmont City, Illinois, in 2010. The husband-and-wife team of Griselda and Ismael Espinosa began selling their homemade Mexican drinks, ice cream treats, and paletas at community festivals and events. Ismael, who hails from the Mexican state of Michoacán, rode a three-wheel bike with a freezer chest full of the treats, which Griselda made. They eventually opened a brick-and-mortar establishment in Fairmont City.
Then, this March, the couple, along with their daughter and daughter-in-law, opened the second location in South St. Louis.
El Michoacano Frutería Y Neveria #2
📍6010 Hampton, Princeton Heights
📞314-899-9068
⏰11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily
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El Michoacano Frutería Y Neveria
📍4330 Collinsville, Fairmont City, IL
📞314-201-2676
⏰Hours: 11 a.m. -8 p.m. Mon- Thu; 11 a.m. – 9 p.m. Fri – Sun
