From Mexican paletas to Thai rolled ice cream, Atlanta has a frozen dessert for every palate

This story was first published in 285 South, a news publication dedicated to Metro Atlanta’s immigrant and refugee communities, and is part of a partnership with Rough Draft Atlanta. Fresas con crema paleta. (Photo by Gabriela Henriquez Stoikow) On a sunny Saturday afternoon, little kids are lining up in front of the display freezer at Marietta’s Paleteria Michoacana. While ranchera music plays over the shop’s speakers, the children consider their ice cream and paleta flavor choices: Will it be passion fruit or dulce de leche today? Strawberry or chamoy?  There are plenty of icy options—and not just at Paleteria Michoacana but all across the Atlanta area. Over the years, people arriving here from around the world have built businesses that now offer frozen treats from just about everywhere. 285 South ventured around the metro area this summer, trying different combinations of sugar and ice (tough work!)—with roots in Mexico, Thailand, India, and beyond—to come up with this handy frozen dessert guide! Paletas with the freshest fruit  Chamoy and mango paleta. (Photo by Gabriela Henriquez Stoikow) Paletas—ice pops, often made with fruit—may have come from the small town of Tocumbo, in the Mexican state of Michoacán: According to one story, three brothers made the frozen treats there before moving to Mexico City in 1946 and hitting the big time. What distinguishes paletas from American-style popsicles is the importance (and freshness) of the fruit. Paletas can be water-based or milk-based, with common flavors including strawberry, mango, passion fruit, pineapple, and many more; richer varieties, in flavors like chocolate and dulce de leche, are also usually available. Today, they’re a popular treat all over the world—including at Paleteria Michoacana (737 Roswell Street, Marietta), which offers 16 milk-based and 17 water-based flavors. I tried the fresas con crema paleta—buttery soft, its sweetness refreshing but not cloying. I also tried the chamoy and mango paleta, a traditional sweet-and-sour combination and, according to shop servers, the most popular flavor with native Mexicans. Other places to find great paletas in the metro area: La Niña Michoacana, inside Buford Highway’s Plaza Fiesta (4166 Buford Highway, Chamblee), and La Moreliana, which has locations at Plaza Fiesta and in Norcross (5395 Jimmy Carter Boulevard).   Related Story: The history of chamoy (with a recipe) Matcha made in heaven (and turned into soft-serve) Matcha latte float. (Photo by Gabriela Henriquez Stoikow) Few flavors have exploded in popularity as quickly as matcha, the earthy, bitter Japanese green tea—so it wasn’t a surprise that, when I pulled into the Doraville location of Matcha Cafe Maiko (5306 Buford Highway), I found a line of a dozen people waiting to order. I ended up trying the matcha latte float, a creamy drink topped with a swirl of soft-serve that combined matcha with ube, the bright-purple Filipino sweet potato with notes of vanilla, pistachio, and (for me) powdered milk. As I mixed the ice cream into the drink, it became almost like a matcha smoothie—hands down, one of the best iced matchas I’ve had in a long time.  Decorated with Japanese cherry blossoms, the cafe has a casual vibe—perfect for catching up with friends, which many visitors seemed to be doing. Matcha Cafe Maiko has another location in Duluth (2131 Pleasant Hill Road), where you can also get matcha soft-serve (and matcha crepe cake, matcha lattes, and much more) at Fujiissa, a newish ice cream shop inside Jusgo Supermarket (3875 Venture Drive). It’s also available at Midtown’s Momo Cafe (95 8th Street).  Related Stories:• Try the soft serve from these Atlanta ice cream shops• A summer dining guide to Atlanta Thai rolled ice cream that’s a riot of textures and flavors  Mango Mojito and Cookie Spree rolled ice cream. (Photo by Gabriela Henriquez Stoikow) Not far from Matcha Cafe Maiko, another Buford Highway shop offers an entirely different kind of Asian-inspired ice cream: Thai rolled ice cream, the specialty of I-CE-NY (5177-B Buford Highway, Doraville). Founded in Thailand by three college friends, I-CE-NY opened its first location in New York in 2015. A year later, a fourth college friend—Pibool Koonvirarak—opened the shop in Atlanta. Today, I-CE-NY has more than 250 locations across Asia, and more than 20 in the U.S.  The staple flavor is mango sticky rice ice cream, a mix of mango ice cream and coconut-infused sticky rice topped with mango chunks and coconut sauce. It’s something “I dreamed of making since I was 17 years old,” Pibool (who also goes by David) told 285 South. It’s also the shop’s number one seller for six years running.  I tried the Mango Mojito and Cookie Spree ice creams, which had the right mixture of sweetness and density; David told me they don’t add preservatives to their products, and are careful about the amount of sugar they use. With New York–themed wallpaper and pop music in the background, I-CE-NY is a good spot for a casual date. You can also find rolled ice cream at Roll It Up Ice Cream, which has locations in Snellville (1864 Scenic Highway) and inside the Asian Square shopping center in Doraville (5150 Buford Highway).  Hot and cold, fancifully decorated, Japanese street food Taiyaki with ice cream. (Photo by Sophia Qureshi) Taiyaki is a popular Japanese street food consisting of a fish-shaped cake that’s made to order, served hot, and filled with nutella or custard—or ice cream, which is how they do it at North Decatur’s Tea Leaf and Creamery (2052 N. Decatur Road). Here, you can get taiyaki (or an egg waffle) and ice cream in over-the-top flavor combos like Cookies & Cream, Rocky Road, and Strawberry Cheesecake, or you can build your own. Tea Leaf has additional locations in Austell and Doraville and at Georgia Tech, and another outlet is slated to open in Kennesaw. You can also get taiyaki and bubble waffle ice cream at Yaki Yaki Waffles & Beverages, a counter inside the Doraville H Mart (6035 Peachtree Road).  Indian ice cream with a royal past  Kulfi. (Photo by Gabriela Henriquez Stoikow) A centuries-old dessert with roots in South Asia’s Mughal Empire, kulfi is denser than ice cream—it’s made by boiling down milk and sugar and freezing the mixture in molds rather than churning it. At Kwality Ice Cream, a national chain with locations in Sandy Springs (6631-D Roswell Road) and Cumming (1614 Peachtree Parkway), it’s available in flavors like pistachio, saffron-pistachio, mango, rose, meetha paan, and more. (Another Kwality Ice Cream outlet is forthcoming in Kennesaw.) Kwality also offers motichoor, which are fried balls of chickpea flour soaked in a cardamom- and saffron-infused syrup; cassata cake, in which vanilla, tutti frutti, and pistachio ice creams are layered atop a slice of sponge cake; and falooda, a milkshake combining kulfi, ice cream, rice noodles, and basil seeds. Another option for Indian sweets like kulfi and falooda? Try Gokul Sweets in Decatur’s Patel Plaza (1707 Church Street).  The post From Mexican paletas to Thai rolled ice cream, Atlanta has a frozen dessert for every palate appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta.