Rafael Alvarez, Nom Noms Mexican Grill co-owner, said he started the restaurant with a few traditional, sometimes unusual, flavors of Mexican ice cream such as sweet potato and corn.
His business has grown, and with the opening of the McKinney store in June 2014, Nom Noms now offers hot food and an expanded menu of homemade sorbets, sherbets and ice creams.
“Instead of doing just 20 ice creams like a lot of ice cream places do, we have 42, and so that gives us the ability to have a lot of those weird Mexican flavors but also cater to the needs of what people like here, like the traditional cookies and cream and cookie dough and flavors like that,” Alvarez said.
Among the flavors that might surprise visitors are avocado, Strawberry Jalapeno and something the family calls Chongos, which co-owner Maria Barragan, Alvarez’s mother, said tastes similar to flan. Seasonal flavors include classics such as pumpkin and eggnog. The family also take requests for custom flavor such as maple bacon.
The family started selling food offerings to keep business strong through the winter months when cold treats are not as popular, Alvarez said. Customers can order burritos, salads and nachos in five different meat and vegetarian options ($6.65-$6.95) among other items on the menu. Barragan, who runs the kitchen, said the food is authentic Mexican.
The colorful chairs, surfboards and beach photos that style the dining room reflect Orange County, California, where Alvarez grew up.
Ice cream has been in this family for more than 30 years. An uncle owns several shops throughout Mexico, and the family traces itself back to the Mexican state of Michoacan, which has a rich history of ice cream, Alvarez said.
The uncle taught Alvarez’s stepfather how to make the frozen dessert, and with the gift of a few machines, Nom Noms first opened about five years ago in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
The “weird” homemade flavors were unique, Alvarez said, but not customer favorites, so the family made adjustments to the offerings.
“We knew the concept was different, and we knew it would work,” Alvarez said.
He said business is thriving in McKinney, and the restaurant has surpassed its expected earnings by more than 60 percent. Nom Noms has also sold its ice cream to a few other local restaurants as well.
Five years after opening, Alvarez said he hopes to have Nom Noms nationwide in another five years, with a goal of at least four more stores locally in the next few years.
However, all of the other changes, Alvarez says Nom Noms will always be a family business.