Popsicle flavors such as Ice Ice Berry, MC Nana and 2 Lime Crew are not found in a typical popsicle shop, but Ben Bates, co-owner of HipPop, said the store’s hip-hop influence and organic ingredients are what makes it one of the most unique frozen dessert shops in Texas.

“I haven’t seen anybody really do what we are doing here,” Ben said. “We offer shaved ice and slushes in addition to our one-of-a-kind popsicle flavors.”

As a culinary chef who has worked at fine dining establishments such as Dragonfly at Hotel ZaZa in Dallas and Ciudad, Ben said he has plenty of experience creating five-star meals.

However, in 2010 Ben began to step outside the realm of fine dining and started to experiment with making popsicles.

“I saw some guys from New York who were doing it, and I thought it would be something cool to get into,” he said. I started playing around at the house mixing up things.”

In March 2013, Ben and his wife, Rosy, whom he met in culinary school, took Ben’s creative hobby and turned it into a full-time business by opening their first storefront in Grapevine.

The pair’s creative juices continue to flow as they come up with new mixtures weekly. One of Ben’s newest creations is the Captain Crunch popsicle, which he said was inspired by a pastry chef.

“I look at different pastry chefs and the flavors they use in their desserts, and I also look at bartenders and the type of mixes they do to draw inspiration,” he said.

The Bateses offer customers more than 10 popsicle flavors, such as cookies and cream and strawberry basil, as well as more than 20 flavors of Hawaiian shaved ice, which Ben said he never thought of selling prior to opening his store.

“[Our current location] was a shaved ice business before,” he said. “This is one of the reasons I decided to do shaved ice. Since the previous owners were already doing it, I knew they probably had customers that associated this place with shaved ice.”

Although Ben also works as a full-time chef at a hospital, he said he enjoys being able to put his creativity to use to come up with popsicles both children and adults can experience.

“It’s fun to play and be creative and come up with stuff,” he said, “especially when I can bring back some of those childhood memories for adults who may not have enjoyed a real popsicle in a while.”

HipPop

520 S. Main St., Ste. 205, Grapevine
817-527-4383
www.hippoptx.com
Hours: Tue.-Thu. noon-8 p.m.,  Fri.-Sat. noon-9 p.m.,  Sun. noon-6 p.m.