On yet another hot and sweaty Arizona day, I grabbed my wallet, my bike, and my younger sister to go and try the Sno Shack, an outdoor snow cone food truck on Chandler Heights. With the Sno Shack’s tiny trailer setting, colorful logo, and neighborhood-hangout atmosphere, it seemed like the perfect place to stop for a bite to eat on the way home from school.

When we got there, one could immediately notice that the people running the vendor put time and thought into keeping customers happy. There were several plastic lawn chairs parked in the shade of the Sno Shack trailer, with a family of young children sitting there, happily enjoying snow cones. Even though the entire business consists of a trailer hookup to a truck, there was a little drive through sign and window on the side.

I ordered a small cup of one of the more popular flavors, French Vanilla. Though it took several minutes, it was made relatively quickly. I gladly paid them, and they handed me a spoon and a styrofoam cup brimming with white ice which proceeded to rapidly melt all over the sides of the cup. In the Sno Shack’s defense, they quickly offered napkins as soon as they saw the leaking cup in my hand, and the towering ice was quickly eaten to a more manageable size by me and my sister.

The snow cone was quite tasty, with just the right amount of syrup so that the flavor didn’t overwhelm the ice. Unfortunately, due to the heat and the not-quite frozen cone, the treat quickly began to melt before I had even left the vendor. Both me and my sister enjoyed the treat, but had to rush to scarf it down before it dissolved into watery syrup.

Though the Sno Shack has great customer service, a large variety of flavors, a good price of $2 for an appropriately sized small, and a very nice ice-to-syrup ratio, they could do a little better in making sure that the snow cone’s ice can stay frozen enough to last long enough to eat.