The former liquor store that housed a more sessile version of snowcone trailer Mam’s House of Ice for the last few years appears to be up for grabs again, a reader notes (with a new HAR listing backing them up on the story). A sign on the window tipped the reader off, but the joint was closed at the time; it’s not yet clear yet whether the folks behind Mam’s are seeking a new space somewhere, have retreated to its more mobile lines-out-the-empty-lot business model, or have perhaps shut down altogether.
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- 1040 W. Cavalcade St. [HAR]
- Previously on Swamplot: Winter Snoballs for Houston;Â A More Permanent Home for Heights Snoball Slingers;Â Snoballs at MAM’s: the Heights of Ice
Photos: HAR
Sunset in Sunset Heights
Perhaps people weren’t interested in a $4 sno-cone when Tampico Refresqueria offered them for $1 up the street.
I had been to Mam’s brick-and-mortar once: it took forever to get a sno-cone and the layout just didn’t make sense with the one door into/out of the place. I had also visited the robin’s egg mobile cart once: plenty of room outside to queue up but still very slow pacing.
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Maybe too many people got tired of the wait and moved on to faster production and cheaper shaved ice?
MAM’S could not figure out how to produce a sno-cone in less than 30 minutes to save their life. Good riddance.
Their lines in the summer would suggest otherwise. Just a guess, they probably got tired of paying brick and mortar snowcone shop rent in February. I hope they bring back their little trailer.
This is terrible news.
Mam’s was fun when it was a little trailer on 20th and Rutland. You could find some shade or go walk down 19th st with your ice snoball. But over on Cavalcade, shade is at a premium and there is nowhere to go. But it was when Yeti Sunshine set up at Antidote that I was done with Mam’s.
“Sessile”? Someone’s Word-A-Day Vocabulary Builder is paying off!
Uh…tampico is crushed ice and cough syrup…not the same thing at all. And yeti tastes like everything has kale and coconut milk in it. However, I totally agree Mams was too slow. Can’t make that overhead if you can only churn out 10 snowballs an hour.
Like others above said, it is a shame that they moved at a snails pace. I went once to the trailer and once to the brick store and both times were frustrating at best. 30 minutes for change and 3 snow cones is ridiculous. Where I come from (Nola) there were high school kids behind the counters (Plum St, Sal’s and Hansen’s) and they could take a order for 8, make change, get your order right and have it in front of you in under 5 minutes. Rocket science it ain’t! The post office and DMV were faster than they were.
Sometimes you take on the landlord as a major partner
by the rent he charges the small business owner.
Been there done that
Loved Mam’s, and fluffy ice. A good sno cone is hard to find. shaved ice is fine, but not the same as the the Sno Wizard ice and the syrup.
Steel City Pops just down the street certainly wasn’t helping Mam’s business