Nawlins Snoballs

I live nearby and everytime I pass, the stand has been closed with long grass growing around the picnic tables. Too bad because I was looking forward to a tasty snowcone.

Pros:
Great flavor — they mix their own syrups
Decent prices
Covered picnic tables to sit on
Fast service once your order is in (if you’ve ever been to MAM’s in the heights this is HUGE)
Cons:
Menu is on a flat panel tv that was really hard to read. This made the ordering process slow.
The ice was a little too smooth and there was a bit too much syrup.
It’s way out in Richmond.

The ice is soft, the flavors are unique and delicious, the service is A+ exceptional!
This is my hubby and my new favorite sno-​cone place. Since moving to Rosenberg, we are now close to Nawlins and will be frequent customers. We love sno-​cones and find this to be one of the best places!
The ice is very soft and the flavors are unique. They have traditional flavors: cherry, coconut, apple, etc. and then they have unique flavors: pickle, red velvet, coffee, chai, etc. They have something for everyone.
The service is very friendly also. Every time we go we are thanked, smiled at, and made to feel like part of the group.
The place has a large carport covering to protect the customers from the dreaded Texas sun and has two picnic tables to let you relax your feet. It’s also never too busy, and when it is, they are efficient in getting the customers served and happy.
I love this place!!!

This place is delicious and they always put the perfect amount of flavoring. I love how the ice is soft and fluffy unlike other snowballs that have large chunky pieces. Give it a try and you will not be disappointed yummy

This is out in the middle of nowhere for me. (Sorry suburban folks). But it was WORTH IT! I stared at that board for what seemed like ten minutes. The lady was sooo nice. She gave me samples… explained what she could (yes, you need to explain snow balls and make an educated decision folks).
I ended up with the horchata with condensed milk. It was fantastic. Like a little frozen replacement of my favorite drink! If you need lots o sugar in your life, this is the place to be. They aren’t greedy with the flavor, the ice is the right shade of shaved (well not finely shaved but still good), and the prices are totally fantastic.
I walked away with a large and an medium — which seemed like a large and an extra large for $ 5.50.
Oh, if you’re drivin out from ITL, closed on Wednesdays.

Where to start? The location is a bit out-​of-​the-​way for me, but worth the hunt to find them. It is easy after you visit once. Parking is just off of the main road in front of the trailer (it is graveled?). Easy peasy. And let’s be honest, I had a Groupon, and you can’t let those go to waste, right?
Upon arrival, I noticed there were LOADS of flavors to try! And not just non-​disscript «red, blue, yellow», oh and Orange. The menu was a bit difficult to see and I was a bit hot b/​c the sun was pretty bright out and there was not shade. However, the employees were very friendly and helpful, and I received my order very quickly once I made a decision:-) Others have said that there is a tent, but it was not up the day that I visited. A tent would be a nice addition. OK. Our chosen flavors. WOWEE! Awesome. I was a bit leery ordering 2 «red» flavors: Strawberry and Tiger’s Blood. «Red» flavors tend to leave me with a weird after-​taste and can be downright gross. But those were the 2 flavors chosen by my son and by my hubby. Not so with Nawlins’ syrups. The 2 «red» flavors were very good, flavorful, and no aftertaste. Sweet, but ridiculously so. I loved the way the «cones» were saturated with syrup from top to bottom, so I didn’t experience the disappointment of the dreaded «white ice». Ours were yummy till the end.
OK, now to my chosen flavor. I had the «Wedding Cake» with sweetened condensed milk. IT. WAS. AMAZING! I couldn’t believe a snow-​anything could be creamy like icecream, and taste like actual cake (not some strange, syrupy, hot mess). I was very pleasantly surprised. My husband always orders better foods than I do. Without fail. We go somewhere, he orders something that is unexpectedly delicious and I am jealous. This time he was the one who was jealous; As was my 5yr old. Don’t worry, I shared mine with them, and with my toddler twins. They all LOVED the Wedding Cake flavor. I thought the cream would just sit on top of the snowball, but it actually saturated the whole thing. Maybe it was layered in? It was heavenly!
This is my first real snow-​cone/​ball experience (besides the ones you’d get at the fair with the really chunky ice). In comparison to those, the ice here is shaved more finely. But then again, I have no other experience to compare to. For this reason, and in combination with the reasons above, I give Nawlins Snoballs 4 stars. I’d give 4.5 if I could. I’ll have to try another snowball here and at another shop to compare and will update… if I remember. I’ll definitely be coming back here.

I’d always drive past every single day, being less than 5 minutes away from my house. I never thought anything of it. I mean, how cool could anything in Richmond or Sugar Land even be? I was so used to establishments that are only «eh» or «meh» at best in my part of town, my expectations were low.
Leave it to one of the hottest summers to date in Houston’s history for me to pull up and try it out. 114 degree heat index? Icy goodness? Yes, PLEASE! Snowcones sounded amazing and it was so rare to see anything like this in our part of town.
I pulled into the grass (it’s a stand alone yellow trailer, no parking spots) and walked up. The woman and her daughter inside were very friendly, nice, and helpful. I loved that they were really enthusiastic about what they were doing, which I really appreciated as well. My bf and I sampled some of their flavors, which they were extremely gracious for us to try. They have about 60+ flavors or so, all homemade. I went with the wedding cake syrup topped off with condensed milk. It was so wonderfully tasty and that a creamy, icy treat relieved my parched throat from the sweltering Texas heat.
Sizes include small, medium, or large and additional toppings include condensed milk, evaporated milk, sour spray, and flavored gumballs either on top of or in the center of your snowball, all of various flavors as well.
My only gripes are the ice wasn’t as fluffy and soft as I thought it would be. Also, be careful about how much condensed milk you might want to put on there. All the sweetness gave me such a headache afterward, I don’t know if I’ll opt for the condensed milk again.
Oh and to note, when we went they didn’t have a tent to cover the front of the trailer who were standing in line waiting to order, but they do now, which is awesome.
I’d come back again. There are so many unique flavors, it’d be hard for me to resist.

I love this place! Not only are the snow cones delicious and the flavors yum, the owners are fantastic. It gives me this small hometown feel when we go over there and when they ask you «How are doing?», they genuinely care about your answer. My kids cheer in the car when we ask if they want to stop. You’d think it’s Disneyland. I’ll be sad when it gets cold and we don’t see them any more. Maybe I can convince the owner to stay open and serve hot chocolate and churros.

I love ice and I love sweets, so the obvious marriage between those two are snow cones (or snoballs if you must). I’m quite the fan of snow cones and have had them from quite a few places in Houston and the surrounding area. Nawlins snoballs appears to just be getting started as a business. We drove up and it was easy to find. They are right off the road and they even have some flags and signs, you won’t miss it.
What you will miss is some shade. It’s July and it’s Texas, therefore it’s HOT and sunny. I was so pleased to see there wasn’t a line, because there isn’t even a little awning above where you order to shield you from the blazing hot sun. I ordered my snow cone (wild cherry) and my husband ordered his (strawberry shortcake) and while we waited I asked why they didn’t have any picnic tables. They said they’d like some but they aren’t allowed to have them because they are a food stand. That make sense, but that means you have to take yours to go or stand around in the sun.
I ordered the wild cherry and it was good but not enough syrup. My husband ordered the strawberry shortcake which was surprisingly good! When I go back, I’ll be getting some strawberry shortcake for sure! In addition to all of the flavors (and there are quite a few), you can also get cream on top of your snow cone. The ice is definitely shaved, BUT my husband found several chunks in his ice. I don’t know how they get there, but it’s definitely shaved with some chunks. I don’t mind the occasional chunks of ice, but I do see where the other people are coming from.
Also, I currently drive a car that is very low to the ground. I don’t like driving off the road and onto grass.
I will be back, but I’ll make sure to bring extra napkins since I have to eat in my car. Next time I’ll get extra syrup because there just wasn’t enough.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I didn’t want to do an «update» so soon after writing my original review, but I did just up their rating to 4 stars. Nawlins has become my go-​to snow cone place. I even pass The Ice Barn to go to Nawlins because I like it better. They listened to customer feedback and got a tent to shade people while they wait in line.
They are also planning to move down the road and make a permanent structure. Sounds good to me!
I’ve found my new favorite flavor: Strawberry Shortcake… Yum!

Stopped by for the first time today… I was happy to see a snow cone stop right by my house! There were so many flavors to choose from but I was offered a sample of 3 different types just so that I was happy with my purchase… that alone made me very happy. My son ordered the «king cake» and I went with the «tigers blood» both were great.
It was clean, easy access, and friendly service.
We will be back again… probably tomorrow. :)

After visiting Austin (Sno-​Beach) and Hawaii (Matsumoto) a few times and trying the snow cones there, this snow cone just didn’t really cut it for me. They do have a very good selection of syrups and friendly service, but when it comes to experiencing a snow cone, it’s all about the ice. The ice they use is just like your regular ice at home and comes out crushed, thick, and chunky. If you’ve had the real snow cones, the ones with the finely shaved ice to where it immediately melts in your mouth, then you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, well, this place might just be what you’re looking for. The reason I give it (2) stars is because…“Meh. I’ve experienced better.”

So after having the best sno-​cone of my life in Austin this past weekend, I had a craving that I thought Nawlin’s could fill. This place is just off on the side of the road in front of the unmarked storage facility on the East side of Harlem just North of West Bellfort (or Morton for those with old maps).
They were very nice and friendly! The flavor selection is great. I ordered a small wedding cake with cream (which was sweetened condensed milk). I think I’m used to cream being evaporated milk, which they DO offer… but I’ve never been faced with having to make a decision when it comes to cream. Next time I’ll get evaporated, now I know what I prefer. Sweetened condensed will sit on the ice and evaporated mixes right in like the flavoring you choose. Personal preference (no stars lost here).
The reason I knocked 2 stars off (part of me thinks I should have taken 3) was because the ice was very reminiscent to the crushed ice I get from my refrigerator ice machine. It wasn’t smooth, it wasn’t tiny shavings, it was pretty course with very large chunks mixed in. So the syrup and the cream didn’t really mix in, the just sank to the bottom. Heck, there were even a few marble sized chunks (I’ll post my out-​of-​focus iPhone photo).
Overall, while the flavor was good, the experience of eating the sno-​cone was very lack luster. And after all, a sno-​cone is all about the ice.
A quick FYI, I was unsure if it was OK to drive off of the driveway into the grass to get to the stand. I did, so did others. I think a sign would help… but maybe I should just off road without hesitation, this IS Texas after all.

As I have posted in another review for a local snowball stand, I have a few requirements. My biggest peeve though is the syrup. You need lots of syrup. The bottom should be saturated. The top should be too, but getting to the bottom of a snowball and finding nothing but ice is far more disappointing.
I’m glad that Nawlins Snoballs didn’t disappoint in this regard. There wasn’t as much on top as I’d like, but I always get coconut with sweetened cream, which is clear and might be a bit hard to tell what is ice and what is syrup. I say this because my hubby’s grape (purple) had more syrup on top, while mine did not.
The ice was a bit chunky in places, but otherwise pretty consistent. And as I’ve said, I can deal with a few chunks as long as the syrup is present throughout. Also, the sweetened cream was added in layers making a more consistent flavor rather than just being on top. Also a plus in my book.

Their snowcones are just what the doctor ordered on a super hot day like our Houston summers! Its a little trailer food truck on the side of the road. But don’t be deceived, it’s got some the most delicious snow cones ever!!! Stop by, you won’t be sorry!