As I walked through the doors, a bell’s chime combined with upbeat Latin music hit my ears while I soaked in my surroundings. Ocean-blue walls, arctic-blue tables, and cerulean-blue booths, and all kinds of colorful signs and decals hang on the wallpaper, covered in Spanish phrases and sayings.

Típico Helado is a small, locally owned Ice Cream shop in Omaha that sells authentic Mexican frozen desserts. Not only do they sell frozen desserts, but also products like Maruchan noodles, Bionico (a Hispanic fruit salad), chicharrones (fried pork rinds), and spicy chips.

Típico Helado’s new location, on 156th and Dodge, opened in November, marking their third shop, far from their original location in South Omaha, at 5210 S 21 St. Since then, another location made its debut in Elkhorn, bringing the total to four stores.

This location has a very clean atmosphere, kept by the employees. The workers were able to speak both English and Spanish fluently, and appreciated it when you tried to order in Spanish.

Immediately after walking in, my eyes were drawn to the multi-screened menu, hanging above the L-shaped counter, where a plethora of different types of helados and nieves (ice creams and sorbets) were displayed. The menu consisted of numerous pictures alongside the item’s respective name, which was convenient. The employees didn’t hesitate to offer samples or answer any questions about the menu.

First, I tried one of their specialty items, the Fresas con Crema (Strawberries with Cream). The delivery and presentation were adequate, but paled in comparison to the rest.

Served with a cream base and topped with strawberries, the strawberries were very fresh and sweet, but the cream had too much of a vanilla-yogurt flavor for my taste. It had a thick consistency and was overall rich and hefty, so I needed something light to balance it out afterwards. I rate the presentation and taste 7/10.

Next, I tried their ice cream. With around 25 flavors to choose from, eventually,  I made the challenging decision to try the almendra (almond) flavor.

Ordering a medium size, the portion was heaping and packed in a clear cup, so the presentation earns an 8/10. Now, personally and controversially, I love almonds, so I may be a little biased, but this was amazing. It had a delightful flavor and texture, and had a superb balance between the sweetness and nuttiness of the ice cream. It was thick, yet still light and refreshing. I rate the taste a 9/10.

Then I went back to the specialty items and tried their renowned Mangonada. This was served as a mango sorbet with Tajín and Chamoy (a Hispanic spice and a sauce made out of pickled fruit). The sorbet was chunky and not necessarily smooth, with little bits of mango every few bites.

The presentation for the Mangonada was the best, receiving a 10/10 from me. Heaping scoops of mango sorbet with chamoy lining the container and tajín dusted atop, with an edible tajín-covered straw sticking out, was enough to make my jaw drop.

The combination of the sweetness of the chamoy and the spiciness of the tajín was a burst of flavor, but I would have preferred if the mango sorbet had been sweeter. I felt overall it had the spice but was lacking in the sweetness from the sorbet, so the ratio was a little off for me. I gave the taste a 6/10.

Lastly, I tried a specialty drink, their Iced Horchata with Strawberry Cold Foam. The presentation was beautiful, the pink cold foam with dried strawberries on top created an ombre effect to the drink, and it came in close behind the Mangonada in the presentation. I gave the Horchata a 9/10.

Actually, one of my favorite horchatas I have tried was strawberry flavored, so I was super excited to see if this lived up to my expectations. Spoiler alert, it did.

The horchata was sweet and had a luxurious cinnamon flavor, and combined with the Strawberry Cold Foam produced a fruity balance to the drink that I greatly appreciated. Although I will say that it was excessively sweet, this resulted in a few points docked overall for the taste. The horchata received an 8.5/10.

My only regret was not trying a sorbet on my first trip there. With this location being close to Millard North, it allows more students to be able to experience and take advantage of this under-hyped and amazing establishment.

With summer’s yearly arrival and school’s end just around the corner, as temperatures rise and you’re looking for a spot to cool down, Típico Helado absolutely received a 10/10 from me.