Halo-halo, sno-balls, paletas: Try these frozen treats in LA

Ice cream lovers: here’s a challenge for you this summer. Break out of your comfort zone and try a new frozen treat. Los Angeles is the city for year-round ice cream, but there are plenty of other cool and icy desserts available throughout the Southland.

Mona Holmes wrote about her favorite ice cream and gelato joints in LA before her taste buds ventured in new territory.

Here are some of her favorite ice cream alternatives this summer:

Halo-halo at LA Rose Cafe in Hollywood

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“It's this wonderful traditional Filipino dessert,” says Holmes. “They take crushed ice, I've had it with either evaporated or condensed milk, and then they layer it with flavors like coconut, taro root. They use a purple yam to make ice cream and it yields this color that can only be described as electric purple.”

Sno-balls at Fluffy’s Sno-Balls in Long Beach

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“[Sno-balls] are as much a part of New Orleans culture as jambalaya or gumbo,” says Holmes. “My favorite place is Fluffy’s Sno-Balls in Long Beach. The owner, Kevin Lee, moved here after losing everything in [Hurricane] Katrina in 2005, and he made a fresh start. My favorite is the wonderful strawberry cheesecake sno-ball.”

Paletas at La Michoacana

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“They do look like popsicles, but if you look closely, you'll see that these cold deserts are full of freshly chopped fruits like pineapple, strawberries, and mango,” says Holmes. “They have a lot of Mexican flavors added in them too. My husband came home one day with a box of them for company and everyone grabbed one and it was perfect.”