New shops run by siblings offer distinct frozen treats

Some brothers and sisters argue.

Others open frozen treat shops.

Suzy's Swirl in Gurnee is owned by Kathleen Wood of Chicago and her sister Sue Tierno of Johsnsburg.

La Michoacana in Waukegan is owned by brothers Daniel and Chon Andrade, both of Waukegan.

The stores offer a different twist on the traditional frozen guilty pleasures considered a staple on hot summer days.

For Wood and Tierno, their shop is the result of a dream that began 25 years ago with a conversation between Wood and her brother-in-law Joe Tierno.

"We had always talked about opening up a restaurant [that served] Chicago street food," Wood said.

Wood, having 30 years of experience as a restaurant consultant, thought herself ready for that type of challenge. Joe, having been in the construction business for more than 25 years, considered the idea of the partnership a great collaboration.

Wood said that after much research was done by the two sisters and Joe to figure out what exactly their restaurant would offer and what they wanted it to look like, a personal loss for Sue and the family occurred.

"Joe was suddenly taken from us," Wood said.  After Joe's death, she and Sue decided to make it work.

The sisters switched from the Chicago street food idea to frozen yogurt because, "we're big frozen yogurt aficionados," Wood said.

Sue's daughter Jen Tierno of Johnsburg also joined the team of entrepreneurs and the three went chasing the concept of swirl.

Sue said customers often think the  store is named after her but it's not.

"It's named after a show character we used to watch when we were little on WGN called Suzy Snowflake," Sue said. "We wanted to give homage to our Chicago roots that way."

Sue said they chose the swirl concept because anything can be swirled. "Swirling is endless," Sue said.

At the shop, 6310 Grand Ave, Suite 300, Suzy's Swirl offers pineapple sorbetto, Tahitian vanilla gelato and pomegranate frozen yogurt, to name a few.

The have "Suzy's stuffed cups," which are cups with chocolate cake at the bottom, ready for customers to then pour on their heart's content of flavors.

"You can mix them up, as many as you want, the frozen yogurt with the sorbet and the gelato," Jen said.

The price is based on the weight of the the cup or cone and a plethora of toppings, both solid and liquid can be added. Gummy bears, sprinkles, caramel, you name it, they have it. And if they don't and you name it, Wood said they may just have it on your next visit.

"We tell every one of our customers to have a swirling good day before they walk out," Sue said.

The sisters want the community to get inspired, not lose hope in the economy and "take their dream and carry it through," Sue said.

"It's time to re-ignite the American dream," Wood said.

They're hoping to do that one swirl at a time.

The idea for brothers Chon and Daniel Andrade to open a traditional ice cream shop was a rite of passage.

La Michoacana is a famous ice cream store located in Michoacan, Mexico, hence the name La Michoacana.

It's famous not only for its longevity but for the variety of natural flavors offered in ice cream scoops and ice pops, such as guava, coconut and mango.

The brothers' cousin, Marco Andrade of Aurora owns a La Michoacana in Aurora and when the brothers decided to take the plunge into the business that's been part of their family for so many years, Marco helped.

"He guided us through the process and wherever we got stuck, he'd always help," Daniel said.

The brothers opened their first shop last year on Grand avenue in a small space on a strip mall and the response was more than they expected.

"We hope people would know the quality of the product but we were surprised at how well it was received from the first day," Chon said.

The shop, the brothers say, offered friendly service and invited everyone to try, free of charge, any flavors they wanted.

"If it was something they wanted to try but they weren't too sure, then they could try without any problems that way," Con said. "That way people can figure out what they like."

What many customers seem to like is their "mangonadas," large chunks of mango with whatever flavor of ice cream the customer desires and a spicy sauce poured on top.

"That's our most popular item. People always wasn't that even with their order of something else," Daniel said.

The brothers have been so successful with their shop that only a year after opening, they've opened a second, more spacious shop on the north side of Waukegan on Aug. 11.

"We can seat almost 100 people here and it's decorated in bright pink colors like the one in Mexico," Daniel said.

The brothers say they hope next year they can open a third and they're looking at Round Lake, Highwood and Mundelein as possible locations.

"The way people received us with that warm feeling of family, it really inspires us to work harder," Chon said.

The new La Michoacana offers 20 more flavors than its predecessor store, making it 50 flavors of ice cream and 70 flavors of ice pops.

The stores are located on 2695 Grand Ave. and 2052 N. Lewis Ave. in Waukegan.