La Michoacana expands with new Crystal Lake location, food

Residents soon will have another place to buy their elotes, mangonada and refrescos.

Elisa Boyso, owner of La Michoacana, 135 N. Main St., will open a second establishment in Crystal Lake early next month at 19 E. Berkshire Drive. The new spot, La Mega Premium La Michoacana, will serve more than just frozen desserts and spicy snacks.

Boyso said homemade tortillas, tacos, burritos and tortas will be offered.

“We’re very excited,” she said.

La Michoacana celebrated its fourth anniversary Thursday.

Boyso said she believes people are willing to experiment with Mexican desserts and prefer her all-natural frozen products over competitors.

“We make it all on-site, and we use real (cane) sugar. We don’t use any processed sugar,” Boyso said, adding that both establishments cater to both English and Spanish speakers. “People are happy it’s all natural, that when they get strawberry, they actually taste strawberry.”

The parlor is named after Michoacán, the Mexican state that Boyso said started the tradition of blending fruit pieces, pure sugar and cream together.

“It’s where ice cream was born,” she said. “It’s the concept of taking real fruit and mixing it into ice cream. ... We use real fruit. We take the fruit, blend it, add cream to it, and only add enough sugar to bring out the flavors.”

Among her more than 40 ice cream, sorbet and ice pop flavors are coconut, watermelon, tequila, caramel, cappuccino, cheesecake, bubblegum, papaya, cookies and cream and rum raisin.

One of Boyso’s most popular products is mangonadas. The bright orange and red frozen treat is made of mango sorbet and topped with lime juice, chamoy sauce and chili powder if requested. A tamarind-dipped straw can be added for tartness.

“It’s savory and sweet,” Boyso said. “The tamarind gives it a lot of flavor. It starts to melt in there.”

Elotes is a popular savory snack consisting of steamed corn, mayonnaise, butter, cotija cheese, lime and chili powder. Refrescos are Mexican sodas.

Residents also are enjoying the “huge trend that [La Michoacana] started” of mixing Flamin’ Hot Cheetos or Takis tortilla chips with nacho cheese, Boyso said.

“It tones down how hot they are, but they’re so delicious,” Boyso said.