What began as a second-hand plumber’s truck and a need to make use of extra ice and free time, Cool Truck Treats, a shaved-ice food truck, is now a new West side business.
Cool Truck Treats, by way of Nadeau’s Ice Sculptures, is a mobile food-truck with a menu full of frozen treats and shaved-ice delights. The truck mainly operates in the Oak Park and Forest Park area, bringing its cool treats to block parties, community events, and private festivities.
Max Barajas, the owner of Cool Truck Treats, began the business from a want to make use of extra supplies at Nadeau’s Ice Sculptures, one of the largest ice sculpture operations in the Midwest. He also is the owner of Nadeau’s Ice Sculptures. Barajas wanted to take advantage of the summer lull for his ice sculpture business, as well as an extra delivery truck, and his background in culinary arts.
“So, I have this truck and I have pretty much an endless supply of ice, and what I decided to do was just open up a shaved ice company,” Barajas said.
The truck has shaved ice in both the Hawaiian style, which includes sweetened condensed milk, and New Orleans style, which has multiple syrup flavors in one cone. Other frozen treats suited for the summer heat include chocolate-dipped bananas and chocolate-covered cheesecake bars. All of the chocolate is supplied by their business partner, Fill My Jar, a Brookfield-based chocolatier.
Since getting his LLC at the end of June, Barajas has set up the truck around town and is getting the word out. He said his schedule is filling up with events in the Oak Park, Forest Park and River Forest areas.
On Sundays, Barajas will be at Scoville Park during “Concerts in the Park,” a summer-long program of live music events in Oak Park. He expects to operate the truck until mid-October, but said it is weather-dependent.
After buying the truck earlier this year, Barajas said he was worried it was not going to be used until the busy winter season of the ice-sculpture business.
In April, Barajas said, the current Cool Truck Treats food truck was a rusty second-hand plumbers truck. Since then, he has gutted the interior and placed in coolers, a work station and a serving window, then gave the outside of the truck a fresh, igloo-themed paint job. After the summer season is over, he’ll convert it back to a delivery truck.
“It was more of a passion project of what I was going to do with my time, and I ended up creating a whole other business out of it,” Barajas said.
All of Cool Truck Treat’s shaved ice comes from the Nadeau Ice Sculptures workshop in Forest Park. At the “ice house,” large tubs are filled with purified water, then they are slowly frozen to create a clear, crystal-like block of ice. The ice blocks can weigh hundreds of pounds, and are carved and shaved into unique sculptures. Some are created with photos and flower petals suspended in the ice.
Over their 44 years of ice sculpting, Nadeau’s Ice Sculptures has created works for large Chicago-based organizations, including the Chicago Bears, the Chicago Blackhawks and the Lincoln Park Zoo.
The excess ice blocks from the sculpture carving process are what Barajas uses to serve high-quality shaved ice, which has an almost snowflake-like appearance. Comparing it to kosher salt, Barajas said the flatter surface of the shaved ice soaks up flavored syrups better than crushed ice.
Laurie Kokenes, executive director of the Forest Park Chamber of Commerce and Development, said operating the food truck in the community is a great addition to Nadeau’s Ice Sculptures.
“Cool Truck Treats is a perfect, portable extension of Nadeau’s Ice Sculptures. It’s great to see local businesses grow their customer base and drive customers to their brick-and-mortar business by participating in local events,” Kokenes said.
With bookings filling his schedule, Barajas is now not so worried about the food truck sitting in their workshop’s parking lot all summer long.
“I love food, and I wanted to offer something different for my town. Forest Park has amazing ice cream, as do a lot of the surrounding areas … I happen to not enjoy ice cream as much as shaved ice, so I wanted to open something with a different style,” Barajas said.
Find out more information about booking and where the truck is setting up shop on the business’s Facebook page.