Frigid Frog

Dominic Gonzales is doing his part to ‘Keep Austin Weird’ by conducting his Frozen Frog shaved ice business out of a bright green house on wheels. He’s a big fan of watermelon and pickle juice in one cone to catch the salty and sweet contrast, and for the canine clientele he recommends their one-of-a-kind doggie cones that come in chicken gravy, bacon gravy and yes even veggie gravy served in a dog bowl over ice. Dominic stands by his word that you can have as many flavors on the menu as you want for no extra charge. “We don’t put a limit on flavors. We had this one kid order every single flavor (over 80) on our menu – that one took forever to make. We also get a lot of people that just want the ice with no flavor. No one is ever dissatisfied when they get a shaved ice when it’s over 100 degrees.”

Since shaved ice is a seasonal treat, stay tuned for a large potato shaped trailer to open in the fall for some comfort soup and baked potatoes. Dominic is a supporter of the farm to restaurant lifestyle, so he will be shopping for produce and meat from local farmers he met through vendors while working at the Whole Foods Market flag ship store down town. His cones are as natural and healthy as possible, considering it’s sugar and water, by using purified filtered water and real sugar as opposed to high fructose corn syrup products.

The story behind the bright green trailer that looks like a house is that a man in south Texas bought a flatbed for his granddaughter. He was a carpenter and built a play house for her on the trailer. The trailer was sold to another man in Dallas who opened it as a shaved ice stand, and Dominic purchased it as is in Dallas and brought it to Austin for it’s final destination.

Originally from Alamosa, Colorado, Dominic has been in Austin since about 2002 when he attended the Texas Culinary Academy. Although there is no family history in the business, Dominic hopes that his 16-month old son Chayse will want to take over one day. Currently Chayse’s favorite is the Silver Fox, which is an almond and vanilla shaved ice with a little dab of cream inside.