Flor de Dolores

Admittedly, I am a frozen ice cream, nieve, frozen yogurt addict and don't impress easily: a Mexican friend told me that Flor de Dolores was the "go to" spot in Dolores Hidalgo and boy was she right. The second we arrived, the owner began offering us spoons of fruit nieves and combinations of flavors that he suspected we would not know: he was so eager to let us sample that even when we assured him that we would be too full to order, he continued to offer us more tasting spoons. Since we tasted almost every flavor listed on the sign, and had a hard time making our final selections, it is highly unlikely that you will be displeased by your choice - and remember you can try first so don't be shy.Since I am drawn to flavors harder to come by outside of the region, I chose a colorful refreshing trio of cactus fruit nieve called "colibri" (hummingbird) that I think consisted of garambullo, Xoconostle, and tuna (prickly pear), but it might well have had different cactus fruits (the problem with not taking notes when trying so many flavors!). Whatever it was, the colibri was memorable for both appearance and flacor! The maracuya (passion fruit) is delicious, the beso de ángel is yummy, the piñón is tasty (for some reason the pine nut has a pinkish color throughout Mexico). Unfortunately, we were only in town for the day so we did not get to sample every flavor or try the beautiful paletas, but I am hopeful that we will return some day.And, yes, we also sampled the nieves in the zocalo: elite, zapoté, freesias con crema, pistachio, mamey, and found the prices a bit lower than Flor de Dolores, but also not as good.

Just east of the nice town square, you might have to wait in line for a very reasonably priced ice cream cone or cup, and you hopefully brought a good Spanish-English dictionary to recognize the many flavors available. I tried something I recognized: crema da whiskey, which did have a slightly bourbon taste. But nearby, in the town square, you can find even more and perhaps equal flavors of ice cream. Not speaking the language, I stood in front of the one at the southwest corner of the square, trying to guess the English words for the various flavors when the young man at the stand began handing me small samples and trying to explain what they were. There were shrimp (ugh!), avocado, cactus flower, "special vanilla", and guava, which I finally settled on. I recommend you try the stands in the square for a special adventure.

The town of Dolores Hidalgo is a nice day stop if you're going between San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato but probably not worth overnighting. However, do not miss this great little ice cream and paleta ([popsicle)shop as they offer the most outrageous flavors and you won't find any better dessert in the area. The son's owner spent lots of time chatting proudly about his shop, showed us the equipment and let us sample flavor after flavor. The only thing that disappointed us was that we didn't stay in the town long enough to try all of the different flavors!

Great place to try the ice creams and nieves for which Dolores Hidalgo is famous. It's on the way to the José Alfredo Jiménez museum. The owner is super friendly and will let you sample anything you like! Loved the whisky ice cream.

This place is as smooth and creamy as gelato in Rome and with great flavors like the boutiques in San Francisco. Work up a sweat visiting all the Indepence museums then indulge in some awesome ice cream.