Mateo’s Ice Cream & Fruit Bars

What can I say I love the ice cream Authentic Mexican and Delish Vegan sherbet and none vegan ice cream, fruit salads and much more! Perfect for a date and a sweet tooth to explore other neighborhoods.

Everyone goes to Mateo’s for the great ice cream. But, you gotta try the turkey sandwich. It’s absolutely delicious. Thanks Lore for the tip.

Great service and I love their fruit. I have never had any fruit from here that wasn’t sweet… so good. I will definitely be going back for more.

I give 2 stars for the Popsicle because it was pretty good but their juice was superrrrr disappointing. So when u put fruit and juice in a blender what do I get? U get a freakin smoothie. I was super thirsty and wanted juice so I asked them if they fresh squeeze everything. She said yes so I gave her the fruit combo I wanted and she put everything in a blender added orange juice from a jug (pre squeezed from earlier) and handed it to me… I asked her if this is the fresh squeezed juice and she lied and said yes. I told her that this was a smoothie. Anyways the only juice option they have is are the premise ones like the Orange juice, pineapple water, and the green juice. Btw they add water and sugar to it (ask them and they’ll tell you). Not worth the trip. I’ll just pay the same 5 buck at a real juice shop. This is a Popsicle hot spot.

I’ve had a couple of friends suggest Mateo’s before and by chance, finally ended up going yesterday.
I was totally overwhelmed by the number of choices we had, but the woman behind the counter was so patient and helpful. She suggested the coconut milk paleta and it was amazing. It was the perfect balance of creamy and refreshing. They make everything from fresh fruit so you can see the bits of real coconut. My bf got a pineapple one; it was the right level of sweetness. Together, it was like having a piña colada!
I think the coolest (pun unintended) part of Mateo’s is the number of «different» flavors they had. They ran out yesterday but I’m definitely going back to try the pitaya, tamarind, and guava ones. I love that it’s so simple and healthy. There have been so many hipster ice cream places that charge an arm and leg for presentation and weird flavor mixes that it’s refreshing to find an actual hole-​in-​wall place that sells flavors you have to guess. It reminded me of childhood summers without being in my face about it. Also, did I mention it’s $ 2 a pop? Two freaking dollars. I wanted to buy everything. It took every ounce of self-​discipline to not be greedy and buy 1 more. Or 5. But there’s always next time.

I don’t know why it took me so long to try a paleta. It also helps that the paletas at Mateo’s are made fresh which just takes it to the next level. It’s sort of in a run down plaza and from the outside, it doesn’t look all that big or enticing. But step inside and you will be mindblown by the display of fresh paletas and ice cream. You can also get food and other drinks here too. I’ll try the food here one of these days but I really can’t stop getting the fresh paletas!
I’ve tried the Pineapple, Coconut cream, and Mango. They have two different bases for their paletas. Cream based and fruit based. The fruit based paletas are shockingly packed with fruit. I mean it is literally just chunks of fruit packed together into this delicious popsicle. The pineapple isn’t too sweet and it is very refreshing. Same thing with the mango. There are chunks of real fruit everywhere which makes it a little hard to lick like a normal popsicle but I don’t mind at all because I know I’m eating something that is somewhat healthy for me. The Coconut Cream based paleta was absolutely incredible. I couldn’t believe how good this bar was. Perfectly rich and creamy. The last time we were there, my boyfriend gave in and tried their strawberry ice cream. He took one bite and he could not believe how good it was. According to him it was the best strawberry ice cream he’s ever tasted.
I believe its $ 2 a bar which is a bargain. I can’t remember how much the ice cream was but the prices are very reasonable. Honestly, I would rather grab a fruit bar here than go to some high end hipster ice cream place (there’s a time and place for everything). Cheap, 100% fruit, and refreshing. What more can a girl ask for? ⁵⁄₅

This place is just soooo good! To start off I think about 90% of their items are 100% real fruit. That is just the start. I come and visit a few of their locations and most are usually real busy so bare with them. Most locations staff are friendly and helpful and they do give tastings. They have all types of different flavors that you can’t find in store or anywhere. Some like horchata, nance, or leche quemada (burnt milk, don’t let the name trick you it’s good). I would suggest visiting whenever in the area you won’t be disappointed!!!

wtf is this madness…
It was extremely hot and such a treat to have a delicious cold popsicle.
mango con chile: it’s actually spicy. think of those mango lollipops from the ice cream man on a cold fruit bar form. HEAVEN! If you can’t handle spice, don’t eat it. Lol my cousin was too weak to finish. Mango chunks were fun to chew on.
strawberry and cream scoop: self explanatory
pistachio: self explanatory
Will def come back when I’m in the area to try more flavors. Of course, with my family cos I know they will love the other tropical flavors!
Downside: not enough seating + no outdoor seating. We stood in the parking lot eating our treats lol…

Yum! Best paleta ever!
No need to read anymore! go ahead and found out for yourself!
I had paleta de coco y de nuez!

All I have to say is mmmmmmmh. I got the mango flavor and it was yummy! Super cheap but very juicy, flavorful and good. My boyfriend got the strawberry and I think his flavor was better so I’ll get that next time. Regardless must get on any hot day!

2 $ per Paleta. Every single time I went they were out of a lot of flavors! Definitely a popular spot.
So far I’ve tried coffee, strawberry, guava and mango. The fruit paletas are extremely chunky and filled with a lot of fruit. The coffee and strawberry was creamy and sweet.
Mateos is so good and for the price it’s amazing.
If you’re in LA you should definitely stop by!

I came in according to the highly rated in Unilocal reviews and I extremely satisfied with my visit. I got strawberry water based and I felt like I was eating the real frozen strawberry. My husband got the coconut cream based and it was so so so sweet but he badly loved it.
I will definitely stop by next time.

Absolutely delicious ice cream pops (refer to picture). So many to choose from and so little time (they melt too fast to order 2 at a time; my friend did that and she was rushing to eat them haha). I wish they had a better seating area inside or outside. The downside of going here during the summer is that it’s too hot to enjoy your ice cream outside as it’s melting all over your fingers…
They have SO MANY flavors to choose from. As ordinary as it may sound, I loved the strawberry & cream one. It was so good! They also have a spicy mango flavor that my friend enjoyed as well! I’ll be back and can’t wait to try more flavors next time!

I came here for lunch one day. What!!! Ice cream for lunch you say? No, they do sell mexican style sandwiches here. With a sandwich combo, you get a freshly squeezed fruit smoothie, a sandwich, half a naranja, and a fruit cup.
Everything was delicious… EXCEPT… the monstrosity that lurked on the bottom of the fruit cup. I looked at it and I thought it was a piece of melon. So I stuck my fork in it, and took a bite. I kid you not, it tasted and smelled like I was eating baby poop. I immediately spit the rotten piece of fruit out into the trash bin. I asked my co-​worker, who’s hispanic, about what I had just put into my mouth. She began cracking up and was expecting my reaction. If you’ve never had Mexican papaya, and you want to taste what baby poop might taste like, knock yourself out.

****ICE CREAM**** Great place if you’re VEGAN~! Los Angeles
***Cream flavors are not vegan. Fruit flavors are.
OMG What a hidden GEM~! They have ice cream made with cream and sorbets made with REAL fruits WOW! PITAYA SORBET?! YES PLEASE~! I’m sorry but ACAI is just so yesterday. It’s still healthy for you but PITAYA (dragon fruit) is the NEW super fruit and if you still have not heard of PITAYA, you are just so behind the times already and I am a little disappointed but it’s okay. That’s why I am letting you in on the scoop. It’s a cactus fruit and very popular in certain parts of Asia and Mexico. There’s two colors, pink and white. The pink one is much sweeter. When I seen that they had PITAYA sorbet here, I was excited! PITAYA has a ton of health benefits like antioxidants, great for the heart, has a lot of fiber and can help fight diabetes.
**ICE CREAM FLAVORS
~Strawberry
~Mamey Sapote
~Eggnog & Raisins
~Walnut
~Pistachio
~Rum & Raisins
~Caramel
~Cookies & Cream
~Yellow Cherry
~Banana Strawberry
~Strawberry & Cream
***REAL FRUIT SORVETS
~Lemon
~Strawberry
~Mango
~Soursop
~Guava
~Taramind
~Pineapple
~Watermelon
~Pitaya
~Yellow Cherry
They also sell FRUIT BARS (Paletas) in fruit cream flavors and real fruit flavors similar to the ice cream and sorbet flavors. They have smoothies, milkshakes, fresh vegetable/​fruit juices, sandwiches on baguette breads like ham, turkey chicken tuna, and veggie. This place is CASH ONLY and there isn’t many tables in here. Two tables of four and one table for two. I was lucky to get the smaller table when my order was ready. It was PACKED, line out the door. I wish it was a better area. I had absolutely NO IDEA where I was going and I was putting up my windows and locking my doors as I was driving in the hood. Probably not a place for a young little lady to go by herself. But I went, I saw, I ate, I survived, and left. I got home safely, thank you Lord.
**There are THREE locations. All in the L.A. County area. Next time I’m bringing ice packs and a cooler and coming back with a bag full of FRUIT BARS~! Parking was okay. I didn’t have any problems. It’s in a private lot with a few other businesses there. I probably wouldn’t come here when it’s hot because you’ll be standing outside in the hot sun.
Thanks for reading!!! :)
~*Kenzie*~

I’m shocked at how cheap everything is for the quantity. There are tons of paleta flavors which were exciting to just see! The fresh juices were cheap for the amount they juice! I loved the paletas because you get chunks of the fruit it is made of.
I haven’t tried their food yet but they seem to have some good deals with a sandwich, a drink, and bionico. Cray!
This place is down the block from dino’s chicken too hehe. Dino’s for dinner, mateo’s for dessert :) got your night planned for you. Yum!

This is in an area that I probably wouldn’t come to without my husband. Once you enter, it can be overwhelming to decide on what you think you want! The displays are very artistic! The menu boards are colorful, too! You can get ice cream, paletas, banana split, smoothies, jello, and bionicos. They offer sandwiches also.
I don’t know about the rules on samples that I’ve read in other reviews.
My husband asked what Mamey was, and the lady didn’t know how to describe it and handed him a sample. We ordered 2 scoops of ice cream we thought we wanted. So, he got the Mamey and the Eggnog & Raisins. These flavors were okay. The ice cream is definitely creamy and has a nice consistency. I had a hard time tasting them after taking bites of my fruit bar.
I had a really hard time deciding. I settled on the Jamaica (Hibiscus) Paleta and kind of regretted it. It was way too tart for my liking! I think I need to get a fruit bar with cream in it.
It was a very hot day and the line was non-​stop and out the door. They did keep the line moving and got customers served up!
Maybe if I had chosen better flavors that I loved, I would be able to assess this place easier. I wanted to try flavors that were not what I normally get because that’s what you do if you are adventurous!
It’s probably me and not the ice cream choices. I am glad we tried what we chose, but for future reference, I’d choose other flavors. The pistachio paleta looked really yummy! Maybe after a taco truck run, we’ll stop by and try out other flavors!

Paletas and ice cream galore! Mateo’s has some amazing flavors in the prettiest colors. I was in serious ice cream mode and got the guava and strawberry with milk paletas and the yellow cherry and horchata. I like the more creamy texture of the ice cream over the icier version of the paleta, so I enjoyed the former a little more. I tried several flavors while mulling over which to get, and my favorite hands down was the horchata. It tasted even better than the drink! The yellow cherry was good too. The most interesting flavor was the smoked milk, which tasted like sweet milk with liquid smoke. I can’t wait to go back and try more flavors! I also noticed that there are several other locations dispersed around la, so find a Mateo’s near you!

Best hidden secret in Koreatown. I just found out about it recently too. Granted it’s inside a grimey looking plaza but I swear their ice cream is worth it. Their fruit bars seem appetizing as well and the best thing is, their price is SUPER CHEAP and not inflated. They give you huge scoops of icecream unlike those skimpy scoops they give in West LA… UGH!
Get this… IT“S MY ABSOLUTE FAVE
GET THE HORCHATA ICE CREAM
GO NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW.

2.5, but rounded down, because of that vapid «No sampling on the weekends» rule. What is the reasoning behind that? I don’t get it. We arrived around 11am and the place was pretty empty. What’s the big deal?
I normally steer away from sampling, because I know it can get annoying, but I really wanted to with Mateo’s since it was hard to tell what the texture and consistency was like. If it was too icy, I would’ve opted for one of their colorful and prettily displayed fruit bars.
Bit the bullet and ordered 2 scoops anyway. One scoop adventurous, one scoop safe and predictable.
What I got:
Adventurous was the Guava. How the heck was I supposed to know that «Fruit Cream Flavor» and «Real Fruit Flavor» meant one was ice cream, and one was sorbet when the attendant spoke zero English. Both those categories were listed under «Ice Cream» though, so didn’t read much into it. Guava turned out to be a sorbet as it was listed under «Real Fruit». Phooey, I don’t like sorbets, but it wasn’t bad. The consistency was very icy and chunky while the guava was apparent and refreshing. Tiny bits of guava seeds in there, too. If you like sorbets and guava, you’re sure to enjoy a scoop of this.
Coffee. Thank gawd this wasn’t a sorbet, but definitely not the best coffee flavor I’ve had. In fact, it wasn’t good. There was an unusual taste to it I can’t put a finger on, and the consistency was dry; if that makes any sense. I guess what I’m trying to say is that it wasn’t a creamy texture. Wasn’t rich, and wasn’t smooth. Chalky and dry. Come to think of it, I remember thinking «Whoa, it’s like play-​doh» as she was scooping it out. On a positive note, it wasn’t overly sweet, but dissatisfying overall.
The waffle cup was the best part. Crunchy, fresh and heavily dipped in chocolate with bits of almonds.
Also, took a couple bites of the Strawberry and Smoked Milk bar, which was REALLY off-​putting. Why does the milk need to be smoked and taste burnt? It was super chemical-​y and offensive. I don’t know how so many people enjoyed this.
I’m convinced that they recycle those plastic spoons used for sampling as mine was all scratched up and faded in color with a lot nicks on them. If you’ve never been, and plan on visiting during the weekdays when sampling is allowed (–_​-​), I’d toss out the spoons into the trash bin, and not the mini canister placed above the counter filled with other used ones.