"Mateo 's offers ice cream, popsicles, freshly cut fruit, sandwiches, juice and coffee drinks. The shop is located on Santa Monica Bl West LA. Mateo has other locations throughout LA, but it was my first visit here. Limited street meter parking, but I got lucky and parked right out front.Throughout LA there are street vendors that push a cart selling 'paletas ' and 'nieve ' which are popsicles and ice cream treats. Due to food prep health safety concerns, I personally would not try street vendor foods. This shop has everything a street vendor would offer and more. Upon entry, Mateo 's shop was super clean, and everything was organized and visually appealing.I was greeted cordially by the staffer Dalia, who was so patient and helpful. I did notice she wore gloves when she was serving yay.She let me sample many flavors of the nieves: they looked like gelato, some milk base, some like sorbet. I was more interested in tasting flavors uniquely found in Mexico and Latin American countries, which included: chamango(chili spicy mango), mezcal(with tequila) smoked milk, cactus fruit and more. I selected the cactus fruit, which was similar to sorbet/glacé and tasted just like the cactus fruit aka prickly pear with subtle sweetness, yummy.This shop is one of many small businesses on trendy Santa Monica Bl which has a large population of Hispanic and Latin Americans.The pride in ownership is apparent with the visibly cleanliness inside and outside, made it appealing to Me. Since it 's on my route from Beverly Hills to the beach, I will make more frequent visits so I can try other yummy flavors and treats. Definitely worth a visit."
