<\/p>\n
Paleteria y Neveria El Arco de Michoac\u00e1n in southeast Fresno offers traditional family recipes of paletas, nieves, and aguas frescas, just like those found in Michoac\u00e1n, Mexico.<\/p>\n
The shop, which opened at 4842 E. Cesar Chavez Blvd. in 2019, has gained a local following for its expansive menu, which includes more than 60 flavors of handmade paletas, nieves, and aguas frescas.<\/p>\n
Oscar Cisneros, who oversees operations at El Arco de Michoac\u00e1n, said the the shop\u2019s name comes from the arches, or \u201carcos,\u201d seen in every town in Michoac\u00e1n.<\/p>\n
Cisneros is the cousin of Norberto and Ernesto Mac\u00edas, the shop\u2019s owners, and said the recipes come from his uncle, Salvador D\u00edaz Prado, who owns a paleter\u00eda and never\u00eda in Mexico City. The family has been making paletas and nieves for more than 40 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe owners went to Mexico City to learn about the paleter\u00eda business. They got all the flavors and recipes for the nieves and paletas from our uncle,\u201d Cisneros said. \u201cOnce they opened their first location in Moreno Valley, they faced many challenges keeping things afloat, seeing as they don\u2019t come from a family with abundant resources. But they invested their own money and always found a way to overcome obstacles and keep moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
El Arco de Michoac\u00e1n offers a wide variety of traditional Mexican treats. All of their ingredients are sourced from local vendors.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Fresno, I\u2019ve noticed there are also a lot of people from Michoac\u00e1n, so we try to bring them the flavors they grew up with \u2014 the ones they remember from back home,\u201d Cisneros said.<\/p>\n
The paletas come in two styles \u2014 smooth, creamy paletas de crema and refreshing, fruit-packed paletas de agua \u2014 each crafted with fresh ingredients. Paletas include chunks of real fruit, bits of nuts, or even whole pieces of Oreo cookies, giving every bite a rich texture and a homemade feel.<\/p>\n
Some of the most popular creamy paletas include strawberry with milk, Oreo, cheesecake, and bubblegum, while favorite water-based flavors include strawberry and mango with chamoy.<\/p>\n
To make their paletas, the Arco de Michoac\u00e1n team mixes a creamy or fruit-based base, pours it into molds, and quickly freezes them in an ice-and-salt machine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re bringing the flavors of Michoac\u00e1n into every product. We come from a place where life can be tough, you\u2019re constantly battling something to get ahead, but that doesn\u2019t stop us from chasing our dreams,\u201d Cisneros said. \u201cAs a kid in Michoac\u00e1n, I loved Oreo paletas, and now people get to taste them too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The aguas frescas \u2014 traditional Mexican drinks made from fresh fruit, water and sugar \u2014 come in refreshing flavors like lime with chia, cucumber, coconut with walnut, pineapple, watermelon, strawberry and milk, and horchata. Each one offers a light, naturally sweet taste that highlights the freshness of the ingredients.<\/p>\n
According to Cisneros, the most popular flavor is strawberry with milk, likely because each beverage is packed with a generous amount of real strawberries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the owners first opened this shop in Fresno, these treats were hard to find, which made the area appealing to them because it meant there wouldn\u2019t be a lot of competition,\u201d Cisneros said. \u201cThere\u2019s also a significant Latino and field worker community here, and the warm climate helps too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The menu also includes fruit cups, pork rinds, tostilocos (loaded tortilla chips), mangonadas and other refreshing snacks that highlight the bold flavors of Michoac\u00e1n.<\/p>\n
Over the years, the shop has also added modern favorites, including Dubai chocolate strawberry cups, crepes, mini pancakes, kataifi and a\u00e7ai bowls.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe adapt to what\u2019s popular at the moment. When people see these items, they want to try them, and we\u2019ve received a very positive response,\u201d Cisneros said.<\/p>\n
Cisneros added that social media has been key to shaping their evolving menu.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow with social media, we can see what people like, and we use that information to expand our menu and start offering different items,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As for the future, Cisneros said the family is interested in adding more locations in the Fresno area.<\/p>\n
\u201cFresno is huge, so it\u2019d be interesting to add another location in a city like Clovis or Madera, but our main focus remains making sure we\u2019re offering a product that tastes just like the flavors in Michoacan,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Paleteria Y Neveria El Arco De Michoacan offers a hige variety of paletas and more and keeps expanding and adjusting its menu to reflect new tastes. Photographed Friday, Oct. 23, 2025 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA\/ezamora@fresnobee.com
A huge colorful variety of paletas including Chicle\/Bubblegum, center, is offered at Paleteria Y Neveria El Arco De Michoacan, photographed Friday, Oct. 23, 2025 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA\/ezamora@fresnobee.com
Cheesecake paletas is seen at Paleteria Y Neveria El Arco De Michoacan Friday, Oct. 23, 2025 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA\/ezamora@fresnobee.com <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paleteria y Neveria El Arco de Michoac\u00e1n in southeast Fresno offers traditional family recipes of paletas, nieves, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41186,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[26,112,114,113,27935,23,2457,25,3454],"class_list":{"0":"post-41185","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-fresno","10":"tag-fresno-headlines","11":"tag-fresno-news","12":"tag-fresno-paleteria-offers-more-than-60-colorful-flavors-inspired-by-michoacan","13":"tag-local-news","14":"tag-mexico","15":"tag-newsbreak","16":"tag-the-fresno-bee"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}