{"id":345076,"date":"2026-06-21T22:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T22:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/345076\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T22:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T22:28:09","slug":"houston-vendor-serves-handcrafted-mexican-popsicles-to-world-cup-fans-at-fifa-fan-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/345076\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston vendor serves handcrafted Mexican popsicles to World Cup fans at FIFA Fan Fest"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Houston food truck owner is getting a chance to show global visitors about what makes his Mexican popsicles stand out.<\/p>\n

HOUSTON \u2014 Houston’s FIFA Fan Festival has drawn thousands of soccer fans from around the world, all eager to celebrate the World Cup<\/a> atmosphere in the city.<\/p>\n

But beyond the matches and fan excitement, local vendors are also getting a chance to shine.<\/p>\n

One of them is Celso Trejo, AKA “El Paleta Patron.” He’s the owner and founder of Hot Rod Pops, a Houston-based Mexican popsicle business serving handcrafted paletas at Fan Festival.<\/p>\n


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Trejo, a Houston east side native, has become a popular stop for fans looking to cool off in the Texas heat.<\/p>\n

“Come and get your ice cold pops\u2026 we’re the best in Tejas!” Trejo shouted from his food truck as fans lined up nearby.<\/p>\n

Trejo said his gourmet Mexican popsicles, known as paletas, are made with simple ingredients.<\/p>\n

“It’s just straight fruit, Mexican cane sugar and water, that’s it,” he said.<\/p>\n

What makes Hot Rod Pops stand out goes beyond the frozen treats.<\/p>\n

Trejo said much of the business — including the custom bikes, push carts and even the food truck — was built by hand.<\/p>\n

“We’ve been making them and selling them from our custom built bikes and push carts, I build those all myself, and what you’re standing in right now is a bus I built in the driveway,” Trejo said.<\/p>\n

His passion for building started in childhood.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Catch ‘Extra Time’ streaming at 6:30 p.m. weekdays<\/a><\/p>\n

Trejo said his father taught him how to work on cars and flip vehicles, a skillset that eventually shaped his business.<\/p>\n

“I’ve always worked on cars as a kid and my dad would take me to the auction teach me how to flip cars and work on \u2018em and now I’m flipping popsicles,” he said.<\/p>\n

That automotive influence is reflected throughout the brand.<\/p>\n

From the vintage hot rod-inspired truck to mechanic-style uniforms and accessories, Trejo said the business pays homage to the classic car culture he grew up around.<\/p>\n

Trejo said he was thrilled when World Cup organizers approached him about becoming a vendor at Fan Festival.<\/p>\n

“Super excited because I knew this was it, there’s no bigger event on the planet in the world than World Cup,” he said.<\/p>\n

He said organizers reached out less than a year ago, and since then, business has taken off.<\/p>\n

Trejo said Hot Rod Pops has been selling around 2,000 popsicles per day during Fan Fest.<\/p>\n

He said interacting with fans from around the world has been one of the most rewarding parts of the experience.<\/p>\n

“They come here expecting to see American stuff and American vibes, and the vintage vibes we provide they love it,” Trejo said.<\/p>\n

For Trejo, being part of Houston’s World Cup moment is something he does not take for granted.<\/p>\n

“The World Cup, I mean to be in Houston is a once in a lifetime thing and I get to be a part of it,” he said.<\/p>\n

Complete World Cup coverage<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Houston food truck owner is getting a chance to show global visitors about what makes his Mexican…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345077,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-345076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}