Salem food cart pods: 5 spots to try in Oregon’s capital
Check out these local food carts around Salem serving a variety of cuisines.
Are you craving something sweet, spicy, sour, crunchy and refreshing?
Jesus Fuentes, owner of new Keizer ice cream and Mexican snacks shop Ruben’s Ice Cream y Antojitos Mexicanos, hopes folks will come in whenever they want a sweet or savory treat.
Prior to opening the space earlier this winter, Fuentes has been running an ice cream truck since 1993.
The ice cream truck and shop are named after Fuentes’ youngest son, Ruben, who has Down syndrome. Fuentes said naming the business after Ruben was meant to uplift him. The business’ logo is a drawing of Ruben they got in Santa Cruz, Fuentes said.
The truck only had enough room for ice cream and popsicles, but the shop also sells antojitos, or “little cravings” of foods designed to satisfy crunchy, sour, sweet, spicy and even fruity cravings.
Fuentes began driving the ice cream truck while living in California, and continued it after he and his family moved to Oregon in 2001. They moved to Salem in 2015 and had been looking for a brick and mortar ever since.
Fuentes said customers would make comments about missing the truck when it was on its route. To fix the issue, he wanted to have a shop people could always go to.
His daughter, Sarai, who works in the shop on days when her father is out in the truck, said nothing in Salem seemed to fit until the spot in Keizer opened up. The store opening was a big deal because Fuentes is hoping to retire from the truck in the future but would still have the business, she said.
Fuentes said he understands what he offers are fun and “not a necessity,” but believes having affordable prices will bring people back. The cost of both sweet and savory treats for most items are under $6 and nothing is over $10.
Satisfying cravings
Besides ice cream, the shop also offers fresh pressed juices, aguas frescas, mangonada, popping boba drinks and fresh cut fruit with various toppings.
The fruit with toppings options include fruta con chile (spicy fruit cups), fresas con crema (strawberries with whipped cream), manzanas locas (spicy apples), coctel de frutas (fruit cocktail) and spicy mango. The manzanas locas is a cut apple topped with chamoy, Tajin and a Mexican candy spaghetti, which mixes sweet, tangy and sour flavors together. The fruit cocktail is a choice of fruits that are then topped with Tajin.
The antojitos selections include nachos, chicharrones de harina (flower chips), chicharron preparado (pork skin chicharron) esquites, elote, tortas, tostilocos (“crazy chips”) and sopa loca (“crazy soup”). The elote (grilled corn with coated topping) is only available seasonally.
The chicharrones, chicharron preparado, nachos and esquites are more well-known snacks, but the other options are worth trying. The tostilocos are small bags of chips mixed with cueritos (pickled pig rind), jícama, lime juice, hot sauce, chamoy, chili powder, salt, and Japanese-style peanuts. The sopa loca is made with a cup of instant noodles then topped with choice of chips, lime juice, hot sauce and cheese. As a fan of spicy foods and contrasting textures, I would recommend the chicharron preparado, tostilocos and elotes (when it comes back in season).
In addition to the snacks, there is also ice cream, ice cream bars and popsicles available at the shop. Fuentes said he plans to also offer milkshakes, smoothies and raspados (Mexican shaved ice) when the weather is warmer.
The store does not currently have a website or social media pages.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday
Address: 4906 River Road N., Keizer
Em Chan covers food and dining at the Statesman Journal. You can reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @catchuptoemily.
