Taco Shop partners add Kona Ice to their portfolio

That first day in 2017 when co-owners Sanaa Yazbek and Alma Hernandez opened their Taco Shop restaurant in a strip mall in Palatine, they made only $50.

They mention this because they can laugh about it now.

The two women stuck it out and succeeded. In 2019, Yelp listed the Taco Shop among its top 100 places to eat in the United States.

In 2021, Hernandez and Yazbek added a food truck. They catered private events and served people at summer festivals. While on the road and at their destinations, they were captivated by another company’s vehicle.

“We would see Kona Ice at a lot of different events we attended with our food truck,” Yazbek said.

They learned more about Kona Ice — the shaved ice company launched in Kentucky in 2007 and now boasts more than 1,900 musical “Kona Entertainment Vehicles” — and liked the concept.

They appreciated that Kona was community-oriented and that it was geared toward children. They were impressed the company has given more than $200 million to the communities it’s served by partnering with schools, sports teams and nonprofit organizations.

“(It’s) a big family. That’s why we decided to move forward,” said Yazbek, who met Hernandez while both worked at a Portillo’s restaurant in Schaumburg.

The duo now have their own four-wheeled Kona Ice franchise, with Wheaton and Carol Stream as their territory.

“Kona Ice, what’s fun about it is that it’s so simple that you’re able to enjoy every single customer that comes up. Your customer is a kid in front of you, and to see their smiles and to serve them, the energy is beautiful,” she said.

Most of their business will be events for schools, day care centers, park districts, youth sports events, birthday parties and graduations.

Yazbek said their May calendar already is booked with school functions, such as a party at Carol Stream Elementary School and “Washapalooza” at Washington Elementary School in Wheaton.

“Once in a while we’ll drive around the neighborhood, and we let the neighborhood know, ‘Kona Ice is going be in your neighborhood,’ and the kids get real excited,” she said.

They get a kick out of the candy spoons, the toppings, and the myriad possible flavor combinations they can create using the truck’s self-serve “Flavorwave” dispenser.

There also are crafted shaved ice options such as bourbon-vanilla and seasonal options “that we can play around with,” Yazbek said. Kona Ice also has lower-calorie blends and now is producing dye-free flavors.

The franchisees are just now heading into their busy season, which will last until late October or early November, Yazbek said. When the Illinois weather turns cold, they can switch to a cart-sized “mini-Kona” and take it indoors.

“We’re able to keep that treat all-year round,” said Yazbek, the food truck veteran.

“It was a beautiful addition to what we do.”