YPSILANTI, MI — A family of local business owners was nearing their goal of opening a new Mexican ice cream parlor when a vehicle crashed into the building Sunday and caught fire.
As the Arreola family regroups and repairs in downtown Ypsilanti, they are still excited to bring La Michoacana Ice Cream to the community – even if it has to open later than expected.
Cousins and co-owners Christian and Sergio Arreola still hope to open the parlor before the end of the year at 418 W. Michigan Ave. next to Dos Hermanos, the restaurant, market and events space owned by their fathers – brothers Nicholas and Reyes Arreola.
The ice cream parlor will serve flavors and toppings that are popular in Michoacán, a state in Mexico from which the family originates. It will also serve up snacks and handmade beverages.
“La Michoacana is a famous ice cream place from the part of Mexico where my family is from,” Christian Arreola said. “That’s what made us bring that over here into Ypsi, because there is nothing really around here.”
There are many Michoacana ice cream parlors in Mexico and the U.S. The style is known to many in the Hispanic community, the family says.
“We call it Mexican-style gelato. These are all fresh, handmade ice creams, made with fresh fruit,” including water-based and milk-based varieties, Arreola said.
He said the ice creams come in some “crazy varieties,” including mangonada with mangos and chamoy sauce, a savory sauce made with pickled fruit and chili powder.
Other flavors include Gansito — a sweet pastry — as well as tequila and avocado, which Sergio Arreola said “sounds weird but is really good.”
They will also serve varieties of ice creams that are “more typical” at ice cream parlors in the U.S., like strawberry, pecan and pistachio, Christian Arreola said.
Choices for toppings include all sorts of foods, not only sprinkles and peanuts but also things like Doritos, sour cream, and gazpacho with lime and orange juice, chili powder and cheese.
The parlor will also serve homemade beverages made with fresh fruits, like mango and guava, along with horchata, rompope eggnog and Mexican brew coffee, among other drinks.
Snacks will include loaded chips, street corn, churros, and mini pancakes.
The cousins also own a food truck called Los 2 Primos, which they take to private events and festivals. They recently won a people’s choice award at the Novi Taco Fest.
Christian Arreola opened an ice cream parlor at La Tiendita, a Mexican market and restaurant he owns in Westland. Other members of the family opened an ice cream parlor location at Dos Hermanos Express, 25 Jackson Industrial Drive in Scio Township just west of Ann Arbor.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of work ahead to repair the building following the crash and finish renovations.
In the middle of the night, around 3:30 a.m., Sunday, Sept. 21, a car crashed into the building before catching fire.
The family feels lucky to be located close to emergency services, and the firefighters were able to get the fire under control.
“Fire and police responded right away,” Reyes Arreola said. “We were lucky it was nighttime when no one was around.”
Ypsilanti police had been responding to a complaint of shots fired in the 600 block of Pearl Street when they learned a black SUV had fled the area and crashed into the building, police said in a release.
The driver, who fled the scene, was located by police and arrested, police said. Charges have been submitted to the Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office.
The vehicle crashed through three walls, crashing through a wall off the parking lot, continuing through an interior bathroom wall and blowing out a door at the back of the building.
It is not the first time a vehicle has crashed into the storefronts Nicholas and Reyes own on West Michigan Ave., near a curve in the road.
“We’ve already had four accidents,” Reyes Arreola said.
One of those accidents, in March 2023, involved an SUV driving through the cinderblock exterior wall of Dos Hermanos Market, 412 W. Michigan Ave., which temporarily closed the market.
A solution could be building a retaining wall on their property, and their contractor is pursuing a permit for one.
Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page.