Yummy Botana tempts tastebuds
Jay Magana, owner of Yummy Botana, stands next to the freezer of Mexican ice cream the shop offers, which ranges from coconut and Mexican coffee to tamarind and piñon. {Vikki B. Hodges/Davidson Local}
A new snack shop in town is offering snacks and desserts with a distinct flare.
Yummy Botana (botana is Spanish for snack) recently opened at 4 W. Second St., across from the Lexington Police Department and behind BAM Nutrition on Main Street.
With the warm weather of summer, owner Jay Magana said the frozen treats such as Mexican ice cream and paletas, which are similar to popsicles but primarily made with chunks and slices of fresh fruit, are very popular.
Magana carries about 30 flavors of the ice cream at all times but rotates the selection. Flavors range from the familiar coconut and butter pecan to tamarind and Mexican coffee. More delicious flavors include a Mexican fruit ice cream that has bits of dehydrated fruit in it to pinon, which is made from the edible seeds, or nuts, of the small pinyon pine trees native to Mexico and the southwestern U.S.
“Mexican ice cream is a lot richer and creamier, which tastes better,” Magana noted. “There are more flavor combinations, too.”
If you look close enough you can see the bits of rice in the rice milk paleta, or popsicle, which is based on the popular Mexican drink called horchata, which is made from rice milk sweetened with cinnamon, sugar and vanilla. {Vikki B. Hodges/Davidson Local}
The paleta flavors also rotate and include a kiwi and strawberry with yogurt, in which you can see actual slices of kiwi and chunks of strawberries, as well as a lemonade and cherry. There’s a rice milk paleta, based on the popular Mexican drink called horchata, made from rice milk sweetened with cinnamon and sugar.
“The paletas also have more real fruit and cream — there’s no artificial flavoring and coloring like a popsicle.”
For those who like a little heat, try mango and chili and pineapple and chili paletas. “But they’re not crazy hot,” Magana assured, noting the flavor is more of a “sweet heat.”
Fresas con crema is a dessert of strawberries in a cold, sweet cream sauce. {Vikki B. Hodges/Davidson Local}
Other cold menu items include bionicos, a fruit cocktail of sliced cantaloupe, bananas and apples topped with a chilled, sweet cream sauce, as well as fresas con crema, which are strawberries in the same cream sauce.
Yummy Botana serves mini pancakes drizzled with a choice of sauces, such as Mexican chocolate and caramel as well as Nutella, and topped with sprinkles and/or nuts.
Magana’s shop offers a mouthwatering variety of “street snacks” typically found in Mexico, including Doritoslocos, which are chips topped with cabbage, cucumbers, pickled pork skins, Japanese peanuts and jicama, with the option of hot sauce on top. Another snack is chicharrones de harina - fried wheat chips topped with cabbage, sour cream, pickled pork skins, cojita cheese and avocado.
In the future, Magana plans to add Mexican popcorn, which is popcorn drizzled with lemon, hot sauce and spices. He will offer churros, a sweet fried dough dessert, on the weekends.
A Lexington native of Mexican heritage, Magana grew up eating the foods Yummy Botana sells and knows that some local Hispanic families go out of town to find what he’s offering.
“I felt like Lexington would support something like this — it’s different.” He added half his customers are non-Hispanic. “And it gives the kids a place to hang out.”
There are several tables in the shop along with game boards, card games and dominoes. And, there’s a foosball table!
In addition to the shop, Magana has his own business, Exclusive Workforce, which does mechanical contracting work. He has worked on large construction projects such as the Egger Wood Products manufacturing plant in Linwood and the Hampton Inn in Lexington.
Yummy Botana is open from noon to 10 p.m. daily.
