May’s Ice Cream

Kind of a small unpretentious shop run by Taiwanese. Traditional style shaved ice 4 toppings for about 2.50. I liked that they had tan yuan the chewy balls because most people do not have them or know how to cook them.

Delicious vegetarian Chinese restaurant — don’t let the name fool you, this is not a Ben & Jerry’s-type place! Sure, there’s smoothies, slushies, bubble tea, and Taiwanese shaved-​ice desserts, but the highlight is really the vegetarian food — hotpots, smoked soy «duck», noodle soups, and more! The bitter melon is pretty good (hard to find at most restaurants, this dish is probably a love it or hate it type), and the pan-​fried taro or radish cakes make a scrumptious appetizer!
Their specialty is tzong tzi: sticky rice with peanuts, chestnuts, shiitake mushrooms, gluten, and veggie «pork» all wrapped in banana leaves in a cute triangular package. You can buy a whole bunch of them and keep them at home in the fridge or freezer, and just steam them in a rice cooker or on the stove for a great tasting snack or quick bite to eat. You can even microwave them, just place a wet paper towel next to it.
And if you have room for dessert, the shaved ice is great — you get to choose 3 or 4 toppings (mung bean, tapioca, almond jelly, sweet tofu pudding, oatmeal, mango flan, red bean, etc) to go over the ice. Really good! Though on the other hand, most of the smoothies are like almost every other place, made with powder or syrups.
The restaurant itself is not modern looking or fancy (read: cheap hard plastic bench-​booths), but hey, the best Chinese food often hides in hole-​in-​the-​wall places! Get the food to-​go if the décor bothers you, or if you’re looking for a place with a nicer atmosphere and waiter-​service, try the Pine Forest Vegetarian restaurant a block down the road — both places have delicious Chinese food, though the style of cooking is quite different. (Note: as of 2013, both places are closed one weekday a week, I think it’s Wednesday for May’s and Tuesday for Pine Forest, although I could be mistaken.)
Definitely check it out. The best quick-​serve vegetarian place in Houston!

I used to come here with my mom all the time when I was a little kid! I came here recently though and although it felt nostalgic, it was a lot sketchier and dirtier than I remembered. It might be because this store has been open for so many years.
My tastes have changed over the years with new shaved ice places opening and it’s just not as good as I remember. I used to enjoy the traditional shaved ice dessert but now, I would rather spend my money on a delicious mixed fruit shaved ice from Nu Café or Juice Box.

A ok!
This place hasn’t changed since I was small. The shaved ice is generous and tasty. I kinda prefer it to shaved snow.

Came here meaning to try the shaved ice but instead got a cantaloupe bubble tea. I wouldn’t really recommend the bubble tea.
I want to go back and try the shaved ice but it was bit overwhelming coming here with no experience with the process. I really expected them to just serve the shaved ice and nothing else… so it surprised me when it was a full restaurant. Alot of the things for the shaved ice looked a bit too savoury but reading other reviews more closely-​I think I just need to jump in.
try try again

For a Vegetarian… this place is top notch! However… I was in love with this place for two years. I am a strict vegan, and I’ve eaten there more times than I could ever recall. UNTIL…
DU DU DUNNNNNN…
I read they’re NOT VEGAN! Crap! Why do they tell you they are completely vegan, and they’re not. Ohhhh… the humanity!
However for you vegetarians… there’s nothing better out there. I only give it three stars because they told me Lieeeesssss… boooo.

I should have stuck with what I said in my review of Mala Sichuan about the soup at Mala, banh mi at Don’s and shaved ice at May’s. My wife wanted to get shaved ice and I figured I would eat something there. She got her ice with 4 toppings. I ordered the N5 explaining to the English speaking lady that I did not want any kind of mock meat. I don’t think it deserved a name.
This huge serving of hot oily noodles came to the table with soggy carrots, cabbage, mushrooms and some sort of mock tasteless chicken. I was hungry so I forked over some noodles into a bowl and added a lot of red pepper sauce. Had a little more but got disgusted with all the oil and wilted vegetables. Even the peppers did not help. We got up and left.
The portions are big but noodles are cheap. And what good is the portion size when the food is unappetizing?

I have been coming here for over 25 years for one thing and one thing only. Taiwanese style shaved ice. You can get the classic shaved ice with red bean and condensed milk or the shaved ice with four toppings of your choice then drizzle with brown sugar syrup.
The toppings range from almond tofu, glutenous balls, tapioca pearls, grass jelly, red bean, green bean, taro, rainbow jelly, peanuts etc. My usual combination is almond tofu, taro, green bean and peanuts.

I’ve been a patron there for many years so I’ll just sum up what I normally get there.
Shaved ice — it’s cheap and good. The portions are huge also! You can’t go wrong splitting a medium with 2 – 3 friends or a large for 4 – 5 friends during the summer.
Tofu Fa — You can get it either cold or warm, I prefer warm. Also can get the sugar with or without the ginger. I love extra ginger. It gives extra flavor, but I don’t eat the ginger. I actually went there today and they ran out. The lady in front of me got the last order. SOOOOOOOOOOOO wrong, but I forgive them. It’s so good during the cold winters. I also get the rice balls with mine.
Smoothies — they use fresh fruit and it’s great. My former roommate loved the banana. He raved that they once ran out of bananas so they ran next door to the supermarket to buy some so that he could have his banana smoothie. He was very grateful.
Bubble teas — DO NOT RECOMMEND. It’s not bad, it’s just not great. I found out they used the powdered Thai tea instead of brewing their own. No thanks!
Food — I had the V14 today which is as close to the Buddha’s Feast as can come. It wasn’t the best but it was very good. I will be back for this and some other vegetarian dishes. The lady said the fried rice was the best and most popular so something to consider for next time.
Downsides about May’s is the place is a dump. They don’t do anything to make it aesthetically attractive and to be honest I don’t think they care. I’m fine with that. Also, cash only. Finally, communication can be a slight problem if you don’t speak Mandarin but as long as you know how to point and shout and don’t ask for too many extras they don’t understand then you are good!

***Note*** The shaved ice here is different than Juice Box or Star Snow Ice. The syrup used is black sugar, so it has a stronger taste.
I like the cultural accuracy of the shaved ice. It tastes homey and the toppings are more eclectic. For example, there are taro rice balls, normal sweet rice balls, pudding, etc. It’s a different take than Juice Box, and the ice is not shaved so finely so you still get that texture crunch. The decorations are not modernized and lighting is a little bit dim. The ice speaks for itself and the lady was generous with the toppings and syrup too.

I love their shaved ice because its sugar syrup and awesome toppings. This is definitely the place to get the most authentic Taiwanese shaved ice!
I also enjoy their dishes which are all vegetarian dishes but very flavorful. This is one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in Houston; yet, it is still family owned and family run with good quality food.
Even though the restaurant is kinda dirty looking, they do have really tasty food

When my husband and I were still dating, we took a trip to visit his family out in Houston and my «now-​in-​laws» took us to May’s to chow down on Asian desserts to help me deal with the infamous Houston humidity and heat.
We got two shaved ices to share. I love how they had a plethora of toppings to choose from along with drizzling the shaved ice with a really good brown sugar syrup. With the heat/​humidity, it almost made me feel like I was back in Taiwan!
Quick service, and great prices!

This is the kind of «Asian» dessert that I miss when I was still living in Houston. For some reason, I thought Seattle’s Chinatown would have some «authentic» type of toppings for their shaved ice… but NOPE. It’s just flavored jelly – like grass, mango, coconut, tapioca – then there’s the regular fruits, like strawberries, pineapples, bananas, and the mung beans, red beans… it’s just not the same.
When I was living in Houston down the northwest side, I remembered, almost once a week, and after morning service is over at my church, my family and i would come here. Seriously, this place was good despite it being a «hole in the wall» and my dad would be willing to drive 30 – 45 minutes to go there to get some, and with the heat and humidity we get in Houston, it was always so refreshing.
The toppings were the chewy rice dough balls «tang yuan»…then there’s oatmeal barley, lotus peanuts, taro, sweet rice, all sorts of beans, the normal fruits, the jellies… the portions were huge and if you choose it, you can have your dessert be topped off with the sweet syrup and the condense milk, if you wish. *sigh*…I seriously miss this place. Another reason to want to leave Seattle. LOL
Next time when I fly back to Houston to visit my parents who NOW live 15 min away, I definitely need to get me some.
This stuff is addictive!

May’s has been around for 20+ years and like Diho Plaza, the interior of the restaurant could use a face lift. My brother used to frequent this place back in the day for its traditional shaved ice and I started going several years ago for its delicious and reasonably priced vegetarian meals.
I’ve had about half of the items on May’s menu and my favorite is the Three Cup «Chicken.» During lunch, they have prepared items where you have the option of noodles, white rice, or special nutritious rice for an extra charge and choice of 3 sides. My mom often orders lunch take out from here when I’m back in town, and they include soup. However, I have gone in here by myself once to order lunch take out and they charged me $ 1 extra for the soup. When I questioned them about when they started charging, they lied and said several months prior. Truthfully it’s most likely because I’m younger and American-​born. Sure enough, I go in with my mom next time and they didn’t charge. I even had my mom ask them if soup is extra and they told her no.
For shaved ice, the toppings I get most frequently include the sugared pineapples and barley. As another reviewer has mentioned, you will not find the modern condensed milk infused ice here with multiple fresh fruit toppings and scoops of ice cream. Instead, they have traditional toppings such as grass jelly, green bean, red bean, and many others.
The tofu here is excellent with Filipino style my favorite. The hot tofu with ginger syrup is very good for dessert and you can order it to go.
Blatant lying and up-​charging for being an ABC (American Born Chinese) aside, the food here is good and I’ll keep coming back.

VEG FOOD REVIEW: as in, I actually went for lunch and didn’t order any ice cream– sacrilege, I know!
What a neat find this place is! Definitely a hole-​in-​the-​wall for sure– which is actually major bonus points for me. They have a big menu with tons of pictures, but if you go at lunch time, for $ 4.50 ($ 4.75 if you get the purple/​brown rice), you get a huge cafeteria-​style plate of healthy fresh food du jour and unlimited soup (see my pic). The food is filling, prepared by a loving grandmother-​type and fast. While maybe it’s not the best meal I’ve ever had, for that price and quantity, no complaints here.
What I’d recommend:
a.) get that brown rice (really it’s purple), it’s a superfood and so good for you! that they offer it, was a surprise and worth the extra 25cents for sure
b.) get the gingery slabs of tofu in the brown sauce– it’s done very well
c.) IMO, aside from the tofu get straight-​up vegetables for your other 3 options on the cafeteria plate. The mock meat was meh, I feel, and the meal would have been better without it. But while a long time veggie, maybe I’m just not a mock meat person– to each his own.
This place serves a purpose and it’s not to wow you but to fill you up (with plenty of leftovers) for less than $ 5.
Next time, I’ll leave room for this ice cream everyone’s ravin’ about!

May’s Ice Cream is the epitome of OG, authentic, and the best place to go for traditional shaved ice. For $ 3.45, you get a large bowl of shaved ice with four toppings. The two types of toppings that set them apart from other shaved ice shops are their sweet rice balls (tang yuan) and pudding.
The sweet rice balls are the gooiest, 66% melt-​in-​your mouth /​33% chewy rice balls I’ve ever had. They have several flavors (or colors) including purple (taro), white, and pink. Go with the taro.
Their «pudding» (description misleading because it’s actually firmer like jello) is made in-​house and has a firmer consistency and bolder taste than other places. Try the almond (xing ren) or mango.
And don’t be scared to try their brown pineapples — they are only brown because of the sugary syrup they soak them in. Those suckers are like sweet explosions in your mouth.

I was in love with this place for two years. I am a strict vegan, and I’ve eaten there more times than I could ever recall. UNTIL…
DU DU DUNNNNNN…
I read they’re NOT VEGAN! Crap! Why do they tell you they are completely vegan, and they’re not. Ohhhh… the humanity!
However for you vegetarians… there’s nothing better out there. I only give it three stars because they told me Lieeeesssss… boooo.

If you are out looking for a really good shaved ice dessert, this is the place to go! May’s have been around for a LONG LONG time and remains a hole-​in-​the-​wall despite all of the imitators that try to steal its market share. In addition, they also offer Vegetarian dishes like fake meat and mock duck… My old Buddhist buddies used to go here all the time to eat and it is very reasonably priced. I also come and ask for the grass jelly, the sweet red bean, green bean, coconut jelly and have them put EXTRA EXTRA condensed milk topping on top! They are still open and there is a reason why that is the case.

This place is a vegetarian’s dream. They have roughly 40+ vegetarian dishes of soy meats. Try the braised fish, it is delicious.
The extra draw is the shaved ice, wish has been a staple in Chinatown for as long as i can remember. The staff is also very helpful, upon a very large order I had today, they gave me a wheel cart to take to my car which I promptly brought back.

This place is and has been our family’s regular stop for shaved ice since the 1980s. We were here just yesterday in fact. Ownership of the restaurant has changed a few times since then, but quality remained the same. The latest change has resulted in slightly different-​looking/​flavored shaved ice toppings but we still find it acceptable.
Each bowl of shaved ice is big. You get a choice of four toppings per bowl. The cost is only $ 3.25 per bowl, which is a great deal. Their prices have not increased very much over the years nor have their bowl sizes shrunken much. They also have a bunch of hot food dishes and bubble teas.
There is a banner over the glass front of the store with «May’s Vegetarian Café» but the largest and old store sign that’s part of the shopping center décor says «May’s Ice Cream.» It’s a couple of spaces north of the famous Chinese Café in Diho Supermarket’s Shopping Center. Many Taiwanese families who’ve been around Houston for a long time seem to like this place even though it’s not as glamorous and hip as those newer bubble tea-​ice places.
My parents prefer May’s shaved ice over Star Snow Ice because the toppings are firmer (e.g. jellies are tougher to chew on) and the sweet syrup tastes like its from brown sugar. I personally prefer the Star Snow Ice shaved ice over Mays because the toppings taste sweeter and are softer.
The service that comes with the newest ownership is acceptable, but still not as good as at the average American sit-​down restaurant. (Here, you order at the counter.)