When I was a kid, it was typical to hear me and my siblings begging to go to the nearby snow cone shack throughout various times of the summer to my mother. So, we would get the stroller out, put my younger sister in, and take the walk down to Murray’s Shaved Ice. 

Located on Watson road in south city, a small snow cone shack stands no bigger than the ones located outside of Home Depot. But the treats located inside the windows have people coming back year after year. 

The business started out with a storefront in 1953, about three blocks from the current location. But in the early 2000s, the owners decided to downgrade, to give the business a more tight-knit community feel. 

When you pull up, it’s common to find lines stretching in either direction of families with their children and pets, since they offer a pup cone for all the neighborhood furry friends. But unlike other snow cone vendors, this isn’t a chain. There is only one location, so they had to find a different way to stand out among everyone else. 

Their menu extends far beyond your basic cherry and blue raspberry. You have flavors like R2-D2, which is a wedding cake and blueberry combo, or Murray’s rainbow, which is every color of the rainbow. And with 40 regular flavors,  71 special flavors and seven sugar-free flavor options. Well, there is certainly something for everyone.

One of the best parts of Murray’s would have to be the customer service. It doesn’t matter how busy they are, they always make a point to ask whoever is at the window how their day is going, or just find a way to interact with them beyond just taking their order.

With their small size only costing $3, a medium size costing $3.75, a large size costing $4.50 and a monster size costing $6, you are definitely getting some bang for your buck, especially since each snow cone comes practically doubled with a packed dome of snow. 

Even though this isn’t the closest place to find a frozen treat, make a day of it. Take a drive down Manchester Road, make a right on Hampton Avenue, and another right onto Watson Road. And if you’re not sure if you’ve made it, just look for the lines of little kids, most likely covered in some kind of snow cone syrup from whichever one they chose.

They opened up again on April 30 and will be open through the summer, with weekday hours of 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and weekend hours of 2 p.m. to 8:30 p.m and closed on Monday.

Also, pro-tip: bring extra napkins. You’re gonna need them.