Surprenant & Beneski, P.C. has been happily supporting local food spots since 2020 by spotlighting a new one each month. As a family business itself, the estate planning and elder law firm loves spotlighting other family businesses, like New Bedford's La Fruta Loca where two sisters are having fun serving up sweet and savory treats.
It’s a sight to behold, just screaming for a photo before you dig in. At Fruta Loca, the mangonada is one of the stars of the menu. It’s decadent but also light and feels kind of healthy with generous chunks of mango surrounding mango sorbet and dripping with chamoy sauce and tamarind, with a cheerful straw covered in sticky tamarind plucked in. The chamoy and tamarind lend an unexpected zing to the dish, creating a nice marriage between sweet and savory.
Sisters Jackie and Tania Cano run La Fruta Loca on Acushnet Avenue serving their mother’s special treats, inspired by Latin flavors. Their mother Lorena Vicente grew up in Guatamala, not far from Mexico which her family frequently visited. She has sweet memories of the street food from those visits and set about to recreate them for her gem of a sweet shop.
The whole family got involved, opening a shop in Central Falls, Rhode Island. They visited New Bedford for a festival and realized that a shop in New Bedford would be popular. They’re right. Jackie and Tania run the New Bedford location and there is a steady stream of customers throughout the day. Families and kids, construction workers, they all come in for a little pick-me-up.
The sisters are having fun in this cute spot and it shows. They’re always adding new things. Jackie says, “we’re always keeping an eye on trends. We saw the chamoy pickle that went viral on Tiktok and sourced it from Texas.”
You can sit in the cheerful yellow shop with your treat or grab it to go. Study the blackboard. You’ll want to try all the fun and interesting things there: the ramen street corn, the doritos street corn (served in the dorito bag!), the ice cream nachos (!!), the sour candied grapes. It’s a little overwhelming to see all the choices.
So much to choose from! How to make a decision?! Maybe we should try El Vato (pictured), a blend of fresh strawberries, mango, mango sorbet, and house made sweet cream, topped with whipped cream? Or maybe we should try the melonada with watermelon? The first time was easy. We were part of a New Bedford Food Tour with a stop at Fruta Loca that featured mangonada (something I probably wouldn’t have ordered if not for the Food Tour). Now we're hooked. How to tear yourself away from the mangonada?!
In the end, we can’t do it. We just happily order the mangonada again.
La Fruta Loca, 1128 Acushnet Avenue, New Bedford.
Photography by Liam Connor Photography.
Last post in the series: Order a flight of juices to taste five different flavors so that you can decide which one you like most for the next time you visit Casa Lempira. Owner Mary Pineda can introduce you to everything from hogberry juice (their most popular, made from a yellow cherry-like berry) to the horchata (with rice, cacoa, cinnamon, it tastes a little like the holidays) to cashew nut juice (using the flower, not the nut, it doesn’t taste like cashews at all) to tamarind (a little sour, a little tea-like). It's the best non-alcholic flight in town! Learn more right here.