Walking into Fluffy’s Sno-Balls on Long Beach Boulevard is like stepping into the French Quarter of New Orleans (NOLA)—there’s the sound of jazz, beads and NOLA style snowballs (sno-balls).
Founder Kevyn Lee had dreamt of introducing the New Orleans-style shaved ice since his arrival in Los Angeles in 2005.
He had just made the over 1,000-mile trek to Los Angeles after Hurricane Katrina struck Lousiana when he realized he couldn’t find the icy treat in Southern California.
In April 2021, over fifteen years after arriving in California and in the middle of the pandemic, Lee made his dream a reality, leaving behind his corporate career and investing his life savings to open the shop with the support of his fiancé Darren Wellington.
“I want to bring families together because that’s one thing that snowballs [do], it brings friends and family together and that was a priority of mine,” Lee said of his product.
Growing up in the South, snowballs have been part of Lee’s life since childhood. At 12 years old he worked at his grandmother’s convenience store making the treat and helping her with formulas and recipes for the snowball syrups.
“She was always saying, ‘Never skimp on quality,’ and that stuck with me,” Lee said. “When you say you want a cheesecake snowball, it tastes like cheesecake.”
Fluffy’s is home to the cheesecake stuffed snowball, which is served with real graham cracker crust and New York-style cream cheese cheese cake stuffed throughout the snowball.
New Orleans-style snowballs set themselves apart due to the texture of the ice—finely shaved to be “identical to snow”—the final result is a fluffy mound of flavored ice.
At Fluffy’s there are over 60 flavors, including customer favorites like Li Hing Mui (refreshing Southeast Asian dried plums) and “B-Rocka” (cookies and cream, vanilla syrup with condensed milk, stuffed with french vanilla ice cream and topped with Oreo cookies).
This week, Fluffy’s added four new flavors including buttered popcorn and skylite (vanilla flavor with blue syrup popular in the East Coast).
For Black History Month, Lee, a graduate from historically Black college Tuskegee Universty, is honoring Black fraternities and sororities with the “Divine 9” line of gourmet flavors.
The flavors, which could become a permanent menu fixture due to demand, include sour apple and cotton candy (Alpha Kappa Alpha) and bubblegum and wedding cake (Phi Beta Sigma)—the colors of the syrup corresponding to the colors of the fraternity or sorority.
“I want to be able to pay tribute to my heritage and my culture,” Lee said of the flavors.
Fluffy’s also offers snacks and desserts imported from New Orleans, such as the traditional King Cake (blend of coffee cake and cinnamon roll in Mardi-Gras colors).
For Lee, inclusivity is important, so he made sure there were products in the menu for everyone, offering diet, non-dairy and sugar-free options. The shaved ice is served in biodegradable cups.
“Part of what I want to create with this company is a sense of community,” Lee said of Fluffy’s. “[This] is a place where no one is invisible [and is] also socially responsible.”
In the 10 months since opening, Lee has provided local high school students with job opportunities and mentorship, hosted a community Halloween event and invited patrons to contribute to their purple Mardi Gras-themed Christmas tree by decorating with a personalized ornament.
The community has embraced Lee back, he said, calling his Long Beach Boulevard shop location “a great decision” and the reception “overwhelming.”
“Every customer is like seeing our favorite cousin that finally came to visit,” Lee said. “It’s just fun and vibrant.”
He chose Long Beach for his first shop due to its eclectic nature, noting that it reminded him of New Orleans. Part of the draw was the location’s exposed brick and beams and 100-year-old tile floor.
“It gave me a sense of Bourbon Street in old New Orleans,” Lee said of the lively historic street in NOLA with Creole-style architecture.
Lee’s goal is to expand and open a Fluffy’s Sno-Balls location on every major beach in Southern California, and eventually the country, he said.
“To be who I am at this moment is very humbling,” Lee said. “In this moment I’m just living in a state of gratitude. It feels really good to know that you can really think about something and make it happen.”
Fluffy’s Sno-Balls is located at 1208 Long Beach Blvd and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. during winter. The shop closes at 8 p.m. during spring and summer.
For more information follow Fluffy’s Sno-Balls on Instagram @fluffyssnoballs.
