PCH Shave Ice and Boba marries a love for the California Coast with Hawaii and the Philippines 

For one Pismo Beach family, shave ice and boba are emblems that honor Highway 101 and Hawaii.

Eric and Diane Cabrera opened PCH Shave Ice and Boba off the freeway last June after their love grew for a Hawaiian shave ice spot in Los Angeles.

"I started thinking, 'Why don't we have a place like that up here for the locals?'" she said. "Not really right at the beach because a lot of the locals don't like to park at the beach; it's too difficult."

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• Photos Courtesy Of PCH Shave Ice And Boba
• FAMILY FUN PCH Shave Ice and Boba owner Eric Cabrera (front) and his cousin Josh dish out Hawaiian-style shave ice that comes with a hidden ice cream center.

After dedicating years to their respective careers, with Diane's time as a teacher in Santa Maria and Eric's experience as a tattoo artist in the Central Valley followed by a supervisor stint at San Luis Obispo's Home Depot, the couple was motivated to be self-employed yet community-serving. It's all tied together with a love for Hawaii.

"PCH is a play on words for us," he said. "Obviously, it's Pacific Coast Highway, but for us it's Pacific Coast Hawaiian Shave Ice and Boba."

The shave ice and boba store features sweet treats with a Filipino twist thanks to Eric's roots.

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• Photos Courtesy Of PCH Shave Ice And Boba
• FUSION DRINK The Mahalo Halo is a twist on the Filipino dessert halo-halo that's made with a purple ube-taro mix, Frosted Flakes, mochi balls, and leche flan.

Take their Mahalo Halo, for instance. It's a play on the Hawaiian word for gratitude and the Filipino dessert halo-halo, meaning "mix-mix" in Tagalog. The layered delicacy highlights an interplay of textures: ube ice cream, fresh fruit, flattened rice called pinipig, cubed soft yams, sweetened red beans, and sometimes slices of flan—all on a foundation of shaved ice and condensed milk.

At PCH Shave Ice and Boba, the Mahalo Halo retains some classic elements and replaces a few with nontraditional items.

"I simplified and Americanized it," Eric said. "At the bottom, it still has sugar palm fruit. In the middle, is an ube-taro blended mix ... on top of that is a bed of Frosted Flakes to hold up the scoop of ice cream and leche flan. We also add mochi balls, sweet condensed milk, and we crown it with whipped cream."

The Cabreras made it more palatable to American patrons by taking out the traditional red beans. It was unpopular, including among several Filipino community members in the Five Cities area, according to Eric. The drink is a creamy meal thanks to the sizeable portion of flan, custardy ice cream, cereal, and mochi. Despite the bright violet color, the ube-forward Mahalo Halo has a subtle nutty, vanilla flavor that's reminiscent of a rich tea biscuit.

"When you taste it, you're going to be like, 'Oh my God, Eric, mahalo!'" he said with a laugh.

Other treats at the Pismo Beach restaurant include the shave ice itself. PCH serves it Hawaiian-style, meaning the almost-chewy ice comes with an ice cream center.

To make each serving, Eric places an ice round under the drill of a blue shave ice machine. The spiked base of the drill pins the ice chunk in place. Soon enough, the whirring machine spurts a fluffy rain of ice. Eric expertly packs three-fourths of a cup with the freshly shaved ice and places a scoop of ice cream on top. He molds a second showering of ice around the ice cream and drizzles the white canopy with colorful syrups and a sweet condensed milk topping called snow cap.

"The pink [syrup] is POG: passion, orange, and guava," Eric said, adding that one of their orange syrups is Hawaiian peach. "It's amazing and ain't like your regular mainland peach."

The Tiger Pismo is a boba milk tea with brown sugar that hits the spot without being cloying. The Pismo Milk Tea is brewed black tea mixed with a nondairy creamer. Also on the menu, the Pismo Bowl has an açai base with strawberries, banana slices, blueberries, Nutella, honey, and granola.

Sugar levels can be adjusted for all drinks, and dairy milk can be swapped for almond, oat, and coconut alternatives.

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• Photos Courtesy Of PCH Shave Ice And Boba
• SWEET BREAK Eric and Diane Cabrera started PCH Shave Ice and Boba after his career as a tattoo artist and hers as a longtime teacher in Santa Maria. They now operate the business with the help of their son, Elijah (center).

"I am into sugar-free items," Diane said. "We have a sugar-free list, but when I want to treat myself, I'll make a baby Mahalo Halo."

The Cabreras run PCH with their son, Elijah; Eric's cousin, Josh; and two high school-age staff members. They're all specially trained to whip up the drinks, shave ice, and boba. Together, they're team players with other small businesses in the area.

Led by Pardon My French Bakery, PCH joined hands with Grover Station Grill, Perfetto Café, Tribe Coffee House, Sweet Pea Bakery, Café Andreini, Deltina Coffee Roasters, Mule Bakery, Sidewalk Café, and Nova Coffee Co. to produce a hot chocolate passport. Throughout December, customers can pick up the "passports" from each of these businesses. They can purchase a hot chocolate from each shop and get the passport stamped. Once they complete it, they can submit it to Pardon My French for a grand prize.

Diane told New Times that PCH also plans to bring back boba-making classes for kids. The two previous events drew in roughly 30 local kids. They got a chance to hop behind the counter, learn to cook boba, and return home with recipes and their very own boba creations.

"We also sponsor a [Five Cities Youth] girls basketball team, the PCH Hula Girls," Eric said. "We're part of the South County Chamber of Commerce, and we're involved with fundraisers with the Boys and Girls Club."

Eric and Diane strive for the place to be the zone for warm conversation devoid of screentime, and the desserts sweeten the deal.

"We want families to come in here and feel like they can make a mess," Eric said. "We don't want parents to feel judged when they bring their kids. ... One of our mottos is, 'If you didn't make a mess, you didn't have fun.'

"Let us take care of the mess for you." Δ

Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal is developing a Tiger Pismo habit. Send straws to [email protected].