Forget "less is more." Sometimes, the only thing that will distract you from the heat is an outrageous dessert. Alamo City’s most over-the-top confections are structural wonders of their own, piled high with candy, cookies, ice cream, and shaved ice. Why settle for just a scoop? These nine San Antonio snack shops offer San Antonio’s wildest and wackiest sweets.

Yes, that is a full slice of birthday cake teetering on Aloha Shaved Ice's shake.Aloha Shaved Ice/ Facebook

Aloha Shaved Ice
This Stone Oak shop has a seriously ornate mangonada, but it has nothing on the ridiculously grandiose milkshakes. Aloha will balance almost anything on its cups, from a slice of (fully decorated) birthday cake topped with vanilla ice cream and a full mini-jar of Nutella to a cookie ice cream sandwich.

Baklövâh Bakery & Sweets
Knafeh, a pastry made by finely shredding phyllo dough and adding cheese and rose water or orange blossom syrup, is one of the world’s most decadent dishes. This North Side bakery amps it up by tapping into the viral Dubai chocolate trend, creating a hybrid of the Middle East’s most famous flavors.

Fruteria La Tropicana
Why settle for a simple fruit cup when this Culebra Road snack shop can lay on the works? Although almost everything on the menu is over-the-top, the spot goes bananas with fruit. Order a personal watermelon filled with cut melon and strawberries topped with a rainbow array of gummies, fruity skewers, lollipops, chamoy, and Tajín.

Hanamaru Cafe taiyaki cones pile on the flavors.Hanamaru Cafe/ Facebook

Hanamaru Cafe
There might not be a splashier dessert in San Antonia than Hanamaru’s taiyaki cones, swirly cups filled with ice cream, wafer straws, fruit, toppings, and the wildly popular fish-shaped Japanese pastries. Each treat is infinitely customizable with drizzles, sprinkles, and flavors like ube, Nutella, and red bean. Plus, the Medical Center cafe keeps special diets in mind with a gluten-free and vegan batter.

Hōkūlani Shave Ice
Raspas are certainly welcome during Alamo City’s brutal summers, but this traveling food truck knows how to turn shaved ice up to 11. Starting with an ice cream base, the trailer builds up a snowy dome with sweet syrups, chocolate shell coating, fresh fruit, and coconut shavings. Check out TikTok for its latest stops.

Honchos — The House of Churros
With their light texture and signature crunch, churros make a perfect summer snack. This Alamo Heights churraria forms them into lassos, dips them into ice cream, and slathers the whole thing in cajeta, cream cheese frosting, grape jelly, and more.

Ice Ice Baby found a way to make banana splits extra.Ice Ice Baby/ Facebook

Ice Ice Baby
Banana splits may seem tame now, but they used to be the height of ice cream parlor excess. This Far West Side shop brings all the glory back by scooping cookie dough or cotton candy ice cream, layering on colorful sprinkles and cookies, and covering the whole thing with a metric ton of whipped cream and three shiny Maraschino cherries.

Sari-Sari Filipino Restaurant
Island nations know a thing or two about cooling desserts, but no tropical treat offers as much refreshment as halo-halo, the Filipino dessert built on shaved ice, evaporated milk, and a delightful assortment of add-ins. Sari-Sari’s version layers kid’s cereals, jellies, and ube ice cream to sate any sweet tooth.

SnaK-X
This space-themed eatery on Tezel Road doesn’t hold back when it comes to its shakes. Although there are plenty of cosmic colors on the menu, we prefer the more down-to-earth cookies and cream festooned with Oreo dust and an adorable, three-eyed chocolate-covered cookie.