Opening April 6!

Hansen's will be opening for the 2010 season on Tuesday April 6!

The hours will be Tuesday-Sunday 1-7pm.

Announcing the next generation of Hansens

It is my pleasure to announce that today we welcome the next generation of Hansen into the world. Avery Allison Springgate was born this morning to Ashley Hansen Springgate. Both mother and baby are doing well. Ashley told me that she is a beautiful baby and promised to send pictures and more information as soon as she can.

-Allison (Hansen's Web Master)

National attention

In the past week, Hansen's has been in 3 major newspapers / magazines.

First, Hansen's was listed as the New Orleans location in USA Today's "10 great places to eat regionally, eat well."

The "eat + run" section of August issue of Every Day with Rachel Ray magazine, focused on shaved ice. Hansen's was one of four in the country that were listed.

Finally, the Los Angeles Times author Kathy Price-Robinson did "A search for New Orleans' best snowball". In my opinion, she wrote one of the most lovely descriptions of what it is like to visit Hansen's:

"As I watch the creation of my snowball, I feel as though I'm in Ashley's kitchen. She layers the snow and syrup, one after another, snow then syrup, snow then syrup, in a leisurely manner. She isn't so much cycling through the customers as she is honoring her grandparents. What that means, though, is slow service... . [The] wedding cake does not disappoint. It tastes like cake and frosting in a cup and the snow is soft, light and irresistible. It could well be the finest human-made snow on the planet. It's perfect, really."

Roadfood at Hansen's

Last month the Louisiana Roadfood Festival tour stopped by Hansen's for some snoballs on their way out to the bayou.

This is what Bruce Bilmes and Sue Boyle had to say about it on the Roadfood Digest blog:

This is New Orleans, good people, so Stephen added a Roadfood lagniappe to the trip: on the way, the buses stopped at Hansen's Sno-Bliz! ... There were three flavors available for Roadfooders: Satsuma, Strawberry (?), and Nectar. Did we hear somebody say that Nectar was some sort of citrus/vanilla combo? Satsuma was a tart orange flavor that Sue and Bruce tried and found extremely refreshing. The others were said to be sweeter. You could have had yours with some sweetened condensed milk on top too, if you wished. We wished!

Kiki Maraschino at Here, Eat This:

At Sno Bliz they layer ice and syrup to make sure the ice is fully saturated. When I asked the difference between a snowball and a snow bliz, they said, "well, it is our brand name." They also have a flavor called "bliz" that most people liken to tart strawberry. I love that they have a size called "baby duper".

Other posts about the stop can be found at Eating in Translation and The Jetsetting Fool Cooks (and Eats!).

Hansen's Featured on AG Minute

TWILA TV's Lauren Thom explores the history of an iconic icy New Orleans treat on the Louisiana Farm Bureau's AG Minute.

Times-Picayune article

The Times-Picayune ran an article earlier this month about how during the winter months Ernest Hansen's machine got a much needed overhaul. Now it shines like new and is ready to make snoballs for you.

Hours change

Until the summer the hours are going to be Tuesday-Sunday 1pm-7pm. Then we will go to the full set of hours that were posted the other day.

Also, Hansen's will be closed from Good Friday though Easter Sunday.