David Guillen and Dayana Morales have brought their Mexican snacks to downtown Spokane.

The boyfriend-and-girlfiend pair started Chucherias & Snowcones in mid-2021 as a food truck in the Hillyard Food Truck Pavilion before closing mid-summer and promising via Facebook that the food truck would reappear in a different format. Earlier this month, the snack shop opened on the third floor of River Park Square, in the former Taco Del Mar space.

“Chucherias,” roughly translated, means junk food or snacks. The menu at Chucherias & Snowcones includes ceviche, corn with crushed spicy Cheetos or Takis and cotija cheese, churros, and nacho cheese served on a selection of chips, such as Funyuns or Flamin’ Hot Doritos. Snow cones come with matching fruit and candy, and flavors include watermelon, pineapple, cherry, and lemon-lime.

Guillen and Morales are from the Tri-Cities, where they say such snacks are commonplace.

“These are everywhere. Every corner, you’ll find this type of snack,” Morales says. “We came to college out here, and we didn’t see any of these snacks.”

Guillen says the couple, who have been together for 10 years, have bounced back and forth between Tri-Cities and Spokane, landing here most recently—and perhaps permanently—in 2020. They spent about 11 years in the service industry, hosting, waiting tables, and tending bar.

When they opened Chucherias & Snowcones in Hillyard, Guillen and Morales found they sometimes couldn’t keep up with demand, and regularly sold out of popular items, such as the corn and ceviche dishes. Seating was limited, as was space within the food truck to store ingredients and assemble orders. 

The centrality of the downtown mall is a significant benefit of moving to River Park Square, Guillen says.

“There’s a lot more foot traffic here,” he adds. “Here, people are already shopping. They’re working. They come to events. ... you always have people coming in out of town that stop here.”

With 900 square feet of space, Chucherias & Snowcones can expand its hours, services, and menu.

“Now that we do have the space, maybe we can start doing other things, like catering,” Morales says.

The menu likely will gain some protein-rich additions, due to high demand from customers who want a more substantial snack, Guillen says.

“Everybody wants us to do tacos,” he says.

Morales says she’s considering adding a secret menu, which could include items such as pozole, a stew traditionally made with pork and hominy.

Guillen and Morales are the only employees at Chucherias & Snowcones, but they say they hope to add an employee or two as business increases.

Chucherias & Snowcones is open 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.

Guillen says hours could be expanded to coincide with the 11 p.m. movie showings at the AMC theater in River Park Square.