Dave’s Drip Delights

David Reynoso is back. Not like he ever left — Dave’s Dogs Grill, an errant baseball’s throw from San Marcos High School, hasn’t lost a bit of bacon-y, saucy steam. Reynoso has been slinging his beloved hot dogs from the high-traffic Turnpike Center for almost seven years.

But following a rough start to the 2020s, with the pandemic dampening the success of his second location on Milpas and a stroke that hit right after its closure two years later, Reynoso’s back in the driver’s seat for 2024. He’s got a new ride, too — a mint-chip-dipped ice-cream truck that serves as the mobile twin to his newest brick-and-mortar, the dessert-focused Dave’s Drip House.

Not 200 feet from the Turnpike Road hot dog shop, the Drip House expands Reynoso’s empire at this Noleta corner, which has just gotten a lot cooler. It’s not only the frozen treats — Dave’s Drip House is first and foremost an ice cream parlor — but that the place is tricked out with swirling strawberry and vanilla floors, sprinkled overhangs, a Neapolitan ice-cream sandwich swing, and a turf wall with “Lick Me, I’m Dripping” in pink neon to greet you. Hip-hop heads will enjoy the nod to ice-cream-tattooed rapper Gucci Mane, and pink prop wall-mount telephones reinforce the parlor vibe. “I just try to stay creative and fresh in here,” Reynoso said, in his nonchalant manner. “And families can enjoy a fun place to hang out.”

The ice creams are just as fun. There’s everything from classic vanilla, chocolate, rainbow sherbet, and mint chip to more creative concoctions, like the raspberry-cheesecake and Oreo-mixed Kitty Kitty Bang Bang, and the Exhausted Parent, a bourbon-spiked bomb of espresso and chocolate. Most are sourced from Chocolate Shoppe, a Madison, Wisconsin–based creamery that Reynoso credits with “super-premium ice cream that’s all coming from one dairy farm. There’s not much produced, and it’s super rich and creamy, from pasture-fed cows.” The kind of stuff you’d hear about a top-dollar cheese, it adds up. This ice cream is delicious, whether on its own, smashed between two cookies, or bedazzled with toppings and cereal. All of which the Drip House will do. There’s even a vegan option in Dole Whip.

Dessert is a natural evolution for Reynoso, who’s got a soft spot for carnival food done right and had wanted to work funnel cakes onto the Dave’s Dogs menu. “Over the years, I would get a lot of, ‘Do you guys do shakes or desserts?’ [They do desserts, fair fare in fact, though it’s limited.] And I would always think about that; I had that idea burning in my head,” he reflected. His wife, Cynthia, added, “We got the funnel cake stuff right when we opened [Dave’s Dogs], but we also could never start that because our space was limited, and our menu was big. So we held onto that idea for a long time.”

The welcoming wall sign and ice cream sandwich swing at Dave’s Drip House | Credit: Sean Magruder

As it happened, there was a small development under construction across the parking lot. Reynoso pitched his idea and got right in. Things seemed to be taking off — Dave’s Dogs even opened a second location at Milpas and Canon Perdido streets, just a mile from their hot-dog cart that started it all. The 2020s were rife with promise. But while the Turnpike grill held strong, the task of weaving two restaurants through COVID’s cull proved Sisyphean. The building sold, Reynoso cashed out, and after years of permitting and building delays, Dave’s Drip House was ready to open in September 2022.

The Reynosos hit Vegas, deciding they’d earned a break before the next phase. The couple was thrown another curveball when David suffered a stroke. “It was just one thing after another,” he said, “but going through my sickness, I said, ‘What’s the best thing right now? To take a step back and refocus on what I’m going to do.’” After taking some time to recuperate, Reynoso proudly opened Dave’s Drip House last February. He added confidently, “I’m feeling a lot better now. Coming into the second year, I want to push some crazy things going on.”

What he’s already got going on is no small thing. A couple and their cattle dog stopped by, not for ice cream or funnel cake but for a photo with Reynoso. It turns out this happens all the time. “Dave’s always been the face. I call him the mascot,” Cynthia said. “But we also like to talk with the kids [at the restaurant]. Ask them what they’re doing. We’ve had instances where a kid will run in there because he’s being bullied…. We make sure that it’s a place where they can come and feel safe. So I think that’s why a lot of people recognize him. You respect them; they respect you.”

Hard not to respect this drip.

Dave’s Drip House is located at 199 South Turnpike Road, Suite 104, and is open from noon to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and noon to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. See davesdriphouse.com for more information.