Ice Cave owner Po Chang and dessert chef Jessica Wang (Photo by Rana Fayez/West Philly Local)

People of West Philadelphia, you no longer have to travel to Chinatown for Taiwanese shaved ice treats. Ice Cave has opened at 4507 Baltimore Ave next to Atiya Ola’s and The Nesting House.

This is only one of a number of new businesses opening up on Baltimore Ave this year. Flavors such as strawberry, matcha, coffee, peanut and mango are on the menu with toppings like mango, kiwi and berries. If shaved ice is not your thing the shop also sells some of its flavors in a popsicle format.

Owner Po Chang graduated from Drexel in 2012 but decided to stay in West Philadelphia after earning his degree in Public Health. His dessert chef, Jessica Wang, was trained in Taiwan for five years in the craft of shaved ice.

If you like cold treats for breakfast, you may be out of luck. The shop is open 2 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Saturday. On Fridays it closes at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 6 p.m.

Not sure if you’re into it? Come out to the Dollar Stroll tonight to try it, the shop will be selling sample sizes for $1.

– Rana Fayez

When walking down South 40th Street over the weekend, we noticed a new sign in the window next door to The Green Line Cafe. A Taiwanese dessert shop is in the works for 32 S. 40th St., the storefront formerly occupied by Dr. Wyatt’s University Herbs. According to the Office of Licences and Inspections records, work is currently underway on the first floor of the three-story building, still owned by University Herbs, to re-fit the space for the new shop, which will include a non-commercial use kitchen and some seating (less than 20 seats).

The business owner, Xia Yang, lives in Chinatown, according to L & I records. We’ll post more information about this new shop when it becomes available.

And we hope that the store has a lot of this stuff when it opens.