A new San Mateo ice cream cafe is a hub for dairy-free varieties and community events

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For Maggie de Vera, ice cream is much more than a sweet treat – it’s a way to build community.

The Burlingame resident has fond memories of her grandparents’ ice cream parlor and pharmacy, which was located in the basement of her family home in the Philippines. 

“That ice cream parlor was the hub of the neighborhood,” she said. “I just never got that image out of my head of this wonderful place people would go to.”

Now a licensed marriage and family therapist and the director of addiction studies at College of San Mateo, de Vera is bringing that sense of community to San Mateo with her own ice cream cafe Chill Spot Rendezvous. She calls it a “sanctuary of feeling good,” offering over a dozen rotating ice cream flavors (half of which are dairy-free), lumpia, empanadas, housemade smoothies and a variety of events, including open mic, meditation sessions, karaoke and movie nights.

“When we make our ice cream, I always say, ‘OK everyone, put in a lot of loving energy,’” de Vera said. 

Find fresh scoops of dairy-free options in flavors like ube, piña colada or pistachio, as well as dairy-based ice creams like the Purely Pecan Perfection in Salted Caramelized Comfort with pecan pie, pecan pralines, pecan nuts, Ghirardelli salted caramel and sea salt or Pogi’s Candy Bar Craze, named after the man who inspired the cafe, Alex Rivera.

“That’s been the name that I’ve called him since he was a baby,” de Vera said of her younger brother. “He’s the most loving, pure soul I’ve ever met in my whole life.”

Rivera, who has Down syndrome, has “absolutely no negativity,” de Vera said. About three years ago, Rivera and their mother, who had been diagnosed with dementia, moved from San Diego to Burlingame to be closer to de Vera. De Vera began to change her mother’s diet, swapping out unhealthy foods and replacing her usual desserts with dairy-free, sugar-free and gluten-free ice creams. Within a few weeks, her mom went from having severe dementia to mild dementia, de Vera said.

“She was on 23 meds; now she’s on three,” she said. “Much of what dictates us emotionally, psychologically (and) physiologically is also the foods we eat.”

De Vera has lived along the Peninsula for the majority of her life and knew she wanted to open her ice cream cafe nearby. But she wasn’t set on a city until she saw the space that formerly held Bobabia. It was two connected storefronts with a kitchen – the ideal layout for hosting community events and serving savory items in addition to ice cream. Bobabia, owned by Victor Win, had been a community staple in San Mateo for a decade, offering boba tea, popcorn chicken, postickers, beer and karaoke until it closed earlier this year.

“People who knew (Win) would come in and they’d say, ‘Oh, you two have the same energy,’” de Vera said.

Transforming the space into Chill Spot didn’t take much, de Vera said, just some painting and foliage removal. On Dec. 12, she held the shop’s grand opening.

Chill Spot’s menu is designed to be for everyone, with vegan, keto, nondairy, low-sugar and low-carb options. Dairy-based ice creams are made without carrageenans, a stabilizer made from seaweed that’s commonly found in ice cream, including Ben & Jerry’s. 

For those looking for dairy-free options, ice cream flavors come in two distinct bases: coconut milk and pea protein. While coconut milk is a common nondairy ice cream base, its caveat is it yields a coconut flavor and is an allergen for some. 

In addition to ice cream parlor classics like hot fudge sundaes and banana splits, Chill Spot also offers churros and ice cream nachos, made from waffle cone “chips” and an ice cream and topping of your choice, like caramel, strawberry sauce or hot fudge. Housemade chocolate chip cookies and brownies (with and without nuts) are also available.

For those looking for a less indulgent treat, Chill Spot offers a variety of smoothies, like their Mighty Medley featuring apple, pineapple, pomegranate, blueberry, turmeric, elderberry, grape skin extract and acai. 

Savory options include spanakopita, chicken and waffles, soup, paninis and lumpia, as well as Argentine empanadas and pizzettas from South San Francisco’s Cocina Milonga, a business de Vera has been a fan of for years.

“The first time I tried them, I loved them, and I’ve always thought, ‘If I ever have my shop, I’m going to want to carry these empanadas,’” she said.

Chill Spot deep-fries the empanadas and carries 10 flavors, from savory breakfast empanadas with scrambled eggs, bacon and cheddar cheese to sweet pineapple empanadas. 

Chill Spot is hosting free gratitude meditations on Sundays at 6:30 p.m. through January and will play family-friendly movies every Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. Check the events page on Chill Spot’s website to keep up to date with special happenings like laughter yoga, a free event guided by de Vera.

“I had a cousin tell me about this, and I said, ‘That is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard,’” de Vera said. “But then I looked into it, and I actually ended up loving it.”

De Vera also looks forward to hosting different interest groups at Chill Spot, organizing additional workshops and renting out the space for private parties.

“This is a space where I want people to feel is a sanctuary of feeling good,” de Vera said. “I want to build community, help people connect and just help spread the positive energy that I really believe we need.”

Chill Spot Rendezvous, 271 Baldwin Ave., San Mateo; 650-420-6477, Instagram: @chillspotrendezvous. Open Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

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