Passing the Torch: How the Flying Dolly’s Family Became the Stewards of a New Orleans Snoball Tradition
In New Orleans, some businesses become more than businesses.
They become traditions.
They're the places your parents took you when you were a child. The places you return to years later with children of your own. They're landmarks you use when giving directions and stops you recommend when friends come into town.
For generations of New Orleanians and visitors, Pandora's Snoballs has become one of those places.
Sitting at 901 North Carrollton Avenue in Mid-City New Orleans, near City Park, Pandora's has built a loyal following around something seemingly simple:
A really great New Orleans snoball.
Powder-soft ice.
Flavor from beginning to end.
An almost endless number of combinations.
And on a hot New Orleans afternoon, quite often, a line of people waiting for one.
In 2024, our families were given an opportunity we didn't take lightly.
We were asked to become the next owners of Pandora's.
And for the same families behind Flying Dolly's, it wasn't simply an opportunity to acquire another business.
It was an opportunity to help preserve a small piece of New Orleans history.
Some Businesses You Buy. Others Are Entrusted to You.
There is an important difference in the story of how our family came to own Pandora's.
We didn't go looking to replace Pandora's with Flying Dolly's.
The former owner approached us.
He knew our history in the snoball and ice cream business. He knew the reputation we had worked to build. And when it came time to consider the future of Pandora's, he wanted the business to go to someone he believed would respect what generations of customers already loved about it.
For us, that meant something.
Anyone who has built a successful family business understands how personal that decision can be.
A business isn't simply equipment, inventory and a building.
It's years of early mornings and late nights.
It's employees who became friends.
It's regular customers you've watched grow up.
It's recipes and processes learned through experience.
It's your reputation.
And eventually, if the time comes to sell, there's a question that's sometimes more important than price:
Who's going to take care of it when I'm gone?
We were honored that Pandora's former owner believed our family could be the answer to that question.
So when the opportunity came in 2024, we said yes.
But we also made ourselves a promise.
Pandora's would remain Pandora's.
Preserving Pandora’s — Not Replacing It
Flying Dolly's and Pandora's share plenty of DNA.
We love powder-fine shaved ice.
We love great flavors.
We love stuffed snoballs.
We love ice cream.
Most importantly, both businesses understand that a snoball stand can become part of the fabric of its community.
But Pandora's has its own history, its own customers and its own identity.
We respect that.
That's why our goal has never been to erase what Pandora's was and turn it into something else.
Our responsibility is to preserve what people love, protect the quality, improve where we can and carry the tradition forward.
The name stays.
The tradition stays.
And the snoballs stay unmistakably Pandora's.
A True New Orleans Snoball
People outside Louisiana sometimes call them snow cones.
New Orleanians know better.
A real New Orleans snoball is all about the ice.
It shouldn't be coarse.
It shouldn't be crunchy.
It should be soft, fluffy and incredibly fine—the kind of ice that seems to melt the moment it touches your tongue.
That's one of the characteristics Pandora's has been recognized for over the years.
Food Network has described Pandora's snoballs as “cloud-light,” while an independent 2018 New Orleans snoball feature specifically highlighted that Pandora's made its own ice. Food Network
That attention to the ice matters because great snoball ice does something coarse ice can't.
It absorbs the syrup.
Instead of syrup simply running around chunks of frozen water and collecting at the bottom of the cup, finely shaved ice allows flavor to work its way throughout the snoball.
At Pandora's, that's part of the tradition we're committed to protecting.
Hundreds of Ways to Make It Yours
Then comes the fun part.
The flavors.
One of the things longtime Pandora's customers love is just how many ways there are to build a snoball.
Some people know exactly what they want before they reach the window.
They've been ordering the same combination for years.
Others stand there staring at the choices trying to decide how adventurous they're willing to be.
That's part of the experience.
Traditional fruit flavors.
Cream flavors.
New Orleans favorites.
Stuffed combinations.
Condensed milk.
Ice cream.
And combinations customers have created for themselves over years of visits.
An earlier feature on Pandora's highlighted favorites including Stuffed Strawberry, Wedding Cake, and Orchid Vanilla Cream. The Curly Traveler
Ask five Pandora's regulars what you should order and there's a good chance you'll get five different answers.
We wouldn't want it any other way.
When the Line Becomes Part of the Experience
During New Orleans snoball season, there are days when you don't need a map to find Pandora's.
Just look for the line.
Families.
Kids.
Neighbors.
People leaving City Park.
Visitors exploring New Orleans.
Customers who've been coming for years.
When temperatures climb, people line up at the window waiting for their favorite flavor.
And we serve tens of thousands of customers each year.
Those lines mean something to our family.
They represent decades of trust that wasn't created by us.
We inherited it.
And we understand that means we have an obligation to earn it again every season, every day and every snoball.
Pandora’s Is Part of a Much Bigger New Orleans Tradition
To understand why we're so protective of Pandora's, you have to understand what snoballs mean in New Orleans.
They're not simply frozen desserts.
They're part of growing up here.
They're summer afternoons.
They're stops after baseball practice.
They're grandparents taking grandchildren for a treat.
They're sticky hands and brightly colored tongues.
They're debating whether condensed milk makes everything better.
And they're one of those wonderfully simple traditions that can immediately take an adult back to childhood.
The city's official tourism organization, New Orleans & Company, includes Pandora's among the places visitors can experience traditional New Orleans snoballs. In 2026, WDSU likewise included Pandora's in its guide to where to find snoballs around New Orleans. New Orleans
That puts Pandora's within a culinary tradition much larger than any individual business.
And we're proud to play a small role in keeping that tradition alive.
A New Orleans Destination for Visitors, Too
Something interesting happens when a local business survives long enough and builds a strong enough following.
It stops belonging only to the neighborhood.
People begin seeking it out.
Pandora's regularly welcomes visitors who have heard about us, found us online, saw us featured somewhere, visited years earlier or were told by someone:
“When you get to New Orleans, you have to go get a snoball.”
We receive calls from people planning trips to New Orleans who want to make sure Pandora's will be open while they're here.
That's pretty remarkable when you think about it.
Someone hundreds—or sometimes thousands—of miles away is planning a trip to one of the world's great food cities and a snoball from a little stand on North Carrollton Avenue is part of the itinerary.
That's when you realize you're taking care of something special.
Pandora's has also been recognized outside traditional snoball coverage. Eater New Orleans includes the shop among noteworthy frozen-dessert destinations in the city, while Food Network maintains a Pandora's listing highlighting its distinctive snoballs. Eater Nola
And Now, Pandora’s Is Open Year-Round
When our family took over Pandora's in 2024, we opened for the traditional snoball season.
But coming from Flying Dolly's, we already had a strongly held belief:
Great snoballs shouldn't have an expiration date on the calendar.
So Pandora's eventually made an important change.
We're now open year-round.
That means you don't have to wait for traditional snoball season to return.
If you're visiting New Orleans in October and want a snoball, come see us.
December?
Come see us.
Carnival season?
Absolutely.
And judging from the calls we receive from visitors who are grateful to discover we're open during their trip, we're not the only ones who think that's a good idea.
A 2026 Louisiana snoball feature also highlighted Pandora's as a year-round operation at its North Carrollton location. Ever After in the Woods
New Orleans doesn't stop being New Orleans when summer ends.
Why should the snoballs?
Make Pandora’s Part of Your New Orleans Food Day
There's another thing we love about Pandora's location.
We're surrounded by some seriously good food.
Pandora's sits at 901 North Carrollton Avenue in Mid-City, close to City Park. The address is also confirmed by New Orleans & Company's official tourism listing. New Orleans
So here's our suggestion:
Come hungry.
Enjoy lunch or dinner in Mid-City.
Then save room for dessert.
We're located across from Toups' Meatery and across North Carrollton Avenue from Blue Oak BBQ, giving visitors an easy opportunity to turn a meal in the neighborhood into a very New Orleans dessert experience afterward.
Barbecue, Cajun cooking and then a powder-soft New Orleans snoball?
That's a pretty good afternoon.
Two Businesses. One Family. One Love for the Snoball.
Today, the same family behind Flying Dolly's is also proud to own Pandora's Snoballs.
But we don't view Pandora's as another Flying Dolly's location.
We see these as two different businesses connected by something deeper.
A respect for the Louisiana snoball tradition.
Flying Dolly's began in Mandeville in 2011 and eventually grew beyond Louisiana into Mississippi and Alabama.
Pandora's came with its own New Orleans history and its own loyal following.
One is a growing Southern dessert brand.
The other is a New Orleans institution we're honored to preserve.
And our family gets the privilege of caring for both.
What Pandora’s Has Taught Us About Flying Dolly’s
Owning Pandora's has reinforced something we've believed for years about Flying Dolly's.
The most valuable part of a great local business isn't the sign.
It's the trust behind it.
It's knowing that someone will drive across town because they want your snoball.
It's seeing three generations of the same family standing in line.
It's hearing someone say they used to come when they were a child and now they're bringing their own kids.
It's a tourist calling ahead because a stop at your business has become part of their New Orleans vacation.
You cannot manufacture that kind of loyalty overnight.
You have to earn it.
And once you've inherited something that already has it, you have a responsibility to protect it.
That's a lesson we carry with us as Flying Dolly's continues to grow.
We want every Flying Dolly's franchisee to understand that they're not simply opening a store.
They're trying to build the kind of business a community would miss if it disappeared.
Pandora's reminds us what that looks like.
Passing the Torch
Businesses change hands.
Buildings change.
Neighborhoods evolve.
Generations come and go.
But some traditions are worth protecting.
When Pandora's former owner approached our family about purchasing the business, he wasn't simply offering us a snoball stand.
He was passing us something people cared about.
We understood that then.
We understand it even more today.
Our job isn't to reinvent Pandora's.
Our job is to make sure the next generation gets to experience it.
The powder-soft ice.
The hundreds of flavor combinations.
The line outside the window.
The first bite on a hot New Orleans afternoon.
Parents bringing their children.
Visitors discovering what a real New Orleans snoball is supposed to taste like.
And longtime customers ordering the same combination they've loved for years.
We're proud of Flying Dolly's.
And we're equally proud that the same family behind Flying Dolly's has been trusted with the next chapter of Pandora's Snoballs.
If you're from New Orleans, chances are you already understand.
If you're visiting us for the first time, there's only one thing left to do.
Come get in line.
We'll take it from there.
Pandora's Snoballs
901 North Carrollton Avenue
New Orleans, Louisiana 70119
Open year-round.
