Business at Star Nut Gourmet Heats up by Keeping People Cool

Friday will be the third consecutive day temperatures in McLean will climb above 90 degrees.

In fact, according to the National Weather service, it will hit 92 degrees.

When the temperature gets that high, locals head into Star Nut Gourmet in McLean. For more than 11 years, people of all ages have come into the store looking for food, drinks and with warmer weather, gelato and sorbet.

“We have a great clientele,” said General Manager Ron Ozuna. “When it gets hot, they do come in for the gelato.”

With 18 flavors of gelato and sorbet on display and 26 flavors overall in house daily, owner Joe Shehadeh said some of his biggest customers are school-aged kids. Just after 3 p.m. in the spring and summer, he said they pack into the mid-sized café looking for a snack to help cool them off.

“Chocolate is always number one,” Shehadeh said. “Right behind it is cookies and cream.”

Twice a week the café gets a delivery from their Washington, D.C.-based gelato and sorbet supplier to make sure they never run out. On a good day, Ozuna says they can go through five tins of sorbet or gelato. Chocolate and cookies and cream are very popular, he said, but so is the vanilla.

“Our green mint, hazelnut and fig are popular, too,” Ozuna said.

What do you do to keep cool in the heat? Let us know in the comments section below.