MINT OREOS and Birthday Cake varieties (Orange County Tribune photos).

By Marilyn and Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune

Sometimes when we go out for tacos we want something cool to balance out the heat. But there’s a place where you can combine the two.

Sweet Rolled Tacos is a unique dessert place with locations in Garden Grove and Stanton. We stopped in at the location in Koreatown in a center that long-timers will remember as Garden Square.

The taco shape is uniquely handy. It allows you to hold a bunch of tasty ingredients and  – as a bonus –you get to eat the “dishes,” as they said in “The Candy Man” song by Sammy Davis Jr.

JIM goes for the Mint.

Simply said, Sweet Rolled Tacos has you choose among a wide array of ice cream concoctions, delivered in a very tasty, colorful and sweet taco-like shell. 

There are 21 varieties on the menu board, ranging from Coconut Delight to Vietnamese coffee to Cap’N Crunch to Strawberry Shortcake (especially appropriate for Garden Grove).

You can also pick the color of your taco shell: black, blue, green, purple, red and original (which looks like a classic taco shell).

Now where Sweet Rolled Tacos differs from some of the other pick-your-treat dessert places is that the ice cream is a basic (and very good) vanilla. It’s rolled into the taco and crested with a wide variety of toppings: sprinkles, cookies, pieces of cake, syrup, fruit, etc.

THE PROCESS is fun to watch.

Marilyn ordered the Birthday Cake and Jim had the Mint Oreos. Both tacos were quickly consumed and pronounced unique and delicious. Part of the fun of Sweet Rolled Tacos was watching the “cook” from start to finish, creating and assembling the parts with panache and speed.

The menu in not limited to the taco.  There are signature teas, milk shakes, fresh lemonade and slushes.

Because these desserts are a step up from Baskin-Robbins, the price is a bit higher: $7.50 for Birthday Cake, for example, and $7.75 for Mint Oreos.

But the taste, the variety and fun of creation make it well worth the extra cash. The taco shape and the ice cream deluxe: a hard combination to beat.

“Sweet Rolled Tacos” in Garden Grove is located at 9930 Garden Grove Blvd., west of Brookhurst Street. Hours are noon to 10:30 Monday through Thursday; open an hour later on Fridays and Saturdays. The Stanton location is at 10330 Beach Blvd.