Over a decade ago, former Westword food editor Mark Antonation began his food-writing career by eating his way up Federal Boulevard. Now, we’re turning our attention to another vibrant culinary corridor.

The four-plus-mile stretch of Havana Street between Dartmouth and Sixth Avenue in Aurora is home to the most diverse array of international cuisine available in the metro area. From restaurants and markets to take-and-go shops and stands, food lovers of nearly any ethnicity or interest can find a place that will remind them of home or open new culinary doors. In Eat Up Havana, Westword contributor Antony Bruno will visit them all, one by one, week by week.

Previous stops:

• Old Town Hot Pot
• Leezakaya
• Chutney Indian Cuisine
• El Tequileno

Next Up: Milkroll

They say the phone eats first. But at Milkroll, that’s more than just a saying. It’s a business model.

Milkroll specializes in Thai-style rolled ice cream, a trend born entirely from the social media era. It originated in the street markets of Thailand, where photos of the colorful bowls of delicately curled ice cream accompanied by a seemingly endless array of toppings and textures quickly went viral back in the 2000s, as did the equally compelling videos of the intricate process of making them.

Among those who noticed was Mary Nguyen, a Denver native attending MSU as a healthcare management major who was looking for an interesting side hustle. Uninspired by the boba tea craze that was growing at the time, Nguyen saw rolled ice cream as an opportunity to pioneer something new in the Denver area. When a storefront lease opened up on Colfax in 2017, she rolled the dice and opened her version of the burgeoning movement: Milkroll.