Victor Garcia

Victor Garcia was born in Mexticacan, Jalisco — a small Mexican town nicknamed "La Cuna del Helado y la Paleta," the birthplace of ice cream and paletas. When his family moved to the U.S., they lived first in a garage in Compton, California, before eventually relocating to Texas. He missed the flavors of home. That absence stayed with him.

Victor became the first in his family to graduate from college, earning a finance and accounting degree from the University of Texas at Dallas. He worked at a CPA firm through brutal busy seasons. After one punishing stretch, he quit. He would not work that hard again, he told himself, unless he was building something of his own.

That decision led to Sol Dias. Victor's parents had partnered with an investor to open a business in Haltom City, but the investor backed out after the building was purchased, leaving them with an empty shell. Victor saw the opening. He leased the building and opened Sol Dias with his wife Stacey nine months later, in 2016. The name means "Our Sun."

Sol Dias serves traditional Mexican paletas and ice cream using a slow churn process that takes 25 to 35 minutes per batch, yielding a denser, richer product than typical commercial ice cream. Flavors like mango chamoy, rice cinnamon, and tequila paletas anchor the lineup alongside churros, aguas frescas, and spicy gummies. What started in Haltom City has grown into five locations across Texas, with revenue around $1.5 million and 35% year-over-year growth.