Ice, ice, child. Each New Yorker has an Italian ice hill they’re keen to die on — neglect pizza, bagels or chopped cheese. When the mercury hits 90 levels, loyalties flip frozen.
The rivalry isn’t nearly dessert. It’s about neighborhood delight.
Italian ice — impressed by Sicily’s granita and dropped at America by Italian immigrants greater than a century in the past — has been a Massive Apple summer season ritual, like Mister Softee jingles and fireplace hydrants blasting open, for generations.
For at this time’s Gothamites, grabbing one in all these tongue-tingling treats isn’t about chasing a classy dessert — it’s about honoring custom, ideally after a day on the seashore, or a stroll across the block on a steamy night time.
The Put up scoured the 5 boroughs to give you 5 legendary neighborhood faves — strive one or all of them earlier than summertime runs out.
The Godfather: Ralph’s Well-known Italian Ices
Throughout the Verrazzano, the Staten Island Italian ice icon has been cooling off New Yorkers for practically a century.
At Ralph’s Well-known Italian Ices, the modest nook store at 501 Port Richmond Ave. isn’t simply one other neighborhood dessert cease — it’s the birthplace of one in all New York’s most recognizable Italian ice manufacturers.
The enterprise traces its roots again to 1928, when founder Ralph Silvestro immigrated from Naples and started making Italian ice by hand in his Staten Island storage earlier than promoting it from a truck across the borough. In 1949, he opened the Port Richmond storefront that also operates at this time.
“My grandfather Ralph Silvestro got here right here to Staten Island from Naples, Italy as a younger man and began making Italian ice in his home’s storage, the old school method,” co-owner Larry Silvestro instructed The Put up.
Silvestro mentioned Ralph’s continues to make its fruit flavors with actual cane sugar and actual fruit, together with lemons, oranges, mangoes, guava, cantaloupe and strawberries — a convention relationship again to his grandfather’s earliest “granita” recipes.
Whereas the corporate has expanded to greater than a dozen areas throughout New York Metropolis and past, the unique Staten Island store stays the beating coronary heart of the enterprise.
That hometown loyalty hasn’t light.
Devyn Kern, 24, of Gramercy Park, known as Ralph’s “one of the vital tried and true Italian ice spots within the metropolis,” praising its pleasant employees, enormous choice and dependable following. Her go-to order? Cotton sweet water ice.
“There’s actually one thing for everybody there, which makes it a strong go-to spot for a candy deal with. Not solely is it extraordinarily constant, however the employees is all the time so pleasant and affected person — particularly for folks like me desirous to pattern a bunch of flavors earlier than deciding,” she instructed The Put up.
Jeffrey Meza, 31, of Flushing, Queens, mentioned he loves that Ralph’s is “in all places in New York,” making it a simple cease throughout town every time temperatures climb.
“It doesn’t matter what a part of town I’m in, there’s normally one close by, so it’s change into my go-to any time it’s sizzling out,” he instructed The Put up. “The ice itself is wonderful, constant each single time,” he added. “My order is all the time Rainbow, as a result of it’s a mixture of totally different flavors, so I by no means get tired of it.”
For Silvestro, although, the magic remains to be discovered again the place it began.
“On a sizzling day, that’s what you say right here on Staten Island, ‘Let’s go get an Italian ice,’ and fortuitously, folks say that and are available to Ralph’s,” he mentioned.
The franchise favourite: Uncle Louie G’s
However not each Italian ice icon started in a Staten Island storage.
What began as one Brooklyn child’s neighborhood hustle has grown right into a frozen dessert empire with greater than 60 areas — all whereas protecting its old-school roots intact.
The model’s namesake, Louie G., started making selfmade Italian ices and ice cream as a younger Brooklynite, promoting his creations on to neighbors earlier than opening the primary Uncle Louie G’s storefront on Coney Island Avenue.
The model later expanded right into a multi-state franchise operation whereas persevering with to make use of its authentic recipes.
In the present day, Uncle Louie G’s has greater than a dozen NYC areas, together with its Prospect Park outpost at 157 Prospect Park Southwest, the place Brooklynites and parkgoers flock for a candy summer season escape.
Ernie Aiello, director of operations at Uncle Louie G’s, instructed The Put up that the corporate is proudly woman-owned, together with his spouse Melissa serving as president.
The couple first joined the Uncle Louie G’s franchise in 2010, finally working 5 areas earlier than buying the corporate in 2023.
“Since taking up now we have been working laborious to rebrand the corporate and actually change into a recognizable title and a staple of the New York and New Jersey communities,” Aiello mentioned.
For Aiello and his spouse, Uncle Louie G’s can be a celebration of their very own Italian-American New York heritage.
“My spouse’s household migrated from Sicily to the Bronx after which as much as Yonkers the place she lived after I met her. My household migrated to East Harlem again within the 1920’s from Italy and finally moved over to the Bronx the place I used to be born and raised so we’re native New Yorkers,” he mentioned.
That neighborhood-first method is precisely what retains regulars coming again.
Evonne Gambrell, a longtime buyer of the Prospect Park location, instructed The Put up that the store’s playground-side location makes it a simple household outing — and the rotating menu retains issues fascinating.
She additionally praised the store’s welcoming environment, saying, “The folks listed here are very nice and it’s all the time a really family-friendly expertise.”
For Zach Zierlin, a frequent buyer of the Windsor Terrace location, Uncle Louie G’s stands out for making each member of the family really feel included.
“Considered one of our sons has an allergy and they’re all the time extremely attentive to it,” Zierlin instructed The Put up. “There aren’t many locations the place we are able to take him and really feel secure and that he’ll be taken care of.”
The flavour king: The Lemon Ice King of Corona
Queens has its personal frozen crown jewel: The Lemon Ice King of Corona.
The tiny store has been doling out Italian ice since 1944, when founder Nicola Benfaremo began promoting selfmade treats out of a storage earlier than constructing what would change into one of many borough’s sweetest establishments.
The Corona landmark turned so iconic it even scored a cameo within the opening credit of “The King of Queens” — and greater than 80 years later, the strains are nonetheless forming.
With roughly 50 flavors on the menu, adventurous clients can dig into every part from peanut butter to chocolate chip alongside old-school favorites like lemon.
“Lots of people are initially skeptical after they hear our flavors like peanut butter Italian ice, however then they style it and alter their minds. There’s a giant following for flavors like that amongst our clients,” proprietor Michael Zampino instructed The Put up.
Zampino, a Queens native born and raised in Corona, mentioned the store has “change into a part of the neighborhood’s custom,” with households making it a must-stop after journeys to close by points of interest like Flushing Meadows–Corona Park and Citi Area.
“We hear it on a regular basis — individuals who grew up coming right here are actually bringing their very own households, so we’ll have three or 4 generations coming in collectively,” he instructed The Put up.
As frequent buyer Bonnie Winston instructed The Put up, “I used to be raised in Queens, New York, the place one in all life’s easy pleasures was a visit to the Lemon Ice King of Corona.”
“Typically, the perfect recollections come from probably the most unpretentious locations,” she mentioned.
The Bronx hidden gem: Teresa’s Connoisseur Italian Ices
Teresa’s Connoisseur Italian Ices has spent practically three a long time turning first-time clients into regulars.
The small family-run store has been serving selfmade Italian ice that’s earned a fiercely loyal following, with clients returning for every part from old-school lemon and cherry to cannoli, cappuccino, birthday cake and peanut butter.
The menu has expanded through the years to incorporate lactose-free and sugar-free Italian ice choices in addition to ice cream, brownies, cupcakes and occasional, however it’s the colourful cups of Italian ice that preserve Bronxites lining up.
“All the ices are selfmade, we make them ourselves. We don’t purchase them from anyone and that’s what makes them particular,” proprietor Teresa Darmetta instructed The Put up.
Among the many largest crowd-pleasers is the store’s nostalgic “Lily with Nuts,” a creamy Italian ice flavored with vanilla, rum extract and toasted almonds that’s change into more and more troublesome to seek out.
Born and raised simply blocks away from her present location, Darmetta opened the store in 1999 after recognizing the obtainable storefront subsequent to a neighborhood pizzeria — a pairing she figured was a “pure match.”
“We began out virtually 30 years in the past and we began serving youngsters, and now those self same youngsters have grown up and are available in with their very own youngsters, so it’s been so particular to serve totally different generations who all love Italian ice,” she instructed The Put up.
Even clients who’ve lengthy since left the borough nonetheless make pilgrimages again for a scoop of nostalgia — and, Darmetta mentioned, typically inform her they want she’d “open a store of their new hometown.”
“Even when folks depart The Bronx and transfer out, they nonetheless make it some extent to come back again in to go to me for a creamy deal with,” she mentioned. “Which means a lot.”
Brooklyn’s best-kept freezer secret: Dolly’s Ices
Throughout the boroughs, smaller neighborhood favorites have earned equally devoted followings.
Positioned between a Dunkin’ and a fuel station in Mill Basin, Brooklyn, Dolly’s Ices has constructed a fiercely loyal fan base the old school method: one neighborhood buyer at a time.
The cash-only store at 2317 Ralph Ave. has been a family-owned Brooklyn staple for 33 years, serving homemade-style Italian ices which have turned first-time guests into lifelong regulars.
Now run by Canarsie native Nicky Rago and his mom Dolly, the low-key spot stays the form of neighborhood establishment Brooklynites proudly return to — and fortunately inform their pals about.
With its no-frills attraction and cult following, Dolly’s proves that a number of the metropolis’s sweetest summer season traditions aren’t all the time the flashiest — they’re those locals refuse to let disappear.
Widespread documentary filmmaker Nicolas Heller (@newyornico) just lately gave the Brooklyn favourite his seal of approval, calling Dolly’s “as quintessential family-owned because it will get” whereas highlighting flavors he deemed “bangers,” together with spumoni, lemon ice, peanut butter & jelly and pancake & syrup.
Followers flooded the feedback with their very own nostalgic recollections.
One follower wrote, “Basic Brooklyn staple!!!! I’ve been consuming Dollys since I used to be child. Solely the actual ones know.”
One other added, “I bear in mind as a child, me and my fam all the time went and obtained ices at their earlier areas by kings plaza mall… always remember.”
When ice meets old-school Italian attraction: Pasticceria Rocco
Manhattan’s Italian ice custom comes with a facet of cannoli.
At Greenwich Village establishment Pasticceria Rocco, the frozen deal with is a seasonal shock tucked inside a decades-old Italian bakery.
The Bleecker Road staple makes its Italian ices contemporary in-house every summer season, serving basic flavors like lemon, cherry and pistachio alongside its well-known ricotta-filled cannoli, pastries, muffins and gelato.
Based by Rocco Generoso, who arrived from Italy in 1957 and labored his method from dishwasher to move pastry chef earlier than taking up the bakery, Rocco’s has preserved the southern Italian traditions of his hometown of Amantea, Calabria, for greater than 50 years.
Meals blogger Soe Kabbabe just lately named Rocco’s Italian ice among the many metropolis’s greatest, praising the bakery’s old-school attraction and noting that “the expertise is as necessary as the flavour.”
She highlighted the store’s signature pairing of “chilly, fruit-forward Italian ice” with a wealthy cannoli or espresso — a mix that proves Rocco’s isn’t simply serving dessert, it’s serving somewhat slice of Italian New York nostalgia.
Tripadvisor reviewer Kristin C. admitted she was shocked by the Bleecker Road bakery’s icy providing, writing, “You wouldn’t count on a bakery to have the perfect Italian Ice however boy does this place do it proper!”
After returning twice only for one other style of the lemon ice, she praised Rocco’s as a must-stop for each its old-school baked items and its seasonal frozen deal with.
