Frozen lemonade is a Rhode Island staple. Where do you get it, and how did it get here?
Hot, humid, sweltering. It's so hot, you think you're going to melt, or maybe you already melted.
But then you hear the jingle, you spot the stand, you see the green umbrella, and Rhode Island's favorite tart treat is in sight: frozen lemonade.
Rhode Island's love affair with frozen lemonade is old – older than anyone alive in the state – with Del's Lemonade dating back to the winter of 1840 in Naples, Italy, and the Palagis tracing its roots back to horse-drawn carriages selling sweet frozen treats.
One former rival to Del's, Mr. Nick's in North Providence, which has since closed, came directly from Italy, as owner Nick Africo emigrated to the United States from Sicily when he was 16, telling The Providence Journal-Bulletin that he "grew up on the stuff." In Italy, it is known as "granita di limone," or, literally, "crushed ice of lemon."
It's not the state drink, but in summer it may as well be
Frozen lemonade is not the state drink, losing out to coffee milk in what was dubbed the Great State House Drink Battle of 1993, a fight that made its way to the front page of The Wall Street Journal, but in summer, it may as well be. In 1982,The Providence Journal-Bulletin estimated an average of six cups of frozen lemonade were consumed per Rhode Islander per year.
And how do you consume frozen lemonade?
With Del's, using a straw is pure sacrilege. Del's research and development head, Demetri Kazantzis, puts it this way: grasp the paper cup with the palm of your hand, which will warm the drink slightly, making it easier to drink. Part of it is the frozen feeling, lips hitting ice crystals, especially on a hot summer day.
Del's Lemonade
The story of Del's Lemonade starts in 1840 in Naples, Italy, where lemons overwintered in a cave and were then mixed with sugar and snow to be sold at the local market.
While the Del's recipe dates back to the 19th century, it was brought over the Atlantic at the turn of the 20th century, where Angelo DeLucia worked to build a machine that would produce consistent frozen lemonade.
By 1948, Del's Frozen Lemonade had its name and was the only thing being sold at its Cranston stand. DeLucia also designed the first mobile units that extended the company's reach.
Since then, the company has grown, expanding its reach across the country with franchise locations in five states, creating a powdered drink mix and lots of collaborations, like Narragansett Beer's shandy, Warwick Ice Cream's lemon ice cream and Li'l Dinghy Drinks' canned cocktail, the Lemon Drop.
Where: Del's has 23 permanent locations in Rhode Island, with more carts and stands across the state, including at the state-run Scarborough Beach in Narragansett.
Palagi Brothers Ice Cream and Palagis Ice Cream
The story of the Palagis and their ice cream trucks started, like Del's Lemonade, in Italy. Two brothers, Antonio and Pietro, emigrated to Pawtucket. Each started his own ice cream businesses, using horse and wagon to cart their wares, before upgrading to a Model A Ford, then a Ford Woody Wagon, and a fleet of modern ice cream trucks in the 1980s.
Frozen lemonade entered the picture when machines came on the market to keep everything frozen and mixed.
The parallel but family-owned businesses continued until 1998, when one of the two, Palagis Ice Cream, was sold to Alejandro Arteaga, while the other Palagi ice cream company, Palagi Brothers Ice Cream, is operated by Adam and Robert Palagi.
Palagis Ice Cream has a physical shack at 55 Bacon St. in Pawtucket and runs ice cream trucks, which also sell frozen lemonade. Palagi Brothers Ice Cream just runs trucks. Much of the business has transitioned from designated routes to serving events.
Where: Palagis Ice Cream has a stand at 55 Bacon St. in Pawtucket. Both companies run trucks throughout the state. Trucks can be requested to serve events and gatherings.
Mr. Lemon
In 1974, Eileen Rao and her husband, Joseph Rao Sr., founded Mr. Lemon in a small storefront on Hawkins Street in Providence.
She died in December 2023, at age 94; her husband had died in 1986. When the business opened, she and her husband had no experience with making frozen lemonade and "toiled endlessly perfecting their product by trial and error," her obituary stated. Rao's three children – Janice, Colleen and Joseph Jr. – have handled the day-to-day work of running the store in recent years; their mother remained closely involved until her death.
The cash-only stand is known for offering a rotating variety of unique flavors such as tutti frutti, lemon meringue, vanilla, root beer and Creamsicle, alongside the classic lemon.
The family-owned frozen lemonade shack cut down its hours to weekends only, noon to 7 p.m., in 2023.
Where: 32 Hawkins St., Providence
New England Frozen Lemonade
New England Frozen Lemonade was started by Tony Lombardi, one of Del's Lemonade's first drivers, before he bought a slush maker and truck, rented a storefront and went out on his own in the 1960s. Lombardi was so successful he bought the storefront on Douglas Avenue.
Now, New England Frozen Lemonade runs a fleet of ice cream vans and sells out of his main location in Providence. It is run by the third generation of Lombardis.
Where: 280 Douglas Ave., Providence
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Past Providence Journal reports were used in this story. Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Frozen lemonade is a Rhode Island specialty: Del's, Palagis, Mr. Lemon
