Medha Imam: From Sicily to the streets of Queens,
Italian ice has been a staple
for cooling off during the summer heat
for centuries.
And one shop credited with
bringing this frozen, fruity treat to New York
is the Lemon Ice King of Corona.
Sandy Ronquillo: Lemon Ice King has been a staple
of this neighborhood for so long.
Jimmy: I think the Lemon Ice King here in Corona is Corona.
Janette Leoni: Creamy. It's got a lot of flavor.
It is delicious.
Merry Morrow: It is so good.
You have to come to Corona and get some.
Medha: But what is it that makes the Lemon Ice King
so legendary?
We headed out to Corona, Queens,
to speak with the current owners
about the history of the crowd-favorite institution
and learn how the shop has survived for 75 years
selling its beloved Italian ice.
The Lemon Ice King of Corona began in 1944
when Nicola Benfaremo began churning and selling ice
out of his garage in a largely Italian neighborhood.
Nicola's son, Peter, partnered up with his father
to open up a storefront in 1964,
just in time for the New York World's Fair
in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park,
which attracted more than 51 million people
around the globe.
Newsreel: Everyone is coming to the New York World's Fair.
Vinny Barbaccia: The real Lemon Ice King started here
through Peter Benfaremo.
Even though we gotta acknowledge his father, obviously.
Mike Zampino: Yeah, he took it to the next level.
Medha: That's Mike Zampino and Vinny Barbaccia,
the current owners of the Queens institution.
Mike: Pete to me was like my second father.
Probably one of my best friends as well.
Medha: An immigrant from Italy,
Nicola made his ice the traditional way,
using natural ingredients and actual pieces of fruit,
like in Sicilian granita,
a semi-frozen dessert with a sugar and water base.
But what made the Benfaremo ice stand out
was its creamy texture,
which was unlike the coarse and crystalline
versions of early Italian ice
and which they achieved without using any dairy.
Vinny: No dairy at all in any of the flavors.
You assume, like, yeah, it's a cream ice.
You know, it's got milk in it. It's got dairy in it.
No dairy in any.
It's just our recipes
that make the product turn out the way it does.
Jimmy: Can't say nothing but the best.
Always been eating it, and, as you can see, still eating it.
Mike: We get a lot of input from, like, the neighborhood.
Where it used to more like pistachio, lemon, orange,
that's more traditional Italian flavor,
and that was what the neighborhood was.
Now, as the neighborhood changes,
we see we're selling more mango,
piña colada, more of the tropical fruits.
Janette: I'm here all the way from Ohio to taste this.
Merry: This is great.
Medha: Overwhelmed by the praise,
I couldn't wait to get my share
of the iconic Benfaramo Italian ice.
Out of their 36 flavors,
I decided to try their cult classic, peanut butter,
which contains chunks of peanuts throughout.
But first, their most popular flavor,
the namesake lemon ice.
Mike: Lemon Ice King. Vinny: Lemons.
Lemon is lemon.
Medha: It comes in the form of a rose.
All right, so here I go.
This is truly amazing.
On a humid day like this, in New York City,
this is exactly what I wanted to taste right now.
This tastes like fresh lemons,
but also it's sweet, too.
So, if you're a sweet tooth, like me,
you would love this.
But if you're having Italian ice for the first time,
you are gonna feel, like,
kind of, like, prickles on your tongue?
But they're refreshing prickles
because it's just, like, the coldness of the ice
that's really, ah, so refreshing.
Do you guys want to try some?
You're gonna have to come to Lemon Ice King.
This is Lemon Ice King of Corona's newer flavor.
It is the peanut-butter ice.
It's become a hit amongst the community
and a lot of people around New York.
So, I'm really excited to try this out.
This is the one that I saw on social media
that people are raving about.
So here we go.
Oh, my God!
I really cannot believe that dairy is not in this
because this tastes so smooth
and just like any peanut-butter ice cream
that I've had in the past.
Vinny: Oh, yeah. Whatever flavor that you're aiming at,
you're gonna find that it's the best you've had.
Medha: The 75-year-old recipe
and larger window operation
remain loyal to its owner and neighborhood,
as Vinny and Mike continue to hire
local kids to scoop out Italian ice.
Vinny: We're part of the neighborhood.
We grew up here, we grew up with the store,
people that come up here,
and now, I grew up with these kids,
now they're coming up with their kids.
And it's like, you realize how old you're getting, you know?
But again, you realize the strength of the institution,
if you will, right?
That we're still here, still going strong,
and hopefully we're here for another 100 years.
Medha: Red rose.
Here I go.
(man laughs)
You wanna try it out together?
Man: Yeah, yeah.
Medha: OK, here I go.