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Beat the Summer Heat in Queens With These Icy Treats

By Jeanmarie Evelly | July 23, 2014 12:29pm | Updated on July 25, 2014 4:14pm
 Homemade Italian ices, Filipino halo-halo and Colombian cholados are among borough's summer desserts.
Icy Treats in Queens
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QUEENS — As the dog days of summer lag on, the city's most diverse borough has plenty to offer when it comes to delicious ways to cool down.

Restaurants in Queens offer a global variety of summertime desserts, from homemade Italian ices to Filipino halo-halo to Colombian cholados.

Here are DNAinfo's picks for where to enjoy icy treats in Queens.

Italian Ices at La Guli Pastry Shop, 29-15 Ditmars Blvd., Astoria

The homemade Italian ices at Astoria's La Guli Pastry Shop are so well-loved a customer asked the family-owned bakery to send a batch of the treats all the way to Las Vegas, shipped in a styrofoam container with dry ice — agreeing to pay the costly shipping charges.

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"They didn't care — they just wanted the ices," said owner Maria Notaro, whose grandfather opened La Guli in 1937. "They're very popular."

The bakery serves their Italian ices from Easter to Halloween and has been using the same recipes for decades, as well as the same equipment — including an ice cream maker that dates back to 1948.

"They're all homemade, made right here, same recipes we've had," Notaro said.

Ices come in 11 flavors, with fruity options like mango, strawberry or watermelon and classics like chocolate or spumoni, their most popular. Available in five sizes, you can grab one to go in the traditional 3-ounce paper cup for $2.25 or stock up with a whole half-gallon for $13.75.

Halo-Halo at Krystal's Cafe and Pastry Shop, 69-02 Roosevelt Ave., Woodside

Halo-Halo means "mix-mix," in Tagalog, and this refreshing, traditional Filipino dessert is indeed a  medley of sweet ingredients.

"It's popular in all the Filipino restaurants," said Tony Rivera, the manager at Krystal's, a Filipino restaurant and bakery that opened in the heart of Woodside's "Little Manila" neighborhood about 17 years ago.

There are different variations on halo-halo, with some eateries opting to finish theirs off with a scoop of ice cream. 

Krystal's version costs $4.50, and comes served in a tall glass with a spoon. It consists of several layers of ingredients, including sweet brown beans, fruity gelatin pieces, plantains, a sweet purple yam known as ube, finely crushed ice and evaporated milk, topped with a chunk of caramel custard.

Cholados at Las Americas Bakery, 40-30 82nd St., Elmhurst

Bakeries and other mom-and-pop shops throughout Elmhurst and Jackson Heights offer plenty of Colombian treats that are perfect for summertime, including cholados — drinks made with shaved ice, fruit, sweet syrups and condensed milk.

The cholado at Elmhurst bakery Las Americas costs $5 and comes with blended ice that's loaded down with a medley of chopped fresh fruits like banana, mango, strawberry and pineapple, then doused in the sweet syrups. 

The concoction comes sprinkled with shredded coconut and a maraschino cherry on top and is served with both a straw and a spoon, making it perfect for eating on-the-go.