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Mezcla Ice Cream is bringing an authentic and flavorsome Mexican ice cream to the Southeast of Lancaster City.
Mezcla Ice Cream is bringing an authentic and flavorsome Mexican ice cream to the Southeast of Lancaster City.
There is no denying that ice cream has a special way of bringing people together. Sharing a scoop or cone of your favorite ice cream flavor creates a sense of happiness and enjoyment, making it the perfect dessert. If you are looking for a new ice cream place to enjoy in Lancaster City, check out Mezcla Ice Cream, owned by Heidi Castillo and Ole Hongvanthong on 318 South Duke Street.
ABC 27 News
A new locally owned, handcrafted Mexican ice cream shop recently made its debut in Lancaster County.
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — A new locally owned, handcrafted Mexican ice cream shop recently made its debut in Lancaster County.
The new Mezcla Ice Cream is owned and operated by Heidi Castillo, who is a Hispanic American, and Ole Hongvanthong, who is an Asian American. These two owners also own and operate PhotOle Photography, which they have been managing together for the past 15 years.
Their new Lancaster County ice cream shop offers a wide range of unique ice cream flavors such as Corn, Avocado, Cajeta, Guava and Cheese, Gansito, Dragon Fruit, and a lot more. On any given day, Mezcla Ice Cream offers a rotation of about seven different flavors at a time.
“Our [handcrafted ice cream] options are just right in sweetness and not as heavy as other ice creams,” Castillo said in an email.
Mezcla Ice Cream now occupies a 200-square-foot space at 318 South Duke Street. The new establishment offers take-out and carry-out options for customers.
Their hours of operation are:
Fridays – Sundays // 2p.m. to 8 p.m.
“It is humbling to be the bearers of the stories of our neighbors in the Historic Southeast. We feel grateful and fortunate that our community is taking the time to come out and support us, and that they feel comfortable coming together or gathering with their families and friends at Mezcla,” The owners said in an email. “We’ve learned that Central PA is adventurous, experiences different cultures through food, and is open and willing to travel to the Historic Southeast to experience both of our cultures. We are happy that we took a chance on ourselves.”
According to Castillo, the new shop officially opened its doors on Sunday, October 8. Moving forward, the new round ice creamery is going to soon offer a new ‘bubble waffle’ to compliment their ice cream.
WITF
Mezcla, brings ice-cream, culture, and community to Southeast Lancaster.
Heidi Castillo and Ole Hongvanthong have been entrepreneurs for the better part of a decade, and along the way have helped countless small business owners not only start, but maintain and grow their clientele. Now, Heidi and Ole have their eyes set on expanding their own business ventures, and have ventured into the cold world of ice cream. Mezcla, Which is a hand crafted Mexican inspired ice cream shop located in Lancaster city, is the name of their newest venture.
Castillo says, “This ice cream is made by a couple Puerto Rican and Mexican American, and they’ve been making ice cream for over 20 years. So it’s a homemade style ice cream. You know, the ice cream traditionally has less fat and more air. So people say that it kind of like tastes like gelato, But I guess that’s like the closest thing that you could compare it to. I grew up in California, in Anaheim. And it’s very, culturally diverse. And there’s a variety of foods. And being in Lancaster, I miss having that variety. And I always have to travel to other cities, bigger cities, to get the things that, I like. So for people like me, we always have to, like, travel somewhere else. And so I kind of wanted to just bring that to Lancaster because there’s a lot of people like me in Lancaster who don’t have that food necessarily, ice cream being one of them, because, you know, different flavors. So I wanted to bring that here.”
Lancaster Online
It all begins with an idea.
We got featured in Lancaster Online.
A small takeout shop featuring traditional Mexican ice cream has opened in Lancaster city.
Mezcla Ice Cream features a variety of flavors at 318 S. Duke St., a former row house renovated for the new shop. Traditional Mexican ice cream has less fat and air than American style ice cream, making it similar to gelato. There are also fewer mixed-in ingredients and more flavoring agents such as chocolate, cinnamon and fruit.
The shop’s name is Spanish for “mix” and is meant to describe a blending of flavors, cultures and families. It is owned by Heidi Castillo, who is an owner of PhotOle, a Lancaster city photo business she has with her husband, Ole Hongvanthong.