Tengo Gusto de Paletas

I’m not done with Texas. We're going back.

Disappointed that there was no tribute to Billie Jean in Corpus Christi, the city redeemed itself with La Paletera, a chain originating in Corpus that specializes in Mexican street foods. La Paletera’s specialty is paletas (Mexican frozen fruit pops) along with fresh fruit cups spiced with chili powder, salt, and lime.

For being such a good girl (not one tantrum where I kicked my shoes off or screamed at the top of my lungs), my partner took me out for paletas. At first, I was like, “What is this? Like FrozFruit or something?” I was told paletas are better. Yeah, right!

I hate it when I’m wrong. I’d take a paleta any day over FrozFruit.

Freeze your brain with sugar free, water-based, or cream-based popsicles in familiar flavors like mango, strawberry, lime, cantaloupe, and banana; or Mexican flavors like rice, chamoy, mango with chili, tamarindo, fresas con crème, or leche quemada.

I went with a cream-based mango paleta, and it was soooo good. My partner, who eats these things when in Texas (the chain is only in Texas at the moment) and when visiting family in Mexico, went with the strawberry and banana because I couldn’t decide between mango and strawberry and banana. His/mine had visible hunks of fruit.

Another specialty of La Paletera is their banana pudding. I’m not sure if that’s really Mexican street food, but, come on, who doesn’t like banana pudding? It’s one of my favorite desserts. While I was mowwing down my large cup of banana pudding (after the popsicle – ice cream melts, ya know), a man walked out to his car with the largest bowl of banana pudding I’ve ever seen – you could have stashed an infant in the bowl. I did a double take of the menu. For $40 you can get a large bowl of banana pudding. I love La Paletera. I’m thinking of moving to Texas.

So, here’s the question*…without doing any recognizance work of my own (summer is almost over, and it takes forever to get to some things on my food list), where can I get paletas in Philly. I’m thinking somewhere in the multicultural Italian Market?* Well, hot damn! While this post sat in my computer, I was served up some paletas at a catered picnic from La Michoacana, a Mexican ice cream shop in Kennett Square, PA. (I've been there for ice cream, but must have dismissed the paletas.) I had a corn flavored paleta (more cinnamony than corny) and a coffee flavored paleta. The question still stands for Philly, though.