Mario's Italian Lemonade

Mario's Italian Lemonade: a remnant of Little Italy

A colorful Chicago neighborhood known as Little Italy was once a thriving hub of street vendors, push carts and markets. Much of this enclave met the wrecking ball in 1963, when 200 businesses and 800 homes were demolished to make way for the University of Illinois at Chicago campus.

Still, a handful of cherished remnants remain — including Mario’s Italian Lemonade stand on Taylor Street. Mario’s continues to thrive in the same locale where it was built by Mario DiPaolo in 1954 In the shadows of Chicago’s Loop.

On summer nights, the crowd awaiting a fresh lemon, watermelon, cantaloupe or fruit cocktail ice can be 100 deep.  Suited businessmen rub elbows with students and elderly who still live in the neighborhood or have returned for a visit.

Tucked in front of two brownstones, the small green, white and red wooden structure housing Mario's is is a refreshing testament to Little Italy’s heyday. Strands of decorated bleach bottles festooned with Christmas lights crown the wooden hut now operated by Mario’s son and his wife, Maria.

The couple still works the stand, serving 16 flavors of fresh fruit ice including watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, fruit cocktail and peach when in season. A small ice is $1, and a half-gallon take-home bucket is $6.25. The DiPaolo’s also sell seeds, nuts lupine beans and dried chickpeas.

Don’t miss Mario’s and Little Italy on your visit to Chicago. Buy an ice and walk around this tree-lined, quaint neighborhood where residents gather on front porches on warm evenings and where by day, laundry ripples on clotheslines.