One of my favorite things to do after leading a Chinatown food tour on a steamy summer’s day is to walk westward down Roosevelt Avenue and cool off by sampling frosty treats from various cultures. My first stop is the Dominican shaved ice at 98th Street and Roosevelt Avenue known as El Bohio. The bodega that the place takes it name from is long gone, but the frio frio man along with his gigantic block of crystal clear ice and his multihued syrups remain.

“I’ve never seen that blue one,” I thought to myself as I looked at a bottle of light blue liquid and waited my turn listening to the schuss schuss schuss of the ice shaver and enjoying the random frosty shards hitting my face.

“It tastes like heaven,” the little boy on line ahead of me said. His mom had ordered him a combo of the fuchsia frambuesa—raspberry—syrup and the mysterious blue liquid, topped with leche condensada.

I ordered a medium-sized version of the same. The light blue and fuchsia syrups combined to form a deep purple hue, which was somewhat lightened by the sweet thick condensed milk.
I’ve forgotten what the flavor the blue one was, but the kid was right, the overall effect was heavenly: sweet and refreshing, a sure way to lower one’s core temperature whilst enjoying a sugar rush. I decalare purple heaven as my official go-to frio frio flavor for summer 2019.

Want to know more about the diverse frozen treats Queens has to offer? Check out this video from my good friends Food and Footprints.

El Bohio Frio Frio Man, 98-17 Roosevelt Ave, Corona