MILWAUKEE — There is something uniquely nostalgic and comforting about having an ice cream on a hot summer day, at a festival, or at a sporting event. A flood of memories rush in from hearing the classic American ice cream truck song. And it's the exact same feeling as when many people hear the paletero's bells ringing down the street.
A paletero is someone who sells Mexican-style ice cream and popsicles. Paletas are a style of Mexican popsicles. There are a few different companies in Milwaukee that do this, but none are as prevalent or as popular as one company - Paleteria Yayo.
"Bring this to our community here in the United States makes you feel proud because as I told you it's a little bit of Mexico. It's a little bit of our Latin culture," Rene Adan the owner of Paleteria Yayo said.
Adan started his company about six years ago. Now, he has more than 30 people working for him pushing their carts around the city. Paleteria Yayo can sell about 6,000 paletas a day during peak season.
"It's a dream come true because everything begins with me pushing a cart as I told you," Adan said.
Watch Rene Adan's inspiring story here...
In Mexico, he had graduated college and was working as a producer for a Mexican television show. When he immigrated to the United States in 2007, one of his first jobs was as a paletero. He has felt all the ups and downs that his employees face. Adan has days he sold out fast and made good money. Adan has also had days where he was robbed and all his money stolen. He has been in the paleteria business for 17 years now.
"I feel proud basically because there is something we left behind when we travel or immigrate to this place or this country looking for something better, you know, for us and something for our family back there in our countries. So when you do something like (owning a paleteria), and make it good, and make it right, and make it grow the way we grow, you just can feel proud," Adan said.
He has big plans for the future. Adan wants to expand Paleteria Yayo into other cities and states.
"Since I start to push a cart, I always think I want to have a paleteria because I mean I love it. We don't just sell paletas. We sell a whole experience, you know, the cart on the street with the bells. I mean people know when they hear the bells, they know it's a paletero, you know," Adan said.
Paletas are a symbol of Mexican heritage and identity. The bells are iconic. For many, once they hear the sound of the bells they can't help but buy a paleta.
"Almost everyone loves paletas. They're fascinated by the paletas. Normally it's the kids that bring ??? to buy or get their parents in the house and they buy them," Baltazar Perez, a paletero for Paleteria Yayo said.
He said that whenever he rings his bell, kids recognize the sound and come running to meet him.
"We have this little bell. It brings happiness to the kids," he said.
You can find Paleteria Yayo all over the city - not just at festivals or on the streets of the South Side. Adan's company has sold frozen treats at Bucks games, Brewers games, and inside some of the biggest companies in the state like Miller. And Adan hopes people can find his paletas in other cities as soon as 2025.
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