Los Chinos de Ponce (English: "The Chinesemen of Ponce"), formally King's Cream, is an Ice cream parlor located at Calle Marina 9322 in the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico, in front of the town square, Plaza Degetau, opposite the historic Parque de Bombas. Critics have called the site "a Puerto Rican institution" and its ice cream "the Caribbean's best."[1][2][3] It has also been called "Puerto Rico's most famous ice cream stand."[4] Another critic called it "[the reason] for which I'll always remember Ponce."[5]
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1964 |
| Founder | Alfredo Louk and Violeta Chang de Louk |
| Headquarters | Ponce, Puerto Rico |
| Products | Ice cream |
Number of employees | approx 6 |
History
.jpg)
Their owners/founders were Alfredo Louk, originally from Guangzhou, China (Canton in Spanish), and his wife Violeta Chang de Louk, a Cuban woman of Chinese immigrant parents. The couple had fled the Fidel Castro government and established themselves in Ponce in 1963.[6]
They opened the first King's Cream store in 1964.[7][8] It was located at 61 Calle Vives, between Calle Union and Calle Atocha.[9] A second outlet of the same company opened three blocks away across Plaza Las Delicias on Calle Marina a few years later.[10]
Offering
The store has an array of local flavors,[11] including pineapple, parcha (passion fruit), coconut, guanabana (soursop), tamarind, acerola, peanut, maize, and almond[12][13][14] in addition to the traditional vanilla and chocolate flavors.
See also
References
Further reading
- Lee-Borges, José. Los Chinos en Puerto Rico. (In Spanish) Second Edition. Ediciones Callejón. 2015. 437 pages. ISBN 978-1615051700.