Igloo’s Gourmet Italian Ices
180-16 Hillside Ave., Jamaica

Cuisine: Ice Cream

Hours: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Saturday, noon to 9 p.m. Sunday

Corona has the Lemon Ice King.  Bayside, Whitestone and Glen Oaks have Ralph and now, Jamaica residents melting on Hillside Avenue have some relief from the heat of their own.

Igloo’s Gourmet Italian Ices, a tiny shop at 180-16 Hillside Avenue, sells over 35 flavors of Italian ices, and nothing else.

(Okay, you can get “Super Cold Water,” too.)

The shop opened in May, in the ground floor space of H&R Block’s public tax office. 

Come the fall, when the mercury drops, shoe soles stop sticking to the sidewalk and tax season kicks in, the ices will move out and the accountants will move back in.

The cycle will continue for as long as three inevitable elements of life—summer, winter and taxes—continue.

Brothers Duane and Steven Ennis mind the mind-boggling array of frozen deserts, handing out thimble-size samples to anyone who asks.

The most popular flavors are Rainbow 2002, Pina Colada and Cherry. 

The most unique, the Brothers Ennis say, are Chunky Monkey, a mix of banana, chocolate and walnuts, Rum Raisin and Strawberry Cheesecake.

All the ices are made by Igloo in Farmingdale and delivered to the shop daily.

Unlike the ices available in most pizzerias, Igloo’s ices have chunks of fruit, nuts, or other ingredients in them.  At an even dollar for a small ice, Igloo’s ices are cheaper than Ralph’s, a chain that has three branches in Queens and near-domination of the ice market on Long Island. 

The youngest customers still opt for the 50-cent ices sold from pushcarts in the street, though, Duane Ennis said.

Either Ennis will mix flavors for customers, who, they say, sometimes get five different flavors in the five-scoop, $2.50 cup.

People with a serious need for cooling can get a big half-gallon tub, for $9.50.

Igloo’s Gourmet Italian Ices, which Duane Ennis said will be called “The Icy Spot” in the future, will be gone with the first breezes of autumn and the first receipts of tax season.  Stop by and pick up a scoop before Mother Nature and Uncle Sam take their toll.

— Shams Tarek