Ice, Ice, Baby! Grasso’s Italian Ice is Back

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Grasso’s Italian Ice is officially back in business this summer, despite the company’s signature 1954 International Harvester truck still undergoing repairs. 

Grasso’s announced on Monday that it would partner with the folks at Olde Saratoga Miniature Golf and Rustic Pizza to sell Italian ice at their location at 556 Maple Ave in Saratoga Springs beginning Wednesday, July 2. “Old-school” flavors like lemon, cherry, root beer, and black raspberry will be available.

Last year, Grasso’s launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to fix its aging truck. The company said it didn’t quite raise enough and that repairs are still ongoing. The truck is expected to hit the streets next year.

“To everyone who donated to our GoFundMe: thank you from the bottom of my heart,” the company said on its Facebook page. “You helped keep this tradition alive.”

As previously reported by Saratoga TODAY, the Grasso family traces its Italian ice origins back to the 1920’s, when Ralph Grasso emigrated from his native Tufino, Italy and settled in Brooklyn with his brother, landing in Saratoga Springs a few years later. Grasso worked in the construction and masonry trades and began making lemon ice, which he sold on his off-days and weekends as a side business.