What to Eat in Birmingham

As you know, we love Lichita’s. We can’t believe it’s been a year and a half since we first visited their small storefront on Valley Avenue. When we first sat down with Bayer last year to brainstorm about our wish list for Pizitz stalls, we pulled up our Lichita’s post and collectively drooled over how great it would be to have them in the building. And now, a little over a year later, it’s become a reality. Here’s the story of the man behind Lichita’s, our good friend Eloy Garcia. Photo credits go to our good friends at Yellowhammer Creative.

Eloy Garcia grew up in southern Mexico. After moving to the states, he found himself working for a popsicle factory in Chicago. He enjoyed watching the popsicles being made and learning about the process from the women who worked the line. After moving to Florida he started selling pre made popsicles and ice cream. He worked on creating the flavors of ice cream and popsicles that he remembered from his childhood in southern Mexico. Both used less sugar than the North American equivalents making for a lighter texture and taste. He also sought out sources of fresh fruits commonly used in Mexico such as Guava and Mamey.

In Nashville he opened his first paleteria. Paleta means popsicles in Spanish so naturally a paleteria is a shop that sells popsicles.  He decided to name it “Lichita’s” after his daughter who was very young at the time. It is her image as a little girl that you see on the Lichita’s logo to this day. Interestingly she is now 19 years old. His son took over the shop a few years ago when he moved to Birmingham to open his second location in Homewood.

Eloy is very excited to be bringing Lichita’s authentic Mexican popsicles and ice cream to the Pizitz. A small sample of the popsicle flavors that will be available include rice, vanilla coated in chocolate and coconut flakes, Mango, and Lime. The rice popsicle flavor tastes somewhat similar to the mexican drink horchata in that you can taste a the flavors of cinnamon and rice. It is incredibly refreshing and not to be missed. Ice cream flavors include Mamey, Guava, Coconut, Pistachio, burnt milk, walnut and many more as well as chocolate and vanilla for the little ones.