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Home > Sangre Celestial > Elizabeth Mateo carries on her grandfather’s ice cream business with a cool taste of Oaxaca
Podcast: Sangre Celestial
Episode:

Elizabeth Mateo carries on her grandfather’s ice cream business with a cool taste of Oaxaca
Category: Arts
Duration: 00:00:00
Publish Date: 2025-08-29 19:00:00
Description: Princiliano Mateo followed in his father’s footsteps, the elder selling ice cream on the streets and beaches of Chiapas, Mexico at a young age. When Princiliano moved to Los Angeles in the early ‘80s, he looked to recreate the flavors of his childhood,, says Elizabeth Mateo, his daughter and current co-owner of Mateo’s Ice Cream & Fruit Bars . Elizabeth was 10-years-old when her father opened the first shop. He kept his night job as a waiter while working to grow the business, which now includes four locations with a fifth spot opening in the South Bay later this year. Elizabeth recalls waking up at six o’clock in the morning on weekends so she and her brother could visit the produce market with their dad, riding home in his small car with boxes of watermelons and exotic fruits stacked on their laps, which he would transform into ice cream and frozen treats. The leche quemada paleta, popular in Oaxaca, is a smoked milk popsicle with a strip of cactus fruit at the bottom. Photo courtesy of Mateo’s. By the time she was a teenager, Elizabeth was working at the counter and doing small jobs like peeling carrots to make fresh juices. The bright green and yellow walls are the hallmarks of Mateo’s, where fresh, tropical fruits are strewn along the counters. With flavors like leche quemada (burnt milk with cactus fruit), guava, yellow cherry, and walnut, customers waver over the options. Elizabeth’s grandfather got into the business at a young age, selling ice cream on the beaches and in the streets of Chiapas, Mexico. Photo courtesy of Mateo’s. Elizabeth begrudgingly spent her summers working at the shop but in hindsight is grateful for learning and inheriting the business. With two children of her own, and her youngest playfully pretending to sell ice cream, Elizabeth is hopeful they carry on the family tradition. Mateo’s is scheduled to open a fifth location in the South Bay later this year. The bright green and yellow walls with tropical fruit strewn across the cases is a calling card at Mateo’s. Photo by Elina Shatkin/KCRW Mateo’s Ice Cream & Fruit Bars has four locations across Los Angeles, with a fifth shop opening in the South Bay later this fall. Photo by Elina Shatkin/KCRW
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