Rhode Island Treat Now In Maine: Del’s Frozen Lemonade Truck Has Opened For The Summer

A popular treat that was created in the 1840s in Naples, Italy, and 100 years later made its way to America, establishing its first location in Cranston, RI, in 1948, now has a mobile location based out of Eastern Maine!

Del's Frozen Lemonade is now available to folks in our area.

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According to their website, the company has been around for over a hundred years!

a single lemon sitting on top of a white table

"Great Grandfather DeLucia made the earliest Del's Frozen Lemonade in 1840 in Naples, Italy. During the winter, he carried snow into nearby caves and insulated it with straw. When summer arrived, and the local lemons were ripe and flavorful, he mixed their juice with just the right amount of sugar and snow. Thus making a refreshing drink, which he sold at the local market."

Mainers can thank Rhode Island transplant Margo Philbrick and her husband for bringing the business to the area.

Philbrick moved to Maine over a decade ago. Remembering their beloved treat from back home, Philbrick said it was her husband, who already owns a few businesses, that first suggested they open a Del's here in Maine.

Del's Frozen Lemonade Bangor, Dustin Moyer

"My husband, a few years ago, was like, 'We should open a Del's up here because it would probably do really well,' so we've been working at it and finally got it opened this summer. Kind of late, but we got it opened."

Margo, who is a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom, says this offered her not only an opportunity to bring a little piece of home up to Maine with her, but also provides her with a method of teaching her kids about business and instilling in them a work ethic.

Since opening, their Del's truck, Philbrick says it's really taken off!

"It's crazy because there are so many Rhode Islanders up here; we didn't realize, and it's kind of taken off a lot faster than we intended because of all the transplants."

Philbrick says she hopes folks in Maine will incorporate Del's into their summer routine, and start a new tradition that families can get excited for, year after year.

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"I'm hoping we can start something like that, where people can bring their kids to it, and it will be that summertime thing, because it's only around in the summertime, where they say 'Oh, Del's is coming around,' and it will give them something to look forward to."

Del's Frozen Lemonade Bangor, Dustin Moyer

"It's just different. It's all natural, it's unique...I'm kind of a big stickler for what I feed my kids, and the one thing I love about Del's is it has three ingredients: Whatever the fruit is, if it's lemon or watermelon, it's real fruit, cane sugar, and water. So I don't feel as guilty giving it to my kids because I know it's healthier."

Speaking of flavors, right now you can find a handful of different flavors at the Del's Frozen Lemonade truck, including their newest summer flavor, strawberry lemonade, and also regular lemonade, watermelon, blueberry, and tangerine.

"We also have our peach-mango that we rotate out and our green apple that we rotate out. We're looking to bring some other flavors that they have in, but we're just starting...so we have some to try."

You can track where the truck will be on their social media, either Del's Lemonade Bangor on Facebook or @Delsbangor on Instagram.

"We do our very best to stay on top of where we're going to be, but as a food truck, sometimes plans change. We do post at the beginning of the week where we're going to be, but if things change, we try to update social media."

This weekend, you can find them a couple of different places: Saturday at Whitney's in Corinth and the Food Truck extravaganza at The Furniture Gallery in Bangor on Sunday. Next weekend, the Del's truck will be in Rockland for the Lobster Festival.

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Philbrick says the couple does have plans to transition to a brick-and-mortar shop at some point, but where they've just started, they're content to keep the truck on the road, so that everybody has a chance to check Del's out

"Right now we're going to stay mobile. We do have plans in the future to open an actual location. But obviously mobile's the best way right now to get it out there, but down the road we will get a location."

Welcome to Maine, Del's. We're excited to give you a try!