From KCRW, I'm Evan Klyman and this is good food. Yes, it's still summer and it is hot.

You want something cool and sweet. You want ice cream or a popsicle. Of course you do.

But not just any ice cream. You want a delicious, bright pink sandia paleta. That would be watermelon or a scoop of cream. You want a delicious, bright, pink sandia paleta. That would be watermelon,

or a scoop of creamy mango conchaboy with just the right amount of spice, or maybe a chocolate

covered coconut coconut ice cream bar with pineapple sorbet in the center. Where do you go for these

gorgeous and tasty frozen treats?

To Mateo's ice cream and fruit bars, a local L.A. born mini chain.

Elizabeth Mateo, co-owner of Mateo's, is our guest for this week's In the Weeds.

My name is Elizabeth Mateo.

I'm co-owner of Mateo's ice cream and fruit bars.

So my late father got into this business at a very young age.

His father, which would be considered my grandpa, they lived in Chiapas, Mexico, where he was introduced to, you know, becoming a vendor

in the streets of Mexico, trying to get the family ahead with him and his mom and as siblings

at a very young age. He is the oldest of six. Therefore, you know, he was introduced to work at a very early age selling ice cream

in the beaches, on the streets, early mornings, late nights. He was also introduced into making

ice cream at a very early age. I believe it was a passion for him. You know, as he got older and

coming to Los Angeles in the early 80s,

he said, you know, there wasn't a lot of businesses known as palaterias or jugueries. As we all know,

in Mexico, when we go out there, we see, you know, these colorful shops with juices and fruits, you know, variety of fruits that they have to offer.

So therefore, in the early 2000s, he decided to, oh, go ahead and just start his business.

I want to say I was around 10 years old when my father first opened the store.

It was a bit challenging for him.

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