As summer rapidly approaches, Case Western Reserve University’s favorite treat is coming back with the warmer weather. Follow the floating bubbles in the streets of Little Italy towards Mount Granita, a cozy Italian ice place with vibrant neon signs and bright summer colors. Now boasting 20 fresh flavors, Mount Granita is reopening on Wednesday, May 1, from 5-10 p.m. with $1 dollar junior scoops on their opening day.

Co-owners Chris Giancola and Jonah Bae initially started Mount Granita as a sidewalk cart business, but Giancola says he never could have dreamt of their success at their storefront today. Long before even their cart had opened, granita had been a long tradition in the Giancola family. Chris has fond memories of his great-grandmother crafting a makeshift granita in her Sicilian hometown when they would visit. Combining espresso, milk and cream, she would store this mixture in the freezer and scrape the dish every few hours, leading to a chunky ice consistency that he used to cherish as a child. In the ’50s, Giancola’s family immigrated to the United States and continued to work in various food-related businesses. In that way, culinary pursuits have always been in Chris’s roots, but it was only at the start of the pandemic that Chris and Jonah began their own ventures.

With their university classes completely online due to COVID-19, and graduation so close ahead, Chris describes Mount Granita as a completely spontaneous conception. He suggested to Jonah, “Let’s just do something. Things are crazy right now; we can’t be strung up inside all the time.” The two knew from the start that they wanted to do granita—they had always gravitated towards frozen desserts, and they loved the granita they had tried on their travels to various places, from New York City to Chris’ grandparents hometown.

The scene for Italian ice in Cleveland was very sparse and much less the authentic richness of granita that Chris was looking for—so Chris and Jonah decided to do it themselves. Chris describes a three-ring spiral notebook that quickly became filled with recipes, ideas and trials of different versions of granita. Their first flavor, lemon, took around 20 to 30 attempts before the recipe was perfected, and their dream for a Moscow mule flavor still needs to be revisited. But their dedication toward finding a consistent flavor seems to be well worth the effort, as each flavor on their menu has a rewardingly fresh taste, completely free of artificial additives.

“Pure fruit, cane sugar and that’s it. No shortcuts,” Chris told me.

Mount Granita’s cart opened the week after Chris graduated from college with his Bachelor’s, so in his words, it was “a cool thing to happen all at the same time.” Since then, Mount Granita has expanded to its storefront on Murray Hill Road and has become a favorite of CWRU students and locals alike. One of their busiest days was their fall season closing, when the people who had become regulars throughout the summer all showed up on their last day. So many crossovers and combinations of the people who had become their friends over time came together for “almost what felt like a big party,” Chris recalled.
Although their regular crowd is usually CWRU students and the Cleveland community, dessert lovers from farther away are starting to notice the place’s popularity. Chris remembers a student who used to drive hours to come to Mount Granita because they missed the granita so much after having traveled abroad in Sicily. They would later bring back home pints to share with friends and family.

Luckily for the CWRU campus, Mount Granita is closer and definitely a must-try as a quick refresher before finals consume the rest of your semester. Stop by Little Italy on May 1 for a dollar junior scoop if you are curious about granita and want to give it a try. Fair warning, though—once you experience Mount Granita once, the temptation to return will be undeniable.