Leah S.
Yelp
When we moved to Newport there were certain things we were told about that were classic favorites of the area. Ma's doughnuts, lobster rolls, and Del's Lemonades were at the top of the list. I thought Ma's was ok, and lobster rolls were amazing, so I knew as soon as Del's reopened for the spring I had to give them a try.
One day on my way home from work, I noticed the open sign on Del's on West main and decided to stop in and grab a few for my sweetie, who loves everything citrus. The guy behind the counter was surprised that I had never had one, and said "you must not be from around here." Truth.
I took my two frozen lemonades in lemon and watermelon home, and we tried them. I had no idea what I was getting into, but I imagined they would be somewhat like an icee or a shave ice. When I think about lemonade, I crave a tart kick, followed by a subtle sweetness. This however was only sweet and cold, with no tart.
The mix of flavors just being sweet, and cold was not really my scene. Hubby loves anything of any citrus fruits, so he was into it, but also remarked he wished it was more tart and looked wistful about it letting him down a bit. The flavor was flat in both the lemon and watermelon, and the sweetness was pretty overpowering, with huge crunchy ice crystals.
Maybe this is one of those things that only locals understand because it's a food associated with memories, and I don't get it because I didn't grow up with it every summer. Regardless, this is the only way I can see Del's being this successful- by depending on locals and their kids to continue doing this due to more of rote generational habit and less due to the actual taste or quality.