Many might know about the Quincy Public Market or the Quincy Farmers Market, perhaps because of their larger footprint than other places in town.

But on a side street, off the more beaten path, sits La Michoacana Paleteria, with, you guessed it: ice cream. It has

scoopable ice cream, ice cream on a stick, and ice cream in only a tube-like wrapper. It also has sorbets and the like. All of the packaged ice cream is made at the store.

On a recent trip, I stopped by the place, known for frosty, flavorful creations, made by a local family, who appear to be living their American dream.

Well, it actually took some effort to find it because Google Maps didn’t direct me correctly.

The address is 6 D St. SE, Quincy. However, the directions kept telling me I was at the location while driving on E Street Southeast. The trick was getting out of the car and walking to the other side of the strip mall.

I was greeted by a kind clerk who patiently waited while I took it all in. Most, if not all, of the packaged ice creams and sorbets were labeled with the store’s name. And there were so many. I finally settled on strawberry, which is unusual for me because I generally go for something with chocolate.

The made-from-fruit ice cream on a stick was mouth-watering and most welcome in the 115-plus-degree heat, but I suppose most, if not all, of the flavors would have been perfect during mother nature’s gift of Mercury-like temperatures last week.

The owners, Heriberto Birrueta and his wife, Maria, have owned the shop since 2002, Heriberto said. The couple has two grown children, he said, and family members help in the paleteria. Business recently has “been very good,” he said.

After immigrating from Mexico to Oregon in 1990, Birrueta said he decided to come to Washington because he’d heard of opportunities working in orchards. He said he worked in one near the Rock Island Dam before the idea of opening an ice cream shop piqued his interest, as he had a friend who owned a shop.

After talking to the friend and others for guidance, La Michoacana Paleteria was born.

At any given time, the shop includes 12 tubs, different flavors, of scoopable ice cream, usually Umpqua, he said. It also has 30 packaged flavors, he said, which are made in-house and packaged in specially-ordered wrappers with the shop’s name from California, he said.