Panchitos Ice Cream recalls humble beginnings in the midst of success

Rogelio Fabian is a Latino business owner who started in Chicago and moved to Lexington to start his ice cream shop

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — September 15th through October 15th celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, the month celebrates the Hispanic and Latino culture.

Rogelio Fabian is originally from Guerrero, Mexico, he is the owner of Panchitos Ice Cream in Lexington, and since being in the U.S. he has made it his mission to set the example for his family of how hard work can pay off.

“Family was the main reason for leaving, and coming here and we don’t regret it,” says Fabian.

“I saw my dad being the example like he came from Mexico with nothing. So he started from scratch with mom. So I saw them build something together,” also says Argelia Fabian, Rogelio’s daughter, she is the owner of Panchitos Ice Cream and Taqueria on Nicholasville Road, an expansion of the family business.

Panchitos Ice Cream in Lexington is a business that has been built with passion, a dose of sugar and lots of love.

“We have worked as a team within my family, and thanks to God we have grown in every aspect, in the business but also my family has expanded,” adds Fabian.

From humble beginnings in Chicago to owning multiple businesses in Lexington, Fabian is just proud to be on this journey with his family.

“We started selling popsicles as, as you mentioned, out of the trunk of a car off a cooler and it was like baby steps. We went from that to push carts, we went from push carts to the ice cream trucks, like to the actual ice cream brands around and then from that to a, to a shop to 2 to 3 to 4 shops. So it was just like, you know, it’s a little ladder that we kept going up, up, up. But it wasn’t easy,” added Argelia.

“The community has welcomed us and they have liked the new concept we’ve tried to bring. You’ll see that we have about 60 flavors for the people to choose from,” said her father Rogelio.

Argelia recalled her childhood adding that it was a memorable one, that always came back to ice cream.

“Sometimes like in the summer he would show up in the ice cream truck to pick my brother up and myself. So everybody would be like that’s so cool,” she says.

And even though nowadays their business is thriving and expanding, they remember where it all started.

“The majority of people in Chicago are Latinos, where we were raised at, coming here, there was not a lot of Latinos, this was what, 15 years ago or so the population has been growing over the years. But when we first got here, there wasn’t that many Latinos,” adds Argelia.

Panchitos also has other locations in Louisville and they hope to expand to other areas in the state.

Panchitos is located on 481 NW New Circle Rd.