In 1905, Angelo Brocato Sr. opened a sweet shop in a section of the French Quarter known as Little Palermo. Brocato himself was a native of Palermo, where he first learned to make ice cream as a 12-year-old apprentice. His New Orleans shop, Angelo Brocato's, made lemon ice, gelato, torroncino and cannoli. Today, his family still runs Angelo Brocato's. All those items are sold at the traditional Italian shop, along with spumoni, seasonal ices, biscotti and more.

The first Brocato's was on Decatur Street. As it got popular, the shop move several times to larger quarters, first to the 500 block of Ursulines Street in 1921 and then to 615-17 Ursulines St. In the 1980s, it eventually relocated, as the Italians left the French Quarter for other neighborhoods and the suburbs, to 214 N. Carrollton Ave., where it continues to operate. When the levees failed after Hurricane Katrina, Angelo Brocato's was flooded with 5 feet of water. The shop's return on Sept. 23, 2006 was a public celebration. A small brass plaque on the front door still marks the Katrina water line.