This profile is in active compilation — some details are awaiting a cited source.

Palacana at 151 S. 18th St is the older of the chain’s two Kansas City, Kansas stores — the KCK outpost of the Valdez family’s Paleterías Tropicana, which began on the Westside in 2004 and took the Palacana name in 2022. It sells the company’s Michoacán-style ice cream and paletas from the Roeland Park factory, mangoneadas, aguas frescas and churros, and a kitchen menu of tacos, flautas, tortas, burritos and elotes; first-party online ordering runs 8 a.m. to just after 10 p.m. The company history, tier reasoning and full menu are on the sister page for the State Avenue store, palacana.

Description

The 18th Street store sits on the west side of KCK’s central business district, on S. 18th just south of the Minnesota/Central Avenue corridor.1 Its ordering menu mirrors the State Avenue store’s: the company’s paletas in fruit and cream lines, scooped ice cream and sorbets, mangoneadas, aguas frescas, churros, crepes and the 2026 Dubai-chocolate desserts, plus tacos, flautas, tacos dorados, empanadas, tortas, burritos, quesadillas, chilaquiles and elotes.2 The Star’s 2023 profile notes that every Palacana except the original Southwest Boulevard shop has a restaurant “that serves food like tacos, burritos and burgers.”3

The company makes 6,000 paletas and 80 tubs of ice cream a day at its Roeland Park plant in 44 and 48 flavors respectively, most of the equipment and flavoring imported from Mexico.3 KCUR in 2025 called Palacana “the largest local chain of paleterías” and listed this address among its six stores.4

Ownership and history

José Luis Valdez and Lucia Fonseca opened the first Paleterías Tropicana at 830 Southwest Blvd in the summer of 2004; the company grew to stores in KCK, Olathe, Independence and Wichita, spun off Paletas, LLC with a Roeland Park factory, and in August 2022 renamed itself Palacana at its 18th anniversary — “something unique, something of our own,” per general manager Jennifer Valdez.567 Valdez’s rename letter names Kansas City, Kansas among the five existing locations before the State Avenue store opened, which places the 18th Street shop in the pre-2022 group.6 The Star in 2023 counted three company stores — the flagship, Independence, “and another in Kansas City, Kansas” — and three franchise-style partnerships.3

Last verified: 2026-08-28 · Source: the official flavor board (palacana.com/menu) and the 18th Street store’s own DoorDash Storefront at order.online (linked from palacana.com) · Confidence: Medium — the storefront was verified for hours, featured items and prices (Strawberries Dubai $16.09, order of tacos $12.89, double mangoneada $11.89), but the full priced list was transcribed from the State Avenue store, whose menu it matches. See palacana for the complete item-and-price list.28

Sources

Footnotes

  1. Palacana — official website, “Contact Us / Locations.” Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: “KANSAS CITY, KANSAS 151 S 18th St, Kansas City, KS 66102 (913) 621-7000.” ↩

  2. Palacana (KC) — first-party DoorDash Storefront at order.online for 151 S 18th St, reached from the “Order Online” link on palacana.com. Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: address; “Online ordering hours: 8:00 AM – 10:05 PM”; featured items and prices (Strawberries Dubai $16.09, Order of Tacos $12.89, Double Mangoneada $11.89); delivery and pickup. ↩ ↩2

  3. “Ice cream, sorbets, smoothies, paletas: I love them all at this Kansas City shop,” The Kansas City Star (Let’s Dish series), 2023 (via Yahoo; original). yahoo.com — Confirms: owners José Luis Valdez and Lucia Fonseca; 2004; production figures; three company locations including one in Kansas City, Kansas, plus three partnerships; restaurants at all but the original; Roeland Park factory. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. “Mexican paletas have become a Kansas City favorite. Here are the best places to try them,” KCUR, 2025-08-30 — Confirms: “largest local chain of paleterías”; 151 S. 18th St., Kansas City, KS 66102 among six addresses; Paletas, LLC wholesale. ↩

  5. Palacana — official website, “About.” Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: 2004 founding; Westside flagship; four company-owned and two partnership stores; Paletas, LLC; Roeland Park factory. ↩

  6. José Luis Valdez, “Paleterias Tropicana is now PALACANA!” — official site post, 2022 — Confirms: five locations “ubicadas en Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas City Missouri, Olathe Kansas, Independence Missouri, Wichita Kansas” before the next opening; 18-year anniversary; name origin. ↩ ↩2

  7. Denise Neil, “This always-busy Wichita restaurant just got a new name, but nothing else will change,” The Wichita Eagle, 2022-08-16 (via AOL) — Confirms: August 2022 rename; Jennifer Valdez, general manager, daughter of the founders; “several stores in the Kansas City area.” ↩

  8. Palacana — official website, “Menu” (flavor lists). Retrieved 2026-08-28 — Confirms: paleta, ice cream, sorbet and aguas frescas flavors (no prices). ↩

More from the Registry

In KCK See all →

See also

Categories

On the record — ks.city/registry/palacana-18th-street · record updated 2026-08-28