There’s a certain lingo when it comes to food in Boston. "Tonic" is soda pop, a "spucky" is an Italian sub roll, and "slush" is, well, slush. Not a Sno-Kone, and definitely not a hyper-sweet, nuclear-colored Slush Puppy, slush takes its cue from Italian ice. At It’s Slush Time Again!, in East Boston, this simple, summertime-only treat has been food of the gods for decades.

In the early 1950s, you could get a lemon slush here for a nickel. The prices have changed (90 cents/small; $1.25/medium; $1.50/large; $2.75/pint; $4.50/quart), and there’s now a raspberry flavor. But everything else is the same as it always was. It’s still a hole-in-the-wall wedged between the Golden Fins pet shop and a three-decker. Slush is still handed to customers from the cool shadows of the service window. People still double-park in front, dashing to place an order, then gleefully hopping back into their cars once they’ve got the goods. The line can be long, hours vary, and if it rains, the shop might close without notice.

Inconveniences aside, it’s worth it. The lemony-tart, grainy-cool, Old World–style specialty is a tasty way to beat the heat. Folks even leave the predictable ’burbs and brave traffic to sample slush from this Eastie institution. And, maybe, just maybe, they wonder why they left the city limits in the first place.

It’s Slush Time Again!, 55 Bennington Street, East Boston. Call 617.567.7272.