ANITA GELATO — Restaurant in Brisbane City

Terrific to see Anita Gelato finally open at the West End Precinct that others generally know as the old Peters ice cream factory. I have been following the signs for many months in anticipation of visiting.

The layout of the store is modern with a Retro Vibe but classy. Sparcely laid out, elegant tables inside where it was a little noisy and then others outside that look over the beautifully landscaped and decorated lawns and communal garden. On our visit today the service by the staff was both efficient and polite. The girls were happy to extend samples of various flavours so we could select our preferences. You can typically choose waffle cones or paper tubs. Prices started at $6,70.

Unlike other ice cream shops, you could choose a small tub or cone and not be restricted to one flavour. I had Berry pavlova and chocolate cookies and almonds. Both were fabulous! My friend had the Dark Chocolate and the Raspberry. I must say, after many years of being a gelati fan and many living in Italy and trying the best, the texture of the dark chocolate gelato was something out of this world!!! I never had tasted richness and flavour such as this. It's was beyond imagination. Fabulous quality.

The little dark brown spoons given to eat your gelati were chocolate and edible. .... not really that yummy in texture compared to the ice creams but it's a unique idea nonetheless.

There are plenty of lovely small pink serviettes to catch the drips in the Queensland heat much needed as although the serving containers are small, they are generously filled by the staff.

Get along, give it a go, I say. There are some more unusual flavours; some more fruity- like Mint & Watermelon; Some are typically Italian, for example, pistachio; there are combinations, for example, strawberry and banana together. The flavours are marked whether they are dairy or gluten-free, so it's easy to make a choice for those with dietary limitations. I will venture there again. Good quality with great texture being the main feature...

Have you ever seen shop with endless queues and asked yourself, "What is up with that place? It. Ant possibly be worth the wait, right?" Such was the case with Anita Gelato Factory.

As fate would have it, I was in West End on a bright and sunny afternoon and I saw that there wasn't a line! It was a case of now-or-never as I really, REALLY hate lines. I walked in and was the second person to be served.

Im a huge chocoholic so I tried the chocolate first. The server gave me a small sample on a pixie stick. It was rich and creamy. I asked for a sample of the dark chocolate next just to make sure it was not going to be a better selection. I think I noticed a slight annoyance in her eye as she gave me what appeared to be an even smaller sample of my next choice. It too was excellent, but too rich for the moment. I went with the regular chocolate. "Cup or cone?" she asked. Uhh, cone, please. As she prepared my scoop, I asked how her day was going to which she gave a wry smile and said it was a sunny day. Maybe I was giving off "get a bunch of samples and not buying anything vibes" or maybe she just has a cold personality (it is an ice cream shop after all! Whatever the case, I'll assume that it was me. Plus there is no need to ding a place because Im sensitive.

I opted to enjoy my ice cream in the shop vs in the patio area. It is bright and has elements that are a throwback to ice cream shops of yore. This may seem like a small detail, but I really like the wooden spoon that they give you to use with your cone. It isn't a full spoon but a rounded affair that allows you to smooth out the gelato as you eat it.

The gelato was velvety and had a rich mouth feel that one would expect at this price-point. I noted that it did not melt much while I was eating it which is another plus. I had no expectations as some reviewers have noted. Maybe this is why I was pleased with my experience.

If you're in the area and interested in an after lunch or dinner treat,...

Not safe for allergies - contrary to how it is listed and portrayed in store. I cannot believe I’m writing this in 2024 but here we go. Last night I went in store with my partner, he ordered 2 flavours which are placed into the same cup. One flavour had nuts in and the other just contained dairy - the woman behind the counter accidentally put the wrong ice cream flavour in (the one just containing dairy), not a problem mistakes happen and she just misheard us. So my partner says that it’s the wrong flavour and that he wanted a different one instead. Due to the other flavour in that same tub containing nuts, the correct thing to do would just to be throwing the whole tub away and scooping new - to avoid cross contamination. Nope. The woman scraped the flavour back into the tray in the counter, the same flavour which had been placed onto the flavour with nuts in it. So now that flavour “nut free” now had been contaminated with nuts. This is wholly unacceptable, quite frankly disgusting, outrageous and shameful as this company lists its allergies on each individual product. Which is completely misleading when you have staff doing that. It’s just basic knowledge, training and industry standard that you do not do that in the food sector. I’m only writing this because as a person with a life threatening allergy myself, this can quite literally be life threatening. Not to mention you would never trace it back to this store because all of their allergens are listed on each tray. Such a shame because the flavours are actually really nice. I hope you check the CCTV and get this investigated - we came in at around 18:00/18:30 on Friday the...