Mr. Gold Gelato — Restaurant in Maple Ridge

If I could rate them a -5 I would.

The only shining star, the best thing about Mr. Gold and -literally- the only reason I will ever step foot in there again. Was the lone staff member working there. Jasmine, despite her employer setting her up for nothing but failure, made our visit fun and positive. She was passionate, funny, entertaining, welcoming, and clearly the best thing about Mr. Gold. If I had walked into any other place that didn’t even have spoons for the ice cream they serve, and had basically nothing to offer other than creamless tea and over priced gelato, they would have seen me exit in disgust within seconds. But Jasmine made it worth it to actually buy something there.

We stayed for more than an hour and spent money not because we believe the business deserves it (-because they don’t-) but because Jasmine did and spending money gave me the chance to give a tip to the only valuable thing in Mr. Gold Gelato.

What went wrong? They have no food other then gelato. Not even biscuits or cookies to serve with tea. They have no drinks other than coffee (sort of), tea, and a gelato milkshake. They have no cream for the coffee they serve unless the employee goes to Walmart to buy some. They do not have SPOONS to eat gelato with. Only tiny plastic taster spoons… how do they stir tea?! They could offer everything they do from a bicycle mounted ice cream cooler and yet they have a huge cafe and dine in area. Is it like this everyday? Who knows. The owner sets his staff up for failure by not providing her with the very most basic things she needs to do her job. This is one of the worst things employers can do to staff because it sets them up to be the target of the business and owners failings. More than $6 for one scoop of Gelato, and the gelato isn’t even fresh. Their website LIES - they do not offer high tea, any of the food and other things their website pretends they do. They say it’s offered but the shelves are empty and the staff says they have nothing but gelato to offer today. How often it’s like this I don’t know.

Sometimes it’s not obvious why a business fails. In this case, it’s quite clear - ownership that should not be running a business. Or that needs help…

At first I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt: COVID has been hard and maybe they are struggling because COVID hurt their profits that much - but I’d be lying to myself and you all. Because they don’t even have SPOONS at a place that advertises GELATO AND FOOD! That’s not because of COVID… that’s because ownership has no business owning a business, in my opinion.

And there is nothing offered at Mr. Gold Gelato today that they can sell enough of to pay their staff and the lease.

Maybe the owner needs to step back and give over operations to Jasmine. She’s clearly the only one who cares about it. Or just shut the doors and put the place out if it’s misery.

EDIT: in reply to the owners comment, I wasn’t alone. It was mid-afternoon, today, March 31. Maybe someone stole all your spoons, cakes, cookies, paninis, etc. because you had nothing there. I asked for you but you weren’t there. It was embarrassing as six or eight people walked in and experienced the same thing during the hour I drank a lovely gelato milkshake. The only non-tea/coffee drink you had available today. That milkshake was great but completely drowned by the experience I described above.

Don’t like what I wrote, I understand that. No one likes their worst moments exposed and judged. Maybe (unlikely) this was one bad day… Rather than resort to dishonesty, young man, maybe go take care of your business and then come back here and tell me it’s fixed. Invite me back to show me and I’ll gladly come back and...

I would not give this place any stars. Cremino was amazing and my family was always there, great prices and a good amount. Now it's changed completely. The prices are way higher and you barely get any ice cream. To be very honest it seems like the good reviews are friends of the owners because those photos are super deceiving. The bowls are tiny and shallow and the ice cream doesn't taste as good. I went in when they first opened and hoped that things would get better by now but nope just worse. I definitely wouldNOT recommend this place. Also I noticed from the other poor reviews the owners response was extremely rude and defensive. This in itself brings down the whole place in my eyes and I feel it speaks volumes on how their customer service is without...

Admittedly it's been a while since I bought gelato here. Old owners I think. Larger trays of fewer flavous. The young lady staffing was friendly / polite, and asked me if I wanted a cone (of course!) The portions seem quite small which is ok in a way but seemed especially small considering the price ($5.99 for one scoop??) - add to that they charged an extra $0.80 for the cone! Not sure if they charge a different price for the cup or if cups are free. I've been for icecream where a fancy cone costs extra but from the small separate sign I saw explaining cone prices it seems even a basic cone is $0.50 extra which means the least expensive ice cream scoop is really $6.49. seems too much and too small...