Gelateria dei Gracchi — Restaurant in Rome

So here I am doing archeology on yet another one of these Roman Gelaterias, trying to trace back what I had and how it tasted. Reserving 5 stars for my 3 favorite gelaterias in Rome, this one, not being among that exalted trinity, only gets 4 stars. But what kind of 4 stars?

The good kind!

You can get here pretty easily from Piazza Del Popolo, and though you may have any number of reasons for passing this by I am personally incapable of imagining them. Standing at a clothes display table in a store called A'GACI, in The Mall of America, writing the draft of this review on some post it notes I had in my pocket, I so desperately wish for a nice three (or four!) flavor cup of dei Gracchi gelato, that my judgment is impaired. And the idea that there are people right now, walking past Gelateria dei Gracchi without getting any gelato, is utterly bewildering.

In Rome, back when I could do so last Fall, I often got fruit flavors. At dei Gracchi I am pretty sure I got apple and fig. But then I also have this weird sense that I went to Gelateria dei Gracchi ten years ago as well and also got apple and fig. And though I know you want a clearheaded review of this gelateria, but what I am trying to tell you is that there is a small possibility that I am imagining everything.

Well, everything except that they have some pretty good gelato, which I believe should be adequate for you to go on. But I'll add this: There was something slightly rough around the edges about their gelato that, while making it less perfect, also made it more distinct, and real seeming.

So I apologize for the 4 stars. I'd give it a fifth if I could...

Dubbed, "the best ice cream place in Roma" by some locals, it did not disappoint. They have excellent ice cream. They make their own natural gelato. It's not factory made. They don't have several dozens of different flavors like some places have, but a couple dozen flavors, which is more than enough. My favorite ice cream was cafe, hazelnut, and pistacchio combined. I didn't choose pistacchio, but when I ordered the first two flavors, the man who was serving me smiled at me, and then added the third flavor along with some whipped cream, and it was a fantastic taste harmony! One of the best ice cream I ever had! Not too creamy or buttery like many factory made ice creams taste, but very natural and light, smooth taste. The place was packed (it was a hot July day when I visited), but there were hardly any foreign tourists, only Italians. It's a 10-15 minutes walk from major tourist attractions and a bit out of the way, so it's not surprising that no tourists were found. You'd need a local to tell you about this place to find it. It not only made me feel like a local citizen of Rome but enjoy a fantastic home made gelato that can hardly be had...

I'm afraid I can't agree with the favorable reviews that brought us here. The people were kind, but the gelato was grainy, flavorless, and milky. Every flavor I tried was essentially vanilla ice cream with something inexpertly blended into it. We've got one of those freezer bowls for making ice cream at home, and this gelato had both the taste and consistency of our most amateurish efforts.

I don't like panning a place - especially a small, local establishment with evident merits - but I was led here by other reviewers that had high praise for this spot, and I regret not checking out somewhere truly amazing in the limited time and appetite I had available in Rome (a city with so much amazing food on offer that to eat poorly there is...