Carmela Ice Cream — Restaurant in California

Carmela's is a very small store that doesn't really fit in with the neighborhood. There's a salon next door and a few businesses next to it, and there isn't much room for parking. Either park in front of Carmela's or find street parking off to the side.

While the stores around it look old, Carmela's looks really hip and modern. Like you know it will be good before even tasting it. There were a lot of people gathered around outside, but they weren't eating ice cream or anything. The store is quite tiny. There's a chalkboard menu with the flavors written on it, a small refrigerator that holds ice cream to take home (small one for $5, medium for $9 and a large for $15). I tried the brown sugar vanilla bean and the lemon verbena. The vanilla was really good, but nothing out of the ordinary for me. The lemon tasted a bit weird.

One scoop is $3.50, two for $4.50 and 3 for $5.50. If you want to add a waffle cone it is $1 extra. I shared the vanilla and the salted caramel, and also bought me the medium sized ice cream to take home. The salted caramel is really delicious and tastes like the inside of a macaron. Seriously! It's not too salty and not too sweet, but they mix together perfectly. If you like caramel, I think you will like the salted caramel flavor. The vanilla was good, but it wasn't that special. I think the brown sugar made it even sweeter! Since the two flavors eventually mixed together, they also tasted good when I ate them together. Definitely give it a try if you love ice cream! They also serve coffee and tea. And they take credit card!

The people helping were also extremely nice and friendly. I would say that the only negative is that there aren't tables and chairs to sit in so you can relax and eat your ice cream. I definitely want to come back and try the other flavors. And buy more ice cream to...

My new FAVORITE ice cream spot!

I've had Carmela's bookmarked for awhile and since it's getting progressively hotter, I suggested dropping by after a hike in Pasadena with my friends to cool off.

We each went a little sample crazy and tried at least 5 different flavors posted that day, but the guy behind the counter was awesome and totally patient with us. I ended up getting a mix of the Raspberry Rose Sorbet and Cantaloupe Sorbet. It was so flavorful and refreshing! I absolutely love fruity and floral flavored ice cream so it totally hit the spot for me! I loved it so much in fact that I ended up buying a whole pint of the Raspberry Rose Sorbet to bring home with me.

The prices are a little high for ice cream but keep in mind that they use high quality organic ingredients from the local Farmer's market. Also since the small cup is around $4 for one scoop, I'd recommend buying a pint for $9 to take home instead if you already know what flavor you like. There was also a special if you buy two pints. Buy one for $9 and get the second for $6!

So far I've visited Carmela's twice and I've taken my bf and my mom to try the ice cream. During my second visit, we all agreed that the Fresh Mint and Lavender Honey were our favorites for the day. The flavors seem to transition everyday so i can't wait to come back again to sample what other delicious flavors they...

Food: I want nothing else here but the Earl Grey Ice Cream (even though everything there is amazing) this is by far my favorite ice cream of all time. Everything here is natural tasting with the perfect amount of flavor. The only thing is, they don't always have the Earl Grey flavor it in stock. Two of our trips here, they weren't serving the Earl Grey - sad would be an understatement. It's the kind of ice cream you dream about on days you're not having it. Scooping the soft and creamy treat with the tiny spoon from the beautifully crafted ice cream container is one of the most soothing things I've ever done. Carmela, if you guys are listening, please have Earl Grey ice cream all year round... and forever.

Atmosphere: So cute. It's like pottery barn meets vintage white doll house. If I were to decorate a beautiful ice cream place... this is how it would look like. It's a nice desert place at the end of a date. It's not jam packed, there's a cute place to eat by the window - looking out at the night streets. Just adorable.

Prices: Good prices.

Parking: There are metered parking, it's in a busy part of Hollywood, but we've never had...