Romeo Gelato — Restaurant in Hood River

I LOVE gelato and was excited to give this place a try after seeing the great reviews. Sadly we were left a bit underwhelmed and likely won't be returning. For the quick version:

Pros: -Location -Texture was smooth and silky

Cons: -Flavors were a bit flat for our tastes -Overpriced -Unnoticeable difference between the larger/more expensive size vs. small size

The not-so-quick version: They definitely have a great location right in the middle of the fun part of the waterfront area that can't be beat. We also thought their gelato had a great texture that was very smooth and silky. However, my partner and I personally found the flavors a bit flat for our tastes. I typically expect more intense flavors from gelato (at least compared to ice cream)-- I didn't find that to be the case here, which was a bit disappointing to us but might be preferred for others. For a flavor called "Super Chocolate" described as being "rich and bold...", it felt a bit misleading when were handed something relatively pale in color and with a flavor that was quite subtle in my opinion (the best description I have would be similar to chocolate milk). Nothing wrong with that, but again, the name kind of sets the expectation that it would be, well, SUPER chocolately! We also tried the Banana Bourbon (where we didn't taste any bourbon flavor), and the Cicci and Hazelnut that both had a good but moderate flavor. The thing that irked our entire group were the sizes-- the portions overall are tiny, especially for the price, and both sizes are served in the same size cup with one supposedly filled more than the other. Half of us got the small size and the other half got medium, and when we brought the goods back to our party, the first thing they said was "uhh are these all the same size? Which ones are the bigger ones??". It seems like even the employees have a hard time telling the sizes apart, as we overheard one of the employees ask their colleague which size was which when they were showing another customer our scoops as examples of the sizes! If we all have to ask, that's a red-flag that you probably shouldn't be charging extra for more. I'm fine paying extra for more, but I least want to notice the difference! I digress.

Don't get me wrong, this is still good gelato and will satisfy your craving, we just weren't blown away and think there's some room for improvement. They are certainly a welcome addition to the...

My wife and I are from out of town (visiting for a wedding) and decided to stop here after taking a walk on the waterfront. I’d never had gelato before so I was looking forward to trying it. I’ll cut to the chase and say that the customer service I received was terrible.

I approached the counter first, shared that I was deciding between two flavors, and asked if I could try the two. The woman helping me sighed and shared that I could taste just one or two as though I was trying to get away with getting my helping of gelato for free. When I asked if the flavor she handed me first was pistachio, she curtly corrected me and shared that it was banana. I chalked it up to a possible misunderstanding (or maybe someone being tired at the end of a long day) so I turned to my wife and asked her to go ahead while I decided.

My wife, who happens to be white (I’m Black) went to order next and the woman’s tone and affect changed immediately. When she came back to me to take my order, she was much kinder. I’d hate to think that her initial treatment of me had anything to do with my being a person of color and her change in tone having to do with us being together; however, it was how I was left feeling in the moment. Unfortunately, the review another person left regarding customer service here leads me to believe that my instincts were right.

Decent gelato, awful service. You’d think/hope that negative reviews around poor service might inspire change, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. In any, I thought it helpful to leave the review so that others think twice before patronizing this shop.

Regardless of the reason for the poor service, I’ll echo the sentiments of the person of color who left the review about a year...

Really delicious gelato. Deducted 1 star for a couple reasons: the older woman working when we went was kind of surly (her demeanor was generally annoyed by our presence) and I was also put off by the one sample per person policy. I’m not sure if she made this up on the spot or if this is actually the policy. Either way, when you have five people buying gelato and only one person in the party wants to try three samples, that policy seems...