Benvenuti Montclair — Restaurant in Montclair

When I walked into this gelateria over the weekend, I definitely didn't think I'd leave with a vague pot brownie taste in my mouth. My chum and I stopped here for dessert after having lunch nearby. It's a pretty small shop with a few tables to sit at, as well as a couple of display counters/freezers housing Italian pastries along with the gelato (which certainly seemed to be their bread and butter). We were served quickly and ably by a friendly employee.

Maybe I just picked the wrong flavor, but the only one that appealed to me in the moment was salted caramel. Their salted caramel though was only available with CBD. I'd never actually tried any type of ice cream with CBD in it before (and was pretty ambivalent about it) but figured I'd give it a shot since I wasn't feeling the other available options. The small cup I ordered came to a little less than $5 - in my experience, gelato tends to be heavier and more expensive than normal ice cream, so not a big deal price pointwise, in my opinion. It came with a piece of an artisanal cone as decoration, which was a nice aesthetic touch.

One issue that my chum noticed - the level of the bottom of the cup is super misleading. From the outside of the cup, you'd assume the interior goes all the way down but it's actually raised about a quarter to a half an inch inside so you're not getting nearly as much as you'd think. Personally, I think they should invest in a different style of cup.

The gelato itself was fine. I like to think I have some street cred in this area, having studied abroad in Florence and spending most of that time in gelaterias. It honestly seemed kind of bland by comparison (which is not my typical experience with salted caramel flavored items). And just based on my personal palate, I wasn't crazy about the CBD, which you could definitely taste. My chum commented (and I agreed) that this isn't the flavor I would have chosen for a CBD infusion. She ordered the Hot Cocoa and seemed to enjoy it more than me, inhaling it in about two minutes.

If I returned, it would be for a different flavor that didn't make me feel like I was at a...

Given the rating and reviews at this place, I went with really high expectations for the gelato. I walked in and the fridge on the left seemed to have some really interesting flavors to go (leftovers from previous days?). They had other desserts and the menu, which seems to change with some regularity, had a CBD infused gelato. The place definitely had promise.

As I approached the gelato I saw the pans they were in were actually machines that were churning the gelato intermittently; immediately I recognized that the consistency of the gelato looked a bit strange. Typically you expect constant churning in a machine from soft serve ice cream. However, I’ve been to dozens of gelato places in across Italy, all highly rated by thousands of visitors, and I have NEVER seen gelato constantly churned.

I proceeded to taste a few of the flavors available tonight (strawberry, pumpkin spice, espresso stracciatella), and was disappointed by each one. At that point though, I felt it was too late to walk out. I had driven my family to this place and they were outside in the car expecting gelato. I bought three cones and threw in a tiramisu.

It was an overall poor experience. The flavors weren’t great and the consistency of the gelato was subpar. The tiramisu had too much coffee on it and it didn’t taste very good. It is highly unlikely I’ll return...

gelato: the flavors were amazing. it tasted pretty dang good. but it felt more like soft serve so i was kind of confused with the texture. but flavor is nice nonetheless. the gelatos are made fresh there right in front of you. i got the espresso flavor but i tried mango and pistachio as well.

value: its pricey for sure for the portion size. but it is also being made fresh there so it is understandable. i think flavor also justifies the price but i think i was just thrown off a bit by the texture. there was also a discrepancy between how much each of us got even though we all got the same size which was kind of odd (one of us got a huge mountain while one barely got a hill)

service: it was a very in and out type of feeling. didn’t feel very warm and welcoming. kind of just what do you want? okay here. pay. bye.

vibe: seating both inside and outside. it’s a cute spot for sure.

overall i liked the taste but not the biggest fan of the soft serve texture. i was expecting a more silky feeling but maybe it just wasn’t ready at that moment. i would recommend bc i would return to try the other flavors but not frequently bc it...