Pinguino's Gelato — Restaurant in Provo

Disappointing! The Italian hot chocolate was awesome until … last night! What happened? I discovered this divine elixir a week ago and have been back three times this week because … well, because I couldn’t help myself. But last night I went back with my wife for Valentine’s Day (skipping dessert at the restaurant in favor of a Pinguino’s Cioccolata Calda), placed my order, and waited in eager anticipation … only to be disappointed! The serving size had been cut in half! I asked, “what’s this? What happened to the hot chocolate?” The kid at the counter just said, “we ran out of the other cups.” What? So you put it in a tiny gelato cup and sell it for the same price?

But that wasn’t all! As I sipped my way (quickly) to the bottom of my (very small) cup of chocolate, I was looking forward to the little puddle of dark chocolate they had poured at the bottom of my cup on previous visits, but there was no chocolate at the bottom! Where did it go? Are they already cutting the quantity AND the quality? There are two chocolate fountains running continuously in the cafe and a friggin’ 5 x 15-foot waterfall of chocolate cascading down the back wall of the place, but they couldn’t spare a tablespoon of chocolate to put into my $5 hot chocolate? Do they need to cut costs to pay the rent for their fancy space and pay off the loan for their chocolate waterfall? As fascinating as it is to watch the wall of chocolate drip, I think I’d rather have the chocolate in my hot chocolate cup than drizzling down the wall.

I may go back, but only because I’m addicted. The staff seemed poorly trained (standing around and waiting for customers to try multiple gelato flavors while other customers waited to order, and handling cones with ungloved hands, then wrapping the cone in a paper napkin to make it appear sanitary!), but maybe they were just overwhelmed by Valentine’s Day demand and didn’t know how to respond. But if I do go back again, I’m going to ask to see the hot chocolate cup BEFORE I order, and I will watch them make it to make sure they don’t skimp on the...

The flavors are delicious -- they nail interesting flavor profiles (mojito!, pear apple cider -- both so so good) and, they do a superior job of traditional flavors (lemon basil; raspberry). The lemon basil is so good and not bitter or overly astringent. It doesn't have a clear basil flavor as far as I can tell, but it's delicious and the sweet/acid balance is perfect. They haven't been out of anything either time I've been in the evening, and they had 3-4 sorbet flavors both tumes. That plus the amazing flavors and good texture them the best in town-- I would definitely go here over Vinci, and they're vastly superior to all the "sorbets" at local ice cream shops --the texture is much creamer and less like an ice or slushy. There's sometimes a spoonful that's a too icy, but generally they do a good job. I love their metal sample spoons. You can use one to eat too as long as you don't throw it away (perhaps Pinguino could get a sign which people who eat in to get metal spoons?). I also like the fun round built-in bench. I hope they continue adding new sorbet flavors -- I think I loved the passion fruit and chocolate sorbets at their farmer's market cart and a chocolate sorbet is so hard to find! Maybe the best option for vegan and dairy-free/lactose-free customers because the next-best place only has two vegan options and...

Pinguino’s is definitely the best gelato in Provo, and probably all of Utah! I first had their gelato from their cart at the Latino Americano Festival a few Summers ago and was so excited to see them open a storefront. I really appreciate the owners commitment to making a quality product made with real, fresh ingredients, (like their mint gelato that was made by steeping fresh mint leaves in milk rather than using green dye and artificial mint flavor!). This quality is consistent throughout their entire flavor lineup which includes a handful of inventive new flavors every month. They use real chocolate for drizzle (instead of corn syrup laden choco goop) and I love how it hardens into a crunchy chocolate ribbon! The cones are homemade, too, and are the best I’ve ever had! They also sell a homemade classic slice of tiramisu, in addition to a decadent Italian hot chocolate that is topped with a torched meringue that adds the perfect amount of sweetness to the deliciously salty and not too sweet hot chocolate. The epic, giant wall of flowing chocolate is worth a mention, too! You can tell they really care about delivering a quality product here and it has been SO awesome to have this addition to Utah county’s otherwise bleak, corporate chain filled food scene (IMO). It’s definitely worth...