Ugo Santa Monica — Restaurant in Santa Monica

I give this place a solid three stars. And one of the main reasons for that is because the price is fair for two flavors, coming in around $8.50 as of May 2024.

Take it or leave Ugo. It's basically a dessert kiosk.

You walk up, and order your items. It's prepped on the spot, and then handed to you. They do have some tables and chairs.

I don't know if it's a post pandemic thing, but it seems like the staff that works at these type of places is kind of spacey, out of it, just not aware of how to engage customers.

For instance, there were about eight of us standing around in a semicircle, because we didn't know that there were two lines, 2 cashiers, and none of the staff was clear about saying anything like, "hey can I help you?" Or, "hi, welcome to ugo's, what can I get for you?"

Engage your customers if you're one of the staff people here, or one of the managers trying to train your staff properly. The staff was literally just standing around. And then I don't think the staff realizes that the more you engage your customers, the better your tips will be. Just saying!

Gelato is "ok" at best. My main gripe is that it really doesn't have the texture or the taste of true Italian gelato. I don't think you're going to find that anywhere outside of italy. But for the ones that are here in the United states, this Gelato at this place tasted more like ice milk. It was like nonfat milk, par frozen, and then blend it up in a blender, then refrozen again.

Either the ratio of sugar to Fat to cream isn't correct, or they're not using the proper technique or machine to properly freeze it.

Also, one thing that was really annoying to me was that the hazelnuts were not toasted properly. I felt like I was eating raw hazelnut gelato. The hazelnut gelato specifically had no depth, or body, or notes of roasted hazelnut at all. The way you bring out the flavor in the hazelnut is by roasting it long enough, and correctly. They do mix in whole hazelnuts in that flavor, and you could absolutely tell that they were not roasted, or not roasted long enough.

One good thing about the location is that it is about a block away from Santa Monica parking structure #4, which has a bathroom on the lowest level.

So if you want a place to park for about an hour for free, and be within walking distance of the heart of the Third Street Promenade, I'd say this place could satisfy your generic ice cream craving. I believe Yogurtland is right across if that's more your thing.

In summary, if you're on a date, or just enjoying a Santa Monica afternoon in the area, this is one of those okay spots. Is it worth it to drive somewhere to get a different experience, or go literally 50 ft to Yogurtland right next to it? You'll have to decide...

Extremely disappointed with the service at Ugo’s. It’s extremely rare if I write a bad review but this one I definitely had too. family and I have came here for many years. After taking my 4 little ones for a stroll at the promenade we decided to come for some ice cream. My kids were excited and really looking forward into trying something new. The moment we arrived this dude that works here (he didn’t want to provide me his name) which is why we took a photo- had no patience for us since my kids were a bit indecisive which flavor to choose from. I think because it was almost closing time but was still open for business. We asked him if we can try the flavors so my kids can choose which flavor they liked and he strictly said they can only try TWO. Which honestly sucked considering all 4 of my kids were indecisive. At the end one of my daughters had no choice but to choose one without trying it out and did not like the flavor. We politely asked him if we can change it and he strictly said NO and seemed extremely annoyed about our presence there. As an act of curtesy I would’ve expected some sort of empathy. I asked him for his name and he raised his voice at me and said “I do not need to provide you my name” out of frustration my husband grabbed the ice cream from my daughter and gave it back to them despite paying for it. This leaves a huge bad reputation for the owners of this location. David on the other hand was very polite and provided us with the best service.

This guy on the photo on the other hand does doesn’t deserve to work here or need to be re-trained. He was extremely rude about the situation. My daughter unfortunately left crying without a change of a SIMPLE ice cream. It doesn’t cost much to be kind especially to a child. Last time here. Would give 0 stars if I could. This place is NOT kid friendly. Do not bring your kids here for an Ice-Cream. It only takes ONE employee to make the entire...

We visited Ugo on Sat , July 23, 2022. Y…I’m not complaining about the food… I understand in this heaThe service was a ! The hostess was so nice and helpful. The servers were great as well… they even brought a little water dish for our dogs. It was so wonderful we even came back on Sunday, July 24, 2022…. I’m sad to say that this visit was just awful! Our salads were wilted, the lettuce mushy. The cherry tomatoes in the Chicken Ceasar salads were moldy. I brought my concerns to your staff… there was a lady named Gabby that was so rude. She even accused me of lying and said the cherry tomatoes were not in their salads. My daughter ordered 2 beers and she loudly shouted at her that the beers were for “here” only… as if we wound even walk out with them. She was mean and rude as she attempted to find my Oder in her register/computer… he huffed and puffed and acted like I was lying. Even after I showed her the rotting lettuce and moldy tomatoes. When she finally after quite some time found the transaction ( she completely ignored me and made me feel very uncomfortable) then she just literally threw a receipt at me… did not explain anything, did not apologize or even acknowledge me. So I said… Excuse me… what did you just throw at me? You can at least explain and apologize or even say thank you! She then smiled at me rudely and very fake said… Thank you but in a making fun and very bullying way. We love your establishment and we will return, but that lady is not a good employee. No etiquette, or great customer service skills what so ever. I really hope she us not there when we visit Ugo again. I totally understand… probably a bad batch or day old salads… that happens. It was that lady Gabby that...