Gelarto — Restaurant in Wilmington

If I could give this place zero stars I would. This happens to also be the first review of a restaurant I have ever posted online. My experience today struck a nerve that made me realize I shouldn’t stay silent.

My family and I were visiting Wilmington for the day, and we were excited to learn that a local gelato shop had multiple vegan options for our 5 year-old son with dairy and egg allergies.

We walked into the store and asked the person behind the counter about any cross contamination (as usual). The person told us that a separate scooper is used for the gluten free flavors and the nut free flavors (a third one is used for the traditional flavors). However, the person then told us that the SAME scooper is used for the vegan and non-vegan flavors but they can rinse it for us. Does the person not realize that washing off the ice cream scooper for us doesn’t change the fact that vegan and non vegan flavors were mixed together who knows how many times previously? Our son has allergies so that solution was a non-starter for us. But what about people who choose to be vegan? How would they feel about having their preferred flavors be routinely mixed together with animal-produced products?

To compound the issue, when we suggested that the store consider making changes to accommodate people with egg and dairy allergies, we were told, “Unfortunately, there is not much room on the counter and there isn’t enough space for a fourth ice cream scooper” and that the “owner has strict policies”. Are you kidding me? In my opinion, that response is unacceptable. We understand that it is impossible to 100% avoid cross contamination in most instances (especially with ice cream), but in this situation using a separate scooper is something in the store’s control and a no brainer solution.

Being the parent of a child with multiple allergies is hard enough, and I know there are millions of people in the world in the same situation. We are grateful that it is 2023 and there are so many more vegan and allergy friendly options than there were just 10 years ago. However, ice cream shops like Gelarto should strongly consider treating vegan flavors with the same level of care as flavors with more “traditional” allergens (nuts, gluten, etc.).

Our son was so excited, only to discover that he could not eat any of the options (except for a pre packaged pint of lemon flavored gelato in their freezer which wasn’t practical for our day trip). Unsurprisingly he was distraught.

For those of you who have vegan preferences or egg and dairy allergies, I suggest avoiding Gelarto until they change their practices. I should have taken a picture of the allergy friendly poster in their store. I found the attached picture from the internet and circled the poster in red. Their advertisement of vegan flavors is misleading at best, others may call it false...

It had been years and years since I,ve tasted gelato and almost forgotten how good it truly is. Anyone and everyone that knows me...will also know I am a sucker for ice cream and this is very close to it, with less fat and a creamier consistency. So, for the first time, my wife, son and I visited Gelarto while we were spending our Sunday in downtown Wilmington.

FOOD: Medium cup (2 scoops) - 1 peanut butter and 1 Oreo cookies. The scoops are adequate in size and each one was packed full of flavor. With gelato having much less fat content than ice cream, this was a perfect dessert after we finished our lunch. The peanut butter tasted organic with all-natural ingredients. The PB flavor was nice and balanced; not too strong and the Oreo cookies gelato? Oh yeah. Loved it! For a guy whose kryptonite is ice cream...this may be another weakness I have succumbed to. Awesome flavors, creamy / soft consistency and nice scoops made this visit a very nice cap to the end of our day. SCORE: 5 STARS!!

SERVICE: There was no one in line ahead of me when I approached the counter and was greeted promptly by Caroline. Caroline asked and offered up samples since we had never visited before and made me feel very welcome, without any pressure of being rushed. Her service was on point and the overall establishment was very clean and tidy. I have no recommendations nor did I witness any opportunities for improvement. Impressive. SCORE: 5 STARS!!

OVERALL SCORE: Almost 15 years later, I may be hooked after tasting well-prepared gelato from Gelarto. The flavors and service are very much there and if you haven't visited here yet...make it a point to try them out. The atmosphere and decor inside is badass...

Stopped in for a sweet treat last weekend. The service was not what everyone here had described or experienced, so we were caught off guard and disappointed sadly. There were two workers, a younger girl and a guy. Neither gave us a friendly welcome. There was no smile or hello when we entered or even once we started ordering. The girl had her earpods in the whole time. When my sister went to order for us, the girl bluntly stated, "cup or cone" so my sister turned to me and I said, "oh sorry a cone please" she then said roughly, " of what?!" And looked very annoyed. I was taken aback by how rudely we were being treated. So I said my flavor and let my sister finish the order. Once we were done, they both went back to looking at their phones. I'm not sure if she just didn't like our group or what the issue was. She treated the next group of customers who had come in very differently. Regardless of the reason, there was no excuse for her behavior or treating us so poorly. The ice cream itself was just okay. I would recommend checking out the peppered cupcake a few blocks up instead for a sweet treat, with...