Finally, summer has arrived and the weather has become hot, and you can enjoy Rome from morning to dusk. You can walk around the city and visit the many sites: museums, shops, parks…. You can sit outside the churches, buildings, ancient ruins…and why not?…eating a good Italian ice-cream! In Rome, there are famous and traditional ice-cream shops (gelaterie), and you don’t have to travel far to find one. They are as common as the coffee bars you see on every street, or the graffiti you see on every building.
If you are near the Pantheon, you have two famous choices: “La tazza d’oro” (on Via degli Orfani, on the corner, Piazza della Rotonda), where you can have a coffee with crushed ice and whipped cream (granita di caffe’ con panna). La tazza d’oro also has some of the best hot coffee in Rome and beans to buy.
The other famous and traditional ice-cream shop near the Pantheon is “Giolitti” (on via Uffici del Vicario, near Piazza Montecitorio). At Giolitti, there is large selection of flavors to choose from, and on a hot summer’s afternoon, a billion people fighting their way to the counter. But be persistent, it’s worth it. There is another Giolitti located on the EUR lake (Casina dei tre laghi, on viale Oceania, 90). Here, you can enjoy your ice-cream walking around the lake beneath the sun and trees.
Near the Pantheon there is also another ice-cream shop: “La Palma” (on via della Maddalena, on the corner with via delle Coppelle). This place isn’t as traditional and is newer than the other two, but it does have a very long counter, displaying the iridescent colors of the many flavors. La Palma offers a particular kind of ice-cream, mousse! It is very soft and creamy! The flavors of mousses come in
chocolate, cream, and nut,…no fruit, and there are also particular flavors the ice-cream maker invents.
Near Fontana di Trevi, at an intersection with via del Lavatore and via in Arcione, you can eat another very good ice-cream at the “San Crispino” gelateria. It is little shop, with a long counter and throngs of people. Near the entrance is a machine where you have to take a number in order to be served. San Crispino has many original flavors like rum with apple, pear, and my favorite, meringue with chocolate. Unlike every other gelateria in Rome, San Crispino doesn’t serve their ice-cream on cones, and if you prefer not to get your hands sticky, they can put it in a cup. They are also located near Piazza S. Giovanni in via Acaia (not center area).
Near Termini Station, on via Principe Eugenio, 67 there is “Fassi”, the historic “Il Palazzo del Freddo” (the Cold Palace) which may be the largest and most famous gelateria in Rome. It is very big with at least a thousand flavors to choose from. Just brush up on your crowd surfing to get anywhere near the counter to place your ice-cream order. The flavors here are not too original and they never change, but nonetheless are all quite extraordinary.
If you are near S. Pietro, near Piazza Risorgimento, on the corner, walking towards viale Bastioni di Michelangelo, there is another ice-cream shop, a very very little tiny shop, where a lot of people line up everyday to eat the very good ice-cream! Not too many flavors, but a lot of good tastes!
In Monteverde (not a center area) to try :”Tony” (1, piazza San Giovanni di Dio – 00152 Roma, Tel. 06.535007) or Gelateria TONY S.N.C. Fratelli Anrcangeli (13, Largo Missiroli Alberto – 00151 Roma (RM) tel: 06 58201002)
When ordering ice-cream from any gelateria, don’t worry too much about choosing the perfect flavor for the perfect occasion. When you order a small ice-cream you can choose at least three different flavors, and the bigger the ice-cream the more flavors you can choose.
Editor’s note: Normally in Rome when you order a small ice cream you can choose at least three different flavours, and the larger the more ice cream flavours you can choose from. Unfortunately, some new fashion ice cream shops have broken the tradition of 3 tastes for everyone and offer the possibility of adding flavours, depending on the price .. sometimes they are easily recognizable because they serve ice cream in form of “little balls” rather than the traditional Italian “scoop” . Fortunately, these “gelaterie” are few and we all hope that they review their policy of income in favour of a tradition that does not want to pass the buck, because the ice cream in Rome must always be good but also too much …
by Floor Wolfswinkel
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