Caffeteria Barcaccia

Ciao! Every week, I try a new gelato shop in Rome, throughout all the different neighborhoods. Each shop is evaluated by flavor, service and price. Each shop can be rated up to 30 points; 10 possible for each category. This week: Caffeteria Barcaccia located in Piazza di Spagna by the Spanish Steps. Caffeteria Barcaccia is a restaurant, but in the front is a bakery and gelato shop.

• Piazza Di Spagna, 65 00187 Roma, Italia
• http://www.barcaccia.com/

Flavor: The flavor of the gelato was very good. Fresh ingredients were used and they make the gelato in the shop. As far as texture and quality, I would say its average. They have the basic flavors that you would find anywhere. But as they are a restaurant and not solely a gelato shop, you cannot expect them to be too extravagant with their gelato. Here are their flavors:

• Stracciatella
• Birthday Cake
• Bacio
• Coffee
• Hazelnut
• Cream
• Chocolate
• Tiramisu
• Cookies
• Flor Di Latte
• Yogurt
• Caramel
• Mixed Fruit
• Mixed Fruit Yogurt
• Lemon
• Coconut
• Pistachio
• Pineapple
• Melon
• Banana
• Kiwi
• Mint Chocolate Chip

Flavor Score: 6

Price: I will have to say that the prices at Caffeteria Barcaccia are outrageous. But you have to take into consideration the location. It is situated right near the Spanish Steps near stores like Dior and Prada so I can't say I was completely surprised but their gelato was definately not worth what I paid. Here are the prices cones and cups cost the same): 

• Small - 3.50 euro
• Medium - 5 euro
• Large - 6 euro

Price Score: 3

Service: I'm convinced the only way Caffeteria Barcaccia stays in business is the service. It was outstanding. First off, the store is beautiful. It's decorated in white and very prestine and the staff is very attentive and willing to help you out if you have any questions. And of course, they're main clientele are going to be tourists visiting the Spanish Steps or wealthy people who are shopping in the area so they work hard for your business. I was very impressed.

Service Score: 9

Overall, I don't think I would go back. Yes, the service was great but there are other places in Rome where you get just as good service and gelato with way cheapter prices.

Overall Score: 18

Frullati Pascucci

Ciao! Every week, I try a new gelato shop in Rome, throughout all the different neighborhoods. Each shop is evaluated by flavor, service and price. Each shop can be rated up to 30 points; 10 possible for each category. This week: Frullati Pascucci in Piazza Argentina.

• Via di Torre Argentina, 20

Flavor: The flavor was actually really good. It didn't look like it was going to but I was very pleasantly surprised. I got the kiwi and it was like eating an actual kiwi. It was a hot day so I like to order fruit flavors because they're so refreshing and it really was! I tried some other flavors as well and they all tasted really good. Here's a list of flavors:

• Vanilla
• Stracciatella
• Nutella
• Melon
• Tiramisu
• Amaretto
• Yogurt
• Mixed Fruit
• Lemon
• Kiwi
• Strawberry
• Pineapple
• Caramel and Chocolate Chunk
• White Chocolate
• Chocolate
• Cherry
• Pistachio 
• Coconut
• Dark Chocolate
• Banana
• Raspberry
• Mint Chocolate Chip
• Licorice
• Biscotto
• Tartufo
• Caramel
• Ricotta and Pear
• Flor Di Latte
• Hazelnut

Flavor Score: 7

Price: The prices were average. The small was 2.50 euro which I've said before is the typical starting price for a cone or a cup. These are all the prices:

Cone: 2.50, 3.50, 4, and 5 euro
Cup: 2.50, 3.50, 4, 4.50 and 5 euro

Price Score: 7

Service: Like everything else about this place, I found it to be average. The staff was pretty friendly, it was pretty clean and it's in a pretty decent location in Rome's city center.

Service Score: 7

Overall, this gelato shop blends in with all the others. There isn't really much to say about it. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone but I wouldn't go out of my way to avoid it if I were in the area and craving some gelato. This place gets the Plain Jane score, 21.

Overall Score: 21

Old Bridge

Ciao! Every week, I try a new gelato shop in Rome, throughout all the different neighborhoods. Each shop is evaluated by flavor, service and price. Each shop can be rated up to 30 points; 10 possible for each category. This week: Old Bridge Gelato Shop. Old Bridge Gelato Shop is a small little shop located right outside the Vatican City Walls in the neighborhood of Prati. The atmosphere is very small and cozy. It feels like an authentic gelato shop, unlike others that sometimes feel like a major tourist attraction. The place is only big enough for two or three customers at a time. There's three guys behind the counter constantly scooping gelato and there's almost always full of customers.

• Viale Michelangelo Bastion, 5, 00192 Rome

Flavor: I would not rate the flavor and quality very high for Old Bridge. The fruit flavors taste very artificial and overly sweet. The eggnog is so over powering, the sweet flavor overtakes your mouth. I had a very hard time just swallowing it down. The chocolate, cookies and cream, and Nutella flavors are very good, however.

Old Bridge offers 23 flavors.

• Black Cherry
• Strawberry
• Blueberry
• Lemon
• Coconut
• Pineapple
• Orange
• Cookies
• Cookies and Cream
• Chocolate
• Pistachio
• Hazelnut
• Nutella
• Chocolate and Hazelnut
• Amaretto
• Coffee
• Dolce Sorrento
• Yogurt
• French Vanilla
• Caramel
• Ricotta and Pistachio
• Mozzarella
• Eggnog

Flavor Score: 4

Price: Old Bridge offers several different sizes of cones and cups.

• Cones
  • 1.50 - 3 scoops
  • 2.00 - 3 scoops
  • 2.50 - 3 scoops
  • 3.00 - 3 scoops
  • 3.50 - 3 scoops
  • 4.00 - 4 scoops and the cone is dipped in chocolate and sprinkles
  • 5.00 - 4 scoops in a waffle cone

• Cups
  • 2.00 - 3 scoops
  • 3.00 - 3 scoops
  • 4.00 - 4 scoops

Old Bridge offers a large variety of sizes all for a great prize. This is one of the cheapest gelato shops I've visited so far. For 1.50 you can get 3 scoops of the same flavor or three different flavors. Naturally, the size of the scoops get bigger and bigger for each price increment. I would say Old Bridge is place you get the most for your money.

Price Score: 10

Service: The service is very friendly and the employees all speak moderate to very well English. They are very fun to interact with and are more than willing to let you try any of the flavors. Even thosught the flavors aren not the best, during busy season the line is out the door and down the block! So if you don not want to wait in line, its best best to go during an off hour.

Service Score: 8

I had heard a lot of hype before visiting Old Bridge, since then I have been there several times and I am still not completely impressed. However, even though Old Bridge doesn't have too many outstanding flavors, if you keep to the basics you can get three flavors for only 1 euro 50 which is why I would definitely recommend this shop to anyone looking for a sugar fix on a budget!

Overall Score: 24

The Best of Rome

Ciao! Every week, I try a new gelato shop in Rome, throughout all the different neighborhoods. Each shop is evaluated by flavor, service and price. Each shop can be rated up to 30 points; 10 possible for each category. But instead, this week I will be telling you the best gelato shop for each category. No matter what is most important to you, there's a gelato shop that perfect just for you. This is what I've found after all my gelato tasting this semester!

Flavor: And the winner is... Fridgidarium. I don't care what anyone says, this is the best gelato shop in Rome, hands down. If I ever come back to Rome, the first thing I'm doing to going straight to Fridgidarium. The gelato is made freshly everyday. You can even see the workers in the kitchen from the stand. It's the smoothest and creamiest gelato I've ever tasted and I could rave about it for days.

• http://discoveringromeonegelatoshopatatime.blogspot.it/2013_03_01_archive.html

Price: Old Bridge. At Old Bridge you can get a cone with three flavors for only 1.50 euro. No where else I've been can even come close to that! No wonder there's always a line out the door. They don't have the best quality of flavors but I don't care. It's cheap and it gets the job done!

• http://discoveringromeonegelatoshopatatime.blogspot.it/2013/05/old-bridge.html

Service: This was a hard one to narrow down. There were a lot of really good ones in this category and when it comes to service some people have different opinions and experiences at different places, but I finally decided... Grom. Grom is a chain of gelato shops not just in Italy but internationally as well. I was very pleased with the friendliness of the staff, the cleanliness and the organization of the store. It's always crowded but you never have to wait in line very long because they run the store so efficiently. And trust me, spend enough time in Rome and you'll really learn to appreiciate that!

• http://discoveringromeonegelatoshopatatime.blogspot.it/2013/05/ciao-every-week-i-try-new-gelato-shop_6.html

Because of these reasons, Fridgidarium, Old Bridge and Grom are my favorite gelato shops in that order. I've tried several that were really good and few that I'd rather not go back to, but I had a great time tasting and evaluating all of these gelato shops in Rome.

Blue Ice

Ciao! Every week, I try a new gelato shop in Rome, throughout all the different neighborhoods. Each shop is evaluated by flavor, service and price. Each shop can be rated up to 30 points: 10 possible for each category. This week: Blue Ice. It's a chain with lots of different locations throughout Rome. Check out their website for the exact addresses! 

http://www.blueiceitalia.com/ita/gelaterie.php

Flavor: Blue Ice has a very extensive variety of flavors. I obviously haven't tried all of them, but the ones I did try I was very pleased with. The chocolate was very smooth, the fruit flavors were very fresh tasting and when I saw they had Snickers flavor, I couldn't resist. It was delicious and tasted just like an actual Snickers bar! Here are all their flavors: 

• Chocolate 
• Coffee 
• Vanilla 
• Ferrero Rocher 
• Biscotto 
• Walnut 
• White Chocolate 
• Mint 
• Truffle 
• Caramel 
• Cassata Sicilliana 
• Snickers 
• Cappuccino 
• Tiramisu 
• Bacio 
• Stracciatella 
• Kinder 
• Egg Flip 
• Yogurt 
• Wildberry 
• Orange 
• Wildberries with cream 
• Strawberry Yogurt 
• Mango 
• Pineapple 
• Blackberry with  Cream 
• Green Apple 
• Melon 
• Banana 
• Strawberry 
• Pink Grapefruit 
• Lemon 
• Raspberry 
• Coconut 
• Smarties 
• Milk 
• Cream 
• Pistachio 
• Rum Raisin 
• Hazelnut 
• Truffle 

Flavor Score: 9 

Price: Blue Ice offers many sizes so no matter how much gelato you're craving, there's a size just right for you. The prices are pretty reasonable. From what I've found the average for a small is 2.50 euro which is how much Blue Ice is, too. These are the prices.. 

Cup: 2.50, 3, 4, 5 and 6 euro for a small, medium, large, XL and XXL respectively. 

Cone: 2.50, 3.50, 5 and 6 euro for a small, medium, large and XL. 

Price Score: 7 

Service: For Blue Ice, I would have to say their flavor is better than their service. There's no real organization for how to order. You don't get a ticket and then order. It's just first come first serve if you can get the worker's attention first, then you're in good shape. If it's crowded you probably won't be able to sample the flavors first. The staff is nice enough but nothing to compliment them on, and some of the stores are a little dirty. 

Service Score: 6 

Overall, I would definitely go back to Blue Ice even if it was just for the Snickers flavor but there are so many other flavors I wold love to try, too. Even if the service isn't the best, it's still worth it to go. There are so many different locations throughout Rome, I didn't get to go to all of them so I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that the one in near Campo de Fiori isn't the best one. 

Overall Score: 22

Fior di Luna

Ciao! Every week, I try a new gelato shop in Rome, throughout all the different neighborhoods. Each shop is evaluated by flavor, service and price. Each shop can be rated up to 30 points: 10 possible for each category. This week: Fior di Luna in Trastevere. 

• Via della Lungaretta, 96, 00153 Rome
• www.fiordiluna.com

Flavor: I will have to say, I just stumbled into this gelato shop because of the location. It was not the best gelato I've ever had. It was edible, but nothing to rave about. I don't think the freshest ingredients were used and by the looks of things, the gelato looked like it may have been sitting out in the display all day. It looked really old. They do have a few unique flavors though. Check them out! 

• Chocolate and Fig 
• Sugar Free Chocolate 
• Sugar Free Hazelnut 
• Orange Hazelnut 
• Nutella 
• Chocolate 
• Cream
• Pistachio 
• Catalan Creme 
• Hazelnut 
• Stracciatella 
• Eggnog 
• Pine Seed 
• Lemon 
• Melon 
• Vanilla 
• Cherry 
• Coco and Chocolate 
• Blueberry Yogurt 

Flavor Score: 5 

Teeny Tiny Gelato 

Price: My favorite thing about Fior di Luna is the sizes of their cups. Instead of most shops who have a small, medium, large and extra large, Fior di Luna has extra small, small, medium and large. The extra small is 1.70 euro and it's such a cute little cup. It's the perfect size if you've just ate a big dinner and you just need a little bit of gelato to cure your sweet tooth. The prices are as follows: 

Cup: 1.70, 2.20, 3.0 and 3.50 euro 

Cone: 2.50 and 3.30 euro 

Price Score: 7 

Service: Fior di Luna has a great location. Located in the heart of Trastevere. There lot's of restaurants all around so it the perfect place to grab dessert. It's a small store and there's no seating inside or outside but it get's the job done. The staff was moderately friendly but they do allow samples, so that's always nice when you find a place that does that! 

Service Score: 7 

Overall, I would not recommend Fior di Luna. I honestly think it would be worth it just to walk a little bit farther and find a different gelato shop to eat at. But if you want just a little baby cup, then you should go get one from Fior di Luna. 

Overall Score: 19

GROM

Ciao! Every week, I try a new gelato shop in Rome, throughout all the different neighborhoods. Each shop is evaluated by flavor, service and price. Each shop can be rated up to 30 points: 10 possible for each category. This week: Grom. Grom is a chain and has a few different locations in Rome. Check out their website for addresses! 

• http://www.grom.it/eng/dettagli_gelateria.php?id_gelateria=255&citt%E0=Roma

Flavor: I was a little skeptical to try Grom when I first heard about it, because I generally associate chains with lower quality. This is not the case with Grom. Their flavor and quality is exceptional, I was very pleased. I've been trying to really crazy flavors of gelato lately so when I went to Grom I just wanted vanilla. But I didn't get just any vanilla. I got Madagascar Vanilla. It was some of the best gelato I've tasted. It's sad how long I could talk about how good this vanilla ice cream was! 

Here are their flavors: 

Classics 

• Creme 
• Coffee 
• Creme di Grom (Grom's own flavor of caramel, cookies and chocolate chunks) 
• Fiordilatte 
• Yogurt 
• Stracciatella 
• Pistachio 
• Hazelnut 
• Dark Chocolate 
• Chocolate 
• Bacio 

The Specialties 

• Creme Brulee 
• Licorice 
• Coco and Chocolate 
• Madagascar Vanilla 
• Fruit 
• Lemon 
• Strawberry 
• Pink grapefruit 

Le granite Sicilliane (Sicilian Ice, it's not gelato but ice and flavoring. So good!) 

• Lemon 
• Pomegranate 
• Strawberry 

Flavor Score: 9 

Price: The prices are very reasonable considering the quality of the gelato. Here's their prices: 

Cones: 2.50 (2 flavors), 3.50 (2 flavors), 4.50 (3 flavors) 

Cup: 2.50 (2 flavors), 3.50 (2 flavors), 4.50 (3 flavors), 5.50 (4 flavors) 

Sicilian Ice: 3 euro for a medium, 4 euro for a large 

Price Score: 8

Service: There were many things I liked about Grom as soon as I walked through the door. First, it's very clean and the people are very friendly. What's different about Grom than anywhere else is that instead of looking at all the gelato flavors and choosing which one you want, you look at the menu which has all the flavors divided into categories: Classics, Specialties and Fruit. You then order and pay and then move down the line to get your gelato. Grom is by far the most efficient and organized gelato shop in Rome and probably all of Italy, too. 

Service Score: 10 

Overall, if you only had a short time in Rome I would definitely recommend going to Grom. There are several locations so you're bound to stumble across one eventually. The flavors are the great, the prices are reasonable and the service is great. I'm a fan. 

Overall Score: 27