Rome's 6 best gelaterias
From innovative flavors to perennial favorites, TripExpert brings you the very best gelato in the Eternal City.
While there’s no shortage of good ice cream in the Eternal City, it can be a challenge to find the very best. Our local expert weighs in on six of the finest places to eat gelato in Rome.
Consistently voted the best gelato parlor in Italy, Fatamorgana is a Roman institution where all-natural ingredients come together in tantalizing flavors like Bacio del Principe (“kiss of the prince” - a mix of chocolate and hazelnut) and Panacea (with almond milk, ginseng, and mint). If you just can’t get enough, owner Maria Agnese Spagnuolo has published a book called Gelati e Saluti (Gelato and Health) that includes her original recipes. There are 7 Fatamorgana locations around Rome - our favorite is the one in Trastevere, near Piazza San Cosimato.
Balancing the intensity of flavors, paying special attention to texture, and serving ice cream at a temperature that maximizes its mouthfeel: all of these are essential to producing a perfect scoop of gelato, which is what you’ll find at Come il Latte. They meticulously source each of their ingredients — milk comes from local cows, eggs from organic producers, vanilla from Reunion Island, pistachios from Sicily, hazelnuts from Piedmont, lemons from Sorrento — and flavors rotate with the seasons. On warm evenings, expect to find Romans lining up here for a scoop or three.
Premium seasonal ingredients, a quaint location near Piazza Navona, and a passionate owner are what set this gelateria apart from the rest. The biggest challenge here is choosing between outstanding fruit sorbets like cantaloupe and kiwi, more decadent flavors like Sicilian almond, and original creations like rosemary, honey, and Sorrento lemon. Outlets from The New York Times to Gambero Rosso have raved about del Teatro’s gelato, and Serious Eats calls their ice cream “ the perfect refreshment on a hot Rome day.”
Owned and run by noted gelato-maker Alberto Manassei, Gracchi has three Rome locations where they mix their ice cream fresh every day, using only the very best raw ingredients. Flavors range from traditional (vanilla, almond, dark chocolate) to innovative (caramel pear, Indian fig, coffee with star anise) to seasonal (wild strawberry, persimmon, quince, toasted almond and orange). No wonder this is Anthony Bourdain’s favorite gelateria in Rome.
