11 Southeast 1st AvenueZero thumbs up
I hate to be such a downer all the time, but I really don't like this place. I've never liked it. I've checked it out a handful of times over the years and have always been disappointed. They do make their own gelato in house, which is really cool, but every time I go, there is more empty space in their coolers than there is actual gelato and other items for sale. I feel this makes it look like a half assed operation. Why are the shelves half bare? If it was an Eastern Bloc themed restaurant, then maybe it would make sense, but we're capitalists, god damn it. Fill those coolers up with enough Gelato to make it look like you're actually in business. Aside from my insane ranting, the flavors are actually pretty good. I have no specific complaints about the gelato itself.
I do, however, have a big problem with their food. I've NEVER enjoyed a sandwich here. I can't really pinpoint why, but each time I get a panini here, it's unpleasant. On this particular visit, I ordered the Vegetariano Panini, which featured Mozzarella cheese, homemade pesto, Avocado, lettuce and tomato. I think my problems with this sandwich started with the individual ingredients. The pesto wasn't good. I've made pesto at home. It's Basil, Oil, Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Pine Nuts. That's it. Get the proportions right and it's impossible to screw up. Gelato Company's Pesto was unpleasant, heavy, and not helping the sandwich out much.
Next, the bread wasn't good. I don't know where they get their bread from, but it's a huge flaw in the overall sandwich. It had an unusual sickeningly sweet overtone and didn't quite toast up in the sandwich press, but just got hard and crumbly. I was pleased to find that it wasn't terribly greasy and oily, as a past sandwich had been, but still, I did not enjoy the sandwich at all. Furthermore, it was a bit small for the price ($7.50).
I opted to get the side salad with my sandwich and was hoping for something tasty. Instead I got more croutons than lettuce and a very unsettling dressing. I've never tasted a salad dressing like this before. It was almost as if they combined a few others together to create a suicide style dressing (remember when you'd fill up your cup at the self serve with all the flavors of soda?). It was tangy yet sweet, but not in a complimentary way.
I went with two other friends who ordered the exact same thing and we all had the same opinion. It just wasn't good.
I hate to hate on a place like this because the space is so perfect for a cozy little cafe, but I really think The Gelato Company falls way short of the mark and has been doing so for years.
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I will have to say that this place has really gone downhill. When they first opened a few years back it was much better quality. I really liked this place a lot when it first opened. My girlfriend at the time worked there and I would get food from here all the time, so I knew the place pretty well.
ReplyDeleteI went to the Gelato Co. a few months ago after not having eaten there in probably at least a year and was soooo disappointed. Everything about it felt like they were cutting corners. The Gelato cooler was half empty as you said. The bread, which used to be from a local bakery, appeared to now be from a cheap store bought loaf of white. The tuna salad (which was at one point my favorite thing about this place) was half breadcrumbs and mayo. Even the gelato had a stale, icy texture. It had obviously been in the cooler for far too long.
I was pretty upset because I don't visit Gainesville often and I went to this place as my last Gainesville "nostalgic meal." I was really disappointed to say the least.