Palazzolo’s Gelato Truck

Original flavors and passionate truck owners make for a sweet combination! I bring them in for special events and they are punctual and accommodating. Love working with them. Our guests rave!

Overall 4.5 stars. As we were strolling down the street for dessert we were fortunate to stumble across this truck. We were mesmerized by the extremely unique flavors they had. As a fan of spice and chocolate, I ended up trying the Mexican chocolate chipotle. Surprisingly it was to exotic for me however it did fill me up and definitely expanded my taste buds. The quality and quantity for $ 5 is not too shabby at all. So whenever in LA, don’t be afraid to be adventurous with Palazzolo’s Gelato Truck!
TL;DR:
* Don’t be shy to sample!

I’ve tried this truck now 5 times — yes, you heard me! Donna is a gem! So sweet and always offers me tastes. They truly have the best gelato I’ve ever had. In addition, they carry so many flavors in 1 truck! I’ve now had 9 and honestly loved every single one. My favorite is the PB cup (who doesn’t love PB and chocolate!). Their gelato just has a very smooth texture. Just visit them… you wont regret it! Oh, and they also offer a special when you take home a 6 pack which I of course did :)

I visited this truck when it was in Venice, CA on a ‘First Friday’. Had the Irish Car Bomb, I was surprised how closely it tasted like the alcoholic drink of the same name. Truck was clean. Staff was very friendly and informative of the various ice cream flavors and there are a lot of flavors.

The banana caramel praline flavor was amazing! It wasn’t heavy at all and had the perfect amount of sweetness. And the lady who works there is so sweet. I would definitely come back!

I just got 6 flavors for the price of 5. The triple chocolate is mouth watering delicious, if I wouldn’t know how good it was I wouldn’t got 3 more of that flavor! I’m actually going to Long Beach to find them tonight to get more cause I already are all of it last night!!! The Mexican Chocolate with wild Raspberrys was also a treat. I’ve got 4 more in the freezer that I’m afraid to open fire to the fact I’m sure I’ll eat the whole thing as soon as I open it. I am extremely excited to try the Raspberry Ghostpepper Gelato!

Tried them 10÷5÷2013 at Eaglerock Music Festival
Definitely NOT a $ 5 per cup experience.
PLUSES:
~ Friendly
~ Clean
~ Nice Graphic
NEGATIVES:
~ Small
~ Pre-​Packaged (packed into a little plastic cup with lid).
~ It’s just NOT Gelato (wrong consistancy … it’s ICE CREAM!)
~ Insufficient «goodies» (The «special» Mackinac Island Fudge Caramel Swirl had meager chocolate chips on top of a fairly average ice cream with little caramel to be found)
SUMMARY:
Not worth $ 5. I’d probably feel $ 3 was fair. They need to stop calling what they serve «Gelato» it isn’t. They seem to be using Gelato because it communicates an elevated product. But that is not what they are serving.
Their problems all come down to product and value … sadly. Otherwise they are very nice.
For $ 5, go to a 7Eleven and get a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. You’ll get 5x more for your money and a better ice cream product.

The lady was nice. It’s SUPER overpriced. $ 5 for a prepackaged, small cup? Please!
Begin ridiculous rant about the gelato I had:
I tried their peanut butter cup gelato. It was peanut butter gelato with an absurd amount of mini peanut butter cups inside. Every bite I took had at least 2 mini peanut butter cups in it. The ratio of ice cream to cups was way too uneven. Maybe I got a defective cup or something, but there were WAY too many chunks in mine and I couldn’t actually enjoy the GELATO, I was too distracted with the chocolate. There were so many that it was actually difficult for me to scoop the gelato out of the cup.
I also tried their raspberry white chocolate gelato, which was a cup of «white chocolate» (tasted like plain vanilla to me) gelato with like 2 raspberries on top only. So you get past the 2 raspberries that they put on top and the rest is super overpriced vanilla gelato.
Also, they were frozen solid and couldn’t eat it for like 20 minutes until I let it thaw.
Whatever. Pass.

Back to the food truck PYE for a moment
…
This dessert truck was here as well. I was chatting with the woman about the gelatos they sell. She told me all of their gelato & sorbet is made and packaged in Michigan, then shipped to them here in So Cal. Hmm, no wonder it’s $ 5 for a yogurt size 6 oz cup. It’s good stuff, but not a great value.
As we talked she offered me a sample of their «Pecan Pie» gelato. Nice flavor but I didn’t get a lot of «pecan pie» in it.
A friend bought the Red Raspberry Ghost Pepper sorbet.
It had an AWESOME fresh red raspberry flavor and then some heat kicked in at the back of your throat. It wasn’t a so-hot-you-can’t-taste-anything type of heat, just a nice warm-​your-​mouth type of heat. Who knows if they ACTUALLY used ghost pepper in this. They could have used jalapeño or habanero peppers instead for all I know, because it wasn’t burn-​your-​face-​off hot and you’d never be able to tell the difference.

We saw them at First Fridays in Venice. The women at the truck was very helpful and friendly. The selection is excellent. Lots of compelling flavors to choose from (very tempted by the Raspberry Ghostpepper for next time …).
It is a bit pricey for the amount of gelato you get — they did have a Buy 5 Get 1 Free deal, or what we call A Somewhat Light Dinner.

Stopped by today, truck outside the Eagle Rock library. Kind of a letdown…
Pros:
Huge selection of delicious-​sounding flavors, gelato, sorbetto.
(too bad I couldn’t sample any…)
Cons:
No samples, about ¾ cup, if that, pre-​packaged, costs $ 5 each.
Didn’t taste like Italian gelato I’ve had in Italy and NYC. More like ice cream.
I could get 2 gallons of Safeway brand for $ 6.00.
No samples… c’mon, really? A tiny spoon worth isn’t that big a deal, is it? Then you charge FIVE bucks for a tiny cup you can’t even try the flavor first? Kind of a bummer… No, definitely a bummer… I suggest, just open a cup and let the people try it for cryin’ out loud. Limit it to 2 samples if its that bad. But please…
Look, my daddy owned an ice cream place when I was growing up. Its supposed to be FUN. Part of the FUN is trying a couple flavors, maybe getting a scoop of each one you liked. Can’t do that here. Bummer.
No samples
$ 5.00, small cup
NO SAMPLES
small pre-​packed cup
$ 5.00

So many unique flavors! They were a block away during my lunch break :)
I got the raspberry ghost pepper sorbet. It made my day :) the lady in the truck was such a sweet lady. I hope they come back soon so I can try their other flavors

This gelato is 100% delicious… ingredients are interesting and fresh… no artificial flavorings is a big plus. I am not sure why people are complaining about the packaging… I think it is awesome… I was able to take it to go very easily and since I couldn’t finish it all I just put the cap back on and stuck it back in the freezer for tomorrow. I tried the bourbon caramel pecan (whole pecan halves and really good bourbon flavor) and my husband had the toasted coconut almond fudge (like an Almond Joy on crack!)
Service was wonderful… when I told the lady that I was taking it home, she hunted around for the hardest ones and then to my surprise gave me a chunk of dry ice to put in the bag so I could stick around the food truck fest a little longer… actually it ended up being a lot longer… I even stopped at TJ’s on the way home and the gelato was still frozen. Also, it was fun to stick the dry ice in the sink for a spooky hand wash… lol

I like Gelato. There is a local place I go to, there is a place at the Northridge Mall that I have been to a couple of times, and a place in Silver Lake that is good too. I have even had Gelato at a couple of places in Thailand so I have eaten my fair share and know what it is supposed to taste like and how it is served. I’m sure you have had it too, the creamy looking dessert folded into the metal containers and served slightly warmer than Ice Cream, it just melts in your mouth and is bursting with flavor. This is not what you get here, what you get is pre-​packaged, frozen solid, and served in a small plastic container. It was so frozen that I could not get the spoon into it, I had to let it thaw for 10 minutes before I could start eating it and once I did it just tasted like Ice Cream.

To my amazement, they carried all flavors of their artisan gelato on them that’s listed on the side of their truck. I soon learned it’s because they have them pre-​packaged. The downside to that is you just can’t sample a variety of flavors.
The lady at the truck was really informative and told me the flavors she had that aren’t listed. Although there were a number of flavors that appealed to me on the list, I went with the unlisted novelty, vanilla maple bacon.
Although most pieces of bacon were atop the gelato, I appreciated the small bits folded in and all throughout. It was definitely vanilla bean they were using as I can see the dark specks of bean. I was not disappointed.
As far as price, I have heard of a pint of handmade ice cream for $ 10 and thought that was really expensive but now $ 5 for only 6 ounces, the size of a small yogurt cup, comes out even pricier per ounce. I was okay with coughing up $ 5 on the spot that one time but unfortunately it’s not something I could do often.
Grab one of their cards: Buy 5 of any flavor, get 1 free, which you can work towards.

Enjoyed a gelato from Palazzolo’s Gelato Truck at the Santa Anita Food Truck Festival.
I had the Mascarpone Caramel Pistachio and it was excellent. (Real pistachios adds a nice crunch!)
Friendly staff, service with a smile and a wonderful treat on a Saturday afternoon.
Highly recommended.

It was good but not $ 5 good for what you get
I have always told people that I would pay the price if the taste justified it

I’m not sure why there are so many haters.
My husband and I got the Strawberry Chip and Cappuccino — both very yummy. I kinda like the packaging — had one on the spot, and one to take home. The owner mentioned that it was easier to fit more flavors into his truck if they were pre-​packaged — I get it…
CUZ THERE ARE A BUNCH OF FLAVORS! There is a huge list on the entire side of the truck. I appreciate the variety, and it was good!
Would I seek out this truck just for the gelato? Probably not. But I did enjoy my flavors (I still have half a tub of the cappuccino in my freezer), and would definitely like to try more flavors if I see it at the Santa Monica lot in the future.

This is a perfect example of the food truck concept going to far. Prepackaged gelato, like you would get in the supermarket or from the ice cream man for $ 5? Besides it being a very «European» size portion, it just didn’t seem that appealing. For $ 5, I would at least expect it to be scooped out of a huge container and for some «pomp and circumstance» to be created to make it dramatic for me; make me feel like I am getting something special vs. tossing a prepackaged clear container on the counter.
I simply put my cash back in my pocket and for $ 6 took the entire family to Rite Aide for some good olé Thrifty’s double chocolate malted crunch. Now, there is an idea! A Thrifty food truck!

My first two observations regarding the Palazzolo’s Gelato Truck:
1 — This is the same type of gelato one can buy in a supermarket.
2 — Why would anyone want to buy gelato in a supermarket?
This is a pretty truck, and I saw it at a Truck Lot in Santa Monica Tuesday night. I was there with my friend Tai F. We had just eaten, so it was decided we would share. Tai even let me pick the flavor. What we didn’t realize was no one was scooping gelato on this truck. All 30 flavors were pre-​packaged at a factory, The list of 30 flavors was impressive enough, and after careful perusal, we (and by «we» I mean «I») chose «Mackinaw Island Fudge».
TIME OUT FOR A RANT– Mackinac Island is one of Michigan’s most famous tourist destination, It is known for (among other things) it’s locally produced fudge. The island is spelled «Mackinac» although the last «C» is silent and is pronounced the same way the Palazzolo’s spell it. so that it rhymes with law. It is near the Mackinac Bridge* which is pronounced and spelled the same way, across the located in the Strait of Mackinac from Mackinaw City which is not famous for it’s fudge or anything other than a ferry terminal with ferries to the island. I wouldn’t expect people from the other 49 states to know that, but the truck lady did tell me she was from Saugatuck, a different Michigan tourist town. They should know better.
OK I ordered the Mackinaw Island Fudge. I was surprised to find thatt i came in a sealed plastic tub with a misspelled label. I was more surprised to find that the «fudge» wasn’t blended into the gelato, but simply sprinkled on top. And since one can never be too surprised, I also found that the «fudge» seemed to just be shavings from a premium chocolate bar.
The actual gelato was vanilla, and while it was a good vanilla, it certainly did not live up to my expectations. I did like the fact that Tai was treating but not enough to give them another star.
Gourmet Food Truck #200 on my never-​ending quest to try every truck in «So Cal»
*The Mackinac Bridge has the longest center span of any suspension bridge in America. I once crossed that bridge on the back of a live elephant. If I ever get on Jeopardy! I imagine Alex Trebek will ask me about it