Dolcezza

Great coffee, sorbet and gelato I practically live here

My iced latte was awesome. Really nice girl working today. She was awesome and it was her first day. Love this SO much more than the million Starbucks in this city.

The only downside is the cost, $ 6 something for a small, but the upside is it’s incredibly tasty and filling! Try the blueberry lavender with the Indonesian vanilla cream!

Great gelato joint! Came on a Sunday night and it was pretty busy, line was up to where the cash register was, but it moved quickly! There were a lot of interesting flavors, but I knew I wanted something citrusy — but couldn’t decide between something creamy or not, so got really excited when they told me a small could be split into two flavors! The staff here is really nice, it was my first time and I wanted to try all the flavors, and the guys behind the counter were welcoming and let me take my time regardless of the line behind me.
I ended up getting the crème fraîche citrus marmalade and the sicilian blood orange! The crème fraîche had a great sweet citrus after taste, and the blood orange was just delicious all around. There was a good amount in a small, could’ve had it by myself, but with that price, I ended up sharing!
The interior is really nice and charming! It looks like a great place to do some work or just hang out with a couple of friends. Unfortunately, the bar and the table were both filled when we arrived, so we took the gelato to go. Wish I lived in D.C. just so I could come and try all the flavors!

Loved it so much that I came back twice in one week. I had the Indonesian vanilla bean & roasted strawberry stracciatella.

I am in love with this place! Not only is the shop itself really adorable, the sorbetto and gelato here are spectacular!
The service was great, they let me try a bunch of flavors before my indecisive self had a taste of the orange honey cardamom one that made me feel some type of way and instantly know I wanted that. Then when the lady scooping my sorbetto said «you can pick 2 flavors» I was like «whaaaaat?! ok hold up, can I try *insert 3 more flavors*»
They won me over. I hate that the small with only 2 scoops set me back almost $ 7 but it’s so good I almost forgot how ridiculous the price was.
Interior décor was rustic chic. So cute. Even the bathroom was cute.
They provide free drinking water across from the washroom. Yay, free H2O. Especially when it’s sweltering outside.
I was sighing half the time I was eating because I thought about how much of a pain it’d be to travel from my house to DC to get some. Fortunately, they have another location in Bethesda. WOOHOO!

I had the peanut butter and Tahitian coconut. Both were good. Café reminded me of some trendy little place you’d find overseas, like South Korea. Just one huge old wooden table you have to share with strangers. Not my thing, but the ice cream was good.

Dolcezza has unearthly delicious gelato/​sorbetto paired with top notch espresso drinks. It is on the high end and expensive: $ 5.60 for a small gelato with 2 flavors and the drinks are about Starbucks price range. Yet, it is totally worth a splurge and I never regret the money I spend here.
Dupont location is very charming with its wooden décor giving it a vintage feel. It has a communal table that fits 10 people and some addition bar space. All Dolcezza locations have free wifi (Thank you!) which makes it a great spot for getting some work done.
Gelato here is mind-​blowing. They have a wide variety of flavors and you can try as many samples as you’d like. Staff is very friendly and they don’t mind giving you 5 different flavors if you’d like to try. Last time, I tried avocado+honey+orange and orange+honey+cardamom sorbetto. As always, it was incredible!
Bring Dolcezza home — A more economical way of getting Dolcezza gelato is buying the pints. They’re 10 bucks each which sounds expensive for an ice cream pint but it is much cheaper than buying a small portion of gelato for $ 5.60.

As others have said the prices are a bit high for what you get, but the location and décor are really neat. It’s worth a visit if you’re in the area.
I tried the espresso hairbender and valhrona chocolate gelato. They were both tasty, but the chocolate edged the espresso as it didn’t taste espresso enough for my liking. While it’s labeled as dark chocolate, the valhrona is actually the right amount of chocolate.
My wife ordered the Thai coconut and salted caramel. I’m not a fan of the coconut but the salted caramel is worth a try.
Overall, try it out!

$ 5.60 for a small is pretty pricey, but hey, we’re on vacation! With a small, you could choose either one or two flavors. We tried Salted Caramel /​Peanut Butter Stracciatella and Georgia Butter Pecan /​Stracciatella. The Salted Caramel was tasty, but very strong — a bit too salty for my tastes (and I like salty). The Peanut Butter Stracciatella was everyone’s favorite.
There were some pints and push pops available for sale in a little freezer off to the side. The staff was nice and there are a handful of seats inside and a bench outside the front window. Overflow sat on a bus stop bench or just stood out on the sidewalk.

Delicious ice cream, but a little pricey. $ 5.60 for a small. You can choose two flavors, but still… the vibe is so adorable though! I love the boutique café feel. They serve Stumptown coffee which is great coffee from Portland, so I’ll definitely be back!

Decent gelato but far too expensive — if the price point was lower, I would come here more often. The novelty factor is a win however since they always have new, unexpected flavors in stock. Definitely not my favorite gelato place in the city, but one I’m willing to check out if I happen to be in the area.

Struggling. Struggling between my love for gelato and my need to make sure I’m not broke at the end of my DC trip. Oh, and how many stars to give this place.
I had passed by several Dolcezza’s and decided I had to drop in one day if I got the chance. That day came on a Wednesday afternoon. I had already visited Pitango so I was up for another DC gelato place to get a bigger idea of the gelato DC had to offer. If there’s another recommendation, feel free to throw it my way. I always thought the wooden interior was nice and nice it was. The place was a bit packed (no indoor seating) but the place isn’t the biggest; definitely cozy.
There appeared to be 2 people working at the time. We headed to the back where the gelato was and perused the menu. We asked if we could sample and we were enthusiastically given an affirmative response. Yay! We both got a large (not really all that large as it was smaller than the palm of my hand and for $ 7, I was trying not to stare at the total on the receipt) because I wanted to get 3 flavors to «get the most out of it». I got pistachio, key lime pie, and salted caramel. Pistachio is my favorite gelato flavor (and reportedly the guy employee’s as well) so I naturally loved it. No big chunks of pistachio, but I definitely encountered a slightly grittiness that I assume came from ground up pistachio bits. The key lime was very lime-​y (I detected a lot of lime zest) and chunks of pie crust — yay! Then there was the salted caramel (a recommendation that I decided to take a chance on): not as sweet as I thought it would be and, again, great obvious flavors. All in good, good gelato. However, because of the size of my cup and how I got 3 flavors, they were all essentially little more than samples. I also sampled the grapefruit sorbet my friend got; I liked the flavors a lot, but wasn’t in the mood for something non-​dairy to buy it.
Summary: great gelato (and sorbet). The place is cute and they offer drinks which we sadly did not partake in. I’m tempted by their hot chocolate as I hear it’s not mix-​based. I believe in thick hot chocolate of the dark kind. Service was good and helpful; no complaints on that front! Not too many indoor seats but they do have a bench outside the store, which was where we sat and people watched as we ate and slurped up the last drops of the leftover, melted gelato (it was a bit warm outside). Value? That’s where I struggle, because for $ 7, I could have gotten an actual meal of some sort.
…not that I’m complaining about the nutritional value of gelato. Or lack thereof.

Cozy coffee shop on Connecticut Ave right next to Starbucks. While I do like Starbucks, I wanted to try something different and Dolcezza’s cute interior had me sold. Their exposed brick walls made them hard to resist on a gloomy morning. They’re tiny but they do have a good seating area, although it gets pretty busy with people on their laptops (I was there on a Thursday around 11 am). Most of their morning snacks were gone.
I had a latte to go and even though I forgot to mention it, they did do the coffee art on it which obviously made me happy. The cashier was super friendly and super cute too hahaha
They’re a little pricey for my taste, but not crazy expensive either. Getting coffee art in an exposed brick walls interior was worth it to me :)
I’m definitely coming back to try their gelato since I heard it was yummy.

You must try the black sesame gelato. That is my favorite here. The staff is super friendly and let you try out the flavors before ordering – I totally recommend that because the flavors are a little different.

Much, much, much better than Starbucks next door. Slightly more expensive, but on a completely different level.
The ambiance is also a ton nicer, and the employees… well let’s just say they are competent… at the R Street Starbucks this is not always guaranteed.

My favorite place in DC to get sorbet and gelato. This is especially important since everyone who knows me knows that ice cream is the way into my heart. Sometimes I get frustrated when they switch up the flavors on me, but when I find another perfect combo (one gelato, with one sorbet since you can get two flavors in a small cup) I’m happy all over again. Their white peach sorbet with the blackberry gelato has probably been my favorite combination to date. Also, the staff is always nice and very helpful. It’s a bit pricey, but it’s DC! What do you expect??! Plus, the quality of the product makes the price completely worth it.

The flavors are so unique. They have everything from chocolate to Thai coconut milk to pear to Apple. This place is so worth a visit if you’re craving the refreshing and sweet taste of gelato.
The extensive flavor lineup makes picking your cup of gelato a difficult one. But not to worry! The servers are super helpful and give you samples of each requested gelato flavor. They even give you suggestions.
I literally got a small at first and was convinced I needed another large for myself. So that’s what I did. I ordered a large right after I finished my small cup of gelato. I am the last person to moderate gelato. I am also the the one person who could eat gelato for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
This place is a great place to splurge and stuff your face with the sweet goodness also known as gelato.

I was on my way to the metro when Dolcezza caught my eye. I was craving something sweet before heading back to the office so I decided to give it a try. Boy was I glad I did! the gelato is amazing, truly one of the best I’ve tried. They have so many flavors, it’s kind of hard to make up your mind. Luckily the service was up to par and they made some wonderful recommendations.
2 scoops of dark chocolate and hazelnut did it for me. Their salted caramel flavor is quite wonderful too.
The establishment is small but very cozy. It has a rustic décor and every table has nice, fresh flowers. I can see myself taking my laptop there and indulging a little. I sat by the window to read my news and watch the hustle and bustle of Dupont circle.
Highly recommend. I’ll be coming back for some more gelato.

Got our dinner and we wanted lite dessert. Every other place was too heavy so we decided to check this place out.
Ambiance
Parking | N/​A-​We walked but generally it’s street parking.
Seating | Spacious yet cozy place. It was raining so we sat inside in the booths. The place can seat about 20 – 25 people.
Feels | A very clean place. I feel like it’s one of those classic diners in black and white but this a bit more modern and in color. Either that or they were pre-​closing. Generally it’s a great place to study, catch up with a friend or go on a date.
Food:
Hot Chocolate (Recommend)
* This ain’t your powdered cocoa. Surprisingly very thick yet smooth. Definitely quality chocolate but a bit too strong for me. I felt like I was drinking a bar of chocolate but less thick. I should’ve asked for milk to balance the richness. Overall a good and warming experience.
Customer Service:
They were tempting us with samples of gelato but ultimately we stayed strong and committed to some hot chocolate.
Overall:
4 stars. Thank goodness for this place. It definitely kept us warm and dry from the November rain. Our experience was one of a kind and definitely made it a memorable one visiting DC. I hope to come in the spring to check out their gelato. Till next time!
TL;DR Tips:
*Great place for dessert