Americans love all things Italian, especially Italian food. Living in an urban area like Dallas ensures there any many options for Italian cuisine including gelato, but how do you know if it’s good gelato? Thankfully, in my city it’s easy to find delicious, authentic gelato at Botolino Gelato Artiginale. I’ve been to Italy a number of times and I’ve eaten enough gelato to know…Botolino is the real deal. Apparently, other Dallasites agree, as Botolino has been voted the best gelato in Dallas almost every year since it opened.
Everything is made with fresh ingredients–there’s nothing canned, or artificial. If you order an orange marmalade gelato, it will have bits of carmelized orange in it. The pistachio, a traditional Italian flavor, contains small pieces of pistachios…as it should.
Best Dairy-Free Gelato
Another thing I love about Botolino is that there is always a nice selection of dairy-free flavors. Chocolate sorbetto is a standard dairy-free flavor on the menu. You can also find unusual flavors like lemon-rose, lavender berry, and summer flavors like guava. Delicious! I love the chocolate sorbetto because it’s lower in calories than the gelato made with dairy, and it’s divine. Bonus: the sorbetto flavors are also lower in sugar.
Gelato Is Healthier Than Ice Cream
You can read more about the health benefits of gelato in my article Why Eat Gelato.
Owner Carlo Gattini, an Italian American, continues the family tradition…his grandmother made gelato in Italy. He uses her original recipes to make gelato on-site at the Greenville Ave. location. You can even see his grandmother’s gelato molds, framed like a work of art.
You can enjoy your gelato in a cup or a waffle cone. The flavor options change regularly, so you’ll never be bored. Containers are available to take home your favorite flavors. Botolino also offers a variety of cakes and other Italian dessert specialties however, these may not be dairy-free.
For lunch, after lunch, dinner, or any time of day, gelato is a delicious taste of la dolce vita.
Botolino now has two locations, the original, on Greenville Ave., and the newest at Preston and Royal shopping center.
Amorino
Amorino originally opened in Paris, and now has multiple locations in the United States, including Dallas. The Preston Center shop is a bit closer to me than Botolino and I sometimes go there when I don’t feel like driving. Amorino has a very good selection of dairy-free vegan gelato flavors–some are classic like dark chocolate and they have a lot of fruit flavors like mandarin orange, blood orange and ginger, and blueberry-acai. While I do believe Botolino is better, it’s Italian after all, it’s nice to have an option close to home. Amorino is known for their flower-shaped waffle cones and gelato-filled macarons. Amorino is located in Preston Center Plaza.
