Balsano’s Gelato Cafe

They have wonderful gelato my two favorites where the coffee and pistachio. The coffee tasted like an actual coffee drink.
My bf and I also loved the mango gelato as well.
The staff where really friendly

To be honest, while in PNL in the middle of the day, I only came into this café with the intention to make a minimal purchase as I needed to use the restroom.
Immediately walking into the café, the décor transports you into feeling like you’re somehwere cozy, like your grandma’s house. Their restroom is the same — cozy and super clean (customers, please have some decency and keep the restroom in the same condition as when you first step in)! You can tell the owner and staff really care about the cleanliness and presence of the entire store itself.
So as I mentioned, I had only intended to make a single minimal purchase, but the owner was generous in offering samples of all the delicious flavors of gelato to me and my friends that we each ended up making orders of our own! Even the less sweeter gelatos, packed flavor! On top of the array of delicious flavors, we were all surprised to see that an order of a small cup was really a very generous portion! They also allow you to chose 2 flavors in a small order.
Aside from gelato, a friend of mine also ordered an ice coffee which was refreshing, yet robust!
While we enjoyed our frozen treats, the owner was conversational, super down to earth, and really great at suggesting what to do & where to go in the area during the day.
I’m really happy to have stumbled across this café! Nothing better than delicious, flavorful gelato! Stop by Balsano’s and you will not be disappointed!

After many failed attempts to come here, it certainly ended up being worth the wait. Charming shop and excellent gelato! Their hours are a little strange so make sure you check them before you go. Definitely coming back!

Awful service, I ordered a small Butterfinger Gelato (no other descriptions on the flavor). Female behind the counter did not elaborate on the flavor or offer a sample while I was making my choice. Find out the base flavor of the Gelato is Butterscotch instead of Vanilla making it a sickeningly sweet syrupy mess (In My opinion). I dont care for flavors gained by adding extra syrup when the base mixture is already sweet. I took three bites and asked if it was butterscotch (she confirmed) and I asked if I could have something different I wasnt aware that it was a butterscotch base (could be fixed with small descriptive text like other creamery based establishments). She said sorry she couldnt help me and I should have asked her for a sample first.
The place was empty on a hot day and I see why, Gelato is as bad as the attitudes here, keep walking find something better.

There are about ~15 flavors with nothing too unique. I thought the flavor got dulled fairly soon while eating it due to the cold and the gelato had an almost grainy texture. The interior is nice but feels like they just bought of their wall paintings from Hobby Lobby. If you’re in the mood for a cold treat there are better options.

These guys don’t like business! We tried to get Gelato and they didn’t want to serve us!

OMG! Where do I start?! How about the service… As soon as we stepped in the door both of the staff behind the counter kindly welcomed us. I said out loud «now that’s how you greet your guests!» It smelled like Christmas in there! The gelato was delicious! The espresso was fresh! The prices were affordable! We will come back time after time after time! Thank you for the superior service!

It is okay but nothing close to authentic gelato. It seemed a little watery to me. The service was very good and I like the space.

Delicious gelato. The café latte was probably my favorite although the mocha was good too. The portion sizes are really way more than you’d expect so I suggest sticking with a small.
Will definitely be back to try more!

We ventured over to Balsano’s on Friday afternoon. The owner I believe was working the counter and he was so friendly! He also was extremely knowledgeable about the gelato and he didn’t seem annoyed we tried a few flavors! Once deciding on our flavors I was so surprised our bowls (size small) were filled with heaping scoops of gelato!!! You get so much for the price and the gelato was definitely not a let down! The peanut butter flavor was my favorite :) I would highly recommend Balsono’s not only for their amazing gelato but for their customer service and price as well! This beats froyo any day for all of those reasons!

How could you not love gelato? It’s so good, and it’s (slightly) better for you than ice cream. Or so I’m told/​choosing to believe.
This was my first time coming over here with a small group after a fitness class across the street, and we were looking for ways to fill the calorie void we’d created. The crew here was so friendly, and they had tons of options ranging from the fruitier/​sweet ones to the heavier caramel and nut type of flavors. It’s a smaller shop, and the surrounding sun-​drenched patio makes for a perfect landing spot after you’ve grabbed your gelato.
I opted for pistachio and it was amazing — good flavor without being too rich or overwhelming but also full of actual pistachios.
Oh and guess what, they’re open on weekends! Some surrounding businesses might only be open for the M-​F biz crowd, but not these guys. Definitely worth checking out as the warmer days creep in.

Awesome place! Fantastic service & amazing gelato! Found this gem during the Big XII tourny. I ate more than I should have, and I have no regrets! I’ll be a frequent customer

De. Licious.
As my preferred method of eating ice cream is usually an entire tub while standing on my bathroom scale and crying, I don’t typically go out for a nice little cup of gelato. But when I recently accompanied some friends to Balsano’s, I declared that maybe it was time for a change. Two thoughts:
1– The staff here is incredibly gracious and friendly. They were happy to tell us in great detail about their (somewhat small) selection of flavors as well as the business itself. They insisted that we try things out before we ordered, and made suggestions for good combinations.
2 — That gelato is dang tasty! If you’re going to eat 10,000 calories-​worth of frozen treat, it better be delicious, am I right? It’s definitely worth an occasional splurge or breaking of the diet.
Somehow, this place seems to be under everybody’s radar. I mean, it’s been around for years and is in the heart of downtown’s Power and Light, yet it still only has 6 reviews? I’m glad that they’ve been able to do enough business to stay open, because they’re honestly fantastic and I’d like to see them become more popular.

A bit grainy, especially compared to gelato you typically get in Italy. I had not noticed this gelato place location near the P&L district before, so we decided to stop in on a Saturday afternoon.
There was NO ONE there, so the owner and his son were overly attentive. I felt a bit pressured and didn’t really have a chance to look at the menu and make an informed decision. Samples were pressed upon us and we each decided to get «small» cups of gelato with 2 flavors each. I say «small» because the portions were very large– more American scale than a European-​esque gelato place should be serving.
Anyways, I will give them the fact that their chip chocolate gelato was rich, dark and very tasty, but the texture was not the best, as with all of their gelato, with a rather grainy finish. I definitely will not be returning especially since the 2 «small» gelatos were $ 12! I thought that was overly expensive for not that great of a product…

This is thousands of miles away from true European gelato, literally and in quality.
European gelato has a lower fat content than American ice cream and is churned slower. That gives it an elastic ribbon-​like consistency. Since it has less fat and incorporated air, it should not be frozen to the same cold temperature as American ice cream. Over-​freezing causes ice crystals to form, which gives it a grainy texture. It also makes it hard as a brick — higher fat content and more air keeps ice cream from over-​freezing.
That’s exactly what it seemed like when I tried it at Balsano’s — brick-​hard, slightly grainy, lacking the true elasticity of good gelato. Presuming they actually made a «gelato» base, they’ve ruined it by over-​freezing. I could tell as soon as the young lady started scooping it. She really had to work to get a scoop out. That’s just not gelato.
That said, it’s decent for what it is. Just don’t think it’s authentic European-​style gelato. It’s just as far away from that as Breyer’s gelato at the grocery store.