Alotto Gelato

The gelato had ice particles that ruined the experience of a smooth velvety texture that defines a gelato. Oh wait, or was it being ignored that ruined my experience? I am not sure how the system works but I stood there waiting to pay for my gelato for fifteen minutes with 3 other people in the store. The girl helped the guy in front of me and then just left to use the restroom? I am not sure where the door leads to. And the other gentleman ignored me and helped the person behind me. I guess he isn’t supposed to help at the register. So I stood there waiting for the girl to come back. I think salt and straws down the street has a smoother ice cream than their gelato.

My rating is purely based on the quality of this gelato and will be helpful to those looking for satisfying, authentic gelato in Portland. To note, during my visit I experienced no issues with customer service or the physical space.
I’ve been fortunate to experience some amazing Italian gelato and it is indeed sublime. High-​quality gelato is dense and velvety with flavorings that are pure and authentic-​not cloyingly sweet and with no hint of the artificial.
Alotto Gelato’s product, unfortunately, comes nowhere close to any authentic gelato I’ve tasted. I don’t mean that Alotto Gelato is off by a few marks, or maybe this is their «creative interpretation».
The texture of Alotto Gelato was icy, slushy, and granular. When I left the place with my 2-​scoop order, it started dripping immediately-​there wasn’t enough substance in the product base to bind it together. It was a mess. It was like a bad ice cream experiment. The flavors were «thin» and artificial-​tasting; the gelato texture had no substance; it was cloyingly sweet.
I take no pleasure in providing a poor rating to this business but I adore gelato and this was a devastating disappointment.
I’ve since discovered that there is «no standard definition for gelato set forth by the United States Food and Drug Administration, as there is for ice cream.»
«Whereas ice cream in the U.S. is defined by the Federal Code both by its ingredients, which includes milk fat (also known as butterfat) of 10% or more, GELATO in the U.S. covers a wide range of products including frozen desserts eaten like ice cream.» [all caps emphasis mine — source:
It would seem then that anyone can call their product «gelato», even if it doesn’t actually taste anything like gelato.

As it seems with a lot of other reviewers, we came here because the line for Salt &Straw was INSANE and while normally we would’ve waited, we were on an annoying time schedule and had to move along and look for another sweet cold treat in the area.
Being from out of town, we just kind of wandered down the street and came upon Alotta Gelato. There was no line, the woman behind the counter was really nice, and even brought our orders to us at our table,
The gelato itself was very good, but we couldn’t help but being a wee disappointed since we were anticipating having our taste buds blown… and of course that isn’t Alotta’s fault.
All in all, a very positive experience

This is so much better than Salt and Straw and no lines.
Fresh and tasty with fewer calories (is that true? LOL)
A really great creamy dessert.

The line for Salt and Straw went around the block so we decided to find another ice cream place in the area, which is how we came across this gem. Their gelato was so good it brought me back to eating gelato on the streets of Florence. This is perhaps the first gelato place I have come across in America that I can confidently compare to European/​Italian gelato. The portions are generous and the flavours intense. I recommend the salted caramel, the chocolate hazelnut and the espresso flavours.

My first gelato in Oregon and such fail. They shouldn’t call it Gelato. Different texture. It should be smooth like velvet, with no crumbles.
Clerk was rushing us to order bc he’s closing-​15 min before closing time.
Nope. Sorry guys. Change the attitude and recipe. Not even close to Eataly.

Stopped in here because the line at Salt and Straw was ridiculous, and I’m so glad I did! The inside is fairly small, with room for a couple of tables inside. They have 12 ish flavors of gelato and sorbet.
If you are not a dairy eater this is an awesome place– they had 4 or 5 sorbet flavors when I was in. Mango and strawberry were delicious! Like all gelato places, the cups looks small, but it’s denser and sweeter than i d cream so it’s more than enough. Definitely will be back next time!

We wanted some dessert after strolling around downtown Portland. I got the mint chocolate chip and illy espresso gelato and my boyfriend got the peanut butter chocolate chip and Madagascar vanilla.

Great selection! Great service! The scoops are extremely generous and reasonably priced. (personally I think it’s because it’s not super rich and dense as gelato usually is) try the pineapple and blueberry flavors!

I’m here!!! I finally came to get this place of jeans and I was so excited they finally have the hazelnut! It was good and the chocolate dipped waffle cone was delicious but after I had cool moon’s hazelnut ice cream nothing compared to that. Will definitely be back to taste more flavors.

Yay for gelato on sweltering summer afternoons! As I am ill-​equipped to deal with heat, I had to stop myself from melting by ducking into Alotto Gelato for a cold treat. Our experience with the customer service was very positive, as the woman at the counter was very friendly and seemed to handle the rush of customers well. We got orange julius gelato and the pineapple sorbetto, both of which were really tasty. The pineapple sorbetto tasted like a piña colada and was just the refreshing snack I needed! Props to Alotto Gelato for being a local small business that uses wholesome, natural ingredients.

Only here cause the line at salt & straw is wrapped around the corner and it closes in 30 minutes.. You are my sloppy seconds Alotto Gelato as you should be. Girl at the counter was unfriendly and treated us as if we were inconveniencing her just by being there! Get some better customer service or this place won’t last! She had no problem spending 10 minutes flirting w/​the guy before us but gave us major attitude when it was our turn. Good customer service goes to ALL paying customers. Not just the ones you want to flirt with. Smh…

Now review for the store, it is so so so so GOOD. The gelato is so tasty and soft. I can’t pick a favorite, I give up !
The rates are pretty reasonable too. Salt N Straw does ice-​creams, this one gelatos. But hey it’s a go-​to place for gelatos and not just because you didn’t want to wait for your salt n straw ice cream. (I am guilty of this too :(.But these days, I come with gelatos in mind and stop here.)

It seems unfair to make Alotto Gelato a referendum on Salt & Straw. It’s almost literally apples to oranges as it’s a case of Gelato to Ice Cream. That said, it’s hard to avoid the comparison because of the other stark contrasts.
If you want something cold, sweet, and delicious in your mouth but don’t want to be grossly overcharged (or wait in an outrageously long line) then Salt & Straw and Casa Diablo are out. HEYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
But seriously, Alotto Gelato is IN. Not only are they delicious enough to thrive independent of their proximity to aforementioned ice creameries, but they’re very reasonably priced and run by an excellent customer-​oriented staff.
Ironically, in many ways, Alotto Gelato is what trendy tourist hipsters are looking for when they go to Salt & Straw. It’s a hole-​in-​the-​wall family-​run business with a handmade product. And they make the best gelato that I’ve had west of Las Vegas. Does anybody know of better gelato in OR? I sure don’t.
My only fear this that, for the reasons I’ve just listed, this place is going to gain traction and like in some nightmarish Portlandian sketch, this place is soon going to have Screen Door-​ish lines around the corner and I’m going to be forced to write this same review about a new Italian Ice place on 21^st… or even worse… about Salt & Straw once the hipsters have moved on.
God help us, Portland.

What can I say? I didn’t have to wait in a ridiculous line, the gelato was creamy and every bit as satisfying as other cool treat options around town. Our scoops were generous too! My husband and I have walked by this place for years and have always been meaning to stop in, and yesterday, we finally did! Their gelato is made onsite and I can personally vouch for the pistachio, cinnamon, espresso, and the stracciatella! I’m sure they all taste pretty great though. :)

Pretty good!
The scoops are decent size and lots of people come here when the line is insane for Salt & Straw! *Raise My hand Guilty, but i do think it shouldn’t be a back up but as an addition to salt & straw
But this place was super good. The gelato is a good size and the taste is pretty amazing!

Portland, OR: The pineapple gelato at this place played an excellent wingman to its tarty buddy, raspberry, who hit the perfect balance between sweet and just tart enough.
I got the kid’s size (one scoop) which cost me $ 3.00. My server was willing to halve my one scoop into two flavors, which has only happened to me in one other gelato place.
Final words: The gelato itself gets about a four star rating but the service, affordability, and cleanliness of the place bumped the rating to a five star.

I love gelato and this place is great place to get some good dessert. I came here a couple times after eating dinner in Dowtown Portland and was never disappointed.

Pretty good Gelato shop. Employee here was nice enough to let me try almost all of them so I can make up my mind. The flavors are very good. The prices are actually really low compared to a lot of other gelato shop. You can either order in a cone or the little cups which comes out to be the same price. You pay by the scoop here. It’s a very clean small ice cream shop

I’m sure Alotto Gelato gets many customers as over-​runs of people who didn’t want to wait in the insane line at Salt&Straw. We admittedly were those people too at one point, but they have converted us. Yes, famed near-​by Salt&Straw is delicious and earned all it’s glory but Alotto Gelato is AWESOME! We tried the Hazelnut and Coffee flavors… divine. :)
Their gelato is, as other Unilocalers have mentioned, just the right balance of sweetness to the flavors of real high quality ingredients. I love that they are locally owned and have been in business for quite some time. Nothing fancy here, just amazing simple frozen deliciousness.