From the looks of it, this story represents the American Dream – fulfilled. Three young Italian buddies opened their first ice cream shop, Gelato-go, at 458 Ocean Drive in sunny South Beach on January 18th, 2013. Their Gelato Master learned his Italian gelato-making skills from his father and his family – who have been in the business for over 80 years. Domenico D'Addio is the CEO and his high-school pal, Alessandro Alvino, is in charge of Sales and Marketing. As they say, "a great product requires a great team."
With 20 stores between Florida (15) and California (5), Gelato-go is the fastest growing Italian gelato franchise in the U.S. – known for sourcing its ingredients from Italy and local markets. Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Sarasota, and Tampa are some of the top-performing locations. Gelato-go plans to open its first store in Hawaii soon. In the meantime, they just opened in Hong Kong last month.
The reason for their success springs from a brilliant and genuine concept that unites the finest and most authentic Italian gelato – created from scratch with traditional Italian pastry and bakery products. For a complete Italian experience, coffee comes straight from Naples – nothing is left to chance.
"We've built a great business on the basic principles of fresh ingredients, fun flavors, and a family-friendly atmosphere," says co-founder Alessandro Alvino. Their secret is the meticulous search for ingredients used in each recipe – imported from Italy and worldwide. Some of the ingredients used in the production of their Italian gelato are pistachios from Bronte, Sicily, and hazelnuts from Langhe in Piedmont. Gelato-go also has exclusive rights to use Valrhona chocolate in their recipes, a company that sources cocoa beans of the finest variety from a plantation in Venezuela. Again, the attention to detail is incredible: the milk must be completely free of artificial hormones or antibiotics for a final healthier product.
The same effort is made for their sorbetto, a frozen dessert made from sugar-sweetened water with fruits grown by local farmers – free of dyes and preservatives. Sorbetto is a great solution for those who are lactose intolerant plus it contains fewer calories than ice cream.
If you're into Italian gelato, we’re guessing you love Italian pasta as well. We’ve got good news; the founders of Gelato-go decided to satisfy all Italian foodies’ cravings with an expansion into pasta. Last August, they opened Pasta-go – a pasta restaurant located on Alton Road in South Beach (near their Gelato-go spot). After just three months, a second location was established on Ocean Drive. Pasta-go offers authentic and affordable homemade pasta in a cozy and relaxed environment. You can sample fresh ingredients suitable to any and all palates – used in dishes where authenticity is never to be compromised. Their menu includes tasty pasta dishes seasoned with the most popular Italian sauces like pomodoro, arrabbiata, puttanesca, bolognese and some other typical dishes like lasagna, Milanese risotto, and bruschetta to name a few – tiramisù included. Perfectly coherent with their healthy vision of food, gluten-free options are also available.