Michael’s Gelato & Cafe

Umm, I love gelato and for some reason this place didn’t make me fall in love with it. The gelato was pretty sweet and the favors they had weren’t that great or isn’t any of my favorite. I had better in mountain view.
definitely not worth $ 6 for a cone…

The gelato here was SUPER expensive. My husband and I each got a small cup and it costs under just under $ 12. Are you kidding me?! My watermelon sorbetto was OK, definitely not worth $ 5ish dollars. In addition, when I was looking at the gelato selection — I saw a melting goop of the strawberry sorbetto. Oooh. how unappetizing.
We sat upstairs purposely to watch patrons’ eyeballs pop out as they pay for their outrageously overpriced mediocre gelato. However, the stench coming from the garbage can behind us made us leave.
NEVER again. Go to Gelato Classico or head to Safeway and buy yourself a pint.

I’m honored to grant this store the title of ‘The WORST gelato I’ve ever tasted’ Period.
1) Gelato is suppose to be creamy, much smoother than ice cream. This stuff is dry, icy, and chunky. How do you make frakin gelato dry!!! but these guys pulled it off.
2) Many of the flavors were watery and gross (run away from the ‘Dark Chocolate’ which tastes like watery dark paint).
3) The guy serving was a royal ass. While scooping up the ‘chunky/​icy’ gelato, chunks would fall from one flavor in to another. He didn’t care. He smashed it together to try and make it creamy (good luck buddy) and mixed the flavors all together.
You can also tell their freezer case failed at some point that day as some of the gelato refroze in a melted running state. The owners obviously don’t care and am happy to sell you their icy mess.
This place needed to go out of business like yesterday.

Dear Michael,
Your gelatos are overpriced. I wonder how much business you’ve gotten from people walking in expecting moderately priced gelatos, only to get to the register to pay $ 5+ for a small gelato. My family was walking around at the Palo Alto Art and Wine Festival and my brother and I decided to stop for gelatos. The prices aren’t posted by the door, so if you don’t check Unilocal,you wouldn’t have any idea how much you’re about to spend till you get to the register. Ok, nice selection of flavors that I haven’t seen before, like Blue Bottle Coffee, but geez, your price can’t be justified. If you can’t afford your rent, get out of Palo Alto!
Tip: ask for a sample or 2 before buying — hey, why not, you’re about to spend too much for a gelato!
+Get 2 flavors instead of just 1
+Blue Bottle Coffee — Interesting, I liked it
–Not as creamy as I had expected. I’d be ok with the price if it was amazing gelato… but I prefer Gelato Classico down the street
–Price — just. not. cool.

Their gelato is not as creamy as gelato classico, but they are richer in whatever flavour they are supposed to embody, ex. the earl grey gelato is strong but definitely not creamy. I come here when I want gelato that is not as rich, or for flavours that are better when not creamy.
Michael is really nice and sometimes even gives you samples without you asking — that happens to me a lot as I am slow at making decisions. His son (or whoever the young man is when Michael himself is not there) is not as friendly.
There is live music at night on the weekends, and the balcony is a great place to chill. Do sit upstairs if you’re eating in!

$ 5.75 for a their smallest sized gelato?
No thank you.
And by the looks of it, they’ve increased their prices a lot in the past couple years.
Reviews from 2010 say it was $ 4.75 and from 2007 say it was $ 3.75
They dont even make their own gelato. It’s labeled as Naia gelato.

Decent gelato (they serve Naia gelato).
Super friendly employees.
They often have live music. =)
I like that they’re open late, often way after their posted 11pm closing time. I’ve stayed there many times past closing and have never been kicked out. Really appreciate this, esp since the majority of Palo Alto closes down so early!
Super expensive though … more than $ 6 for a small gelato. Though it’s a generous portion, the price is outrageous. Maybe it’s the price to pay for hospitality.

The family that owns this place are also the ones behind the counter helping you. Super friendly and nice people!!!
A buck for a regular coffee compared to $ 1.80 from SB and Peets. Why not!!!
If you love Ice Cream but scared of getting fat then you can’t get wrong with this one. since Gelato (Italian word for Ice Cream) uses lower butterfat content.
This place also serves sandwiches and awesome hotdogs!
They have seating area on the 2^nd floor which also have a balcony for those amazing sunny days to enjoy your coffee/​gelato.

Best place for Gelato!
Upon walking in, Michael greeted us with a smiling face and was more than happy to give us samples. He was very friendly and sweet. All of the flavors I tried were very tasty. However it is a bit on the pricy side. If you go up the stairs there are more tables and they have an outside balcony to sit and people watch while you enjoy the food.

Smooth delicious Gelato with a friendly owner (?) more than willing to hand out samples to help you decide on your dessert for the evening. You can certainly taste the fresh flavors in every bite. The only downside is the price/​quantity ratio. Yes, you need to pay for quality, but it was still enough to keep Michael’s from earning that fourth star from me.

Lots of people seem to think that this is the best gelato in PA but I could not disagree more. The gelato here isn’t terrible, but its definitely not the best in Palo Alto. Its on the icy side and doesn’t have the perfect creamy consistency that gelato should. Even worse than the taste is the price. I had been once before and remembered not being super impressed with the gelato, but apparently I didn’t remember the sticker shock. We came tonight and got the smallest scoop and it was $ 5.75. Almost SIX DOLLARS for a tiny scoop of gelato. We split it and it felt like we ended up with two mouthfuls each. At Gelato Classico, the smallest size is around $ 3 and is bigger than it is here (and the gelato is much creamier and more flavorful).
The owner is incredibly friendly and very generous with the samples, but I can’t say I’ll ever come back when there’s a much cheaper place with much better gelato down the street.

Michael’s Gelato is where my bf and I had our first date and we’ve been going back since. We just celebrated our 3 year anniversary and of course, he blind folded me and took me to Michael’s!
We each got 2 scoops in our cones and the flavor i wanted (banana) was sold out so i got mango and pineapple and he had cookies and cream and pistachio.
Both were very good, even better that this place had sentimental value to us.
Will def return to have my banana flavor! =]

I came here with a group of 30 folks through Unilocal Dish Crawl. We met Michael the owner and he was very nice. He gave such generous scoops to all of us with an option of one or two scoops. His spoonfuls filled every corner of the cup plus a heaping mound that caped over the cup.
I got milk chocolate and pistacio. It was good but didn’t blow my hair back.
My friend got peanut butter and it was DELICIOUS. It was creamy, buttery, and had chunks of chocolate.
My other friend got Madagascar vanilla and banana. Those were very refreshing!
I’m definitely getting peanut butter next time… or guiness gelato…

We were on a dessert tour of Palo Alto and our guide highly recommended this place. Really good gelato! I can still fell its taste in my mouth. If you are adventurous, try some of the unusual flavors. I liked the blood orange. The chocolate options were also delicious. My friend had the rose flavored gelato… ummm…nice, but I don’t like the smell of flower in my mouth.
The place is nice and cozy and has a live music to add to the Croatian vibe. Nice touch!

I could use their stuff as hair products. What a goopy, sticky mess!
… and that is if I wanted ants in my hair — they are also super duper sweet.
I had rose & green tea flavored gelato. I like eating floral things (like, honey lavender gelato from Powell’s — super!), but their rose is too perfume-​y, and the green tea was too bitter and didn’t have a lot of flavor.
Yes, gelato should be served slightly melted, but by the end of that cup of gelato, my hands were stiff from sugar hardening on my frozen hands.

Mmmmm, I am a sucker for Nocciola, and Michael’s Gelato & Café does a really good one. There are many hazelnut bits and it isn’t too sweet. I also tried their Giaduia (sp?) which is hazelnut with chocolate. The tiramisu looked pretty yummy, but I think I annoyed the owner enough with my multiple tasting requests. I’ll just have to return another time to try it.
You can get one flavor in a small, two in a medium, and three in a large cup. A medium will cost you almost $ 6, but it’s worth it on a warm summer day.
There is plenty of café-​style seating, and the entrance to the shop is open so you can sneak in some discrete people-​watching as you eat. Also, the proprietor is very nice about providing water when you get thirsty from all the sweets.

OH. EM. GEE.
Best gelato… EVER!!!
There were so many flavors to choose from. Everything from lavender to espresso. There were even some sorbets to choose from.
I went for the espresso and stracciatella gelatos. Espresso had a strong espresso taste without being overpowering. Stracciatella is a vanilla gelato made with heavier cream and chocolate bits. This was just droolworthy. It was sweet and creamy and YUMMY!
I will totally come back here again for my gelato fix. Don’t get sidetracked by Gelato Classico nearby. Michael’s is definitely A+++!
love the gelato, had espresso and stracicella (sp?)

I am always a bit saddened when I really like the owner/​staff, but can’t quite get behind the product. This place is absolutely lovely if you take your gelato upstairs and eat on the balcony overlooking University Avenue. I was offered samples and ended up choosing a small, yet very expensive, bowl with two flavors.
Even though the service, location and environment aren’t nearly as stellar, I prefer the gelato a few blocks away at Gelato Classico.

My favorite gelato place in Palo Alto! Love the owner; he’s a great guy who is always friendly and lets indecisive people like me try countless flavors — all with a smile on his face.
The live music on weekend evenings and the balcony sitting area on the sitting floor is definitely a nice touch and makes it a neat place to hang out.

I really like Michael’s. The owners and staff are all very nice, and will give you samples of the flavors, if asked.
I personally love fruit gelatos, and have tried pretty much every flavor they offer (they rotate, so there may be one or two I’ve missed). The berry ones are the best (can’t beat that sweet/​tart flavor), but all the fruit ones I’ve tried have been decent. They’re true-​to-​flavor, with good mouth feel and taste. I’ve had a few of the cream-​based ones, and they’ve been fine, but they’re not my favorite (I’d rather eat ice cream!).
The space is very cool, and it’s neat to sit upstairs on the one balcony on University Avenue and people watch from above.
The problem, as other folks have mentioned, is the price. It’s extremely spendy.
I’ve read in the local rag (PA Daily) that the owner is trying to sell, but I don’t believe he’s gotten an offer he likes yet. It’ll be too bad, since this is a nice dessert spot on this block of University.