Paciugo

Hands down the best gelato I’ve had thus far! The flavors were so rich and flavorful. The hot chocolate was bomb!!! My favorite flavors were pannacotta, cookies n’ milk, and the triple vanilla. The staff was very friendly as well. I will definitely go back every time I visit!

Would give more stars bc I like Pacuigo, but the three children working the closing shift were so immature. We walked in right before closing (unbeknownst to us), were served, and sat down to enjoy our ice cream. Five minutes past ten, the young man in glasses CRANKED up the music (blasting — my ears are ringing) to chase us out. It was incredibly rude and appalling. Will not be returning. We paid for ice cream and it doesn’t take that long to eat it — but the way we were treated was inexcusable.
ETA: we overheard the male employee telling a female employee who served us, «You should have just closed them that we closed at ten and be more passive aggressive!» I hope their managers seek appropriate action and train further employees to act with more respect for their paying customers.

They make an excellent «gelatte»!
We stopped by on a Friday evening, right before closing; I had thought they were closing an hour later but didn’t realize I had confused myself and gotten their closing time mixed up with another place we were visiting afterward.
Even though we were visiting right before closing, they were very nice and polite.
The gelato was delicious (pistachio, and hazelnut!) and the «gelatte» was exactly what my friend needed!

I come to this location 2 – 3 times a week. I absolutely love it. I had an eggnog milkshake tonight, and it took me to another place mentally. Plus, it’s 70% less fat than ice cream, and their scoopers are really cute. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ would recommend.

I’m not particularly a fan of ice cream, but I had a hankering and stopped in today. Gelato was good, as expected. But I just want to give a shout out to the dude working. I have never known an adult man to get this excited about ice cream; super helpful, great recommendations, and seemed like he would have not only let me sample every flavor they had but would have joined me in doing so. This guy alone would get all my stars forever if possible.

Incredibly delicious gelato! I can’t believe I haven’t tried this place. I’m glad that they have a chain in Houston! The texture of the gelato with silky smooth and the flavors blended into it were phenomenal.

Pretty amazing gelato that tricks you into thinking you’re eating healthier. Let’s all be brutally honest for a minute. Don’t get me wrong, it’s probably a much better alternative; it’s creamier than ice cream, and each flavor is so on point, whether you get the sorbet or the lactose-​unfriendly gelato. I have to warn you, though: do not let your eyes deceive you. The «piccolo» (smallest) cup fits three flavors… and plenty of it!
The staff is always smiling and happily willing to let you try just about one of everything. (But don’t be that guy). The store is pristine, and there is plenty of indoor/​outdoor seating.
I never come for anything other than the gelato, unless I have the sudden urge to gain 10 flash pounds and to suffer an intense sugar rush. If so, their milkshakes and blended coffee drinks would be right up my alley. Paciugo recently came out with a new concoction: the gelato panini (a toasty sweet, warm bun with your choice of cold, creamy gelato sealed inside topped with, also your choice, a drizzle of syrup). They graciously passed out samples, which I appreciated. But, please don’t go there. I love the cold + hot dessert scenario as much as the next girl, but it was too much. The execution needs work, and it was a lot of sugar straight to the dome. (Keep in mind the samples were only a small square of a treat.)
Take it from me, the gelato in a cup with a cute little neon spoon is all you’ll ever need in your life.
–xo

Good gelato. Liked that there’s patio seating besides indoor seating (similar to the Lakewood Paciugo), but this one is cleaner, with seemingly a larger selection, and more spacious.
Plus, it’s also by Whole Foods (the best one in the Dallas area). Can’t complain.

What is Gelato?
Gelato is similar to ice cream and has a magical texture. It is the Italian word for «ice cream», derived from the Latin word (meaning «frozen»). In English this word commonly refers to varieties of ice cream made in a traditional Italian style.
Compared to ice cream, gelato is made with a relatively small amount of air. So what??? Glad you asked! Because of Its reduced air content it is not prone to ice crystal formation often battled in ice cream.
There is a greater proportion of whole milk to cream and it is churned at slower speeds than ice cream yielding a product that is super silky and lower in fat. Hence, the result is pure, sweet DECADENCE!
At Paciugo’s there is a flavor for everyone to savor. The caramel sea salt & crème brûlée are wonderful. Many, many choices. The only con– the portions are huge. Even the smallest is enormous. Be forewarned. Also, be forewarned that this place is highly addictive! Be prepared to enjoy.

So, I have pretty high expectations for gelato having eaten the real deal in Europe a couple months ago. Paciugo is a good ice cream joint, but I wouldn’t call it authentic gelato. I went on a Friday at 9:30pm and the place was booming with a line forming outside. That’s a good sign, right? Knowing there would be a long wait gave me the opportunity to look through their flavor selections. Keep in mind that while they have a ridiculous number of flavors listed on the website, only about ¼ of those will be available when you go (some are seasonal.) I ordered a small tiramisu and small hot chocolate. The hot chocolate was top notch. Not some packet Swiss-​miss stuff, but real made fresh cocoa. The gelato was a disappointment though. It’s not as creamy as the gelato I’ve had before, and isn’t as flavorful. It’s not BAD at all, just not the best I’ve had. As far as soft serve, or ice cream goes, it’s high end, but it’s not a GREAT gelato. A little too icy compared to what I’ve had.
Pros: Customer service (everyone was nice and offered samples. I even witnesses them remake coffee for a customer that wanted it hotter even though it was steaming already).
Drinks– hot cocoa was awesome. They have a number of mixed coffee items, as well as shakes. The selection of drinks and gelato options are expansive. This place is also very clean despite being exceptionally busy. The price is reasonable. $ 7 for a small gelato and small cocoa.
Cons: gelato isn’t creamy or flavorful enough if you’ve had «real» gelato. Maybe I just haven’t had the right flavor, but I wasn’t awe-​struck like everyone else was. The milk based flavors are still very icy and could be mistaken with non-​milk flavors if the signs weren’t clear.

This place is classic if you want a solid gelato in Plano after dinner or on a Sunday afternoon. They have their old favorites like chocolate hazelnut, Italian wedding cake, and pistachio but constantly switch their selection out with new flavors like green tea, rose, and interesting sorbets.
This location in particular will often offer free live music on Saturday evenings (Rusty and Michael are a wonderful duet that frequently come from 8:30−10 pm). Love coming here!

For yummy in the tummy ice cream, when I am in west Plano this is my goto spot for a cool treat.

Paciugo is your Italian ice cream/​gelato shop, a ton of unique flavors — flavors with coconut, coffee, mint, fruit, cookies, chocolate, cake, etc. You can get Piccolo (up to 3 flavors), Medio (up to 4 flavors), and Grande (up to 5 flavors). They also have smoothies, shakes, and coffee drinks.
Service that day was blah. Our cashier seem depressed like he was going to bust out crying any minute. Poor fella. The store smelled like bleach that day. Trash cans were filled to the top, and sticky tables.
Paciugo is a nice option to have, but there’s so many ice cream shops. Sure, gelato has less «milk fat» than regular ice cream, but ice cream is ice cream. Healthy or not if I like it I’ll eat it.

All I have to say is Violet and Rose. Guess I’m a flower kind of girl!
Amazing floral flavors that are not overpowering but more subtle and not too sweet.

I’ve always loved Paciugo from the moment I tried it but today I was disappointed. I haven’t been in about six months and things have definitely changed. My biggest issue is that you can no longer get 2 or 3 flavors in the small cup. Only one flavor is permitted. And the medium cup is able to have two flavors but not three.
The small cup has always been more than enough but it’s sad to know that I will only be able to enjoy one flavor. Even Sprinkles ice cream allows you to get two flavors in their small cup.
Also, I arrived 15 minutes before closing and all the chairs for outside seating were all locked up. Securing the chairs 5 minutes before closing is understandable but 15 minutes before is rude, unprofessional and results in a poor customer experience.
The gelato is delicious here but I definitely lost some of my love for Paciugo today.

Wow. First time here. Got the s’mores and the cookies and cream. The texture is the best part of the ice cream and the unique flavors that they produce. Today they offered a guiness ice cream. Something i’ve never seen before. I had a sample and it actually tastes like guinness.
I think i liked the cookies and cream the best.

TOP NOTCH customer service! Super friendly staff! We don’t eat dairy, so we had the Pannacota with soy milk, which was awesome! And I had the water based Strawberry and my boyfriend had the water based Chocolate. Both were really good! Didn’t miss the milk at all!
After were done, I made a pit stop in the ladies room and OMG BEST TOILET PAPER EVER!!! A win all the way around.

GREAT GELATO with GREAT SERVICE and GREAT SUNSHINE!!!
I love this store. The service is great. You can ask to taste as many flavors as you want, and the servers are very happy to help you.
I love chocolate, so whenever I go, I would also pick flavors with chocolate, and THERE ARE MANY CHOICES WITH CHOCOLATE! For example, there are mint chocolate chip, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, chocolate turtle, etc, etc.
I usually get a small cup, and you can choose up to 3 different flavors. The serer who helped me was very kind, and PILED MY CUP WITH GIANT SCOOPS of gelato. I was very satisfied.
This is also a great place to hang out. There is a lot of leg room with great lighting. Barnes and Nobles are just next door, so you can go browse through the books after you finish a delicious serving of Italian ice cream!

Gelato seems like the next big thing (although I guess froyo and bobba tea are still doing pretty well). Paciugo delivers a large variety of flavors with some really friendly and nice employees.
This particular paciugo is located near a bunch of pretty good restaurants and shops, which makes it an ideal hang out/​dessert place. Walking in, you will be warmly greeted and prompted to try out any flavor you want. Definitely try them out, cuz there are… a lot.
You can purchase gelato (which is pretty much ice cream except it uses milk instead of cream) in a cone or in cups (3 sizes). Depending on whether you enjoy eating the crunchy parts of a cone (which i do), you can choose the best option for you. The small sizes gets you up to 3 flavors, medium up to 5 flavors, and large up to 7. I found the small size sufficient for my sugar desires.
Pricing wise, I would say this place isn’t super cheap. If you are looking for typical froyo volume/​price, you probably won’t find it here. However, if you are low on money, I would say that a small is more than enough for one person.
As aforementioned, there are many interesting and standard flavors here: mint chocolate, carrot cake, more chocolate, black cherry, cheesecake. (I am paraphrasing some of the flavor names… but you get the idea). I particularly enjoyed the mint chocolate, but that’s just me. Feel free to try out the more obscure flavors!
In all, great place, really nice employees, really cool flavors, good desserts. V. Nice: D

‘Paciugo’: supposedly means ‘Messy Concoction’. This seems unfortunate to me, as ‘messy’ has tends to have a negative connotation, and I don’t want to associate ‘Paciugo’ with anything negative.
I would rather associate it with Colorful Rainbows, Fluffy Bunnies or Big Pots o’ Shiny Gold (or whatever you currently associate with happiness)
Their mainstay is gelato, and they do a bang-​up job on that front.
They use quality ingredients, and manage to make a very creamy, flavorful and satisfying experience while still managing to keep the butterfat content down. Not to mention the plethora of flavors. Quite impressive. Quite Tasty.
They don’t really do ‘sundaes’ or ‘mix-​ins’ that ice cream places offer. ‘Paciugo’ lets their quality gelato speak for itself.
Less well known, and yet possibly even more impressive to me, are their drinks, espresso based and non.
They use gelato in both their hot & cold drinks.
They have affogatos, frappes & shakes that might be expected with a gelato place, but then there is the ‘Gelatte’: a espresso latte using steamed gelato. Fantastic!
(I love me some creamy, sweet stuff for breakfast!)