Mr Penguin

Mr. Penguin is a locally owned soft serve ice cream and gelati shop located off Platt St. in Soho area of Tampa. On the times I’ve been to visit I have encountered friendly and efficient service.
Many flavors that rotate means that there is something for every taste. Hey, so you don’t like gelati? Well, there soft serve is excellent if you have an ice cream presence. They even give a complimentary cup of ice cream for your four-​legged companions. My little one was so pleased to have an indulgence.
Check out Mr. Penguin for a sweet treat if you’re in the Soho area. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

I just love Mr. Penguin! I brought my nieces here last week, and we loved it so much we came back two days later. They have so many flavors to choose from, but my love for peanut butter and chocolate made me get this flavor swirl both visits. The first time we all ordered a medium, which proved to be a meal in itself — we opted for smalls our second visit, and it was still more than enough. I will definitely be back!

Was visiting Tampa this weekend and stopped by here and am so happy I did! It was a great treat! Had the cherry and mango gelati with vanilla soft serve! So good!

Highly recommend the green tea and vanilla swirled gelati! But, you really can’t go wrong with anything here as long as you love ice cream. Gelati is like, flavored icy swirled with soft-​serve ice cream. I think for some people some of the flavors may be too sweet so if you’re not sure, they will literally let you try endless samples until you find something you like. This place is very cute and casual; you walk up to a window to order and there is only outside seating.

I tried them a couple of weeks ago on the way home. It wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t half as good as Jeremiah’s. I had the Piña colada and vanilla swirl and it was just ok. The piña colada wasn’t sweet enough I think. All in all I would go again, but personally I would prefer Jeremiah’s.

Quick Read: A fantastic stop for some quality, friendly frozen treats.
Mr. Penguin is a fairly recent addition to the Tampa community, and a truly wonderful addition to the neighborhood. We come here on a regular basis, and have always experienced wonderful service paired with delicious ice cream and gelati. They’ve got a large selection of flavors for even the most picky of eaters. My favorite is definitely a mix between the mango and passion fruit Italian ices.

I’ve has soft serve and I’ve had Italian ice but never at the same time. That changed today and I love it. We had strawberry lemon and vanilla, peanut butter/​salted caramel and chocolate, and a kids chocolate cone. Everyone was pleased with their choices and finished everything while we sat out side on their patio. Loved it. Plan on coming back for more!

After a long Friday traffic drive, my first stop had to be Mr. Penguin. I tried a handful of flavors, and finally picked mine. It was pineapple, vanilla, and green tea.
As I sat there, I calmed down from all the anxiety of taking forever to get to Tampa, I finally felt relaxed and at peace. Thank U Mr. Penguin!

Awesome gelati. They have a wide range of Italian ice, and their soft serve is so creamy. I especially enjoyed the mango ice, which had chunks of fruit in it.
This location only has outdoor seating. At this time of year, that’s not a big deal, but in the dog days of summer, the Dale Mabry/​Henderson location is probably more practical.

This is one cool unique ice cream shop. Nestled right in Soho, it’s a perfect place to get some dessert and people watch (it’s a block away from Hyde Park Café).
This is the first place I’ve seen something called «gelatti». It’s almost like sorbet. They have a ton of flavors to choose from. And you’re even allowed to sample. Then you can either get all Italian ice or mix it with chocolate or vanilla soft-​serve.
Make sure you ask how big the sizes are to see if you can finish. I got a large and didn’t finish.
They only have outdoor seating and are actually open fairly late.

I had mango and black cherry Italian ice and swirl soft serve mix into a gelati. So delicious! Long list of Italian ice flavors to choice from and free sample before you committee. The price is reasonable. Mr Penguin is the best place to get the cold sweet treat!

If you’re looking for something sweet, but you’re tired of your average ice cream shop. Hit up Mr. Penguin! They have tons of different flavors of ice from green tea, lychee, rootbeer and so on. The custard is also very rich and creamy compared to Rita’s.
I really enjoy Mr. Penguin, but personally it’s too rich for me to each. I would like the ice to be a little less creamy, but there’s people who prefer the richness.

The name matches what they serve. Mr. Penguin definitely a cold serve. We are welcome the cold serve in Florida since we have hot weather most of the time.
I like thank Nick to show this place to us. We like their combination of the Italian ice with the soft serve ice cream. This combination is work for me. I have the vanilla soft serve with the bubble gum flavor Italian ice. They put them in layer. We actually can pick to flavors of Italian ice but I didn’t do it since I like bubble gum flavor. The ice cream with the two type of mix calls gelati. I like Mr. Penguin creative bring other sensation to the community.
The soft serve can be vanilla, chocolate or the swirl of two flavors. The Italian ice has a lot to select. You can ask for the try out taste before you make your order. This place is dog friendly.

Florida is hot,
Ice cream is necessary.
This will cool you down.
Italian ice + Soft serve = Gelati
What is a Gelati? I don’t know. It’s kind of like one of those Snow Cone Shacks on the side of the road and Dairy Queen got together and had a baby. Well, the Italian Ice is quite a bit better than snow cone quality. They tower parfait soft serve and gelati in whatever combo you desire. It’s downright addictive. In oppressively hot Tampa… this is an oasis.
They have a ton of ice flavor, but only chocolate and vanilla soft serve. I want more soft serve! Up the soft-​serve game, and this place will have it all.

Huge props for originality! I was truly impressed by the sugary goodness handed through the window at this unusual (in a good way) & premium ice/​soft serve/​gelati creamery.
Upon arrival, there was no line. We walked right up to the window and started learning how it all works. For me, it was very confusing. I still don’t know exactly how everything works. As we stood there asking questions, a line quickly started to form. By the time it was time to order, the line was out to the road. I felt so much pressure to get the line moving, I just spouted out a couple flavors that sounded good together. It turned out nice!
From what I gathered, there is only outside seating. This was not a comfortable night for sitting outside, with the heart and humidity, even the cold treat couldn’t stop the sweating. This hurts them, but not enough to lose a star.
The service was friendly, and even though the lines were long and people kept pouring in, the line moved quick like bunny. The price was average, if not cheaper than most creameries, and the end result is a delicious & unique dessert that you’ll want to tell your friends about.

Mr. Penguin was good, but I discovered I am not a big fan of gelati. Personally, I think the texture of the smooth soft serve and the frozen Italian are a weird combination.
What is gelati? Gelati is Italian ice swirled with soft serve ice cream. Mr. Penguin is very generous with the samples of Italian ice so I tried about half a dozen flavors before I realized they were all so-​so. I thought the lemon, cherry, and orange creamsicle were all too sweet. I would have preferred a tarter lemon or cherry. I ended up settling for the peanut butter because it seemed the most unique of the flavors that I tried.
I didn’t want to order a boring chocolate, vanilla, or swirl soft serve cone so I finally deciding on the peanut butter and chocolate gelati. The medium was huge… I can’t even imagine ordering a large! I ended up eating half of my frozen treat and placing the rest of my dessert in the freezer. One disappointing observation: the Italian ice melts quicker than the soft serve so the gelati turns into a melted mess quickly.
On a positive note, prices were extremely cheap in comparison to other ice cream and fro-​yo shops in South Tampa. I paid less than $ 12 for 2 medium gelatis and 1 small gelati. We’ll be back since my husband was a huge fan of Mr. Penguin, but on my next visit I’m going to stick with the soft serve ice cream and forgo the Italian ice.

Why 5 stars? Because it’s a frozen sugar lover’s paradise!
— — —
Penguin was long overdue for a visit from me. Any business with over 50 reviews and a 5-​star average is usually something I’d like to check out, but especially one that italian ice and soft serve. And after finally experiencing it for myself, I discovered that the hype is real.
Here’s how your treat will be served inside the cup:
Soft-​Serve
Italian Ice
Soft-​Serve
Italian Ice
I really like this, because I often have a very important, first-​world problem. Sometimes, when I crave sweets, my tongue cannot decide if it’s more in the mood for sweet/​tangy or for milky/​creamy. But you absolutely get the best of both worlds at Penguin!
There is a barrage of 24 rotating flavor options to choose from, in terms of the italian ice. And you can order the soft-​serve in chocolate, vanilla, or swirl.
And lastly, the small is a deceiving amount of deliciousness. I have a professional eater’s stomach, and the small size was plenty!

Yesterday was my first time at Mr. Penguin and it was a great experience! The lovely girl that was running the whole show by herself was very efficient, polite and extremely helpful. I really enjoyed being able to sample before picking my flavor of choice. I ended up getting the green tea flavored Italian ice with Vanilla ice cream because i love pretty much anything green tea flavored. :) I also sampled the mango flavor. I actually like the texture of the mango Italian ice more than the green tea.
The small size is plenty for one person. Medium or large is good if you’re sharing. I tried putting the extra gelati I had in the freezer to eat it later and it still tasted delicious.
Overall great experience. Lovely service and great dessert. especially on a hot florida day. :)

When I walked up to Mr Penguin, I was a little confused. Can I order inside? No, just order at the outside window. Can I eat inside? No, just the tables outside. Do they serve gelati (the plural of gelato)? No, they serve gelati, which is soft serve ice cream layered on top of shaved ice. Are all the flavors on the board the ice cream flavors? No, those are the shaved ice flavors and you combine your chosen shaved ice flavor with either vanilla, chocolate or a swirl of them both. Or if you want, you can just get the shaved ice or just get the ice cream. I chose the gelati… small, which is more than enough unless you plan to share.
So now comes the tough part, what flavor shaved ice to choose. They have nearly 20 to choose from, including surprises such as lychee. Fortunately, the young ladies provide samples. I tried out the green tea and salted caramel. Eh. OK. Let’s go with their most popular flavor, peanut butter and match it up with the vanilla/​choco ice cream. That was the best decision I made all day.
The soft serve really hit the spot on a steamy Sunday afternoon. The consistency, creaminess and flavor of the ice cream was perfect. The combination of the vanilla and chocolate blends well with the peanut butter ice. It almost seemed like when I scooped up both the ice and the ice cream, I was eating PB ice cream. I wasn’t sure how I would like the icee part of it but it worked with this combination.
My only gripe is why aren’t there napkin dispensers anywhere? I had to go back in line to get some. Perhaps they’re trying to cut down on costs but it’s an ice cream shop, people need napkins. At least hand one out with the ice cream.
I’ll be back again and again this summer. Maybe I’ll try another flavor, maybe I won’t. That PB shaved ice with vanilla/​choco swirl is a game changer.

All of the things in my last review are true… With one exception.
The boy and I went yesterday (our new Sunday ritual) and there it was.
Right there in front of my face.
GREEN TEA.
So of course I got a sample, hoping that it would be everything dreams were made of. And it was. Matcha based and not too sweet. Green tea awesomeness.
I expressed my enthusiasm to the girl behind the counter, and she seemed to think that it was going back on the permanent menu.
HURRAY!
Now if only they’d bring back lychee…