IL Gelato Hawaii

Well get ready to have your Gelato Socks knocked off!!! This is by far the creamiest gelato I have ever had anywhere! This creamy masterful gelato will dance on your tastebuds for quite awhile! I can’t get enough!
The girls at the factory are very kind and helpful! It’s a bit confusing to get back to the factory, as you have to go through the guard shack. The little old man at the gate is adamant that you only have 15 minutes or you’ll pay to park. But don’t worry they will send you out with validation if you do need more time! But trust me it’s worth the small effort to find this hidden Gem! They had an awesome special today buy 2 quarts of Gelato and get 1 quart of sorbetto free!!! Love love love this place!

Super good gelato and awesome experience with the owner, Dirk. He gave us a free personal tour of his factory here and was very cool.
His background as a chemist really shines in his products through all the amazing flavors his gelato comes in

Doesn’t get much better than this! Great ice cream, great prices and friendly employees

A bit tough to find but well worth ze time to get lost. I tried ze pistachio and salted caramel and I almost punched a baby in ze face cause it was that good. So if you’re ever in Kalihi and want a nice, cool treat head over to IL Gelato. You will not be disappointed.

Amazing! Definitely the best gelato in Hawaii. I fell in live with gelato because of this place. A hidden gem.
Everyone in the office is super nice and friendly!

After visiting both the Haleiwa and Kahala Mall Il Gelato retail locations, I thought I would check out the factory location as I was shopping in the area. I was excited to see where the magic happened!
The gelato is made directly behind where you get your scoops from and if the workers are not too busy that day, they may show you around and let you see some of the process of gelato making. Annalisa, the office manager, and Dirk, the owner, are super helpful and interact with you while you make the hard decision about what flavors you want!
I ended up getting one scoop to eat right then and two quarts to take home — I love their products!
I hope they start opening up more stores around the island so no matter where I am, I can always get my fix!

CASH ONLY. I found this place via Unilocal.The five star reviews don’t lie. They have an assortment of flavors. There are scoop options or you can buy them in quarts.
I suggest the quarts because you get a better value for your money. Right, now they are doing a special: buy 2 quarts of gelato get 1 quart of sorbet for free for $ 24. Each quart normally goes for $ 12 each so it really comes out to $ 8 per quart. That’s a steal for delicious gelato. Not sure how long the offer lasts so best to go there now.
No need to go to other places and get manini scoops for $ 3-​$ 4.
Bottom line: Delicious gelato and friendly customer service too!

Originally posted a review for the Haleiwa location here in error. I moved my review to the correct location.

Had lunch in the area and was looking for a black to grab something sweet. I opened up my Unilocal app and found this gelato place. Reviews looked good so we decided to check it out.
Finding this place was a little difficult. It’s just beyond the Kmart street past the booth and to your left.
Once you enter through the door, you see freezers on your right with a window… if you walk further in towards the workshop, you’ll see a display on your left with all the flavors for the day. They offer samples, so taste away!
There were lots of flavors to pick between but I ultimately settled for the rum raisin. It was good. You could definitely taste the alcohol… plus points!
The only complaint I have is that their containers are a little misleading. I thought I got a deal on such a large scoop but it ended up being not as big as I thought because the bottom of the container actually starts in the middle. Yeah, I felt a little cheated but it’s okay.

It was a little hard for me to find. I’m sure other people had it just a little easier.
Other then that…
Customer Service was great! Everyone that was at the front desk had a smile on their face. All said Hi.
Dessert Gelato was super good. I had the Vanilla which was just super good not too sweet. My husband had the Chocolate Truffle and he’s just in love with it.
Definitely will be going back to try the other flavors.

It really pays to know people living in Honolulu. After meeting some friends for lunch nearby, they mentioned they wanted to get some ice cream. Let’s see … hot day, had a filling meal … say no more, let’s go! We followed them down several streets of twists & turns and into a security guarded gate. My thought was … WTH? But hey, the anticipation just builds.
We came to this small parking lot with a Il Gelato sign on the wall. My friend takes us inside and it’s a factory! Awesome! He seems to know the owner as they chatted for a bit and she proceeded to tell us their daily flavors displayed in a glass case.
Some of the flavors are very unique (dragon fruit lychee or strawberry guava sorbet) and some are variations of a classic (white chocolate cookies & cream) I got a double scoop of dragon fruit & lychee on top of salted caramel in a waffle cone. The slight tartness of d-​fruit lychee that gave way to the rich, creaminess of the salted caramel was a nice transition. The prices were amazingly low, at $ 4. for a double scoop. My friend said it’s about half the price of gelato stands found at the nearby Ala Moana mall.
There are a couple of small tables and chairs outside to enjoy these frozen treats before they melt under the warm Hawaiin sun. It was a very nice & relaxing way to indulge in some sweets. Il Gelato, specifically this location, will definitely be on my to-​go list next time I visit Honolulu.

I recently went to an IL Gelato booth at Eat the Streets Kakaako. The we’re advertising acai bowls… my fav! After much anticipation I got my acai bowl. The acai base was an acai sorbet. It was covered with very thin slices of banana and strawberries with honey on top. First of all I wanted to congratulate IL Gelato for having the absolute worst acai bowl I’ve ever had! I can’t tell you how dissapointed I was. From the presentation all the was down to the taste… it was an absolute lost cause. The sorbet was very sweet and on top of that they added a sweet honey. There was nothing else added to the bowl. I had high hopes for the acai bowl because their Gelato tasted really good. I’m not sure if the have acai bowls are on their regular menu or not but if they do, it should be trashed immediately! I really wanted to give IL Gelato a 1 star but, in all honesty, they have really good Gelato. I hope they stick to just selling what they’re good at.

Located down a long alley way, this place is a gem for Gelato. They normally have a good variety to order and you can also purchase by the pint. They experiment a lot with different flavor combinations such as Chocolate Ginger and Peanut Butter with Pickle. great little place that most people don’t know about.
Food: Creamy textures, unique flavors, fresh ingredients, can’t ask for more! Ask the workers and they will recommend flavor combinations if you go for a combo cup.
Service: The workers here are knowledgeable, friendly, always willing to chat about where they are taking Gelato next.
Atmosphere: Set way back at the end of an alley on Sumner Street, the alley is not well let but don’t let that stop you. The areas were you purchase the Gelato is very small, the location itself looks like it is setup as their manufacturing and distribution center for their retail locations. I’m very happy that they allow their fans to purchase out of this location.
Value: Single scoop in a cup is $ 3, the double scoop is a great value as it’s just $ 1 more. You can go with more scoops but I try to limit myself to two scoops max!
Overall a great place to stop in for wonderful gelato if you find yourself in the area.

We had a pretty stressful move to Hawaii and our first few days on Oahu have tortured our kiddo (lots of waiting, lots of paperwork, lots of driving to unfun places). She asked if we could do something fun; specifically, get FroYo. A quick Unilocal search yielded this establishment. We were totally confused when we rolled up on a business center but my husband went in to see if we could get a scoop. It was our lucky day!!! Jeremy was very kind and helpful and told us all about the gelato and sorbeto. We tried a few flavors and they were all flavor packed and smooth textured. Mint Oreo and Blood orange were our picks and they were delicious. We steered away from the Peanut Butter Pickle; although it was interesting to taste. Our service couldn’t have been better and the product couldn’t have been more amazing. We will definitely be back for gelato and perhaps a tour!

Can a dessert be gorgeous in flavor?! I couldn’t find a better word but oh… my goodness, this gelato is absolutely gorgeous. Exquisite? Delicious? Delectable? I can’t quite find the words. It’s so good it feels sinful… decadent.
I can’t even… right now. Eating the gelato here after a tour of their factory has to have been the best experience my tongue has ever had. The flavors are so ridiculously rich, you literally *need* the tiny spoon in order to not overload your tastebuds (as was explained to me). Most recently, I had the eggnog gelato, strawberry lemonade sorbeto, and I think some type of strawberry lime sorbeto that I got a whole quart of and tried to take home on the bus. I ate about a fourth of it along the way lol. (Sorry, I don’t remember the name, I only got it because they didn’t have quarts of the strawberry lemonade).
Now… I hate eggnog. Actual eggnog as a drink makes me gag. So tell me why I couldn’t get enough of this eggnog gelato? What is even going on?! It was a-​mazing! I can’t wait to try coffee flavors if they ever have that for sale. Since I’m a coffee lover… I’m probably going to be in absolute heaven.
Also… I *hate* fruit flavored ice cream. I seriously do. I can’t eat sorbets or any sort of fruit flavor. Can’t stand it. Nuh-​uh. Nope. I was super reluctant to try the strawberry-​lemonade but that’s the flavor they had out at the time so I had no choice really. I was thinking to myself, great, here goes, another milky fruit thing that tastes like flavored cream soda or is just… way too fake. Took a bite and OH-​MAI-​GAH what is this??! It was like eating strawberry lemonade if you could just. eat it. It didn’t taste milky, creamy, fake, syrupy… none of that. It wasn’t even icy like how you freeze a drink and try to eat it in slushy form. It was a drink somehow manifested in this absolutely smooth frozen form, it’s kind of mind-​boggling.
Now, keep in mind this location does regular sales of different flavors on different days, otherwise, this is where you go to get entire TUBS of gelato. Yes. I said tubs. Go get some. Now. (or maybe when they open because right now it’s 10:30 pm). Bring a cooler with you if you plan to get tubs and you don’t live in town btw.
Lastly, I got to meet the founder, Dirk, who was very awesome and told us the story of how IL Gelato came to be and what makes gelato so amazing. After tasting it, I believed every word, lol. I would choose gelato over ice cream and frozen yogurt any day, particularly if it was from here. Thanks for just wowing my tastebuds, IL Gelato. I hope to try some more amazing flavors soon.

Location is kinda weird for a gelato place since it’s in the Iwilei Business Center (this is their warehouse location), but it actually has its benefits of being one of the only «dessert» places in the area. It’s never busy and you get served right away!
It’s $ 3 for 1 scoop and $ 5 for 2 scoops. They also sell them by the quart for $ 12.
Made fresh daily!
Now what really sets this place apart from most gelato places I’ve been to is the FLAVORS. So many unique and delicious flavors, and they’re always coming out with more! I’ve seen flavors like mascarpone caramel cappucino, Guinness, pineapple mint, graham cracker, guava, strawberry habenero, more «local» flavors like lilikoi and dragonfruit, and seasonal flavors like pumpkin cheesecake, Oktoberfest, and eggnog! They serve 6 – 8 flavors per day.
My all-​time favorites are the pistachio and hazelnut! I buy these flavors by the quart (note: pistachio has an inflated price compared to normal quarts, as they fly in their pistachios from Italy). My only gripe is that the consistency of the frozen quart variety is slightly less creamy as the variety they serve at their store, which I suppose is to be expected of preserved goods.
The other disappointment is that they only pack the quarts with the leftover flavors of the day, so you can’t really count on a certain flavor being there when you want to buy it. However, it was one of those days that I was looking for pistachio when they were out-​of-​stock and I discovered a new fave, hazelnut!
They also serve acai bowls and root beer floats, which I have yet to try since I can’t stay away from the gelato!
Apparently IL Gelato provides their gelato to a bunch of Hawaii’s high-​end restaurants. The owner, Dirk, is also apparently the shizz and represented Hawaii and the USA in the World Gelato Championship in January 2014. You really can’t get much better than that!

Oh-em-gee!!!my favorite is the sea salt caramel… amazing! In a crispy crunchy waffle cone… heaven on earth!

This is the type of place one would never find on their own. Ice cream is good and prices are reasonable.

I took the kids here one afternoon as a treat after we went hiking. I chose this place because it had such good ratings on Unilocal and it was close by. It’s in a business district and not a shopping center. You need to let the guard at the front know you’re going for gelato and he’ll let you park on the side.
The kids had a scoop of gelato each. Tahitian Vanilla and a dark chocolate one. Both were good and the kids were happy. I got a sorbetto — Pineapple Kale. It was SO good! Refreshing, sweet, and tangy. The kids liked it too. Prices were reasonable and they sell quart sizes at this location. They were super nice and friendly.
I would definitely come back.

First taste: Honolulu NightMarket September 20^th.
It was pretty hot walking around nightmarket… must have been all that body heat around! I’m not a big fan of Honolulu Nightmarket’s «new» location. Anyways alot of people were already eating ice cream in waffle cones and I suddenly went on a mission. A mission to find any cold and refreshing treat! All I saw was a banner that read, GELATO. *instantly stands in line*… I’m not at all picky with ice cream/​gelatos because I’ve never had terrible experiences. This was my first try at IL Gelato, I got 2 scoops, Mango and Dragonfruit (patiya) Sorbetto.
OH GOD GET IN MY MOUTH! It was the best! Quite honestly, I didn’t really care for the dragonfruit once I tried the mango flavor. It was seriously like eating fresh mango– none of that artificial stuff. Like a fresh, sweet, mango paradise! I regret not getting all mango. Such a great consistency for a sorbetto. It wasn’t icy like you would imagine. The price was amazing for the taste and quality. Totally recommended.
Workers were fast, efficient, and best of all? Friendly :)

Unilocal 365 CHALLENGE 2014−(215÷365) «Total 180 Degrees!!!»
See the 5 stars? I SERIOUSLY wish I could give more! My first visit was pretty disappointing… I had no idea that this location was just for Factory Sales, and only offered select flavors on certain days. I had no idea that a location in Kahala Mall existed? Totally misunderstood on my part! Well, live and learn, right? The patience, persistence, and professionalism displayed by owner Dirk Koeppenkastrop is second to none! He took my first review as constructive criticism, reached out to me, and offered a factory tour of Il Gelato to see what goes on behind the scenes… NO ONE was obligated to do so, but that right there speaks volumes of a business owner!
I had to wait nearly a year, but boy was it worth it… We were greeted at the entrance by Dirk, and we immediately got the 411 on Il Gelato… Their 50+ customer base of hotels and businesses around Oahu, their use of all-​natural ingredients, seasonal fruits, and local coffee, chocolate, and even the milk from cows on the Big Island of Hawaii! Love the local support between businesses here. Not only the pristine ingredient selection, but the top of the line equipment straight from Italy was very impressive. The best part was tasting the various gelatos and sorbetos!
What really stood out for me were two key elements… TASTE and TEXTURE. Every sorbet we tasted was like eating the ripest flavorful fruit ever! The gelatos were just as incredible, and the ones that stood out for me were the Mascarpone and Toasted Hazelnut… TOTALLY AMAZEBALLS! Dirk’s ability to nail the flavors and textures is partly due to his background as a Chemist paired with a passion to bring the BEST product in town to consumers.(Il Gelato was recently voted best Gelato in Honolulu Magazine)
Each and every one of his flavors rarely need adjustments (He guarantees them 90% spot on) and his five different bases used to balance the fats, sugars, and solids of all flavors are a huge testament to Dirk’s dedication not only to Il Gelato, but to Team USA where they competed against the «Big Dogs» in the Gelato World Championships in Italy. Although they missed the podium, Team USA did receive high marks on texture from the judges. Winding down our factory tour, I thanked Dirk for his time and undivided attention he spent with us. Best of luck and continued success for Il Gelato and Team USA when you guys go for the Gold in 2016!!! ALOHA!!!
Shaka Meter: \uuu/​\uuu/​\uuu/​\uuu/​\uuu/​\uuu/​\uuu/​\uuu/​\uuu/​\uuu/​10
Patience, Persistence and Professionalism at its FINEST!

When you have a craving for ice cream and Via Gelato in Kaimuki isn’t close enough.
Even Baskin Robbins wouldn’t cut it @ the Kamehameha shopping center nearby. For me, I did a search on Unilocal and found an IL Gelato location that was a little bit unorthodox, to say the least. I had to really search where this place is. Since it was during a recent work day, I had to just have to make due and see where this location was really. I had sampled the IL Gelato location in Kahala Mall, but was this the «headquarters» where they make the gelato, send it to restaurants, and send it to their Kahala Mall location to be sold as well. It was interesting to know that this was the factory that makes and distributes the gelato. I am thankful that I know now of this place for the future. It was nice to have fresh gelato relatively near my work place. With that said, the area is basically an industrial area, with really not much commercial space you and I are used to frequent. Still, I still think that this is where they physically make the gelato and send it to the Kahala Mall location to be sold. They do sell gelato here as well too, so that’s a great plus for us who work in town and need the gelato fix. The experience here was pretty good and thankful for the location when I can’t get to Kaimuki till in the evenings after work.
Il Gelato Hawaii is located at 501 Sumnter Street in Iwilei, located behind the Kmart. It was a challenge finding this place, so best bet would be to park at Kmart, act like you are shopping there, and head on over to IL Gelato. If you are like me, several bus routes rumble through the area, so stop by either on North Hotel or North Beretania and River Street and walk about ½ mile on Iwilei Road to get to Sumner Street. I agree from the other Unilocalers that this place is a hidden gem and a great alternative to whatever ice cream that you’re used to having in the past. Try out Il Gelato and you’ll be happy that you did. For myself, I had cross paths with Il Gelato @ the Kahala Mall location in the past and felt like it was pretty good and worth the money. Maybe coming to the source, you can get it cheaper and yep, there was some level of savings if you do come here. They do sell pints and also sell by the scoop on Wednesdays and Fridays, but it’s probably more cost effective if you buy by the pint, you know, more the merrier kind
of thing for your stomach, anyway!
They sell IL Gelato @ Whole Foods too, so that was nice as well. The service was nice here and the gelato really hit the spot on a warm humid spring day in Hawaii nei. The gelato is made with the freshest ingredients and freshly made for your own conveience! Better bring cash though, to be sure. I had cash on me at the time, so I didn’t know for real, if they accepted credit cards. Better to be safe than to be caught with a pint of fresh gelato in your hand and realizing they don’t accept credit cards! The pints themselves are kind of overpriced for $ 12, for however size they give you. Still, the best would be to try single or double scoops to just try. One scoop can seem insidiously small, so be prepared on how much you are prepared to buy. While a scoop of gelato can go 6 seconds from bowl to mouth and disappear in a blink of an eye, this place was no exception. Good service and just good gelato. I arrived here on a recent Wednesday afternoon and there was a small line. Talk about popular. It was just one of those days where you know you need ice cream just to make it through the day. Some have coffee, I needed ice cream, pronto!
I tried the Chocolate ginger and it was pretty smooth. Enjoyed it very much.
Support local!
B+

My friend and I just had lunch at Nimitz Center, and we wanted something cold for dessert. Since Il Gelato was a hop and a skip from us, we decided to go there. I called them to make sure they were open, and also asked for directions on how to get there. The guy on the phone was very friendly and gave me easy to follow directions.
Il Gelato is at the end of Sumner street. There is a parking attendant at the entrance to the parking lot, so just tell the attendant that you are going to Il Gelato and he/​she will direct you on where to go/​park. ON this particular visit, the attendant told me to park directly in front of Il Gelato. I don’t think they have any «reserved» parking for their customers.
When we got there around 12:00, they had not set up their gelato display yet, which was kind of odd since according to their website, they open at 8:30 am. I guess we were the first retail customers of the day. Luckily it’s just gelato, so it didn’t take long for the lady to retrieve the 5 flavors from the freezer. She told us what the flavors were, and I noticed that she did not mention the flavor of the day (lilikoi cheesecake) that was on the sign displayed at the entrance. «oh ya», she said, «how could I have forgotten about that one».
There were two flavors that I wanted to try, oreo mint and lilikoi cheesecake. I asked if I could get half a scoop of each and she said «sure!». I love that kind of customer service.
The gelato was delicious. Between the two flavors I liked the oreo mint better, and would definitely get that flavor again.
This place is good for a quick stop with a friend or if you want pre-​packed pints to-​go, but not good for groups or if you want to eat in a comfortable setting, because there is hardly any parking for customers and no covered seating.
A single scoop is $ 3.

Oh my goodness!
The gelato and sorbetos here are to die for!!! They are the BEST!
I don’t usually eat ice cream/​gelatos/​sorbetos (hurts my teeth) but after trying salted caramel gelato and lilikoi and blood orange sorbetos, I suffer the pain to enjoy the delicious frozen treats. I’m going to have to try the new place at Kahala Mall because it’s difficult to get to the Sumner Street location before they close at 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Their flavors are amazing and unique and not the run-​of-​the-​mill flavors that everyone else has.

Okay… updates #2 and 3…
I went to Il Gelato and had the raspberry champagne and pineapple kale gelatos… WITH Amarena cherry topping! O. M. G!!! So darned DELICIOSO! I’d write more, but I’m still reeling with delight over today’s flavors…
Today, I had Belgium dark chocolate and HI sea salt caramel. I thought that was unbelievably sinful… until…the pistachio grand tostada (not to be confused with any kind of Mexican meal) was added. HOLYMOLYMOTHERMARYOFGAAAWD… talk about sinful… it’s better than sex! If there was one word to describe the pistachio grand tostada, it would be «SMOOTHLIKEBUTTAH»!
I don’t know what is in this wonderfully addicting gelato… all I know is that after I eat Il Gelato’s gelato or sorbetto, I get really happy, and I have this cheshire cat grin on my face (and in my stomach)!! LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!

Growing up in Germany, I thought it was normal that ice cream trucks serve gelato (and really good gelato too). Oh how I was sorely disappointed when I moved back to the US to find that they serve regular ice cream, or even worse… Popsicles! I jump at every mention of gelato here to get those childhood memories back. When I do, however, I usually end up sorely disappointed (e.g. Costco, Via Gelato).
At one of the Eat the Street events, I happened upon the Il Gelato cart. With low expectations, I stood in line, ready to be disappointed again. Upon the first bite, I knew that this was special… it was almost like the gelato I had in Germany! What a coincidence that the owner is German… from Germany!!! I’ve finally found those childhood memories of gelato I’ve been looking for!
Likes: The texture is very close to what I grew up with. It’s smooth, dense, and very flavorful– just how gelato should be. Also, it’s priced very reasonably!
Dislikes: I’ve tried this place about 4 times, and once in a while, I’ll get a scoop with some ice crystals. They also have very limited hours on when I can buy some scoops. I guess this is the price we pay for cheaper gelato!
Favorites: Chocolate macadamia nut aka macaduia. DELICIOUS. The tart yogurt flavor is spot-​on. I would get 4 scoops of this because that flavor was one of my childhood favorites.
Because of their limited hours and serving menu, I’ve followed them on Facebook so I can go when there are flavors I want to try. Coconut gelato is one I grew up with and I want to try theirs. If they ever come up with a melon (closer to cantaloupe) flavor and execute it well, I will give this place 6 stars!