Meli’s Italian Ice

Very great place to eat. inside is very bright and clean. I ordered Italian ice and Radio Ball. Very interesting taste. I specially like the custard in radio ball. Next time I just want to try frozen custard is radio ball without Italian ice.

Guys, please eat here. It is so good. It needs more people in order to survive and thrive. Just get the ice with the custard. pls. Pleeeeeeeeease.

I love having some good Italian ice here on the west coast and Mel’s is great. I am a frequent visitor.
However, I purchased a Unilocal deal the $ 7 for $ 10 one prior to coming. I hadn’t even brought it up to the cashier yet, I was telling my boyfriend about it and as she overheard the conversation… she warned me that she won’t be able to redeem it. She said she doesn’t know how to and the manager isn’t around. Given her quick response before I even presented the coupon to her… it seems like this is something she runs into often. A Unilocaler below also mentioned a similar experience. It is utterly ridiculous to not teach your employees how to redeem something that you sell and it seems a lot like a scam when things like this happen. Please properly train your employees or don’t sell the coupon. I now have to ask Unilocal for a refund since it seems like I will never be able to use this thing.

I hate to give this place a bad review, especially considering how much I enjoy and love it, but I am honestly so annoyed at what happened today.
My BF and I stopped by to grab some Italian ice. We’ve been here several times and have been nothing with pleased — the place is clean and brightly lit and their Italian ice is delicious.
However, I had purchased the Unilocal deal ($ 7 for $ 10) prior to coming in with the purpose of using it. When I presented it to the cashier, she had no idea what to do. She told me she would talk to her manager about it, but implied that I wouldn’t be able to use it.
I don’t really blame the girl because it’s obviously not her fault — her managers/​superiors haven’t trained her properly/​shown her what to do in this situation and that’s the problem.
So while I do enjoy Meli’s, it’s pretty irritating that I had to essentially pay double.

You might be a tad disappointed if you have ambitious standards. Nevertheless, it’s still good and relatively healthy, so I definitely think it’s worth checking out. I like getting with custard because I think the creamy texture goes so well with the ice, but have it your way and pick and choose what works for you. Make sure to try samples!
Staffs and nice.

The customer service here is great~ the worker let us try samples before we chose which one we wanted. All the flavors are good but I got the sour gummy combo with custard. I strongly reccomend you get custard with the Italian ice! The look of the store is aesthetically pleasing with white floors and bright décor. Im def coming back for more since its alot closer than my usual italian ice place frostbite’s~ haha Parking can get pretty difficult during the evening due to the Thai Bbq spot next door.

Meli’s Italian ice looks like it’s run by a few high schoolers. Maybe their part time job, or they’re young entrepreneurs, I’m not sure. At any rate. The service is excellent. They’re really friendly and seem like they’re having a great time.
They have free private parking lot, which is nice. So you don’t have to struggle to find parking in K-​town. When you walk in, everyone chimes in «Welcome to Meli’s!» When I first started to order, it was a little intimidating. So many colors/​flavors of ice. I wasn’t sure what to get. So the girl basically scooped out various flavors and combinations telling me why people like it, and what it should taste like. It was a really fun experience, but I personally like ice cream — it’s not as sweet as the Italian ice they had — and they had a pistachio flavored ice that was mixed with dairy, so it was more ice creamy than icy. It was actually really good. The scoops are big, so I would suggest one size down from what you normally get.
The prices are a little high, however, even with the discount from checking in, I paid a little over 5 dollars for a small scoop. I’m not sure if it was calculated wrong, but I still had a good experience there, so I didn’t mind.

I randomly was in the area and Unilocaled to cool down in this ridiculous October heat. What a great decision that was!
I tried the waffle on a stick with Nutella & almonds and that was great! I wish the waffle was crispy and toasted a little longer. But the toppings went so well together.
I couldn’t forget the custard and ice so went for mango/​pineapple and that was soooo refreshing. The Italian ice by itself is on the sweet side so the custard balances it out.
Cute place, nice and clean! Prices are decent. It’s not the amazing wow factor but it’s a chill place for a neighborhood joint. I hope it does well. I’m rooting for it! 3.5÷5 stars.

The flavors here are delicious. I’ll add a qualifier, that I’m from Philadelphia and I know what a good water ice should taste like. Every time I want to come here, my husband always asks, what’s water ice? Is that a snow cone? No, for the hundredth time!
Anyhow, they didn’t have flavors like this when I was little. It was mostly your basic fruit and soda flavors, so I appreciate the new flavors. Plus, the owner is super sweet and nice. I haven’t had a chance to try the custard as the machine was broken when I went, but I can’t wait to have a radioball.

Delicious!!! So many different options for Italian ice made fresh in the store and you are allowed up to 4 flavors per cup! The staff is so friendly, helpful and patient as they aim to give customers a pleasant and tasty experience. I love that they don’t limit samples and let you try what you’re curious about as well as giving you combination samples and suggestions if you are unsure. The custard (in vanilla, chocolate, and swirl) mixes perfectly with the ice in both flavor and texture and you really can’t go wrong with any combination… Definitely try a RadioBall, which is custard and Italian ice mixed

As far as I know, I’ve never had Italian ice before and it took me this long to try one because it never really appealed to me. Since we were at Thai BBQ and Meli’s is located in the same plaza (plus it was burning hot in LA!), we just decided to try it out. We went around 5pm and the place was pretty much empty which gave us plenty of time to sample the flavors! The staff is pretty cool too, they didn’t care if we tried almost all the flavors. They actually encourage you to try everything! They also suggested great flavor combos. We ended up getting 2 small radioballs– pistachio/​coconut + vanilla custard and passionfruit/​mango/​pineapple + vanilla custard– for $ 7.63! Also, you can get 4 different flavors per radioball! The flavors we got are really good… they taste refreshing, it’s not too sweet, and I didn’t get that usual heavy feeling after consuming too much sugar.
We also got 10% off because they saw that we came from Thai BBQ. We didn’t know about the discount and they could’ve charged us full price but they were honest about it. Now that’s good business!
Their spoons change into a different color too, like magic!

Delicious! They don’t blend their ice with the custard like Rita’s, BUT THEIR FREAKIN SPOONS CHANGE COLORS!!!
They will also give you a combination of ice flavors so you get to taste more than one on even a small cup.

Yummy in my tummy!
Absolutely love desserts but I’m very prone to getting sugar block, which means I can take a couple bites of something sugary but easily get sick of it shortly after.
I’m especially not usually a fan of Italian ice for this reason because most places tend to load in too much syrup which makes it too sugary for me.
This is very common whenever I eat Rita’s or Joe’s italian ice – I’m usually never able to finish more than half my dessert. But WOW! I ordered a Sunrise Radio Ball (frozen custard + mango, pineapple, passion fruit, coconut ice) and slurped the entire thing down in no time. I could’ve eaten a gallon of each. It also didn’t turn my tongue a different shade, so you know it’s real stuff. I could even taste the tiny bits of fruit in each bite. Props to Meli’s for using all fresh ingredients!
The custard was sooo fantastic. Some of the creamiest ice cream I’ve ever had and not too sweet at all, but very rich and thick.
All in all, a delightfully satisfying experience for my sweet tooth.

Open for just three months, this place just may give Rita’s a run for it’s money!
With a very similar concept of italian ice, custard, or italian ice + custard, Meli’s and Rita’s are nearly identical in nature. But, a few things differentiate them from each other. Meli’s ice is softer, the flavors are more natural, and the custard is creamier than Rita’s. However, the portion is smaller for a similar price.
I loved the fact that you could mix ices, up to four in a small. They scoop it such that the flavors are layered, which is genius! As you’re eating it, you get all the flavors together. Before you decide on a flavor combination, you can try an unlimited number of samples! On the night that I went, the guy behind the counter presented my samples as combinations of flavors that he recommended, which I appreciated so that I could see how they would all work together.
I got a small radio ball, which is their term for ice + custard, for $ 3.89. I got coconut, pineapple, and fuzzy wuzzy which is a combination of peach and watermelon ice, with chocolate and vanilla custard on the bottom. At the last minute, I added a scoop of passionfruit on top to round out the four flavors. This was excellent! The pineapple and coconut ices were outstanding! I could really taste pieces of coconut in the ice!
I’m a fan of Rita’s for sure, but now I’m also a fan of Meli’s. That cup of goodness was so delicious!

I love you Meli!
Bright cute place in the heart of Koreatown.
I got the radio ball which is frozen custard and frozen Italian Flavored Ice.
You get a choice of vanilla and chocolate frozen custard which is so heavenly & smooth.
Custard is the bottom layer.
Then they mix 5 flavors of italian ice in a scoop.
I got lemonade, kiwi, pink panther, lychee, and strawberry.
Another layer of custard.
Another layer of italian ice.
It was love at first bite.
Can’t wait to come back!

Meli’s is the next big thing! I found out about Meli’s through a coworker, I was in Ktown last night & decided to check it out.
Mangoneada: Which is mango Italian ice with chamoy & tajin (OMG!!! best combo ever!!!) For all you tajin & chamoy fans, this is a must!
Sunrise Radio Ball: Which is vanilla clustered topped with rainbow Italian ice. So good!!!
This is a brand new shop, they’re doing their grand opening in Aug. The staff is very friendly.
They have a small parking lot. Street parking can be a headache.
Looking forward to my next visit!
xo
Naomi

Pleasantly surprised by this place! I was excited to try this place because there aren’t many Italian ice places in LA.
Came here the other night with the BF and it was empty. The deco was a bit depressing for me. It was so white and a little too bright. Was dying for some color but besides that I thought the Italian ice was very good ! I ordered a medium Italian ice ($ 3.50) with a combination of lychee, strawberry & passionfruit. It was good! I liked the consistency a lot. The BF got the mango chamango (a little over $ 4 from what i remember) and it was good too. It came out to be $ 8 – 9 which isn’t too bad.
The service was good too! Both workers were super helpful and super friendly. Definitely would come back!
The only down side is the parking in this area. We got super lucky because we came around 940 and there was plenty of parking. However, the parking lot is super small and accident prone.

Totally Random Stop That Made Our Afternoon Brighter & More Refreshing!
SITREP
So my boss and I flew down to L.A., at the butt-​crack of dawn, on a Sunday, having to get to downtown L.A., to a State conference/​training facility we’d never been before, to set up for a training that began on Monday, only to find that there were problems with the room where the training was going to be hosted, and that we had to do a LOT of heavy-​lifting (literally) to rearrange the room (moving lifting tables/​chairs, etc.), for several hours.
Yeah. It was one of THOSE kind of afternoons.
THE SETUP
As we headed back to our hotel, my boss was craving FroYo, and as we continued to head down West 3^rd Avenue, my eyes fell onto… NO, not this place. My eyes fell upon Baskin & Robbins 31 Flavors. We pulled into the lot. Went inside and… they really didn’t have that my boss wanted or could have. *She be gloomy.*
THE «SAVE»
But have no fear! For across the street (West 3^rd Avenue) I spied Meli’s Italian Ice! So we walked across the street (discreetly leaving our vehicle in the Baskin & Robbins parking lot *cough*), and we went into Meil’s, and were greeted by the friendly staff…
.and were amazed by the selection!
*
*
RADIO BALL
They have this great scoop d loop combination puppy called the Radio Ball, and we each got one. It was an intense combination of 2 – 3 different flavors of both Italian Ice and Frozen Yogurt. Mine happened to be a combination of Blue Razzberry and Custard. It was DAM GOOD and absolutely refreshing after a hot day of sweaty work. And this made my boss very very happy (hence I could breath a *sigh of relief* that «mission was accomplished!»)
THE LOWDOWN
Some dangerously delicious FroYo and Italian Ice near Koreatown!

Love this place. Staff (Meli the owner and her little brother) is always super friendly and so eager for you to try new flavors and combinations. Their custard is out of this world– so light. You can swirl up to four flavors in your cup, the small is to two scoops so it’s always a lot of Italian ice for cheap. Try the fuzzy wuzzy.
So excited to have this place open!

This place couldn’t have opened at a more opportune time. With the summer heat waves and warm evenings, who wouldn’t want to have something cold and refreshing!
The flavored ice brings me back to the snow cone days minus the white paper cone. My friends and I are addicted to the chamango type ice delight. You blend whatever flavored ice with their spicy chamoy and chili flakes. Oh Em Gee. Gimme gimme lip smacking flavors.
Staff so friendly and will recommend the best flavored ice pairing. Enjoy!