La Gelatessa - Gelato & Coffee

The scoop that settles it here is the fior di latte, milk and sugar with nothing to hide behind, and The Skinny's reviewer called it "fantastically creamy" and "proof that these folk know what they're doing."

Why go

Chiara and Dave Pieraccini-Partington are married and opened this counter on Nithsdale Road in March 2023, describing what they do as Italian heritage with a Glasgow twist (La Gelatessa). The room is small enough that Peter Simpson was inside for about 45 seconds and ate his scoops walking through Queen's Park, which is the correct way to use the place. The rotation changes daily and reaches past the safe flavors: cinnamon brown butter, maple smoked almond, an orange and hibiscus sorbet, and Sicilian granita scooped alongside the gelato (The List). Glasgow has form here. Simpson quotes Craig Angus's history of Scottish ice cream, which counts 89 ice cream shops in the city in 1903 and more than 330 two years later, and this is one of the newer arrivals in a Southside cluster that still includes Ginesi's on Victoria Road.

Order this / avoid

• Order: the fior di latte first, every time, because it is the flavor that exposes a bad gelateria. Then the amarena cherry and ricotta, which drew Simpson's strongest line: "brilliant, with sweet and bitter notes knocking back and forth" ref. The orange and hibiscus sorbet is the one to save for last, "zingy without being acidic," and it reads completely differently from everything dairy on the board.
• Avoid: the dark chocolate and coconut if chocolate is what you came for. Simpson's read is that it "isn't the darkest," with the coconut doing the work. Also avoid a sunny afternoon unless you want the queue, and avoid a midweek trip, since the published week is Thursday to Sunday.

What locals & experts say

• The Skinny (Peter Simpson), review: "Vibes schmibes though, it's been 300 words, is the ice cream good? Yes, the ice cream is very, very good." His close: "if you don't have a favourite ice cream place yet, La Gelatessa is well worth a place on the shortlist." ref
• The Skinny (Peter Simpson), Scotland's best ice cream: listed with Mary's Milk Bar in Edinburgh, Ginesi's and Nardini's, described as "a tiny hole in the wall near Queen's Park" where "Flavours change on a daily basis, but the basic fior di latte is excellent." ref
• The List, five great ice cream joints in Glasgow: "If the Southside sun is shining, you can bet your boots there will be a queue outside this little spot." ref
• Craig Angus, on Scottish ice cream, quoted in the review: "Everyone has a place that's special to them, and think theirs is the best." ref
• Local rec: Jeff's save, his note below. REAL.

Good to know

• Timing: Thursday to Sunday, 11am to 7pm, as published. Four days a week, so check before crossing the river for it.
• Booking: walk in and expect to stand. It is a hole in the wall registered as a takeaway, with no seating to plan around.
• Where: 38 Nithsdale Road, at the Strathbungo end. Lunar, Jeff's cocktail save, is up the same street at 72, past BAM at 44 and the Titwood Bar at 58, so the two are a couple of minutes apart rather than adjacent.
• Queue: the queue is the known cost. Both The Skinny and The List lead with it.
• Take home: they sell gelato by the 2 liter tub to pre-order, which is the move for a group.
• Hygiene: the Food Hygiene Information Scheme rates the address a Pass, inspected 29 April 2025. ref

Jeff's take (his words)

• Note: "Gelato next door to Lunar save"

Verdict (Chef Jeff ladder)

should-visit — Chiara and Dave Pieraccini-Partington opened a hole in the wall on Nithsdale Road in March 2023 and made the plain scoop the good one. Peter Simpson tested the fior di latte, which is where a gelateria has nothing to hide behind, and called it 'fantastically creamy' and 'proof that these folk know what they're doing'. The rotation runs to cinnamon brown butter and maple smoked almond, there is Sicilian granita on scoop, and the amarena cherry and ricotta got the strongest line in the review. Simpson also put it in his Scotland-wide ice cream list and The List named it among five in Glasgow. It stops short of the top rung because it is a four-day week with a pavement queue and no award behind it.