Royal Grinders - Gelato Stop #2

I almost forgot to blog about my net stop on the Gelato Train! Okay so I lied about QFC being my next stop. It WILL be the next one.

This is how it all went down:

Had a lovely brunch with Miss Thafz, Alex, KHall, and the Hubster on Saturday April 30th at Roxy's Diner. YUM! A Monte Cristo BREAKFAST sandwich...YES...MUCH more of THAT please!

After breakfast what else would four lovely ladies do on a gorgeous sunny Seattle day, but indulge in a delightful frozen treat. (No, I'm not calling Cory one of "the ladies". He escaped to go pay our rent.) I mean it was only a block away...it was practically staring us in the face. We strolled our way down the street, moseyed on over and said hello to Lenin's statue, and meandered in to Royal Grinders. There was some kind of competition taking place outside in the courtyard area. No one seemed intereted in our help though...weird, right?

In we walk to Royal Grinders--immediately greeted by the super cute (and super young) hipster dude behind the counter. (Sorry that I don't remember your name Hipster-guy). He was incredibly sweet, to boot. Duh--with four gorgeous babes right in front of him...he was in Hipster Heaven! He let us sample as much as we wanted, which was great because there were a lot of interesting flavors I wanted to try. In the sorbet department we had Strawberry Jalapeno (DELICIOUS, and no I'm not kidding). It had a great balance with just enough spice to give a tiny kick, but not knock you over. There was also Pineapple Basil--also delicious. A great balance, and tasted like Summer. I would definitely go back for more of that.

I decided to skip the sorbet this time though, since my main goal here is gelato, gelato, gelato. The best flavor they had was the Almond Caramel. but alas, there was only enough left for a tiny sample. The Cinnamon was also quite good. Though I decided to go a little more traditional route when it came time for choosing for my order. I went with Mint Chip with a tiny scoop of Chocolate Cappucino on top. That "tiny scoop" is what they deem their Lenny Scoop. A free 2nd flavor of your choice as a tiny dollop on top.

In the service department Royal Grinders beat D'Ambrosio hands down. They let us mill about and take our sweet time, also letting us sample as much as we wanted. However in the gelato department, I'm giving it over to D'Ambrosio so far. They have the upper hand when it comest to texture of the gelato, presentation of the product, and the flavor choices. Though, service definitely can not be ruled out as an important factor. D'Ambrosio's service wasn't terrible...it just wasn't particularly noticeable.

It's a good thing there are many more places to try...a good thing that QFC is pretty much on my way home...tonight!