This gelato is seriously AMAZING! We lived in Italy and can confirm this gelato is the real deal…read moreand tastes just like it does there. It is located in Solana Beach , beautiful open setting with outdoor seating right next to gorgeous fountain. They have a nice size parking lot next to it. We got the Opera and Pistachio flavors and honestly it was really really good, both were super tasty, very quality. It had a creamy milky thick texture to it and it wasn't overly sweet like American ice cream but it was definitely sweet and delectable - fine dining / upscale dessert vibes. Of course this is top-tier gelato, with a rich and creamy consistency, bursting with flavor. The part that impressed me the most is their variety in flavors. They had many different great flavors to choose from with few that are rotating, so it's great to try new ones. They also have vegan options too. The employees are extremely friendly and assist with suggestions for flavor combinations. We have felt very welcomed and appreciated. Honestly this is the best gelato in Encinitas , Solana Beach and we highly recommend it!

Who loves gelato?!?! I sure do. Found this place in Solana Beach and it's a hidden gem for me. From…read moreits signs that it was voted "best dessert in town" by locals across SD County I knew I'd stop at the right place. Their gelato is quite tasty, smooth and rich at the same time. I got to try a few samples before deciding on getting Toffee Caramel and Amaretto. Pricing is $6.50 for 2 flavors and $7.50 for 3 flavors. With an added waffle cone $1 was extra charged. Let's just say the waffle cone was made fresh and tasted good. Prices are a bit higher and portions are a bit smaller than what's I'm used to in OC. Besides gelato they also have Boba, slushies, snow bubble and coffee drinks. Very friendly staff here and clean interior so the limited seating. Outside area as well to enjoy your gelato with only a few shady spots.

So happy to have found a Seven Seas Roasting location closer to North county! Just as great of…read morequality and wonderful staff as their other locations. This location is right in the center of so much Solana Beach activity offering plenty to do and see around this cafe that makes it an even better stop. Really easy to order and although the line may look long, they are usually quite fast. Worth the wait too! I recently had their cherry bomb latte and my husband had their vanilla latte. His vanilla latte was top tier but I absolutely love the cherry bomb latte. Cherry and coffee go together much better than expected. Their butter croissant was heaven. Just the fluffiest layers and delicious!

Cute spot on Cedros in Solana Beach, with surprisingly easy street parking for a Saturday morning…read morein June. This would have been an average San Diego coffee shop experience for me, except for the fact that I absolutely LOVED the cherry bomb! It's a cherry mocha and essentially a perfect drink for me. Back in 2019, Starbucks had a seasonal cherry mocha for Valentine's Day that I was obsessed with. Apparently I was the only one, because they haven't brought it back since. Cherry mochas are hard to come by, and I haven't really encountered another one. This one was delicious! The espresso was bold, the milk perfectly creamy, and the overall taste not too sweet (unlike Starbucks'). Wow!! I can already tell this will be a drink I daydream about. Unfortunately it was $7.50, which will prevent me from indulging very regularly. The rest of the menu is pricey too, with avocado toasts nearly reaching $20. (I may be a millennial, but I can certainly understand the negative stereotype when I see coffee shop prices like these.) Besides pricing, the other downside of this place is the limited seating. There were only 4 small outdoor tables, so unless you're with just one other person and you arrive before 10am, I'd suggest grabbing your coffee to go and taking a walk. My friend and I sat down, since there were open tables when we arrived. She enjoyed her iced honey cinnamon latte. If you love a cherry mocha or are looking for coffee in the design district, definitely come through!

I stumbled upon this place right before Pilates and saw the sumptuous special! The girl told me…read moreabout it and my eyes lit up and I wanted it so bad, but my friend Perla said, "No, we got to go!" Not the best thing to have right before Pilates. The next time we went was after Pilates and I asked my friend if she wanted to share it and she agreed this time! I was so excited to try it! The owner was very sweet she let us try samples of the new marshmallow ice cream that they are testing out. It was so good! I ordered the sumptuous special with frozen hot chocolate. She made it aesthetically pleasing. They asked how I wanted it and I said picture perfect! Watching her make it was so fun and jaw dropping. I was in such awe! The marshmallow alone was so amazing to watch! It was so good and made with such good ingredients. I did share a bit with my friend, but boy I had basically the whole thing to myself and it was perfect. The frozen hot chocolate was bittersweet too. So it was balanced with the cookie, marshmallow, and cream. The perfect amount of sweetness for me. It was pricey, but it was worth it! Well worth it to try it at least once! I am absolutely coming back again!

I had these cookies at my Wedding !…read more My husband and I stumbled across this bakery a few years back on our way home from Los Angeles. I am a cookie feen and these cookies quite literally stopped me in my tracks. The Scarlet letter cookie .... Just get one. In my case I get at least 4 of these each time I go. The most imporant thing in any cookie is the actual dough and theirs is always the perfect balance of buttery and sweet! I despise dry crumbly cookies and these never even come close. They are all so good! The staff has alway been very nice and when I have gone it is never outrageously busy. Worth the detour everytime.

Ice cream before dinner Yassss Finally got a chance to…read moretaste the gelato at An's Hatmakers in Del Mar, CA. Once a high end hat shop, it is now a really cute gelato shop with the hats as a backdrop. The staff was really good at explaining the gelato flavor profiles as well as providing samples. After tasting a few, I settled on strawberry & pistachio in the "Party Hat - Waffle Cone". The cost was $8.45 ($9.18 w tax). Definitely a guilty pleasure splurge but soooooo worth it . FYI..it gets really busy w very long lines especially after dinner time during the weekdays & on weekends.

Stopped by on a friday night and it wasn't too bad. Parking was a bit tough but the line itself was…read moreabout 30-40min. I can't believe they let you try all the flavors! Ended up with the matcha strawberry and strawberry (looked like wicked in a cup). The maple pecan flavor wasn't too sweet! The decor was really cute, I am enamored with the idea that they incorporate the name of the previous shop into the shop name. The ice cream cones were decorated with hats, love! Staff are super friendly and patient despite repeating their pitch over and over again. Would love to try the other locations if I get a chance the next time I'm in SD

One of the best parts about this place is the variety, there's shave ice, soft serve, scoop ice…read morecream, frozen treats, ice cream cookie sandwich, you name it really. I usually go for a chocolate banana when I'm feeling like I need ti be healthy and a coke float with chocolate/vanilla swirl soft serve when I don't. If you want to try something weird try the soda freeze that's any soda with soft serve put in a machine to make a slushie thing, it's odd but good. Just don't use sprite as your base drink, that be nasty.

This sounded good after dinner at a nearby restaurant and before a show at Belly Up. I had never…read morebeen to this location before even though I've tried all the restaurants in this mall. The parking lot was pretty empty. It was a bit of a cool night and there was no line. I looked at the different flavors and there were a few. I opted for a soft serve. I just got the plain vanilla, but had it dipped in the butterscotch shell because I was feeling nostalgic for the dipped cones I had as a child. The woman helping us was patient while we made up our minds. I needed napkins as it started dripping immediately, even through the thick coating. We sat at the tables outside and ate our cones. The butterscotch tasted ok but it was really thick and waxy so I didn't finish it. If I were in the area i might come back and get ice cream or soft serve again but skip the dip.

I noticed their prices went up since last time I visited. Darn it!!!!!!!…read more But their flavors capture me every time. I enjoyed two flavors from the August month of pie flavors. I always ask to try all the limited editions and the guy who helped me would describe each one. I love when employees care this much because I care this much too about Salt & Straw! I wish I caught his name, but I told him I'd be bsck next month.

First Salt & Straw experience, and it was a pretty good one. Some of the flavor profiles are really…read moreout there (uh, no thank you on candied porcinis), but the ones we got were really, really good. We just wish they weren't so stingy with portions! All three of us got the salted, malted cookie dough, and damnnnn it was delicious. Love a malted option! One of us also got birthday cake with blackberries, which was a unique spin and the other got the raspberry marzipan princess cake. That one was vegan, and impressively good with the pistachio-cashew base. Our daughter also had a scoop of vanilla she was happy with. The folks helping us were very friendly and prices seemed semi-normal. Next time, just fill 'er up and we'll give you five stars :)

Wow--what an overwhelming amount of ice cream choices! This place seriously has everything,…read moreincluding a bakery and coffee, so it's a great one-stop spot. Service was pretty quick, which I appreciated. They also offer gluten-free cookies and other baked goods, which is a nice bonus. That said, the gluten-free cookie on its own was pretty bland--but I could see it being much better paired with ice cream. One thing to note: they don't really offer a kids size, and when I asked for smaller portions, they said it would still be charged as a regular--so parents of little ones, just a heads up! The ambiance wasn't super inviting--more of a "grab your treat and go" vibe--but with its prime location near the beach, it's easy to see why it stays busy. Overall, still worth checking out!

Not worth the difficult parking…read more Food: 1/5 One flavor is three scoops of ice cream. We ordered two flavors, which was four scoops, hoping we could split the ice cream into two cups so we would each have two scoops. We asked our server if they could split the ice cream for us--just put two Ube Matcha scoops in one cup, two Cookies and Cream scoops in another. This is against company policy, but they were willing to give us a second cup so we can surgically operate on the mixed ice cream and split it ourselves (??). The Matcha Ube was more green tea flavored than matcha or ube. The Cookies and Cream was good. The ice cream--even if three scoops for one flavor--is just not worth the street parking or flavor mashing. There are other better ice cream places. Service: 3/5 Nothing to say or add. No bad news is good news. Atmosphere: 2/5 Holy overstimulation. There were two other families in the ice cream parlor with us, and we were all being serviced at once at the cashier. It's too small of a room to do that. I would recommend this place to kids 12 and under who live down the street and need a quick sweet treat. Final rating: 2/5

Parking: did not see a parking there, there was an event the time I went that blocked out the…read moreentire street. Service: the people there didn't seem like they wanted to work there. A little on the not as friendly side. They also didn't want to give samples, which is fine, but just say "we don't give samples" Food: Not bad ice cream. Hits the spot. Good flavors.

Each cone is served with a free cookie! The flavors were really original and homemade. You could…read moretell there were really fresh ingredients. I got a strawberry scoop and it was delicious. I could tell it was genuine and artisinal from how is was melting in the heat.

There was 4 of us so what better way to try a little bit of everything than to order two of the 4…read morescoop samplers. We love the creativity, smooth textures and rich flavors. Handmade ice cream at this volume (it gets very busy) is an incredible task. Thanks for getting back to the neighborhood ice cream shop that happens to have lots of locations. Handel's even covers all of the latest fads dietary restrictions.

Handel's never disappoints!…read more My usual go-to is the 4-flavor sampler because choosing just ONE flavor here feels basically impossible. Every flavor I've tried has been amazing! This time, I had friends visiting from out of town, so we upgraded our strategy and ordered the 4-pack of pints. Everyone got to pick their own flavor, and it was a HUGE hit. By the end of the night, every single person was raving that it was The Best ice cream they've ever had! Creamy, delicious, tons of amazing flavors, and apparently now part of my official San Diego visitor experience. If you're in Del Mar, do yourself a favor and stop at Handel's. And definitely get more than one flavor. You'll thank me later!

If you're an animal, latte, cafe, art lover, & enjoy tranquility this might be the garden that you…read moremust a visit! When I enjoy the Cedros art district I like to stop by Grange Garden. It's a nice cafe in Solana Beach. The service is amazing and their specialty Lattes are what I go for. I enjoy the French and Brazilian cafe music they play in the background. I enjoyed the coastal breeze. While you sip and enjoy a treat you can perhaps play tic tac toe and or other games on the front patio/ picket fenced in yard. Super cute place! The Lattes I go for are The Gardener (lavender, honey, vanilla) and The Farmer(vanilla and brown sugar). Made with organic espresso and love. We've even enjoyed visiting the bunnies for 22$ per person (plus tip if you'd like too) gives you about 20-30 minutes of interaction with the bunnies. You sign a waiver with the host and they'll give you instructions on the rules. You might even get to feed them too. I loved it so much! I grew up with bunnies as pets so this was soooo nostalgic for me! Come and support this family owned business and perhaps pet a bunny. You'll like it a lotte! *they do have a handwashing station too. In case you are wondering about that.

Came in for a coffee, accidentally enrolled in a masterclass on How Not to Order Coffee…read more I ordered a cappuccino and asked for it iced. Apparently this was a deeply offensive request, because I was immediately informed, "So really you just want a short latte," followed by a staff discussion about how people don't know how to order coffee. Then, while I was simply standing there waiting for the drink I had paid for, they started making comments about me waiting. Truly fascinating. I didn't realize there was also a correct and incorrect way to stand near a coffee counter. Eventually they wrote "cap" on my cup and called it out, so I grabbed it and said, "Thanks for my short latte." For a place serving coffee, they somehow managed to make ordering one feel like an oral exam I had failed. If you enjoy being lightly bullied by your barista over espresso terminology, this may be your spot. I personally will be getting my incorrectly named beverages elsewhere.