Cremeria Santo Stefano

A renowned place for gelato, there was a queue outside but I didn’t wait for too long. I tried 2 flavours (ciocolatto del santo, and ricotta con fichi caramellati) and liked them both!

Hmmmm! 🍦 We had the pistachio ice cream it was super yummy. You can still feel the fresh nuts and the saltines and it’s insanely creamy.

This was the best gelato we had in Bologna and so worth the late night trek we did to just try it based on the various Google reviews. I can't recommend this lovely, cosy gelateria enough!

The best gelato I’ve ever had in my life! Creamy, full of flavour, delicious! Highly recommend.

As a local from Bologna, I can say this is by far the best gelato in the city. It’s always packed with tourists, but honestly, they’re here for a reason — the gelato is that good. The flavors are so rich and authentic, you can tell they use the best ingredients. Even with all the gelaterias in Bologna, this one still stands out. Highly recommend it!

Absolutely brilliant gelato - wonderful selection of flavours (hard to choose from!). Must try if visiting Bologna!

The BEST ice cream I’ve ever had. I got the mascarpone with pine nuts and the custard cream - both were excellent if you love a creamy flavour like me. I’ve had custard in so many places before and they all seem off… but this one was just perfect. Not too sweet, no artificial flavour. It tasted like a great custard in ice cream form. What’s fascinating is that the base of the custard is exactly the same for the custard flavour and the lemon flavour, but when tasting the latter despite my best efforts to identify the custard… I could not!

Very good gelato. If you're in the neighborhood definitely check this place out. It's really creamy and flavorful. Prices are great too..

Definitely one of my favorite gelato shop in Italy! Taste so creamy with delicious flavors. The pistachio tasted real and not artificial and was the perfect sweetness. The Libanese cream has a hint of orange blossom and pistachio. They were both so delicious and I would definitely come back for more. Well worth the walk to get there. There is no inside seating, just four small individual tiny chairs for you to sit on outside. Small shop.

I'd like to give 4.5. Best gelato place IMO is in Milan. Flavors here are unique, but my kids got the stracciatella so I got the cafe creme, which I thought would be more like coffee. They suggested my husband get zitello, which I'm not sure what flavor that was. It was sweet. Our mistake likely as we are not big sweet eaters. Service was prompt. Price was good. Place is small, but super close to my apartment

Fantastic gelato! We went several times throughout our trip and tried a few different flavors. Our favorites were the fragola (strawberry) and stracciatella. The lines are long but the service is quick, so it goes by really fast. There are only a couple of chairs outside (no tables) so the only downside is there is nowhere to sit and eat. Overall, one of the best gelato shops in Bologna; definitely worth the wait.

Nice green chairs outside and metal setup inside with a good but not overwhelming selection of flavors and a nice price too. Nice viscosity on these. Salted pistachio amazing and strattiatella great flavor and nice thick cover

Best gelato I've ever had for sure! Authentic, so creamy, rich, not too sweet, and so many flavors to choose from! I love the location and the different products they offer! They were also reasonably priced, great service, super friendly, and fast! Would definitely highly recommend to anyone in Bologna!

Stellar stellar gelato. It's a bit out of the way (not a lot really, just down Santo Stefano) if you're hanging out in the Centro, but boy is it worth the walk. This is spectacular gelato - creamy, light, just the right amount of melty, and oh-so-happy-making. The flavors are spot on (they use all natural ingredients, and you can tell!), coming across in brilliant undiluted form. The classics are, of course, awesome, but you should really branch out and try some of their experimental flavors - they're worth it!

Everybody has their own opinion on who makes 'the best' gelato in Italy. It's all a matter of personal preference. For what it's worth, after going to the most well known gelaterias in Rome, Florence and Bologna, I found Cremeria Santo Stefano to be the very best. It is customary in Italy to use high-quality ingredients, but at Cremeria Santo Stefano, they take things one step higher. They use a lot of regionally protected (DOP/IGP) products because they know, for example, that the best hazelnuts come from Piedmont, and the best lemons from Sorrento. I would not be surprised if they had a real cow in the kitchen that was happily kicking out fresh cream. Honestly, I have never tasted fresher cream. The shop itself is magical. It may have been raining outside on the day I visited, but inside the shop it was nothing but sunshine. The guy that helped me was adorable. I assume that he was the owner, who I read is certified by Valrhona as a chocolatier. I told you, this place doesn't mess around. Every flavor was fresh and delicious, but I would be remiss if I didn't tell you to order the speculoos. Oh, and if they have them, nab yourself a speculoos ice cream sandwich from the freezer. My biggest regret from my trip was not trying one of those fancy little ice cream sandwiches. Next time!

It would feel a crime not to leave a review here! Rich, creamy, authentic gelato - its immediately obvious that all ingredients are natural and highest quality. I have tried a couple high-rated gelaterias in Bologna and this was my favourite - although the competition is not far behind! I have tried Hazelnut, Stracciatella and White Coffee flavours. They were all excellent with White Coffee really delivering an unusual experience!

It is delicious gelato one of best I've had in Italy And yes there are huge differences between gelato places

Hands down the best gelato I have ever had. I ordered a cone cup (pretty innovative I think) with three flavors (the Madagascar chocolate, salted caramel and cinnamon cookies, and the stracciatella). The gelato was smooth as could be. The chocolate was so insanely flavorful. The salted caramel flavor was perfection. Do not leave Bologna without trying the gelato here.

Excellent ice cream, one of the best I had in my life. Cremeria San Stefano is a reason enough to visit Bologna. The ice cream is creamy, full of flavor and derived of any artificial ingredients. I sincerely recommend this place!

Good service and variety of cones. I can tell they use natural simple ingredients by the creamy melty ice cream. The yogurt flavor was my favorite. the mascarpone was a close second.

Wow!!!! Best Gelato I have ever had and I have had many. The Gelato is rich and silky. I recommend the Dark chocolate hazelnut, guaranteed not to disappoint and to be very memorable.

the BEST gelateria in Italy. My husband and I spent a week in Italy traveling to Florence, Bologna, Modena, and Rome. Bologna by far had the best gelato. This place and Cremeria Funivia were to die for. A couple tips for eating gelato in Italy. Places that take gelato seriously and aren't trying to woo tourists have their gelato stored in metal canisters. This keeps the gelato at perfect temperatures. Additionally, the gelatos are often pale colors, nothing bright or artificial. I tried the Crema con scorzedi limone (egg cream with lemon peel). It was incredible. Rich, creamy, but balanced with the acidity and tartness of lemon. I don't even remember the other flavor I tried.

I arrived to this place with pretty high expectations and I was very excited to try the chai gelato, which I saw on the photo of a menu on Yelp. It must've been an old photo because they did not have the chai gelato when I went :( I got straciatella and lemon cream and they were both really good. However, I would not say that it's my favorite gelato in Bologna. The flavors I picked weren't anything special compared to some of their other flavors and i would certainly come here again and try something new, but overall, I was not as impressed as I thought I would be.

best gelato i've ever had in my entire life. the creaminess is incomparable. it makes every other gelato i've tasted seem like a cheap imitation. flavor choices were all great (they have speculoos, so my husband was in heaven) -- you can't go wrong without whatever you choose -- and prices were comparable to other gelato places in the area. though how anybody bothers going to another place is beyond me.

crema di zitelle (mascarpone e pinoli): soo good i really have no words for gelato i'm sorry but best i've ever had but a little heavy towards the end crema libanese (orange flowers, pistachio and almond honey??): AMAZING so refreshing and nice i'm amazed at how creative the flavors are

Let's just say that this place is very appropriately hyped. My wife and I walked almost 2 miles out of the way to find this place. Gelato is one of those things that nearly everybody likes, as it tends to put the perfect finishing touch on an otherwise flawless evening. In fact, walking the streets of Bologna, listening to the local music being blasted, and walking hand-in-hand with my wife will always be a pleasant memory. We both love Bologna and the amazing food that we've had there. No wonder it's considered by many to be the foodie capital of the world. Fortunately this place was the coup de gras that we will always remember thanks to its phenomenal gelato! Everything they had was perfect. Not just well balanced, but smooth, flavorful, and good to the last drop. ***Let's just say that if you are visiting bologna, or are going to be traveling within a hundred miles of this city, you will be making a terrible mistake if you do not visit this place!***

Wow!!!! Best Gelato I have ever had. Silky and heavenly. Had the dark chocolate hazelnut, believe me there is no Gelato that compares. Do not miss out on this delicious treat.

Cute shop. Delicious gelato and friendly staff. Some of the best gelato we've had.

Great icecream and English menu available. Very popular with the locals so have to pick a good time when it's not really busy

Really amazing gelato. SUPER creamy. They use all fresh ingredients and everything we tried was amazing. Best gelato ever.