We had the good fortune of being invited to visit Bobboi Natural Gelato in downtown La Jolla recently. I’m so glad that we did!
Bobboi has a fun atmosphere inside and the friendly staff greeted us immediately.
You can see they actually carry many different flavors which all must be meticulously maintained at the proper temperature.
Of course, we were curious what “bobboi” meant, and here it is!
They tout absolutely nothing but fresh ingredients and display some of their organic produce here. When not making gelato, the owners can be found scouring local farmer’s markets looking for fresh new ideas.
Here are the different sizes. Prices are reasonable considering the freshness and density of the flavors, but hold that thought. Let’s get to the tasting!
Their menu board is well laid out and very descriptive. Each flavor is handcrafted by the two owners or their staff.
(*Insider tip: Taste as many flavors as you like! They are more than happy to have you sample to your heart’s desire.)
It was interesting to watch the ebb and flow of customers come on through the evening. I didn’t see one person leave without a smile on their face which tells the bobboi story in a nutshell.
Before our tasting, we met with Andrea (left) and Marco (right). These two pals have a great story. Both came from the corporate world in Italy, a business executive (Andrea), and a business attorney (Marco), looking for a simpler way of life.
They are incredibly friendly and super passionate about their newest business venture. They have been pouring the hearts and souls into Bobboi the past couple years and everyone that comes to visit notices immediately!
First up, and quite possibly the most memorable, was the pistachio. I must admit this typically isn’t the flavor I gravitate towards, but this was incredible!
This was the dark chocolate sorbet which was incredibly rich, yet it didn’t have any added dairy. Love.
Here was a truly unique flavor that I fell in love with too… the charcoal vanilla. Yup, that’s a natural vanilla gelato with bamboo-activated carbon mixed in to give it a unique edge and color.
At the end, I decided to get a mix of three flavors… Pistachio, Moka (coffee), and Girl Scout’s Thin Mint!
High-quality gelato like this is rare to find these days, let alone in California! I spent a couple weeks in Italy awhile back and ate gelato 8 different times with only 1 standing out memorably. Bobboi brought that one sparkling memory screaming back with delight.
Wow, what an incredible treat. Trust me, you have to go try it!! Let us know what you try.
Bobboi Natural Gelato
8008 Girard Ave.
La Jolla, CA 92037
*As invited guests we received our gelato for free this evening, but our opinion remains our own.
Lucky! I gotta try that charcoal vanilla. Sounds really strange….
Yes, definitely try it, Soo! It’s strange looking and delicious. 🙂
FAVORITE gelato ever!! I agree, super friendly staff as well. I can’t remember what I got here (it was a blend of pistachio and hazelnut and something else) but it was SO delicious.
Great minds and palettes think alike, Joleen! 🙂
We were lucky to visit during their off hours. I hear there’s a line around the block sometime on the busy weekends.
Still, it’d be worth the wait!
Odd comment about the difficulty to find good gelato in California with the recent high number of outstanding placed opening up in SF, LA and SD. And actually we found Bobboi ine of the weaker places in SD and much more prefer places like Escogelato which produces higher wuality gelato
Interesting… I’ve never been to Escogelato so I can’t compare. What makes their gelato “higher quality” in your opinion?