"So what", you say...Well let me tell you, we never get anything new or good over here. Anything interesting has to go to the hip areas, like Easton or Polaris or one of the 'burbs. If we're lucky it (whatever "it" might be) will open in Grandview or Arlington, so it's not too far of a drive, but no never the West Side... There's not even a freakin' Starbucks for christ sakes...
So last Friday night, I'm driving back from a journey to one of our favorite (pretty good, but also the closest) Indian restauran, Taj Palace in Mill Run (in the 'burb of Hilliard). I turn south onto Hague Avenue and as I'm passing our favorite nearby pizza shop, Sparano's, I notice that the little shop next to it is no longer a computer shop, but has a sign in front of it that reads "Sparano's Ice Cream and Gelato".
If I wasn't so danged stuffed full of Chicken Makhani, I would have pulled right in. Instead, we waited an entire 24 hours to test out this stranger in a strange land...It was well worth the wait.We pulled into the small parking lot around back (off the tiny Britton Ave), and walked up to the window on the north side of the little building - it looked pretty empty inside, but there's a couple of freezers in there, a menu in the window, and the very friendly Meilie to take our order:
My wife and I split a dish with two scoops of the white chocolate raspberry. The bowl was very heavy and the taste was delightful - lots and lots of little rectangular bits of smooth white chocolate and flavorful raspberry bits - I would have like more of those, but the flavor was still right on:
Creamy and not too cold, just as it should be. Boogie had a lemon Luigi's Italian Ice pop which he proclaimed as "The Best" & wasn't real interested in sharing, though he did want some of ours;
We left sated and happy - so much so that we only waited an entire 24 hours more to go back, trying the Black Cherry Zinfandel:
Boogie had the Cherry Luigi's this time which he proclaimed as "The Best" & wasn't real interested in sharing, though again, he did want some of ours...They don't make the gelato on site, but rather use Palazzolo's Gelato. I have to admit that it's not as good as the Shriver's gelato I had in Ocean City, NJ, last summer, but it was still damned good. Of course, being on the boardwalk on a cool summer evening, hearing the Atlantic waves crashing, smelling the sea foam AND eating gelato...I think Shriver's kind of edged out a victory on atmosphere...
We'll be back to Sparano's again soon ( we actaually had their pizza tonight! 2nd place winner, People's Choice award, at the latest Columbus Pizza Challenge or whatever they're calling it now...). Each time I drive by, it looks like there's people there, but I know they'd like to have more customers, so stop by, say hi to Meilie (call her "May") and have some West Side Gelato.
Sparano's Ice Cream and Gelato
1783 N Hague Ave
Columbus, OH 43204-1618.
Phone: (614) 487-0087
Open:
Monday-Thursday, 4 pm to 9:30 pm
Friday - Sunday, Noon to 9:30 pm
Enjoy,
Lorence
3 comments:
Finally, something yummy in my neck of the woods - I'm going to have to stop by and try it out - is it Hague Ave north or south of Broad?
Sparano's is just south of Trabue on North Hague. The surroundings aren't pretty at all, but in a year or so the bushes will grow up enough to shelter the small seating area from the road. Like you said, finally something yummy on our end of town, so I'm willing to put up with the "scenery"...
Sparanos antipasta salad with thier original house dressing and thier original italian sub a must. I order large quantities of that dressing for home all the time. You won't find this flavor anywhere eles. What scenery? I'm there for the flavor.
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