Amorino Chicago: Where Michigan Avenue Goes Full Gelato
- davidcdouglass
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Chocolate Gelato Rose Cone
Amorino — sandwiched between tourists fresh off The Bean and die-hard locals who know exactly what they’re waiting for. There’s nothing particularly Chicago-authentic about this place — it’s an Italian-French import, an echo of European cafés you’d stumble into on some rainy afternoon in Paris or Rome — but that’s precisely the point. In a city that takes its food seriously, gelato this good doesn’t feel out of place; it feels necessary.
Located on the corner of S Michigan and Monroe, Amorino is the perfect stop between a full day at The Art Institute of Chicago and fun photo opportunities at Cloudgate. The whimsy of The Bean is enhanced with a cone of delicious gelato in your hand.
Amorino 38 S. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL
Walking in is like stepping into a cold season of gorgeous simplicity. Gelato isn’t ice cream by another name here — it’s denser, richer, less sweet, and feels like the product of someone who treats dairy and sugar the way an oenophile treats grapes and years. People in Chicago may spend their lives chasing the perfect pizza crust or the ideal steak fry, but hit that first lick of gelato and you realize that sweetness — restrained yet indulgent — hits a nerve all its own.
The line can be chaotic, especially on warm evenings when the streets smell of summer and the lake isn’t quite cool enough yet. You queue, shuffle forward, peer into gleaming glass cases, and there it is: gelato so meticulously sculpted into petals you hesitate before devouring it, as if you’re ruining something fragile and beautiful. The display reads like an edible art show — each flavor calling to you, begging to be sampled, tested, savored.
You can mix and match. If you choose two flavors of different colors you gelato artist creates a beautiful gelato rose right in your cone. But take your photo quickly because once you start eating, you won’t care about pictures.
Gelato flavors abound!
There are classics — pistachio that’s earthy and firm, chocolate that doesn’t pander with sweetness, fruit sorbets that zing without being cloying — and seasonal spins that make you linger at the counter debating the wisdom of choosing just two. A staffer offers samples with the patience of a bartender guiding you through a new whiskey, and just like that, you’re hooked.
But let’s be honest: it’s never just gelato. It’s the crowd — families licking cones, couples sharing spoons, the solo wanderer staring out at Michigan Avenue with a scoop of stracciatella and something heavier on their mind than they walked in with. It’s wrapped in a moment — the hum of the city, the sweetness in the air, the way you can taste summer even if the wind off Lake Michigan hasn’t quite decided to cooperate.
Overwhelmed with options? Seasons suggestions can be found on the signs.
A few blocks over in the West Loop, you’ll find Amorino, a location with the same promise of creamy miracles but the buzz of a neighborhood spot — a bit raw, a bit crowded, and just chaotic enough to remind you that this isn’t some polished tourist trap. Here you elbow your way to flavor, strategize like it’s a food market at dawn, and when you walk away with that perfect cone it feels like a small victory.
In the end, gelato in Chicago isn’t about perfection — it’s about experience. It’s about the absurd pleasure of watching a rose of creamy gelato melt too fast in your hand, about the small bliss of a bite that reminds you life can be rich, cold, and deeply satisfying all at once.
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