Shop the Rock Called Us a Hidden Gem — We're Just Getting Started

Shop the Rock featured The Gelato Lab as a hidden gem in Round Rock — here's what that moment meant to us.

Back in October 2025, Shop the Rock — Round Rock's go-to source for local business news — published a feature on The Gelato Lab. At the time, we were only a few months old, still finding our footing, still introducing ourselves to the community.

Seeing our shop featured by a publication dedicated entirely to supporting Round Rock businesses? That hit home.

👉 Read the full Shop the Rock feature here

A Hidden Gem — For Now

The article described us as "a bit of a hidden gem" — and honestly, they weren't wrong. When we opened in June 2025, road construction on S.A.W. Grimes Blvd made it harder for people to find us. We were tucked into Turtle Creek Market, serving fresh gelato every day, hoping Round Rock would discover us.

They did. Slowly, then all at once.

Shop the Rock captured exactly what we were trying to build: a place with flavorful, in-season ingredients, a varied menu for kids and adults, dairy-free and vegan-friendly options, and a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Not a chain. Not a franchise. Just a family pouring everything into every scoop.

Andrea's Story Behind the Gelato

What the article touched on — and what we love sharing — is Andrea's background. She studied culinary arts in Australia before we relocated to the Austin area. That training is in every batch we make. The slow-churn method, the scratch-made bases, the decision to never use premixes — that's not a marketing line. It's how she was taught to do it right.

When we opened, we launched with 24 summertime flavors. Our Maracumango — a blend of mango and passion fruit with ingredients shipped directly from Colombia — became a customer favorite almost immediately. The tart, sweet, aromatic punch of real South American fruit in a slow-churned gelato base is something you just can't replicate with artificial flavoring.

What We've Added Since

A lot has grown since that October feature. Our menu now includes:

  • 🍫 Rainforest Chocolate — sourced from Ecuador's Amazon, not a flavoring bottle
  • 🎂 Custom Gelato Cakes — for birthdays, celebrations, and corporate events
  • 🧇 Belgian Waffles — made fresh to order, topped with your scoop of choice
  • 🍓 Dubai Chocolate Strawberries — because why not
  • 🌱 Rotating dairy-free sorbettos — vegan, gluten-free, and genuinely delicious

We've also expanded our hours, added online ordering and pickup, and we're now available on DoorDash and Uber Eats — so the gelato comes to you.

Thank You, Round Rock

Being featured by Shop the Rock early in our journey meant more than we can express. It told us we were on the right track — that Round Rock was ready to embrace something real, something handcrafted, something that wasn't just another chain moving into a strip center.

We're not a hidden gem anymore. And we're just getting started. 🍨

Come see us at 1500 S A.W. Grimes Blvd, Suite 160, Round Rock, TX 78664 — or order online below.

🍨 The Gelato Lab Gelato
The real thing. Made the Italian way. Our gelato is slow-churned daily in our Round Rock kitchen using real ingredients — imported Ecuadorian chocolate, pure pistachio paste, fresh fruit, and real dairy. No premade bases. No artificial flavors. Over 24 rotating flavors including classic Italian varieties and seasonal creations you won't find anywhere else in Round Rock..

See our menu

Menu

Other articles

To the People Who Take Care of Our Kids

There are a lot of reasons we started The Gelato Lab. Near the top of the list: our own kids. They go to school right here in Round Rock, which means every day they're looked after by teachers and staff who show up early, stay late, and pour everything they've got into other people's children like they're their own. We see it up close. And we've wanted to do something about it for a while.
Read article

The Best Ice Cream & Frozen Desserts in Round Rock, TX (From the People Who Make It)

Hi — we're The Gelato Lab, a little family shop on A.W. Grimes where my wife Andrea and I make gelato from scratch every single morning. So yes, we have a horse in this race. But we also spend a lot of time talking to folks who wander in after a ballgame or a soccer tournament asking the same question: where's the best place to cool down around here?
Read article
October 31, 2025

Shop the Rock Called Us a Hidden Gem — We're Just Getting Started

Shop the Rock featured The Gelato Lab as a hidden gem just months after we opened. Here's the story behind that moment — and how far we've come since.
Read article