la nostra storia
Copper pots, wooden spoons, and one stubborn rule.
Isabella Gelato began in a nonna's kitchen outside Bologna and found its home on a lava field in Hafnarfjörður. We make gelato the slow, honest way — in small batches, churned fresh every morning, with Italian recipes and Icelandic milk. Nothing sits overnight, nothing comes off a truck.
la nostra storia
— isabella
la nostra missione
To make the most honest gelato in Iceland — and to make it a small, everyday joy anyone can share.
i nostri valori
Four things guide every batch we make. They are not slogans; they are how we decide what goes in the case and what never does.
Every flavour is made by hand in small batches, tasted and adjusted until it's right. Artigianale isn't a label for us — it's the whole method. Slow steps, real ingredients, and the patience to throw out a batch that isn't good enough.
The milk and cream that carry our gelato are Icelandic, and we lean on local produce and dairy wherever we can. Italian technique, Icelandic terroir — that pairing is the reason our gelato tastes the way it does and could only be made here.
The case changes with the seasons because the best fruit does too. We follow what's at its peak rather than forcing the same list all year. Some favourites you'll always find; others appear for a few weeks and then say goodbye until next year.
A gelateria should be part of the neighbourhood, not just a stop on it. We give free tastes, answer every question honestly, and want Isabella to be the kind of place Hafnarfjörður is proud to call its own — as warm to a first-time visitor as to a regular.
la nostra storia
From a Sunday kitchen in Emilia-Romagna to a shop front on a lava field — the short version of a long journey.
A grandmother's kitchen in Emilia-Romagna, copper pots and wooden spoons, and one rule: if it isn't fresh, it isn't gelato. The taste of those Sundays is the taste we still chase.
Recipes written down page by page — not to sell, but so the family would remember. Balances of milk, sugar and fruit, refined over years, become the backbone of everything we serve.
The founder chooses Iceland — drawn by its remarkable milk and cream, its curious people, and the idea that honest gelato deserves a home this far north. The recipe book is packed for the crossing.
After a long search, a shop front turns up in Hafnarfjörður — the lava town, close to the harbour and the Viking village. It feels right immediately. Work begins on the counter, the kitchen and the machines.
Isabella Gelato opens its doors at Lougavegur 6 — dal 2026. The first batches are churned before dawn; the first free tastes go across the counter that same morning. Sixteen gusti, made by hand.
Around sixteen flavours a day, a case that changes with the seasons, and the same rule as ever. We churn before we open, sell what we made that morning, and when it's gone, it's gone.
perché Hafnarfjörður
The town built on a lava field — a harbour, a Viking heart, and a character all its own, about fifteen minutes south of Reykjavík.
vieni a trovarci
We're on Lougavegur 6 in Hafnarfjörður, open seven days a week. Pop in for a free taste — we'll help you find your flavour.
Dove
Lougavegur 6
220 Hafnarfjörður
Orari
Mon–Fri 12:00–22:00
Sat–Sun 11:00–23:00
Contatti
ciao@isabella.is
+354 555 0000