Bitzel’s Chocolate Adds Gelato to Its Menu of House-Made Sweets
Bitzel’s Chocolate, chocolatier Ray Bitzel’s 7,000-square-foot chocolate factory in Suwanee, is already taking metro Atlanta by storm with a mouth-watering array of chef-crafted chocolate delicacies. Guests get to learn about the production process as chocolate bark, truffles and chocolate-covered fruits and nuts are all made fresh on-site in an immersive and educational Willy Wonka-style setting. Now, Atlantans with a sweet tooth can enjoy another delicious indulgence as Bitzel’s serves up fresh, creamy gelato—a slow-churned dessert originally from Italy.
“Producing and serving gelato in-house has been part of the plan from the very beginning,” says Bitzel. “I wanted to offer something you can’t get anywhere else, at least not the way we make it at Bitzel’s, right at the counter in eight continuously churning barrels. It hasn’t been sitting in a freezer for who knows how long—it’s been poured that morning. And we make it soft serve, the way gelato was meant to be enjoyed.”
While gelato bears some similarities to ice cream—it’s made with milk, cream and sugar—it’s a far superior dessert, according to Bitzel.
“Our gelato is naturally aerated, not injected,” he says. “It has about 30% less fat, one-third less sugar and one-third fewer calories. It’s a more flavorful product because you don’t have all that fat coating the tongue and diluting the flavor—you can actually taste it. And gelato has less air than ice cream so you’re getting more for your money.”
Ordering Bitzel’s gelato is easy: Guests choose a flavor such as Sierra Negra chocolate, salted caramel, orange creamsicle, strawberry, Tahitian vanilla or Key lime pie. (Flavors change frequently. Guests can call ahead, check the website or just show up and be surprised.) Then they select a sauce or crumble, like coconut or lemon crunch, caramel biscotto cookie crumble or chocolate cookie crumble before finishing things off with a delicious topping or syrup including caramel, chocolate, strawberry or passion fruit.
“Our goal isn’t just to offer an alternative to ice cream but to serve our guests an authentic Old World dessert and let them see it being made so they know exactly what’s in it,” Bitzel says. “I can’t think of anywhere you can get it like this outside of Italy.”
Bitzel’s gelato is available in five-ounce cups ($5.49), eight-ounce cups ($7.49) and in a 12-ounce “mega waffle bowl” for two ($11.99). For more information, please visit bitzelschocolate.com.
About Bitzel’s Chocolate
Bitzel’s Chocolate is a 7,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility, located in Suwanee, Georgia. The factory is the brainchild of chocolatier and entrepreneur Ray Bitzel and his business partner and co-founder Dave Rose. Bitzel’s Chocolate features a line of affordable, chef-crafted delicacies prepared while guests move through the production process in a true Willy Wonka-style experience. This year, Bitzel’s Chocolate was named “Manufacturer of the Year – Small” by Partnership Gwinnett. Bitzel’s Chocolate is located at 453 Northolt Parkway Suwanee, GA 30024 and is open Tuesday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday-Sunday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Learn more at bitzelschocolate.com.
