LAKEVIEW — With an Argentinean steakhouse down the street and empanadas flowing freely along the Southport Corridor, the owners of Frio Gelato said it will fit right in to the "Argentine Alley" when it opens next month.
The Evanston-based gelato shop will open at 3721 N. Southport Ave. on April 14 with dozens of flavors, from the Argentinean favorite dulce de leche to passion fruit sorbet.
"The residents of Lakeview are uniquely conscious about food quality," co-founder Sebastián Koziura said. "They are gastronomic risk-takers, they value locally produced products and they care about what they put in their bodies."
Koziura started Frio Gelato with his cousin in 2014. The pair make the creamy gelato with a nod to their native country and its adaptation of the classic Italian dessert. Sometimes referred to by the Spanish helado, Argentinean gelato is a cross between airier, hard-packed ice cream and the rich, dense Italian gelato.
Frio Gelato flavors draw from Argentinean cuisine, like with the shop's horchata and malbec with berries. It also scoops up vanilla rum raisin, sambayón, fig and cognac and cream cheese and honey.
Its water-based sorbets come in a smaller, almost entirely fruit-flavored selection.
To try the best Argentina has to offer, Frio Gelato combines four of the country's most popular flavors of gelato in a flight of dulce de leche, sambayón, malbec with berries and yerba mate.
The shop also makes specialty treats like ahogado, gelato drowned in espresso. A homemade waffle boat, freshly made cucurucho waffle cones and crepes are also among the specialties.
Cups of gelato range from $3.70-$5.50 at the Evanston store, although customers can buy as much as a kilo — or just over two pounds — at a time for $18.
The Argentinean cucurucho waffle cones are $4-$5.50, and shakes are $4.25. Gelato cookie sandwiches are $4.25.
Frio Gelato will have plenty of competition in Lakeview's frozen treats market. Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams remains a popular destination on the corridor, while Paciugo Gelato, Scooter's Frozen Custard and Cafe L'Appetito aren't far, either.
Frio Gelato will move into a long-vacant storefront just a few doors south of the Music Box Theatre. The block is home to a plethora of small businesses like Click Shoes, Southport Blooms and Que Syrah.
Although the block is on the north edge of the Southport Corridor, it remains largely free of the national and regional chains that have overtaken the blocks south of Addison Street.
Nearby, 5411 Empanadas, El Mercado and Tango Sur also offer Argentinean cuisine.
"We feel fortunate to have as our neighbors so many other passionate small business owners," Koziura said. "And Frio Gelato helps make this 'Argentine Alley,' the ultimate destination for an Argentine culinary experience."
