I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias and Mariano’s.
I may or may not have developed an obsession with Mariano’s Market. From the fresh foods & beautiful presentation, Mariano’s is my favorite grocery shopping experience. Recently, I had the opportunity to further enhance that experience by heading over to their signature coffee shop, Vero, to dabble in their coffee & beautiful case of gelato. This is the perfect summer treat for a summer in Chicago!
In Italian, Vero means truth and truthfully? This gelato {and coffee} were out of this world. But first, let’s start at the beginning. I sat down with the mind behind Vero, Angelo Lollino and had the opportunity to hear his story first-hand. The son of an Italian immigrant, Angelo grew up brewing & experiencing the coffee world. Opening small cafes that served the Italian communities in the area, Angelo’s family worked hard to develop the art of coffee-making and later added the gelato market to enhance the coffee cafe experience for its customers.
After being approached by Mr. Mariano himself, Angelo worked with him to create these beautiful coffee hangouts within each Mariano’s. Marrying authentic Italian coffee brewing techniques with the addition of a case of deliciously created gelato, Vero is the perfect addition to the ever-growing Mariano’s brand.
Angelo works with each new staff at the stores 3-4 weeks showing them how to be true baristas rather than simply pushing a button. {He made us each a coffee drink of our choice and you could tell just how much skill he had in assessing the right amount of foam, depth & grind techniques.}
Cappuccino anyone? Cocoa-topped, foamy & perfectly flavored, I never felt the need to add in any sugar. I also loved the fact that each cup can either be taken to go or enjoyed at the counter. Angelo told us about how in Italy, drinks are served at the coffee bar and then left there. Not many drinks are taken to go.
On to my favorite part – the Gelato! Gelato is different from ice cream in that it’s less butter fat and the ingredients are fresh & delicious. Each batch of gelato is mounded into the case and topped with whatever ingredients were used for decoration. One of the more popular flavors? Coconut – incredibly surprising to me! I’m a fan of Hazelnut, Pistachio & anything chocolate. Each year, Vero & Angelo work hard to develop new flavors, including those timed for the holidays such as Gingerbread. Flavors are assessed each year based on popularity & taste.
What flavor of gelato would you consider trying? I opted for a mixture of Peanut Butter Cup and Cookies & Cream. Chocolate meets peanut butter means that combination never grows wrong! The creamy texture and taste of real ingredient freshness makes for a wonderful after-dinner dessert or even in larger portions for a playdate or BBQ. Our batch of Gelato never made it to day two and was enjoyed in full that evening. #MyMarianos #cbias
Check out the rest of my shop at Mariano’s that day while I was busy tasting gelato.
In honor of Mariano’s 3rd Anniversary, they are hosting a wonderful Customer Appreciation Celebration!
Live Well Sweepstakes
$50,000 in prizes! Each time you checkout with your Mariano’s card, you’ll get an entry into the sweepstakes! Prizes include:
Fiat Pop 500, Luxury Italian vacation, free groceries, Ravinia Gala Experience, Bikes, Lollapalooza Tickets, Guitar autographed by the group Train
Shop Well Customer Rewards
Earn 1% Cash Back on your Mariano’s purchases from now (started July 18th) through October 19th! For qualified purchases of $50 or more spent totaling $650 or more!
Share a Taste of Mariano’s
Mariano’s is also hosting a Share a Taste of Mariano’s Facebook contest! Upload a photo to the Mariano’s Facebook page and you could win a cooking demonstration for ten with Mariano’s Tastemaker Chef! Additional winners could win a $25 gift card!
That cappuccino looks fabulous! A cup of that with Gelato is sheer bliss:)!
I shopped normally twice a week at Mariano’s in Arlington heights the nice perk you purchase 10 the 11th is free..I would normally get me freebie every 3-4 months.The new store manager there Jesse will not allow it even though the receipt says so and they have a sign directly in front.I wrote a complaint 3 times to their headquarters in Wisconsin which 2 times the assistant store manager Ken said he would talk with Jesse and take care of it next couple of times the store manager Jesse refused..One time a Nicholas aka as Nick called and said he was sorry and come in next time and a large would be N/C .I went in again and yes the Store Manager was there Jesse and said no also the manager of the Gelato section a woman said whatever Jesse says and she stated there was no Ken and no Nick.Nick. Every time I go there even if I’m getting the order filled by another person this Jesse runs over to check me out and has this big smile on his face as saying Im going to get you again..Its been more of the principal than getting a couple dollars of Ice Cream when the receipt clearly shows I have 11 and only need 10 and then the sign says the same thing and two managers also agree.It doesn’t make sense why the Corporate headquarters would allow this store manager by the name of Jesse do this crap.As a result I stopped buying entirely from Mariano’s just for this principal.After all their normal grocery s are higher than most they re vegetable and fruit are good there meats tend to be more costlier than other 10-12 other stores in the area.