Messina Has Returned Home To Adelaide

Now open at 44 The Parade West, Kent Town.

After spending over 20 years on the East Coast of Australia, perfecting the art of making what we think is arguably some of the best gelato on the planet, we are delighted to bring our gelato to home turf in Adelaide.

To celebrate the opening we have also created Adelaide’s very own special I KNOW THE OWNERS - Custard tart gelato with tart base and iced coffee fudge. The flavour will be available at Messina Kent Town for our opening week.

After moving from Adelaide to Sydney in 1999, Messina founder Nick Palumbo and his brother Danny have spent the best part of 20 years growing Gelato Messina from a single store in Sydney to now 30 stores across Australia. 

Landing on our first location in Kent Town was swayed by Nick’s childhood route to the city which passed by the old Alchemy Ironworks. Having always loved the corner location, when the site came up for sale, the deal was sealed for it to be Messina’s first home in South Australia. The site has been designed by local architect Sans Arc Studio with an environmentally responsible fit out, retaining the original building layout, creating a modern, warm and welcoming experience for customers.

Featuring our signature 40 flavour gelato cabinet, with 35 classic flavours and 5 rotating weekly specials, there will also be our weird and wonderful selection of gelato cakes, jars of house-made dulce de leche and a selection of Messina merch. 

All Messina flavours are made from scratch using the best ingredients we can get our hands on. We have our own dairy farm in country Victoria which produces a beautiful high fat jersey milk for all our gelato, and our bases and baked additions are produced by our talented team of gelato makers and pastry chefs.

In addition to the Messina store, mid 2024 will see the opening of an adjoining restaurant by Nick’s childhood friends Eugenio Maiale (Citrus and The Green Olive, Auge and A Tavola) and Claudio Ferraro (Cibo and Valentinos). The pair are coming back to their roots to create a new eatery which will represent what Maiale and Ferraro love to eat at home and on holidays — freedom food with no rules. The name is still under wraps.