Boccato Gelato Brings Second Location to Old Town

Boccato Gelato and Espresso Bar opened up a new location in Old Town this week. The second location of the wildly popular Clarendon store will be offering gelato and coffee drinks at 1012 King Street, right around the corner from the coffee shop staple Misha’s.

The store originally planned to open in April, but delays in preparing the location pushed the opening to July.

“There were a lot of elements that caused the delay such as getting permits from the city, a lot of steps to overcome including getting the Health Department to inspect, also to get plumbing and electricity ready," said co-owner Cristian Velasco. "We appreciate it because it doesn’t mean that just anyone can open a store. We are low key and we want to open the store when it's ready to open.”

Co-owner Rob Shelton expanded on the construction issues. “The plumbing took a long time to finish,” he said. “We had to move a wall for the bathroom, which made us have to change building plans, and having to get those new plans approved. The City of Alexandria was very supportive and extremely helpful in getting everything ready.”

The owners have a 21-year lease on the space so, as Shelton said, "Six weeks wasn’t going to make a difference.”

Shelton, a Hayfield Farm native, said he wants the Old Town space explained to be a neighborhood shop, rather than a tourist shop. “We didn’t want to be close to the water because we didn’t want to be just a tourist stop. We’ll get plenty of tourists here, but we also wanted to be a neighborhood shop. Up here is where the community is.”

Rob and Cristian’s vision for the store was low key, simple, clean and uncluttered. The simple layout of the store shows that.  Entering the store you first encounter the gelato case. Perpendicular to that is the coffee bar and a section of seating. Along with homemade gelato, the store is serving Stumptown Coffee from Portland, Ore., and pastry treats from Alexandria's Buzz Bakery. “We’re one of the first places on the East  Coast to offer Stumptown Coffee, and we’re the fifth wholesale account for Buzz,” Shelton said.  

When speaking about the gelato offerings, Shelton wanted to emphasize the store’s lack of pretense. “We’re not trying to be Italian. We’re not trying to be Argentine. We just want to make simple, American gelato.”