Dino Gelato is a classic Italian-style shop, and if not for being in Marrakech, it could easily be somewhere in Rome. Tourists and locals alike flock to its spacious interior to cool off on hot days in Marrakech and chat away the afternoon. The decor of the entire location is rather polished and makes for a perfect place to bring a group of friends or a bunch of children.

When you walk inside, you’ll notice how clean it is along with the red walls and large black and white tiles across the floor. You’ll also notice the waiters dressed in all white with red aprons, adding to the throwback appeal of the place. When I went, it was very busy with a large crowd of people in a surrounding covered patio. However, it wasn’t that cool inside, and the doors remained opened to the outdoor patio, so make sure to eat a lot of gelato to cool down or get a cold soda.

I ordered a dish called the Per Piu Piedi which is a funny looking ice cream character served with biscuits on a chilled butterfly dish. It came with glace parfum auchoix (tiny ice cream cones), chantilly, chocolate and biscuits, but the execution didn’t match up to what it looked like on the menu. The gelato was just okay, although if I didn’t order the whimsical character, it seemed like they had some more interesting flavors behind the counter.

Not feeling quite cooled off, I also went with a fresh orange juice thinking it would do the trick. It was super sweet and tasty, but would have been great if served cold considering it was around scorching outside.

Service takes a good bit of time as you can’t just order at the counter and have to wait for an available waiter to come to your table. It also took a long time getting the check and eventually had to go flag down our waiter that seemed to have disappeared for awhile.

But despite still being parched after dining there and the somewhat slow service, it’s still one of the best places to cool off from the hot sun of Marrakech, which is pretty much a year round thing.