Lezza Spumoni & Desserts is an Italian bakery and gelateria specializing in authentic spumoni ice cream, a layered Italian dessert of chocolate, strawberry, and pistachio ice cream with candied fruit and a whipped cream center. The recipe traveled to Chicago’s West Side from Naples in 1905, making it a family tradition spanning well over a century. They also offer Italian and French pastries, cannoli, gelato, Italian ices, decorated cakes, and made-to-order crepes.
Origin Story
The Lezza story begins in 1905, when Salvatore Lezza brought his family’s spumoni recipe from Naples, Italy, to Chicago’s West Side.
For over a century, the Lezza family has been making spumoni the traditional way, preserving a technique that most commercial ice cream companies have long since abandoned. The family’s spumoni became a Chicago institution, sold at Italian delis, restaurants, and grocery stores across the metro area.
In August 2015, they opened a retail storefront at 544 South Spring Road in Elmhurst, giving customers a chance to buy spumoni, pastries, gelato, and cakes directly from the source, connecting a new generation to a recipe that’s been in the family for over 120 years.
