Rita’s Italian Ice

Frauds! Says ice cream all over the shack… But no ice cream.
Love the signs that say «Happiness Here» but there is no happiness to be found at Rita’s!

Terrible, rude service from «Daequan» at this location. He had already been impatient with the customer in front of us in line because she didn’t understand the prices, but when it was our turn, he didn’t acknowledge we were there and was simply staring elsewhere inside the restaurant. We waited because we thought he might have his attention on something else and he had not greeted us or asked us what we want. After about 30 seconds, he threw up his hands and said «will someone please take my window, these people are staring at me like they don’t know what they want!»
Well, you rude little prick, maybe if you asked, we would have told you. His co-​worker Mira came to the window and was very pleasant. Give her a raise equivalent to Daequan’s wages, because Daequan clearly isn’t interested in a customer service job and can be excused from his position.
I sincerely hope this location’s franchisee sees this and thinks long and hard about who he/​she hires, because this really put a wrinkle in our day. The rest of the day we walked around the Inner Harbor we were in a bad mood because that little shit didn’t ask us what we wanted and gave up after 30 seconds. Fire him. Your business will flourish.

We were hoping for a tasty stop before we headed back to hotel. However, I was not impressed with the servers. She was talking to someone inside room and not focused on our order. They were a bit sloppy. The girl quoted us one price when we ordered and when it came time to pay the price was different. We questioned her on the price and it was changed. The Gelato was runny and not frozen. More like a slurpy. The mango flavor was good but the strawberry was mediocre.

Synopsis:
Atmosphere: N/​A
Service: 4.5÷5
Taste: ⁵⁄₅
Price: ³⁄₅
Selection: ⁴⁄₅
This Rita’s is located in the inner harbor, so there is no way to judge atmosphere because it is free standing.
The service at this Rita’s was very well done, once you get up to order. Be fore warned, you will be waiting awhile to get your order because this place is usually busy. That goes double during prime time. Once you get to order it is nice and quick.
The taste of what I got was very delicious. I got a gelati and it had a nice balance of slushie and custard. Also, the slushie held the syrup nicely. It didn’t sink all to the bottom like slushies tend to do.
The selection is just like every other Rita’s, and there is a fair amount to select from. I don’t have complaints here.
The only complaint I do have is price. The price is the same as every Rita’s, and it is quite pricy for ice cream dishes. You will pay over $ 6 for a large anything, so make sure you have deep pockets haha.
Overall, if you want ice cream and have the money to buy it from Rita’s, I would recommend this place to you.

Slow, sloppy service and expensive prices. Cashier took order but didn’t ask size and left counter to fill cup. Ordered A gelati which is a combo of custard and flavored ice. The two machines are not on same side of kiosk. So custard was inconveniently located for server so she skipped it and put a blob on top. so my daughter got to the bottom of cup and learned the entire cup was Italian ice with no custard!
Rita’s is normally a treat and this location is a disappointment. Thumbs down.

Ok, let me start by saying I usually only write reviews when its really good or really bad! This one was REALLY BAD! BEWARE!!! First and foremost let me cut to the chase all the signs say custard… everywhere! God I love custard! I was even willing to pay $ 6.25 for a small cone. But guess what… the rude kid behind the counter, says we no longer sell custard only soft serve ice cream! Man my kids were bummed, so I asked on this beautiful 85 degree day, ok how much for a small soft serve, he says same price $ 6.25 for a small cone! Are you kidding me? Keep it! Hope this helps so there are no suckers down the road.

Wish I could give this no stars. Waited in line, placed an order, handed my card to pay, employee said without missing a beat, «card machine is down.» Would’ve been nice to know before we even stood in line, in the rain. Thanks for nothing.

I ordered from the girls here twice today. The first time I was there the girls working there were nice to me, but extremely rude to another couple of women that were there at the same time. The women, one in her 60’s and possibly her daughter in her late 30’s asked for some water.
The girl working there said «yeah, but our water is $ 4.25, is that okay»? The older lady said «I just a want glass of water, if that’s okay»? The lady in the shop said «are you going to buy anything»? The older lady said «no». The girl said «you’re going to have to leave then, buh bye». Really? A simple glass of water for an elderly woman?
The second time I had my grand boys with me (2 and 4 years). A different girl was short with us while we decided what we wanted and not very nice. Said thanks but was kinda turned away from us, as if to say it out of sarcasm instead of meaningful.

Bottom line, if youre rude and ignorant, I dont buy. Too bad there are a mass of tourists to support bad habits.

I love spending a day in inner harbor with a bowl of Rita’s Custard… when I can get it. Unfortunately for my last 3 visits I’ve waited in line for 5+ min to find out that they are OUT of custard. Also, if you want a toping don’t bother asking because chances are they are out of that too. I understand if a stockout happens once, but 3 times signifies a trend. I know its a tiny shack, but seriously find more space for product since they are always running out. If you go I would suggest checking with people at the front of the line to see if there is custard left before you spend your time waiting in line.

This was a disappointment. The service was not good. The people working were not very friendly (though not ride) and did not seem to know their menu at all! It took a long time to get our orders, and what we got for the prices was disappointing. I would not recommend spending money at Rita’s.

Workers are unmotivated and slow. Management needs to do something to control this. Everyone on line was anxious and irritable. Maybe it was just the specific workers on May 31 at 5:00pm. Items on menu are too scattered causing people to have a lot of questions by the time they get to the window. Menu signs need to be more clear. Only reason I gave 2 stars is because the gelati is decent, but not good enough for me to ever come back.

The line was long and when we got to the front, they told us they were out of vanilla.
The service was slow and really poor. The kids working there had no sense of urgency to get people their orders.
The price is also really high.
This place is totally NOT worth it.

They don’t have this in California. Or they do, but the one location I know of is really far. My co-​worker raved about this as well since it’s a staple on the East Coast? Not sure.
The line was long. The sun was out. This sounded refreshing.
Just went with the ice and no custard. Not knowing if this will be good, we didn’t want to cough up almost $ 5 for a regular size. So we asked if we could order the kid’s size. The employee was very kind about it, given that we aren’t kids.
Good stuff. Can be a little sweet with all the syrup. I can see how it can be overwhelming if you had a huge cup though.

There are so many not-​so-​awesome things to say about Rita’s… The lines are always RIDICULOUSLY long and they are sooooooooo slow and it is really insanely overpriced.
YET. It is so. Freaking. Good. Their frozen custard is so, so, so creamy that I just cannot walk by Rita’s (if the line is reasonable) on a nice day in the Inner Harbor and not stop for a custard.
They are lucky it is so delicious, because if it was anything less than droolyworthy amazing, they would have a one-​star for service and price!

Next time we’ll pass. It was the first really nice day of spring and we were down in the Inner Harbor. The line was long, but doable considering there were three windows open, and should have been moving quickly. Instead, the staff seemed overwhelmed, confused, poorly trained, or just didn’t care.
The family in front of me got almost all of their order wrong and the server had to remake them all. Mistakes aside, the workers seemed to be moving too slowly considering the crowd that was waiting. My friend ordered two items — it was a good five minutes between when her first item was finished to her getting her second. My server thought peanuts meant Snickers. And my other friend was told they were out of vanilla (???) but then got handed her gelati with vanilla on top.
The prices were also more than I’ve ever seen at a Rita’s.

The prices at this Rita’s are a bit more than others, but the quality is just as good.
The gelatis are amazing (water ice on top of custard) but my fav is the passion fruit and lemonade mix of water ices. Love ritas and wish I could go everyday!

The day we met Destiny and Tanikwa (I hope I got the spelling of her name correctly), they tried their charm at getting us to order things we didn’t want (e.g., ordering the large as opposed to the regular, and ordering based on their recommendations as opposed to the other’s — basically, Destiny vs. Tanikwa. Ha!). The pair were awesome, and we had so much fun asking them questions about what exactly is ice custard.
So ice custard… It’s similar to ice cream, and it’s a lot creamier. Yikes! It sounds like it’d give me trouble as I’m lactose intolerant. Not to worry though! Destiny recommended that I get a misto, which is a smoothie-​like blend of Italian ice and a little bit of custard. Sounds good to me!
Both Destiny and Tanikwa recommended the juicy pear. They gave me a small sample of it. OMG, it was so good! Get the juicy pear! So I ordered the juicy pear Italian ice with vanilla custard for my misto. Destiny tried to get me to order a large, but I stuck to my guns (my other two friends gave in), and wow, it was more than enough. The misto was very good – rich but not too creamy, cold, fruity, and delicious! It was the perfect quencher for a humid day.
P. S. If you look at my photo, you’ll see that Destiny waved at the camera. This was before we even approached them! Those two were fun! What a wonderful delight to tourists like us.

Great Italian ice! On a 100 degree day, this is bliss! Orange cream is delicious. Rich, creamy, cold, smooth, fruity, and yummy! You can do whatever flavor combination you want wit the gelati. They need a Rita’s on the West coast.
Not much left to say except I’m craving it everyday!

Yummy water ice and gelatos. Be warned, they have two different menus posted (one of the flavors available today and one for the everyday flavors).
They take credit cards, and they’re really nice too. Open until 10 pm. Perfect little place for a nice chilly break in the evening.