Rita’s Italian Ice

Drooling. Anyone who’s from or has been to Philly knows Rita’s Water Ice. I was so happy to stumble upon it and it didn’t disappoint.
I went for the tried and true water ice. The portion size is fantastic and the price is awesome. While I’m not familiar with most of their menu, they had quite an assortment.
In the area, don’t miss your opportunity. Cool and refreshing and good winter, spring, summer or fall.

Big fan of Rita’s for over 5 years. Try the Gelati. Be sure to check in on Unilocal for a coupon.

Way too sugary for my tastes; in particular, the ice tastes more like corn syrup ice rather than plausible Italian ice.

This place was good, but not worth the price good.
Staff are friendly and patient as you order, and are always easy to talk to. There is nothing I hate more than shy and awkward staff who give off the persona of not caring about you or the food being sold. But that isn’t an issue here.
The reason I docked stars is because 1. The custard was weird. I got the vanilla and it was very heavy with an off flavor. I don’t know how to describe it. like old whipped cream without much vanilla? If that even makes sense. It just wasn’t very appetizing. I know that custard is heavy and supposed to be creamy but this was too much.
Issue 2. The cost is too much for me for flavored ice and custard I found mediocre. I’d much rather have a Culver’s. The flavored ice itself is not bad (I got cookie dough and Swedish fish) but the Swedish fish ended up being much too sweet and over powering.
I might go back and get just the ice next time, but probably not. This is my personal opinion and I could be totally wrong but if you’re like me and don’t do overly-​sweet or super duper rich foods, I might avoid coming here. To the rest of you who love it, give this place a try! Just abstain from vanilla. I still think it was just weird.

I went to my first Rita’s in Pennsylvania as a child, and had missed it so much after I moved.
I came to this Rita’s with my boyfriend who had never had it, and the girl working was super sweet and helped him pick out his flavor and gave amazing suggestions!
We came back a week later, and the two people working welcomed us to Arizona and made us feel at home!

First time here it was the best! I had the horchata Italian ice with vanilla custard it was delicious. Reviews for this place were right on point. We definitely be coming here again!

I absolutely LOVE Rita’s. Is my ultimate favorite dessert spot. The workers are always in such good moods and you can tell they really enjoy working there. Then again, who wouldn’t?!

Being from PA, the only thing I missed (other than sheetz) was Rita’s as I attended school in AZ. I am so happy that I can find happiness just a few blocks from my door at Rita’s. I always get the same thing Mint Oreo Gelati with Vanilla custard. The staff is so incredibly friendly are always eager to let me sample new flavors! They have even catered events I have thrown and everyone loves Ritas!

While exploring the downtown Tempe area, I discovered Rita’s Ice. I had seen some Unilocal ads for it and heard some buzz about it online. I know it’s a chain but I decided to give it a try since I was craving something sweet. The staff there were very welcoming and patient when it came to helping us choose flavors. They could tell it was our first time at a Rita’s so they explained the concept and the popular menu items. They literally let us sample every ice flavor and gave us flavor recommendations. Of all the flavors we tried, I really enjoyed the Mango, Horchata, and Red Sour Patch kid. I ended up getting the Horchata and I must say, it really hit the spot. It wasn’t overly sweet and was not too «melty» without giving me brain freeze the second I had a bite. I got the kid sized cup which was the perfect amount.
I think I will go with the gelati if I ever go back to a Rita’s. Custard and ice? This obviously sounds like a delicious combination. I do want to note that the place itself is super clean, and I have to make another note about the staff. They were warm and personable and made the experience really enjoyable. For a chain, this place really felt like your neighborhood dessert place. I would recommend stopping here on a a warm summer night. or I guess if you live in the Tempe area… any night… after a meal for the perfect dessert fix.

I already have an addiction to the Rita’s location near me– tbh it’s not even near me … it’s 9 miles away and I drive to Rita’s because it’s that good. After dining on Mill, I just had to make a quick visit to Rita’s.
The staff here is so great, generous samples in little paper cups and encourage sampling. They also seemed to be training a few people, but that didn’t affect the great service at all. A gal helped recommend a suggestion since I zoned in on the Green Apple flavor and told me to get the Green Apple with Vanilla Custard Gelati with Caramel drizzle on top for a Caramel Apple kind of Gelati. Absolutely sold!
It was amazing! Tart, green apple flavor with the creamy Vanilla custard was good enough on it’s on and the Caramel on top was like a cherry on top– more like what it literally was … Caramel, but you get my drift. Thank you so much!
And to top it off even more, upon paying she gave me a little sample size bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans … too sweet. No pun intended– maybe just a little.
Great staff, great recommendation and great location!

So good! The gelati is amazing, especially with Pink Starburst Italian ice. The custard is super creamy and the ice is smooth and rich. The proportions of the gelati are perfect. I wish we lived closer!

We’ve been here a couple of times now & tried a few different items… the gelati, the blendini, & italian ice by itself, & the misto, etc. I think going forward, I’m going to have to stick to getting the italian ice by itself because the custard gets heavy; I made the mistake of getting the custard by itself once as a sundae, and while tasty, it was way too creamy & I wasn’t able to eat more than a fourth of it. Even in the gelati, I thought it was too much. My favorite flavor of the italian ice thus far has been the mango and the blueberry is pretty good as well. Sign up for their birthday club & you get a free italian ice!

Rita’s reminds me of my visits to New York and New Jersey. I love frozen custard. This location has been around for some time but I barely discovered them about a month ago! Now I don’t have to wait til I visit Jersey or New York again to have Rita’s. The staff is very friendly and informative. They will let you try flavors until you are sure of your choice! Also ordered a pretzel at my last visit with my ice and I was very pleased. I believe they are even open late til 10pm or so. I will update this review when I confirm their hours.

Everytime I come to one of these places, the staff are over the top great. That alone is a plus. Now the important part…
EVERYTHING IS GREAT!
And they change the flavors daily so your forced to try different combinations. Great idea

I am originally from South Jersey and we have these all over. And when we moved here I was so sad that I wouldn’t be able to eat it in the summer. But then I made day trip with my family to Phoenix and found this place! I was soooooo happy! I had no idea how I was gonna make it without my Rita’s Water Ice. We love this place so much that we plan day trips around coming to this place. It’s a family tradition that I don’t have to break because he had one enough (2 hrs) to go to :)

I am NOT a fan of ice cream, so when a friend dragged me here and told me to order the Gelati, I was very skeptical. I followed her recommendation and got the Gelati with strawberry Italian ice and vanilla custard and was blown away by how delicious it was! The difference in textures/​richness/​taste between the Italian ice and custard is really interesting – they compliment each other perfectly! I will be back for sure. Great treat for a hot day!

Alright fuck it… it’s delicious.

I have only had the Italian ice and find it refreshing. They are made from real ingredients. I often find little pieces of the berry or fruit in the ice.
The staff has always been friendly and quick with a sample to held decide which one is just right. It is conveniently located right on Mill Ave, perfect for a treat while walking this popular Tempe street.
If you like Italian ice, this place is probably great. But, I am more of an ice crème man. I will have to try the custard and see if that may justify more stars.

Living on the East Coast, I always thought, «Ugh, why can’t Rita’s be open year round?». Then when we moved back to Arizona I thought, «Ugh, why can’t I bring Rita’s with me?». Low and behold… THERE“S NOW RITA’S IN ARIZONA AND IT’S OPEN ALL YEAR!!! (I was seriously that excited. No joke.)
I came to this location on the first day of Spring for the first time. Booyah, free water ice!!! (I’ve also figured out that I am the only person that I know that says «water ice») I wasn’t aware that this location was as new as it is so I was expecting it to be packed at opening. I guess this was the first «First Day of Spring» this location has had so I was first in line. My first experience was okay but I didn’t want to base my review off of that day… opened late, workers not super friendly (hungover maybe?), water ice not completely stocked. Rita’s did not bring their A-​game on this visit. But it was free and it was good.
I came for the second time a few days later. Even less flavors on this trip. There was a girl training and she was the nicest out of the bunch. Service, not including the new girl, was about the same. I used to have a boss that said that if «Rita’s» was on an applicants resume, she would interview them because they always have the best service. Standards for Rita’s must be higher in Philadelphia. Just sayin’,
I love Rita’s so much that I am willing to look bast the sub-​par service and lack of flavors and give this location 4 stars anyway. I will go out of my way to keep coming back.
Oh, and another thing… they now have these virtual punch cards. It’s a nice concept, I guess, but with the paper cards you used to get one punch per item that you bought. Now no matter how much you purchase, you only get one punch per visit. Dumb.

First off, the employee who helped me on my first visit was on fire with his explanations of custard and ices and combinations, etc. It made me more informed, but yet slightly more confused. Finally, I decided on the thing where you get ices on bottom of cup and custard in the middle and then another layer of ice and custard on the top. I really liked the ices better than the custard. I had coconut cream ices which were great and since the custard comes out of the machine, it won’t be hard-​packed, but taste more like soft serve. Still, quite refreshing.