Rita’s

Rita’s is coming to San Diego. Carlsbad in particular in April 2013.

Hot + humid = need relief. Ahhhhh Rita’s. Now only if they’d let me stick my tired feet in a cooler…

Friendly service, clean restaurant. I give this location a 3.5 stars. I had the strawberry blendini with Nilla wafers and it was YUMMMMMMY. We had grabbed breakfast elsewhere and had to wait outside a bit for Rita’s to open so we could get dessert (yay there was a bench outside). In the 5 mins we were there, other people showed up and waited too. Very refreshing for a hot day. Someone tell them to expand to the west coast!

Love Rita’s! This location is super convenient for me, they don’t have the best selection if flavors compared to ones in MD though. Still a regular stop, especially on my way home from work!

Super friendly service, interesting dessert concept, okay taste. I’m pretty good at eating ice cream type things, and I did not finish this.
I ordered a strawberry ice and mango ice with orange cream frozen custard on the bottom, and vanilla frozen custard at the bottom (called a Gelati for some reason). It was an interesting combination of creaminess and iciness. The ice lacked the authentic fruitiness and smoothness of sorbets I am used to eating. Overall, I was underwhelmed (
).

How can I not give Rita’s an easy, breezy, beautiful 5 stars?!
Water ice. Custard. Magical combinations of both.
Smooth. Creamy. Cold.
Unlimited samples keep me lingering…
A clean store with a cool bench outside to perch on to feel the city breathe for a moment. To let me breathe for a moment.
Thank you Rita’s for being the custard topping to my day!

Rita’s has been a secret shared by Md. and Penn. for some time now.
Mama Rita has finally blessed me. She is as holy as the Virgin Mary in my foodie Bible.
Blessed is me who eats upon Ms. Rita’s Gelati.
Now this is not to be confused with gelato. This is like a cream-​sickle in a cup. It’s layered flavor with creamy custard and layered flavored topped with creamy custard. Black cherry, mango… mmm…mmm…mmm.good.
Amen! That’s good stuff!

Went here after eating at Matchbox. Got a mango and vanilla custard Gelati. That thing is the real deal mcneal. $ 3.50 and it was huge. I couldn’t finish it. It’s Vanilla frozen custard with mango ice in the middle with more custard on top. Amazing. They are supposed to be getting a cheesecake style ice next week. For sure will be back.

Finally got to try Rita’s the other day. I had a combo of cheesecake and strawberry and it was delicious! It was the so-​called «water ice,» which I’ve probably had before but I’ve never heard it referred to as such till now. Nice place to get cold treats in Adams Morgan, the service is friendly although there aren’t tons of seats.

I LOVE Ritas! San Diego, CA desperately needs Ritas! This kind of place would kick DQ to the curb!
Anyway, on my week long vacation to Washington, DC it was a priority to visit Ritas. After getting off of the Dupont Circle exit, this place was tricky to find. This place isn’t really close to anything, it’s the last business of a new building at the end of the street. I had to ask an Asian market on the street if I was going the right way.
I had the classic cherry flavor; it was as good as ever! I’ve had other flavors, but the cherry is still the best!

Mmmmmmmm! Rita’s!
I am a huge fan of the peach, coconut and watermelon ice! I love the water ice here however, the custard I could go without. I’ve had better custard in the area, but sometimes you just gotta get some ice! I was really surprised to see these everywhere. Back back back in the day, I remember seeing Rita’s in random parts of Maryland and thinking what’s that?! I didn’t actually try it until I moved to the West Coast for 5 years and came back to find them ALL OVER THE PLACE. Then I thought I gotta try this already. Good thing I did! Love the ice!

Came in here for a quick kiddie cup or two… Mint chocolate chip was surprisingly good for a not-​very-​dairy treat, and the taste of Swedish Fish was excellent. The sugar free mango was very good. The service was excellent, and the store was unusually clean. I expected stickier surfaces. Nuthin’ wrong with this place.

I went to Dairy Godmother and Rita’s within the same week, which counts as success in my book. However, I believe that the two custards are so vastly different that it’s not really fair to compare the the two. I would say both are equally good in their own way.
Rita’s custard is creamy and delicious, and not quite the texture of regular frozen yogurt (which is what Dairy Godmother’s is). I got a regular twist on a cake cone and it was great, although you could just tell the thing was packed full of calories. I was surprised to learn that my husband’s Italian Ice was almost as bad in the calorie department — that just doesn’t seem fair! Anyway, my husband and I both enjoyed our treats; my husband was especially pleased with the frozen berries in his strawberry ice.
Being from the West Coast, I am new to the whole «custard» thing. I am not really sure if there is supposed to be a difference between custard and frozen yogurt and, based on my recent experiences at Rita’s and Dairy Godmother’s, I am still none the wiser.
Bottom line, though, is that Rita’s was tasty and I wouldn’t hesitate to come back. I think Dairy Godmother’s shop is a little more magical and charming, but as for flavor both places have stellar custards for my taste buds.

In high school, my friends and I hit Rita’s all the time on those sweltering summer evenings, but then I moved away and went cold turkey for several years. Now I’m living in Adams Morgan and what do you know, TWO Rita’s within walking distance from my house! I hit this one up quite frequently — as much as I love the custard it’s not the healthiest thing ever, so I usually have enough restraint to stick with a double flavor water ice (although I’ll admit I made this discovery the other night: black cherry water ice with chocolate custard… wondrous).
Fave water ice combo: raspberry lemonade + mango. Insanely sweet, but usually hits the spot. Bonus points if you can finish without getting one of those cold rush headaches!

It was sweltering outside. I was fanning myself with a Unilocal fan while walking up and down 18^th St during Adams Morgan Day. Once we passed the Salsa Dancing competition, we reached a crossroads: Go directly to happy hour OR get Rita’s first and then go to happy hour?
I think the answer is pretty obvious. Get some Rita’s.
I had the Slenderita with Georgia Peach and it was just the most satisfying cool-​off treat of the day. There was a pumpkin flavored option which I considered. But after careful deliberation with another Unilocaler (Jeff W), we concluded that pumpkin wouldn’t really be a good choice for a day like today. It’s more of a cooler-​weather thing. Peach would be more refreshing. So I will have to return to sample their pumpkin offering. Anyway…
The custard doesn’t even come close to say, frozen custard from the Dairy Godmother and the water ice was a bit sweet, but on day like Sunday, what does that matter? All I cared about was having a frozen treat to help cool off and it did just that. (And more importantly, it left just enough room for happy hour snacking!)

I am so glad that I don’t belong to Mint Fitness! Having Rita’s right downstairs from Mint, I’d either never make it upstairs to the gym or always have to stop in after my workout.
Fortunately I live close enough to Rita’s that I can walk 30 steps to get there when I have a craving but not so close that I’d see it everyday when I’m out and about.
My favorite at Rita’s is their blendinis. To make a blendini, you pick an Italian Ice, a custard (vanilla, chocolate or vanilla and chocolate), and a topping (oreos or nilla wafers), and a Rita’s employee will blend the three together for you to make a deliciously creamy yet icy treat. They create new flavored Italian Ice all the time so what you get this time may not be there next time. So far my favorites have been strawberry shortcake ice + vanilla custard + nilla wafers, mint chocolate ice + vanilla and chocolate custard + oreos, keylime pie ice + vanilla custard + nilla wafers, and the latest from last night after walking around Adams Morgan Day festival all day, pumpkin pie ice + chocolate custard + oreos. Yum!
The first time I went to Ritas, I didn’t know about the Blendini so I just had an Ice. I thought it was decent but nothing that will make me go back regularly. But after i discovered the Blendini, I have been going at least 4 times a month. They have a stamp card, if you buy 9 the 10^th is free.

I prefer this Rita’s to the one in Columbia Heights. It’s a little off the more trafficked Florida Ave and 18^th St, in sort of a weird location, but this one is much larger than the Columbia Heights location, with some room for seating. Plus they have all the ices out in view, like an ice cream place. It’s comforting to see giant tubs of neon-​colored slush.
While I really do think the vibrant color of the ice is pretty disturbing, I like their ices. The custard is a thicker version of soft serve. I’m a big fan of the gelati: a layer of custard of your choosing, a good amount of an ice flavor or two, topped off with a larger portion of custard. Mmm.
After ordering, the guy asked me if I wanted «any more happiness» or if that was «all the happiness» I needed. Not entirely sure what to make of this. Maybe he was bored. Maybe it’s a corporate thing (better than the singing servers at Coldstone). Perhaps this was an oblique drug reference. If this Rita’s sold ice and drugs, I might never leave… well, no, but I would love to see the DEA raiding a Rita’s. It would make my day.
The one thing I dislike about the Rita’s empire of happiness: they close for like half the year. What the fuck. Did market research suggest that people don’t want their tasty deliciousness year round? Is it unprofitable to run in the winter? Given the bleakness and the prevalence of seasonal affective disorder, I think lots of people could do with the occasional serving of happiness in February. Or they could sell coffee. I just don’t understand!

I can’t decide if Rita’s has the best location or worst location in DC.
A location next to a gym, two urban clothing/​shoe stores, and a block from my apartment are among the many reasons why this is the WORST LOCATION EVER. For all those reasons it’s also the BEST LOCATION EVER. Some nights I find myself wanting to skip dinner altogether and treat myself to a water ice. Now that summer is here I find myself at Rita’s at least once every weekend.
I’m a fan of the water ice and custard — but not together (also known as a Blendini). The water ice is a pure icy, sugary, flavor-​packed punch. Passion fruit ice is much like a passion fruit, sans sourness, and a bucket of crushed ice and sugar colliding in your mouth. The custard is a thick, marshmallow-​y substance that is neither liquid nor solid, simply creamy goodness.
Compared to a number cold treat options in the neighborhood, Rita’s is also a deal (a small water ice and custard cone coming in just over $ 6). I won’t make a claim to Rita’s being the BEST anything, but it certainly is a cold treat perfect for a sweltering afternoon.

I kept hearing about this Slenderita business at Rita’s, and finally had an opportunity to check it out this past weekend, since the boy and I had plenty of extra time to bust between finishing dinner at Sushi Taro and heading over to the 9:30 Club for a comedy show. With beautiful weather and an hour to while away I checked in with a helpful friend for directions (because Rita’s is a little bit off of the main intersection of 18^th and Florida, a few storefronts down from Mint) and we were on our way to frozen custardy goodness.
I don’t quite grasp the concept of the strange (to me) flavored ices served with a dollop of frozen custard on top, so I shied away from those. Especially after our filling meal, I just wanted to try the fat free Slenderita (like it’s going to do that much less damage to my waistline, right?).
Wow. Creamy vanilla goodness. Yuuum. If I were in the ‘hood and didn’t feel like schlepping all the way to Del Ray for Dairy Godmother, I’d definitely haul my ass over here for seconds. I’d also probably quickly put on a second ass, so it’s great that I don’t live next door.
Note: They do have a restroom for public use; you just need to ask one of the staffers to unlock it for you.

Earlier in the day I happened to mention to my favorite Washingtonian that I’d heard there was a new frozen custard shop near Mint gym on Florida Avenue. He went out to run errands while I stayed home to work. About an hour later when he returned he had a spoon and a napkin in one hand and a cup of frozen custard for me in the other. I had to blink a few times. Did he really just go out and bring me back a huge portion of chocolate and vanilla swirled goodness? OH yes. He DID!
As I dug into the fluffy goodness that is Rita’s frozen custard I was smiling from ear to ear. My favorite Washingtonian was also impressed after I gave him a bite or two. For serious, this stuff is delicious. I highly recommend the «twist» (chocolate and vanilla frozen custard swirled together).
Welcome to the neighborhood, Rita’s!

I think it’s funny that there’s now a Rita’s right underneath Mint gym. And evidently, there will soon be a Belgian chocolate vendor in the same shopping center. Those gym rats haven’t got a chance.
I had never been to a Rita’s before, so it took me a few minutes to get my bearings. They have a variety of frozen custard and Italian ice flavors, and they also offer some blends that combine any of those two with crumbled cookies and or a topping sauce.
I went for a small chocolate custard, figuring that’s the best way to get a feel for the place. It was yummy creamy and chocolatey. I took home a mango Italian ice for the hubby, so I got to try that too. We both agreed it had an odd aftertaste — perhaps too much added sweetener. But, I should note, the ice was in fact finished in short order.
Next time I’ll probably be more adventurous and go for a blend of a fruit ice with the chocolate custard. Mmm. That’ll be good.
This Rita’s just opened about a month ago, which means they’ve got a short earning season before cold weather makes frozen desserts seem, well, silly. The owner of this location appears unconcerned, though, and knows most of her business will not come until next spring and summer. In fact, she closes her two locations (this one and one in Southeast) each December and reopens in the spring. I hope her business plan works, and that she sticks around for a long while.