Rita’s Italian Ice

Totally forgot to use my check-​in offer! Oh, well. Rita’s is a nostalgic trip for this South Jersey girl, so I’ll gladly pay full price.
Gotta love a gelati, with water ice and custard. And the staff were great – they were excited about the product and made great suggestions. [Note to the boss: those kids know how to sell some frozen treats!]

I got hooked on Rita’s when I had my wisdom teeth out a few years ago. Even after eating far too much Rita’s in a very short period of time, I still love it.
While it advertises the Italian ice more heavily, it also has old school soft serve ice cream. I like both the Italian ice and the soft serve. The Italian ice isn’t what I think of as traditional Italian ice. It’s not frozen nearly solid, but more slushy. It mixes well with the soft serve — they do various combinations of the two, either layers or blended up.
The only problem? This one is on my walk home from work and if I got Rita’s every time I wanted Rita’s, it’d be trouble. Trouble.

We had Rita’s refreshing italian ice two days in a row on a trip to DC. The staff was nice and let us sample the flavors, but we immediately loved what we tried and went for them. The strawberry-​mango had a stronger strawberry than mango flavor, but they paired together very well. On our second trip, we ordered a split cup with just mango (labeled their most popular ice) and passion fruit. All the flavors really pop, especially compared to other joints that advertise real fruit so I’m pretty sure they are partially artificial, but I think they taste natural enough to be from fruit concentrates. Regardless, I can’t deny that they are very tasty treats. The regular size is big enough to be shared between two people.

Who doesn’t love cold Italian ice on a hot summer day? Rita’s is great. I always get the ice, but friends swear by the Blendinis.
Although the crew is all young, they are very friendly and helpful. Never impatient when I want to taste at least 2 of the newer flavors. (Blood orange anyone? Yum.)
Depending on the inventory, sometimes they will have discounts on certain flavors if there is too much! Winning.
Since it’s near the Verizon Center, the summer can get extremely crowded. But no worries, the workers keep the line moving so that everyone can enjoy the tasty cool treats offered.
After writing this review I might have to run down and get a Cherry Italian Ice…

This particular location is SUPER tiny. It seats 6 people. Luckily ice cream doesn’t need to be a sitting experience.
They have a large variety of flavors (my favorite is the pear) and the gelatis are made with the right ratio of ice to custard.
The staff is really friendly here and they do a good job of keeping it clean.
Definitely a good location choice, stop by if you’ve never had a Rita’s experience!

It’s definitely not Italian gelato, not even Italian ice cream.
It’s yummy, but artificial and they shouldn’t advertise it wrong.

SERVICE: Rita’s locations are pretty consistent in DC. On this 101 degree day, they had a line snaking through the store and down the entry way steps. If we hadn’t gone on an excursion with the express purpose being Rita’s, we would have gone elsewhere. Despite the long line, the employees had a very efficient system and we went from the back of the line to the cash register in less than 3 minutes. When one cash register went down later, the team adjusted immediately without an issue.
FOOD: My boyfriend had never had Rita’s. He ordered a lemon and mango Italian ice. I’ve never seen him unable to finish food he’s ordered, and even he said their large was too much dessert. I ordered a gelati with their seasonal peach flavor. The gelati’s inclusion of two layers of custard helps break up the nearly monotonous texture of the Italian ice. All Rita’s locations are temporarily serving soft serve ice cream instead of custard due to a nation-​wide egg shortage. The soft serve is rich, creamy, and just as dense as their custard – so don’t skip out.
ORDER: taste a few Italian ices, imagine them each as an ice cream flavor – if it sounds like dairy delicious, order a gelati. Thus far the lemon and peach have made excellent gelatis.

I love Rita’s! I have been to other locations in Maryland and was excited to find one in DC. We went here after dinner in Chinatown (in the rain) and we were glad that it wasn’t busy because it is a VERY VERY small location. There was another small group there taking up the only other table that I saw in the place. The prices didn’t seem like they were too bad; we just got custard with Reese’s in them. The staff was really great; very attentive and helpful. They also were pretty friendly for it being 9 at night too. I would definitely go back when I am in the area again!

I had the gelati with vanilla custard and black cherry ice and it was the perfect treat on a hot summer day. The black cherry had actual pieces of cherries in it which made it even more yummy and unique. This particular location was clean and the service was quick. A must if you’re in Chinatown in the summer.

Gelati is a must try! Much better than water ice alone.

For a little hole in the wall hidden in Chinatown, Rita’s had quite the selection. They have a range of options including Italian ice, cream ice, milkshakes, misto shakes, gelati, frozen custard, and blendinis. I went with the milkshake and was very pleased. The amount was just the right size, the price was reasonable, and the service was quick and friendly. I’ll be back the next time I am craving something to fill my sweet tooth.

Honestly, I did not really understand why this place is loved so much. This is not Italian gelato, this is Italian ice, as the name suggests. Italian gelato is not ice-​based, it is milk and fruit-​based. Also this place is using machines, which kind of irritated me very much.
I think it is very disrespectful and deceiving to sell ice to people saying that it is «Italian Gelato». It is not even close. This name of the place says that it is Italian ice, this is kind of thoughtful, but they are using the word «gelato» everywhere. I may sound very rude, however they should consider that some people know what real Italian gelato is, and the staff should not claim what they are selling is gelato.

Little place and while they claim to sell «Italian» ice cream it is actually just slush.
The frozen custard we had was okay.
The strawberry milkshake was very sweet and while it had a few real fruit pieces it was also just okay.
Staff is friendly and quick, but the place is pretty crowded and a bit worn down.
No restrooms.

A great Rita’s location whose only negative is the small size.
Growing up in NEPA, Rita’s were legion. It’s very nice that there’s a few scattered around DC, with the one I frequent the most being this Chinatown location. The Italian ice is comparable to other Rita’s stores. The service is usually always good and because of the high volume of people they are very speedy with the orders. The only negative is the small location — the inside seats maybe ten people if you squeeze, so be sure to get it to go.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Coming To This Rita’s!!! The Employees Are Very Kind & This Location Is ALWAYS Kept Clean. My New Favorite Italian Ice Is The Mango-​Strawberry (The Mango Isn’t Over Powering). Be Back Again Soon.

Ordered a black cherry ice with vanilla custard. The black cherry ice really tasted like black cherry and the chunks of cherries was a nice touch. The vanilla custard was creamy and not icy at all. Both together, delicious.

Forever in love with the pumpkin pie Italian ice (cinnamon yas!) with creamy vanilla custard on top. The staff was hella nice for just an ice cream shoppe in Chinatown and they offer free samples! Will visit again soon. With the 10% check-​in offer two regular-​sized (which I could barely finish… I cannot imagine the large) gelatis were about $ 8 with some change.

I grew up with Rita’s in NJ, and I absolutely love it. It’s disappointing that there aren’t many locations in DC, but this Chinatown location is very convenient to my job and the downtown area. I always come for my free ice on the first day of spring and as always the line is out the door. They move pretty quickly, so it’s worth the wait. My most recent trip led me to discover that Rita’s has jumped on the pumpkin craze. Yes Rita’s has a pumpkin pie crème ice and it tastes like heaven. I love pumpkin, but I never got into the pumpkin flavored everything that take over Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and other chains. This will definitely get me on the pumpkin bandwagon. It was like eating cold pumpkin pie, and it was perfectly sweetened. Outside of this new flavor, you can’t go wrong with mango or coconut crème ice in my opinion. Hopefully I’ll get to come back before they close for the season. If not, I’ll definitely be there for the first day of spring as always!

Came here with my gf and a couple friends after dinner at Vapiano (
).
This place was pretty damn good after a near disastrous dinner. It was cheap, and they have a multitude of ice cream /​gelato /​icy options. Worth it.

«What’s custard? You put it on icee? Whatt?» I said to my boyfriend when he said he wanted to try it. We wanted something to make up for the terrible Chinese food we just had a few minutes ago, and he figured dessert would make it all better. Well, he was right.
Luckily for us, we went on the first day of Spring. What does that mean? That means all icees were free! I got a Mango icee and decided to try it with vanilla custard (which was just $ 1) to share with my boyfriend. I was a bit skeptical at first, but seeing how it doesn’t melt so quickly like regular ice cream. I figured, it can’t be that bad. And that was true. The custard complimented the creamy and soft shaved ice. It was like having a «peaches & cream» type of candy– but so much better.
We came back here hours later to get more free ice.
The service was great and friendly, even if they were swamped with lines of customers getting their free ice.