Rita’s Italian Ice

Incredible.
I have never visited a storefront (this review is for the food truck at Bacon Fest in Lathrop) but had heard raving reviews about Rita’s from my East Coast friends. Finally got a taste and was in LOVE. The mango ice is phenomenal! I’m usually the type that opts for chocolate/​vanilla desserts but decided on a whim to try a fruity flavor.

I love ice cream but this here is an entirely different experience. This cream has the consistency of creamy butter. They have simple flavors no more then four usually (mint/​strawberry cheesecake /​chocolate /​vanilla) You have options to mix and match if you struggle with FOMO syndrome.
It’s kinda pricy but worth it. I love the staff here. They great u with a smile and are generous with samples. I haven’t ordered the Italian ice but have a sampled a few. And they taste pretty good. Not too sweet. I will be back next month for my fix.

If you haven’t been to Rita’s yet then what are you waiting for??? This place is awesome. The gelati is my favorite :)

I finally understand the hype ! I stopped by on my way home to get a snack on a really warm day. The girl helping me was so sweet and energetic ! I got to try a couple different ices and the custards before settling on their spring/​summer fruity flavor with a chocolate/​vanilla custard. The combo was so awesome. The fruity icy texture with the creamy custard. Definitely would recommend and would come back !

First, great service from a nice family, husband wife and their two sons. The three of us each had simple vanilla custard in sugar cone. The kid’s size is plenty for an adult.
Busy, friendly fun place. Don’t let the old reviews re bad hipster service deter you. Very cordial family service and yummy frozen custard.

We came here last night after some mini-​golf over at Golfland.
There’s one of these coming to our neighborhood soon, so we figured we try it out in advance of our local store opening. My first introduction to Italian Ice was Flavor Brigade in Pleasanton.
For my taste, I found Rita’s Italian Ice to be VERY sweet, actually too sweet. The kids thought this was great, but the sweetness was actually overbearing.
One the Custard side, the family overwhelmingly agreed that Flavor Brigade’s custard was much better. Rita’s custard is too thick, and leaves your mouth feeling like its coated with butter fat (because it is). You’ll definitely need a glass of water after finishing.
I’ll likely pay the new Rita’s a visit once it opens, just to see if it’s this location that didn’t quite have the recipe right, but if the experience is the same, I’ll turn to get my Italian Ice elsewhere.

This place was so hyped by a friend I went in with super high expectations. I think the ice cream is over rated and over priced. The seating area I remember is small and uncomfortable. The bathroom door swung near where I was eating and it felt like I was sitting in the middle of a hallway due to all the foot traffic. Does the ice cream go right through these patrons I wondered?

Came here for the first time! It was a great experience Monica made it very easy for my cousin and i while there. She offered us samples and mentioned there was different ways to have our icey and custard. I liked how she was very patient with us. We took so long to decide because all the flavors were delicious!

I’m giving this place a 5 star rating because it was an absolutely amazing experience for me. Monica was seriously so sweet and patient with me. Since this was my first time here I wasn’t sure what I wanted you know? She was really helpful giving me all the samples that I asked for and I just loved how nice she was. See when I first discovered Rita’s Italian Ice it was back when I lived in Arizona. I never got the chance to try it. I also always seen people post on Instagram their delicious desserts. Today I got to try it for my first time and I was just blown away. Truly delicious and beyond flavorful. Since it is also that time of the month for me… This seriously satisfied my cravings. Definitely gotta try Rita’s if you get the chance. I promise you won’t be disappointed. I know I wasn’t!

Came in for the free ice and that delicious custard ice cream. Had a special on free shaved ice and took advantage of the offer. Aside from the deal I usually frequent this place with the fam, I’m not a big fan of shaved ice so I usually go for the custard itself. The service is top notch with the different blends of shaved ice to choose from. You can mix ice and custard and even mix in a specialty topping to blend with your dessert. Pretty neat concept from your traditional shaved ice. Haven’t tried too much but will come back for more.

Echoing the other reviewers about this location closing earlier than the hours posted on Unilocal and the company’s website. I was so excited to try Rita’s after having dinner nearby, and saw they were open until 10 PM because it was a Saturday night. We drove over, parked in the small lot behind the store, walked up to the front and were turned away by a worker who was closing the front door telling us they were closed. It was a couple of minutes past 9 PM when we tried to go. It did look like the sign on the door may have indicated they close at 9 PM each night of the week, but that contradicts the hours listed on both Unilocal and the Rita’s Castro Valley location website as well. I was really looking forward to trying Rita’s, but this really turned me off of it.

Damn, Rita you a real one fr fr!
Skeptical at first of «italian ice». Isn’t it just like a snowcone /​those frozen lemonades you get at Disneyland? Naaawe, it’s BETTER!
I’d recommend getting one of Rita’s fruity flavors + the frozen custard on top. Not too sweet for those who have asian palette (surprisingly). Call in advance to see what flavors they have for the day!

I really really really really like the custard over the different kind of ice they have. I feel majority of them, you can only taste mostly the ice & a bit of the actual flavor.
I got a chocolate chip one & it was pretty good but still like water down. Only because it had chocolate chips in it. A regular size itself is good enough for one person too! But next time I rather just get the custard itself. Hella good lmao.

First off, great service! Once I stepped inside the establishment with my friend, the worker quickly realized that we might not have been there before. I was the only one who hadn’t and was staring at the menu, but she had no trouble offering me help and a quick introduction to the menu.
Being a first timer there, I got a free regular Italian ice for checking in on Unilocal.I asked if I could customize the order by adding custard and the lady nicely said I would only be paying for the custard if I used the Unilocal check in.
I ordered a regular lemon Italian ice and vanilla custard while my friend got the same ice with chocolate custard but large. The total came out to be a little bit more than $ 6 (about $ 1.50 for the custard) with the coupon. The lemon ice was extremely delicious and not overly sour. It reminded me of lemonade that I could sip on continuously without shrieking from the sourness or sweetness. The only thing that I did not like about the lemon ice was the fact that they included pieces of lemon rind, which were too big for my preference. The vanilla custard was a delicious add on. The chocolate custard was very flavorful but I preferred the vanilla.
Overall, I would recommend this over a regular ice cream dessert any day! I’ll be back again!

I never had Italian ice before yesterday. After receiving a free regular ice offer for my birthday, I thought why not?
The store is small with a table and a couple of chairs. When I went in there was a family of 6 ahead of me and a couple behind me. We were packed like sardines. It was clean with one employee working the counter.
He greeted me with a smile and scooped up my mango ice. I handed over the coupon and tipped a dollar.
Italian ice is similar to an icy or snow cone with very fine ice. It just melts in your mouth. The mango flavor was very good and not overly sweet.

Good service. It was nice to be able to sample the gelato. That being said, it seemed a little pricey, the gelato was sort of melted and the end result of mixed custard and health bar was just okay. There was too much heath for my liking, but other people might like a lot of mixins.
I probably won’t go back, but it is worth a try.

I’ve been a fan of Rita’s since I first tried it at the Jersey Shore back in either late middle or early high school. To put things into perspective, I’ve already graduated college so to say that I’ve been a fan for awhile would be a bit of an understatement. Nonetheless, I never forgot how delicious and refreshing Rita’s was after tasting it on that hot summer day. I’ve been coming here since this location has opened to try and bring back some of that childhood nostalgia… and it’s been working!
I always get the gelati, which is half custard, half italian ice. Even getting just one is such an indulgence because of how large and how filling it is. I think I can easily split a regular between 3 people and still be satisfied at the end. Either way, on hot days that I happen to be visiting my grandma’s house I make sure to stop by here since it’s a really good bang for your buck. I’m pretty sure I end up getting the same flavor, or combination of two flavors, but the staff is always nice enough to let me keep sampling the flavors I ask for anyway haha. My favorite part about eating my gelati is when I’m almost done and I reach that extra bit of custard hidden at the bottom of the cup.
On my last visit here, I read that Rita’s was expanding to more locations in the Bay, which makes me super excited, even if they’re not coming to San Mateo county (booooooo). BUT either way, I’ll be on the lookout. Would be super awesome to not have to drive across the San Mateo bridge just to get a gelati… eventually.

I’ve seen a lot of my friends and family post photos from Rita’s. I was wondering what frozen custard tasted like so I bookmarked this place so I could try it when in the area.
Frozen custard was not what I expected it to be. When I think of custard, I think of the texture and consistency of a flan or what is inside a Hawaiian Malasada or a Chinese custard tart. When I came to Rita’s I was a little surprised to find that it was more of a mix between soft serve ice cream mixed with Cool Whip! It’s a thicker version of soft serve ice cream from McDonalds or Dairy Queen.
I had just come back from Hawaii where I was devouring Shave Ice everyday. The Italian ice was a good substitute for my sweet tooth craving. The Italian ice is soft just like shave ice. It’s smooth and flavorful. The gelati is the «icing on the cake». Definitely goes well together. They pour the gelati on the bottom as well!
I would definitely come here again if in the area! I don’t think I would drive out all the way over here just for this. Nor would I wait in a long line. Luckily, the line wasn’t too long when we came by.

Gelati, gelati, gelati, gelati. (Hope you read that in a somewhat rapping tone as if it said «bugatti, bugatti, bugatti, bugatti — because that’s exactly what I was thinking as I was typing lol.)
Anyway, Rita’s is everything I had hoped it would be. Italian ice topped off with old-​fashioned frozen custard?! Yes, please. It is sorta an odd combination, I have to admit. I don’t like mixing my dairy/​egg bases with water bases… maybe because I’m weird like that, but Rita’s finds a comfortable medium between the two.
And I couldn’t tell but was that more frozen custard at the bottom as well?! Hopefully during your visit, you can confirm for me. I ordered a regular sized gelati with juicy pear Italian ice and vanilla flavored frozen custard. Mmmmm. Especially in this summer heat.

I have tasted FrostBites in SoCal and Gunnthers in Sac so I wanted to try Rita’s (which is the closest to me). I love this stuff. Flavored ice with custard/​ice cream, can NEVER go wrong.
Love how they have many ice flavors to choose from and it always changes (so I see on other reviews) I LOVE cotton candy so I was super excited they had that flavor!
The only thing I had a problem with was the cup they use. It isn’t easy to get some custard and some of the ice together on your spoon bc of the size of the cup and how it’s shaped (we got the regular size which is the smallest one)