Rita’s Italian Ice

I love Italian Ice, but what I love even more is frozen custard. Good golly. Every time I go, I ooh and ahh over the flavors of ice, but then always concede to a twist cone. The velvety smooth custard is so refreshing, so smooth… it’s like frozen heaven. Plus, the people at the window are always super friendly and willing to allow you to try whatever flavor you’d like. I’m a RI girl at heart, but damn, Del’s aint got nothin on Rita’s!

Rita’s is the best cure for hot humid days. It’s a shame there is only one location in RI. The best gelati is Mango with vanilla Custard. I encourage everyone to try it.

I was a little skeptical at first trying this place but im so glad I tried it because their custard is delicious and they give u a lot of candy toppings for the blendinis. You just order at the window and the instructions are very clear. Overall I’ll definitely be back in the summer !!

I love Rita’s.
I can not find anything wrong with them, the girls dishing out the wonderful custard and italian ice amazingness in a cup are sweet and kind… (to the point of giving a woman a brand new free of charge sundae when she dropped hers) and the blendini’s are wonderful.
They take credit cards which is super rad, and the prices are inexpensive. The only thing that kind of stinks is the location, on Post Road in Warwick. I really wish there were more Rita’s around, but hopefully the chain will come around up here.

Custard is out of this world. Lots of ice favors to choose from and you can get them topped with custard. Easy parking and friendly service.

Rita’s oh my oh my are you such an important place but do people really know you as an Italian ice stand or a custard stand? You are both and that is why you are so important to me. Rita’s is definitely the best Italian ice in Rhode Island and I know I know it is blasphemy to say in New England when you have Dels on every corner and New England Ice at most beaches and parks but both have only two flavors so that is strike one for them and one point on the board for Rita’s. Also the CUSTARD! Rita’s has custard on top of having at least five flavors but a lot of times ten flavors yes I said ten flavors and two flavors of custard! You got Italian ice which is delicious and not watery but real flavor with the option to have custard either mixed in or separate. On top of all of that fun they have an app that is a digital punch card so you can earn free Rita’s and they will text you if they have your favorite flavor in. My favorite flavor is black cherry which has real chunks of cherry mixed in and them I like it mixed with vanilla custard

I love custard.
Its the only Rita’s in the area and its delicious. It might sound boring but I love the vanilla custard, its very creamy and tasty. They have some other concoctions like custard mixed with the flavored ice. The flavored is is also very good and they have some interesting flavors that are always changing.

Tasty refreshing frozen ice with many flavors you can choose from. I will be back here in the summer when the weather is warmer.

Wonderfully refreshing water ices (basically there slurp bees, but better), so many flavors to choose from.
The custard is good, I agree it’s more like a frozen yogurt or soft ice cream, but tasty and perhaps smoother than those other ones
I’ve never mixed the two together, but right now I’m thinking about getting an orange water ice with vanilla custard, basically making a semisolid Creamsicle.
Also, if you keep your eyes open often they send coupons in the mail, in some discount books, and even on the web.

Rita’s combination of Gelato and Italian ice is truly manna from heaven. It’s just so good. You can get the gelato and italian ice by themselves but together the are the absolute best. I wish they were open year round but I can understand they don’t do much business in this area in the winter. Bummer.

Rita. How I love you so. Having had discovered Ollie’s in Illinois (that’s pronounced without the ‘s’ people!), which is a place that has homemade custard in all different types of flavors, I have been in search of more wonderful custard. Alas, I have not found this. However, Rita is a great substitute.
If you could have seen my face on that first bite, you would have seen utter jubilation. This is coming from someone who is obsessed with ice cream in general. I literally think about it everyday. If I could eat custard every single day of my life, I would. And now, I will have to stop myself from desperately making runs to Rita’s for an ice cream.
4 stars because I can’t find custard anywhere else without having to drive to Boston?! Which I think is ridiculous. Anywho, also for the absolutely adorable girl who worked there and laughed at my quirkiness and love for custard. Also for being patient and sweet when I actually called ahead of time to make sure they even had custard… Ha.
I had planned on even taking a pic of my vanilla custard cone. But it was gone before anyone had time to take their phone out, open the camera app and click. I thought about even getting another cone…
I’m obviously still thinking about it now… and this was yesterday. Sigh.

I’ve enjoyed Rita’s on the jersey shore and was excited when it came to RI.
The custard is amazing and creamy and the ice is full of flavor. My favorite is the black cherry ice and vanilla custard.
I only wish it was in a better location, there is no store to sit in and it’s on a busy,
Noisy street.

For someone who previously believed that water ice was an experience that could only be enjoyed in the Greater Philly area, I was excited to come across this Rita’s here in the Ocean State. That was probably the height of my excitement for this establishment; the actual consumption of their products proved to be just ok. I won’t say that the water ice/​custard was abhorrent, yet merely bleh. I have tasted better of both. I was also I bit disappointed in the location/​ambience, as there was only a random bench to sit on and enjoy the frozen products, to the sights and sounds of Warwick Post Rd traffic.
I hear there is a Pawtucket location, perhaps I shall visit it another time.

Oh Rita’s how you «warm» my heart. Much like Del’s my summer is not complete until I have had the Rita’s experience. Having only experienced Rita’s in the Garden State — shout out to New Jersey, I had always wished there was a Rita’s in RI.
Fast forward 5 or so years, I’m driving down near the airport and what do I spot out of the corner of my eye? Oh yes, a Rita’s. I almost made my husband, then boyfriend, drive right off the road as I squealed with excitement.
My go to is the Gelati. Best of both worlds, half creamy ice cold custard (like ice cream except creamier, richer and more heavenly) and half italian ice or water ice have you. You can create any combo. Custard flavors are pretty standard, but the ice flavors change daily. My go to combo would be cherry ice with chocolate custard. Think chocolate covered cherry. They have fun ice flavors like cotton candy, swedish fish, guava and most recently chocolate chip cookie.
Ice flavors are bold and refreshing leaving you craving for more!
When I’m enjoying my Rita’s its like noone else exists, i am in «my happy place».
Try it.
NOW

Back in Philadelphia, you don’t have to explain what «water ice» is. Everybody knows: it’s what summer tastes like. The first day of spring you get in line at Rita’s for your free water ice, then while you eat it you walk to the back of the line so you can get another. Because even if it’s freezing outside, the taste of Rita’s feels like summer.
That is why I was so excited to find that Rita’s has a franchise in Warwick. It’s a small location and this early in the season they didn’t have many offerings — about 8 flavors of water ice, and a few flavors of custard and cream ice. No matter, all of the basics were provided! I ordered my go-​to: a gelati with chocolate water ice and vanilla custard. Perfection in a cup. I’m planning to come back soon, and I’ll get my second-​favorite — mango water ice and vanilla custard. A third visit for cherry water ice with chocolate custard. And … well, you get the picture. This is where I’ll be spending my summer. Because this is what summer is supposed to taste like!

You mean I can have great ice cream and icee ??? The ice flavors are good not watered down and the ice Cream is soooo good, nice and thick

can’t get much better than frozen custard. I am a bit of a sugarholic and I know good desserts. I got chocolate vanilla twist custard, smooth texture, almost buttery flavor. love it. the regular cone is still big so if you want a real small, get a kiddie cone

Rita’s how in the world have I not reviewed you yet?! When winter hit, I nearly forgot about you. Then the first day of spring came and egads, free Rita’s day!
Please do yourself a favor and hit up Rita’s. This is not Del’s by any stretch of the imagination. They have ice flavors ranging from Swedish Fish to Red Velvet Cake. They rotate the flavors so those two might not be there if you head over. I got the Red Velvet with some custard on top. Wow now that thing was good. Their custard is so thick and rich I have yet to have any place like it.
I love how this Rita’s is tucked away and most Rhode Islanders have not experienced the greatness that very rarely do you ever see a line there. Best to head over before people start to catch on…

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttaaaaaaaa’s!!!
It’s almost like a battle cry. I’ve got to give credit to my friend Joe from Philly who brought me here for the first time my junior year in college and it has been a lavish love affair ever since.
I love frozen custard. When I lived in Texas, these types of places were plentiful but it was definitely a pleasant surprise to find one here in Rhode Island.
First and foremost, I want to point out that every time I go here, the people working are just so lovely. It’s like they know just how happy their frozen custard makes me. They let you sample any of the flavors that they have and you can sample AS MUCH as you’d like. Jackpot.
What I usually go with is the Gelati which is this frozen custard/​water ice layered to perfection in a variety of cup sizes.
The most recent time I visited though, I went with a thing called a Blendini. It was Cheesecake frozen custard with chocolate water ice blended with Oreo bits.
I feel like the Blendini could kick the McFlurry’s ass.
This place is quite a drive from my house so it really has become a treat for me whenever I am in the Warwick area.
Rita’s is definitely worth a visit… or 10.

A
very
refreshing
place
I’ve been by this little place many times but I never stopped. Probably because, even though it is right on Rt. 1, it has a small sign and is kind of tucked away from the road. Difficult to see, and even if you do see it, it’s hard to tell what it is.
Fortunately I have a friend, DJ M out in Pa that wrote some great Unilocal reviews of the Rita’s where she lives. She informed me that we do indeed have Rita’s here in Rhode Island. Being the idiot that I am, I never knew. Since my friend is a woman of impeccable taste I immediate decided that if she thinks they were good, I had to give them a try.
Wow, was I surprised. Rita’s isn’t just another clone of the ubiquitous Diary Queens and Del’s. This stuff is unique and different. You just don’t see much frozen custard around here. It was absolutely great. Plus they have these things called Mistos, which are a type of icy yogurt stuff. Quite good and probably less caloric than regular scream. Rita’s also has a fiendishly delicious concoction they call gelati, not to be confused with gelato, the Italian ice cream. Gelati is a mutant cross between frozen yogurt and Italian ice.
Rita’s is definitely a very cool place and something different if you get tired of the bezillion of regular ice cream places by the beach. I gave it a conservative four stars. It’s very possible Rita’s will move up to five stars once I get intimate with more of their flavors.