Rita’s Italian Ice

They have several locations in San Diego. I have visited couple of them and they are the same. We usually have the shaved ice. Reminds me of my school days. Not exceptional, not bad either.

Yummy custard goodness! Try the mango ice with custard. You will keep coming back for more.

So yummy! Seriously a party in your mouth!

San Diego has been melting lately and so the kids and I decided to cool off with a trip to Rita’s Italian Ice! With its air conditioned location with ample seating, the kids and I felt like this would be a great place to relax, wait for the husband to get back after an appt, and have a cool refreshing treat :). My daughters have become great connoisseurs of dessert and choose this place often. The Ice is made with real fruit flavors, where you will often find small fruit remnants in their mix. The variety changes from day to day. if you have an absolute fave that you want them to update you on every time its available, you can have them send you a nifty little text enticing your tastebuds when its available. The prices are good for kids and they leave content, making me one happy mommy.

It was my first time trying Rita’s after hearing/​seeing so many good things about it. The gentleman who helped us made this experience so memorable. Knowing that it was our first time he gave us samples he thought we would like! For the most part, he got it right! He told us to «try it separate &then try it together». Doing as I was told, both the flavors were SO different but SO good! I tried mango ice with the vanilla custard. The mango was so sweet and flavorful. It’s like the snow cone you’ve always wanted. You know when you get snow cones but they don’t put much of that liquid syrup, so
all the flavors at the bottom and you gotta get through all this hard ice till you get to the good stuff? Well imagine, soft ice with that flavor all around and throughout the cup LOL. PLUS, you got this custard thing that’s like ice cream but it’s so creamy and milky YUM! Anyways, the employee let my little sister try all the flavors she wanted with no judgement or attitude, which is nice because you know when you wana try all the flavors but you got these
workers who roll their eyes or have slick remarks, yeah, this guy DID NOT make us feel that way at all. My mom was stuck between two flavors and he let her try both again to aid her decision. For the six of us that were in there, it was very inexpensive! He offered us these little stamp cards I think it was? I don’t remember but he informed us of the specials of November and they were doing a BOGO promotion on certain items all month long! Said we could use it as many times as we want and gave each of us one. He was just SO nice, I’m sad I didn’t catch his name so I could highlight it here but GREAT customer service REALLY makes an impact on the customers and I wish everyone was like him, which will NOT happen, BUUUUT I know he made me strive for better customer service skills, plus taking the time to write this novel of a review. Thanks man for being so helpful and accommodating us and I will DEFINITELY be coming back here!

Prior to my week in San Diego, I was in Europe for three months so my standards were set pretty high. However, my fellow San Diego friends said this place was bomb and I was ready to pig out!
Upon arrival, I found out that our nation was in a shortage of eggs, say what?!? First drought in CA, now shortage of eggs, must be the end of the world. However, due to the shortage of eggs, there was no custard and it was substituted with soft serve.
I got a regular Pina Colada italian ice with vanilla soft serve. It was good to share with my friends since I ate right before that. However, it was just subpar. The italian ice was delicious and I can imagine it being really good with the custard. I think my rating is based on the lack of custard.

This place is SO good. This was my first time trying Italian Ice and it left a first great impression.
I decided to try their «Gellati» which is frozen custard on the bottom, Italian ice, and frozen custard on top (you can have it blended too). I chose the horchata ice and coffee/​vanilla twist custard. It was BOMB DOT COM! The horchata flavored ice tastes like real homemade horchata! And the coffee/​vanilla custard was the perfect combination. I would get it again.
My sister got a milkshake which she enjoyed and my mom and dad got a Gellati and an Italian ice. We were all happy.
Another thing that left a great impression on us was the customer service. The person who served us was Alexandria and she is awesome! She let us sample and seemed very knowledgable and overall just had a great attitude.
Whenever I’m in this part of town again, I’ll be sure to stop by here again.

No custard to egg shortage!?! I was kind of bummed because it was my first time here and that’s what I wanted to try. Sooo I ordered the pineapple mango flavored italian ice. It was like 90 degrees out and this definitely hit the spot!

My husband always said he wanted to open a Rita’s in San Diego. Well someone beat him to it. The best part is that they serve horchata flavored Italian ice. It’s even better than the drink version! How I wish we had this option on the east coast. It’s delicious! The staff is very friendly and outgoing.

I’ve been SOOO super disappointed at the selection of flavors the last few times I’ve visited this Rita’s location!
I first found & fell in live with «Rita’s» on a trip to Florida a few years back. My husband & I were SO excited when this one opened up just a short drive from our house! When went several times when they first opened & just loved their wide variety of yummy flavors to choose from!
My hubby text me on his way home that he was gonna stop in & bring home some Rita’s custard-​icees! My mouth was already watering… Until he sent me a picture of their super crappy selection of flavors??? Where’s the strawberry? Mango? Passion fruit? Pineapple? SOMETHING berry or tropical??? Nada…
AND… NO VANILLA CUSTARD??? What the heck?! How do you just have NO vanilla custard?!
We’re really sad & disappointed in the way this Rita’s location has turned out! Doesn’t make us very eager to keep coming. Please change or I fear you may lose some valuable business to Baskin Robins or the nearest frozen yogurt bowl place!

Very quick, and very delicious. They let you get samples of everything, so don’t worry. All of the flavors are amazing though. I ended up settling on the root beer ice with the vanilla custard. It tastes like a root beer float. I will definitely be coming back for more! :)

I love this place & I wish there were more in areas like North Park, City Heights, Hillcrest. You know near me. I swear it melts in your mouth like cotton candy.
They have a decent amount of flavors to choose from. I always get the Gelati. Custard & ice layered, ya can’t go wrong with that!
Some day I will try blended. They look really good but sometimes you want a spoon not a straw.

It’s nice and super clean. Love the Italian ice (aka slushie) they even have a reading program for the kids.

It was good. Staff was nice and the galati was good.
There was one of «those families» that couldn’t make up their mind in front of us. The staff was really nice in quickly helping us while the family was still thinking.
I got the mango galati with vanilla custard. It was pretty dang good. Not too sweet but still had great flavor. This was good for my first one. They have lots of flavors of ice so you will be able to get something you like.

Love this place. This place is packed on a nice afternoon. Had an island fusion with chocolate. Strange combo but it tastes so good. Island fusion was a sweet combo of coconut, peach & pineapple flavor & with the chocolate made it taste great! Great dessert.
Even on a cool day, it is great to have something sweet! Located across the street from Southwestern College. There was only one girl working the front. She was quick & friendly. We will be back for more!

I met up with my friend here at noon on Saturday when Rita’s opens. I was surprised that a good amount of people showed up once it opened (about 10 people). I’ve never had Italian ice or frozen custard, so I wasn’t sure what to get.
After sampling a few ice flavors, I ordered a gelati with iced coffee ice and vanilla custard. The custard was smooth and creamy, perfect on a sunny day. The ice reminded me of an icee and tasted just like coffee. It also went well with the vanilla custard. Once it melted, the drink tasted like a vanilla iced coffee you’d get at a coffee shop.

So this place isn’t just a hype, it’s actually really good.
I sampled the Italian ice @ Unilocal!Rocks the Boat — of the Swedish Fish and it was actually really refreshing! The middle texture between an snow cone and an icee. After a run, my cousin ironically took me here cause he was craving dessert. I was amazed by what the menu had to offer — daily specials and options to create what you want.
Ordered a gelati (italian ice and custard) — I wanted to try a new flavor from what I’ve previously sampled, went with the Iced Coffee (similar to a Starbucks Frap) with Vanilla custard. It was really good! They offer 2 sizes for gelatis and a regular size was a good amount, maybe even still too much.
The line can get long, there aren’t many places to sit inside, there is NO outdoor seating. The customer service — people are nice, but they are not in a routine assembly line. Only one person knew how to do register, but there were three people taking orders. The one person that could cashier, was taking orders. It delayed the process for payment, and that’s what creates a long line. Maybe they’ll get better as the business grows.

I have become a huge fan of Rita’s. When I first visited, I was confused and I feel as if I didn’t have the *best* experience because I was so rushed… But I went for a second… Third… And fourth time after, and immediately fell in love.
My favorite thing to order is their Italian ice! The flavors mostly consist of sweet and candy-​like taste. I have the app, so I get updates on which of my favorite flavors are available, and I am truly grateful for that feature. The first time I went, I ordered the custard on top of it. It has a different taste to it. I would describe it as a mix between ice cream and frozen yogurt – creamier, milkier, and lighter taste that easily melts in your mouth. I have tried their sundae, and it was good, but I prefer «real» ice cream. I do want to taste their blending and frozen lemonade, though.
As you enter, the establishment is very bright and colorful. The menus are shown on a screen above their work station. It has a high-​tech look to it. Overall, it’s a friendly and clean dessert place. It is definitely a different change of pace as opposed to your typical ice cream shop.

Yummy Italian ice, perfect for them hot San Diego days! Imagine a combination of an icy and a snowcone, that’s what Italian ice is…
And frozen custard, imagine super smooooooooth and creamy texture, but not as sweet as gelato or ice cream…
I ordered vanilla custard and sweetened it up with Oreo… My kid had their cherry Italian ice. Both hit the spot and satisfied our dessert craving… But frozen custard is a flavor and texture that might take getting use to.
The setup is like coldstone. The line can get pretty long. And seats/​tables are limited, only a few.

A new custard and ice chain in San Diego. They seem to have a lot of these being built soon.
First off, service here is very very slow. I’m sure its because they just opened, but man, it took a long time to order, even with only three customers in the whole place and four employees. I personally haven’t been the biggest fan of custard based desserts, but since this place just opened and the pictures looked good.
I went with their blendi that had ice and fresh custard mixed together with a topping. I got cookies and cream ice, vanilla custard and oreo toppings. The ice on top was really good and was the best part. The custard for me was too thick and over sugary. They barely added any oreo topping to it at all.
Overall the experience was quite underwhemling and I really don’t see the big deal with their desserts, they’re kinda meh to me. Really expensive too, I’d rather go get frozen yogurt.