Rita’s Italian Ice

Smooth, delicious, and creamy. You HAVE to try it for yourself to know. Locations are a little far for me in SJ, but worth a try if you’re in the area.

An update! They were open!
This place is delicious. So much to choose from, but everything tastes great! Good service, and friendly staff.
I’ll definitely drop in again.

I grew up eating Rita’s and was so happy to see one is now in my area! Unfortunately the server was beyond rude and acted as if every customer who came in bothered her! The custard doesn’t taste the same here! Scotts valley is the one to go to for the drive! It’s almost as good as the east coast where Rita’s began!

I really want to like this place but Rita’s inevitably lets me down. Once it was closed at 2:15pm on a Sunday. Once they didn’t have any custard available of any flavor. Twice they only had chocolate which doesn’t mix with my preferred choices. Call me a fool for continuing to expect them to have custard at a custard shop, but that’s enough trying for me.

When they’re actually open, the treats here are definitely tasty. The ice+custard layered together was excellent!

There was only 6 ice flavors & no custard an hour before they close. Not sure why but disappointing.

So my kids were SO EXCITED when they saw this place — I guess it’s pretty popular in So Cal… so we just had to try it!
I honestly forgot what flavors I got as I’m writing this review a while after we went but i can tell you I got a gelati where you get the italian ice, the custard then the ice and then topped with the custard. Word of advice! you want a strong italian ice flavor or the whole thing together crosses each flavor out. I wasn’t overly impressed and wished I got a stronger flavor to blend in together. I ended up mixing them together which then made me think I should’ve got a blended cup.
The rest of the family was just so so — I wonder if it’s just the flavor profiles we picked? But we are willing to give it another try — so next time — hopefully we will mix and match better!

There’s something different! The custard is of course delicious. Maybe because of the cold weather the ice slush feels more icy and less slushy. I still recommend for the novelty and nice customer service.

You best believe this is the best place to go after a dentist appointment that’s been a long time coming. I don’t know about you, but I like ice cream post-​dental-​appointments. Maybe it’s the sweet tooth, maybe it’s the texture … maybe it’s both?
The boyfriend’s been going on and on about some place in LV that has dairy free custards — calls them «flavored ice.» I’ve been really annoyed of hearing about some place I can’t get to. It wasn’t until last week when I had a dentist appointment in San Carlos (around the corner from Rita’s, Aesthetic Dental) that he stumbled upon Rita’s [again].
It was a slow day [super rainy] and I loved it. I had the sweet luxury of debating on what to get while my boyfriend decided which flavored ice to get. I was fortunate enough to have some help from the staff there. I walked out with a seasonal promotion — peppermint blendini. It keeps its shape when you scoop into it, it melts in your mouth, it’s icey, milky, sweet, chocolate, pepperminty goodness. Needless to say, we did come back within the week. ⁸⁄₁₀ would recommend.

Hello San Carlos! You’ve got a new dessert go-​to in town now!
Glad I finally got to try Rita’s, as their other Bay area location in the East Bay was a bit too far for me. Heck, I drive everywhere, so who am I kidding? At any rate, I was in the neighborhood and realized that Rita’s was open, so we thought to go ahead and check it out.
Mind you, it was freezing cold last Sunday. That didn’t stop us from getting our ice!
Located right on El Camino, Rita’s is next to Subway. I can see that parking can get tricky on El Camino, but there’s also parking behind Rita’s. Super clean and spacious inside, and we were warmly greeted by our cashier. They don’t have as many ice flavors since it’s winter, but about 6 – 9 are sufficient enough as far as I’m concerned, as I can get easily overwhelmed. Sampled a few, and settled on the Island fusion, which tastes a bit like POG (passion, orange, guava).
Since I’m a fan of the frozen custard (Ted Drewes from St. Louis is my fav), I got the gelati (vanilla frozen custard with island fusion Italian ice). It was outstanding!
They also have hot, fresh pretzels available, and I was definitely wanting to satisfy my sweet and salty fix. Waited about 7 minutes for the pretzels, and they were a nice, hot treat.
It wasn’t too crowded during our visit, and counted about 5 customers while we were there, and imagine this place super busy during the summer months. Take advantage of the short lines and get your ice and custard on during the winter.
Super friendly and helpful staff, who chit chatted with us about the history of Rita’s.
We’ll be back, and see you soon Rita!
Cheers!

Yay! New dessert place on the Peninsula and apparently it’s from the East Coast. I love Italian ice and I love custard (actually, I just love sugar), so when I saw the combination of it, I knew I had to try it. I tried most flavors of the Italian ice and they were all pretty good. i was skeptical to try the caramel apple they had as the flavor of month (October — I know, late post, haha), but once I tried a sample, I was totally sold.
The apple Italian ice had lots of flavor and even when it melted it tasted good. The caramel was thick and not too sweet. The perfect compliment to the apple. And in the gelati, they layer custard in between and that was really good as well even though they didn’t make it with egg.
Overall, it was a really good sweet treat and I’ll definitely be back if I’m craving something sweet and refreshing.

Just came back from our first visit! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I really wanted a milkshake and convinced my husband to try this place out.
There was a family in front of us and only one person working, so I had some time to decide what I wanted to get. The menus and signs are really informative if it is your first visit.
I couldn’t decide on custard or ice so I got a Blendini! It was great and not overly sweet like some desserts can be. My husband got a milkshake and you can definitely tell a difference in the two. If you truly want a milkshake, don’t try to get anything else. The Blendini had the same type of flavor, but was definitely lighter.
Everything is really clean and bright and festive. We didn’t park in the back, but we were able to find some parking on the street easily. I hope they start sending us some coupons like the folks in front of us got in the mail!

After a second visit I’ve found myself coming back here more often.
I’ve actually found the prices really great and reasonable.
The great thing is you do get a good size portion and they add things too it that would go great with whatever flavor you choose.
The customer service is excellent.
The place is very clean.
Its small but they do have little tables to sit down at.
Its actually as big as it needs to be.
The location is great.
You can tell the place is great by all the smiles you encounter.

So happy to have Rita’s on the west coast! My dad is from Philadelphia and every time we visit we always stop at Rita’s or an Italian ice place. Brings me great memories of family vacations but also because I love that my dad loves this place.
My favorite is the lemon, read some reviews of people not liking it but I guess if your not used to the tiny pieces of lemon rind in it you might not like it. Noticed they have a greater variety of flavors here than the stores in Philly.
Try an ice with custard too!

Yay!
Love Rita’s.
I usually get the gelati (custard plus Italian ice)
It reminds me of a Creamsicle.
Tried the coconut cream with vanilla custard.
Definitely will be back.

Quick score update!
My gut (har har) told me that if I had a different flavor, I’d enjoy Rita’s more. And I was right!
Today, I got to try wild black cherry (I got there just in time for the last cup full!), Florida orange, and lemon. All are super good. The cherry is PACKED with flavor, and very juicy – even as it melted, it didn’t get watery. The orange is very flavorful as well. The lemon is actually fairly mild, but it’s really nice, too.
I also had a sample of the pink lemonade, which has Splenda. I liked that, too. I would order that sometime, too.
If you stick with the ices, IMO, you’ll be in good shape.

Oh man. I was really excited that they opened a location here since I just came back from DC and was able try Rita’s for the first time there. At that location I had a blendini with Italian ice and custard and it was amazing. The people helping me there were super sweet and didn’t hesitate to recommend flavor combinations and so forth. The gentleman helping me even asked if I was a government employee, in the military or a student to give me a discount. This location on the other hand…
The girl that helped me was AWFUL. She was full of attitude and didn’t seem very happy to be there. I ordered an all custard chocolate blendini with peanut butter cups. I saw on the sign that because of an egg shortage that instead of serving custard they were just serving their «delicious» soft serve ice cream after I ordered. My fault I didn’t read that at first but that actually makes a huge difference texture and taste wise. And because it’s $ 4.99, that’s pretty expensive for soft serve and peanut butter cups mixed in. And for what I got, it totally wasn’t worth it. The girl who made it filled the cup half way, put some peanut butter cups, blended it and then actually ate some of it right in front of me as if she was trying to be slick thinking I didn’t see that. When she gave it to me, I looked at her like «really!!!». I should’ve complained but I was tired and wanted to get home.
I paid for it and didn’t even think twice about tipping her. I kinda wished the other girl there helped me because she seemed nice.
This place is pretty new, but I’ll only come back when they actually have custard and look into improving their customer service.

Rita’s Italian Ice doesn’t appeal to me. flavored syrups mixed with ice, isn’t it? italian soda for a couple bucks? ok. ice for $ 5. arrivederci baby! actually i’m anti-​ice.
whiskey straight, no over ice. boba tea, no ice. coffee, no ice.
eats: chocolate custard (lg. 4.79?)
–chocolate taste, velvety, nothing special
–slight aftertaste. corn syrup? frutose?
drips:
–only 2 tables in front
–no parking available except street
castro valley is bigger, room for kids to roam…
.

This tiny shop is located on El Camino Real w/​only street parking (which can be hard to find). No outdoor seating and only a few small tables inside (basically geared for to-​go).
Menu
*~Italian Ice~*
Reg: $ 3.49
Lg: $ 3.99
QT: $ 6.99
*~Frozen Drink~* Pick 1 or 2 Ice Flavors
Reg: $ 3.59
Lg: $ 4.09
*~Frozen Custard~*
Cone: Reg ($ 4.09) /​Lg: $ 4.59
*~Gelati~* Custard on top of Italian Ice, plus more custard
Reg: $ 4.29
Lg: $ 4.79
*~Misto Shake~* Custard and Ice swirled together
Reg: $ 3.99
Lg: $ 4.79
*~Blendini~* Custard, Ice & Topping blended
Reg: $ 4.59
All-​custard: ($ 4.99) Custard blended with topping
*~Milkshake~* $ 5.19
Vanilla /​Chocolate /​Strawberry /​Black & White /​Peanut Butter /​Oreo Cookies n Cream /​Oreo Chocolate /​Fruity Pebbles /​Vanilla Heath /​Chocolate Heath /​Chocolate Covered Strawberry /​Caramel /​Strawberry Shortcake
*~Sundae~* 2 Toppings + Whipped Cream & Cherry
Reg: $ 4.79
Lg: $ 5.29
*~Additional~* (+$ 0.99 each)
Sprinkles /​Waffle Bowl /​Waffle Cone /​Topping
*~Custard Cookie Sandwiches~* Oreo Wafers or Chocolate Chip
Plain: $ 6.99
Variety/​Toppings: $ 7.49
Ice Flavors~* on 9÷10÷2015
Blueberry /​Horchata /​Mango /​Chocolate Chip Cheesecake /​Cotton Candy /​Island Fusion /​Pineapple /​Chocolate /​Kiwi-​Strawberry /​Swedish Fish /​Dragonfruit (sugar-​free)
*~Toppings~* on 9÷10÷2015
Hot Caramel /​Gummy Bears /​Peanut Butter /​Chocolate Chips /​Whole Cherries /​Wet Walnuts /​Chopped Peanuts /​Strawberry Topping /​Hot Fudge Whipped Cream /​Sprinkles /​Oreo /​Fruity Pebbles /​Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup /​M&Ms Minis /​Heath /​Nerds /​Snickers /​Reese’s Pieces Minis /​Nilla Wafer
Our Order:
Blendi w/​Island Fusion & Chopped Peanuts
Blendi w/​Horchata
Note: Due to the egg shortage, they are replacing the custard with soft-​serve
After wanting to try Rita’s for YEARS (was around 4 years when I first heard about them) and not being to go to their Castro Valley location, I was excited to finally try their infamous Italian Ice at this location. First attempt, I was 30mins too late. 2^nd try, I just made it with 10min to spare. Not an ideal way to experience for the 1^st time.
Service was extremely lacking. I ordered a Blendi w/​Island Fusion and Chopped Peanuts but I got All-​soft serve w/​Chopped Peanuts instead. I couldn’t go back and have it fixed because they had already locked the doors, so I paid more for something I didn’t want =/​My BF ordered a «Blendi w/​Horchata» and skipped on the topping which is a Misto Shake. They didn’t translate that over so I was charged for the Blendi. I understand that we came 10min before closing but to get both orders wrong is pretty bad.
The soft-​serve is very soft and creamy so a great treat on a hot day. I tried the Pineapple, Horchata, and Island Fusion Italian Ice. The Island Fusion was my favorite since my typical go-​to-​flavor (horchata) tasted like water. The texture of the Italian Ice (if you haven’t had one either) is like a fine slushee.
Not sure if I’d return right away since they are newly opened and can’t seem to get orders made correctly. Maybe in a couple of months when the employees are better trained.
Credit Cards accepted

Wow! Great new addition to San Carlos. When we visited we tried the following flavors:
— passion fruit. Really good and tasted like Hawaii in my mouth. Id get this again!
— cotton candy. Surprisingly not as sweet as I was expecting but it was a good surprise.
— pear. Not as refreshing and tasted more artificial
— Georgia peach. Pretty good peach flavor!
— chocolate soft serve. Really liked the thick creamy texture and not super sweet or grainy sugar. Very good! Good on it’s own or on top/​below the ices!
Definitely coming back to try more flavors!