I had never had a frozen custard before. Although I did try to hit up a frozen custard establishment in Hyannis, it was unsuccessful as the place had closed (thanks for nothing, Dottie's). A few days ago, Mom sent me an e-mail link for a chain called Rita's. They have locations around the country, but a local branch is in Warwick, RI. Rita's tag line is "Ice-Custard-Happiness." I thought I'd hit the custard jackpot! I was finally going to get to try one.
After a delicious lunch at Romano's Macaroni Grill, we decided to head up to Rita's, which is only six minutes away (on Post Road). We found Rita's in a tiny strip mall on a busy street corner. The place is tiny, and although there is a door, I'm not sure if patrons are allowed to go in. They have two large order windows on either side of the door, with huge signs of all their fantastic treats with their prices.
Although I already knew what I was getting, it was fun taking a look at all the different choices that Rita's offers. This is definitely not your ordinary ice cream stand. In fact, ice cream is not even served here! They're main delicacy is Italian ice, and they certain had a lot of interesting flavors available, such as raspberry lemonade, pina colada, pistachio, cherry, banana split cream, green apple, mango, root beer, tangerine, watermelon, citrus blast, and island fusion. There is a party bucket available if you wish to share your favorite flavor with friends, and bottled water is sold if you're just looking for a quick thirst quencher. Both Mom and I set our sights on the frozen custard, which came in vanilla, chocolate, coffee, and strawberry. Since we'd just eaten, we each ordered a kids' size cup (*$2.19) of strawberry for me and coffee for Mom. The girl behind the counter was very helpful in showing us how big the sizes were, and waited patiently while we decided what we wanted. In what seemed like seconds, both cups were ready for us and only cost a mere $4.73. What a deal!*Prices do not include sales tax.
Frozen custard was not what I expected - it was better. I was expecting a cup of what looked like custard from inside the middle of a pie - only frozen. I was also expecting it to be custard-flavored, not realizing that this treat can be made into any normal ice cream flavor. My custard, although it was cold, was a little warmer once it hit your mouth. It was very smooth, whipped, and thick - yet the cup felt very light. It was like a science experiment that went horribly right! Mom said that her custard had a deep coffee flavor which she loved, and I agreed with her when she mentioned that the consistency almost felt like pudding mixed with whipped cream - very light and airy. The medium custard is $2.79 and the large is $3.39.
Rita's has other delights which are very unique and sound delicious. They have a Misto, which is a creamy, cool shake that blends their vanilla or chocolate old-fashioned custard and your favorite flavor of Italian ice or cream ice to create an incredible taste sensation (regular $3.49, large $4.39). The Gelati is made from layering Rita's vanilla or chocolate old-fashioned frozen custard and your favorite flavor of Italian ice or cream ice (regular $2.89, large $3.49). The Blendini is a combination of Rita's frozen custard, with either crushed Oreo cookie pieces or Nilla wafer pieces and Rita's famous Italian/cream ice blended together into a delicious frozen treat you eat with a spoon ($3.69). You can also add extra toppers for 79 cents, and if you want something made with a topper it is $2.98 for the small and $3.58 for the regular.
The specialty Mistos they had available were green apple pie a la mode, vanilla mango crunch, island fusion, and crazy banana split. There was also a "Misto of the Day" sign which featured caramel apple, root beer float, banana split cream, and chocolate covered cherry Mistos. Everything sounded outrageous! Gift certificates are available, and my birthday is coming up in October. I am willing to e-mail you my address so that I can receive your Rita's present in a timely fashion, ha, ha. Seriously, I thought it was fantastic, and so did Mom. I'm so glad my first custard experience was a hit.
