When it's sunny in Jersey, Lou Bega likes to come to this location and get "a little bit of Rita's…read morein the sun." Unfortunately he can't stay past sundown, though, because he's only allowed to get "a little bit of Mary all night long." Since very few people are actually named Mary these days, you now know why it's very hard for Lou Bega ever not to spend the night alone. Poor guy. But he has plenty of fun during the daytimes.
Beyond sundown is when I first came to this particular Rita's. It was in July 2014. I was with a very good looking girl from Texas who had - gasp - never had Rita's before.
The employees here were lovely, and so was my company. She absolutely loved the product and I (as always) did too. I'll tell you what we got a little bit later but first a bit on the customer service. A lot of the local branches (Long Branches, lol) were closing early, but this one was open late. An hour later than everyone else, and we arrived with literally 5 mins til closing time. Most of the time this ends in tragedy as "machines are off" and "we're closing up", but at this location, they were super nice about it and served us! Massive kudos because we'd have been disappointed to miss out on Rita's.
It makes sense she'd never been because for the most part, Rita's is a North-Eastern thing. We don't have any in Buffalo (sob). There is one in Rochester, which I think I might go and visit today actually. And then there are many in the NY-NJ-Philly-Delaware area. I've seen one in Columbus. I heard from a good Yelp friend in Phoenix (Susan) that there's one down there too. I think they're popping up all over the place now and becoming a national franchise. It's not expansion, it's just that they'll sell the rights to a franchise to anyone who wants one. And the product is so damn ridiculously good that it makes total sense. If you get the chance to give one a try, make sure you do.
Now you know I don't like chains, but Cook Out (Carolinas), Handels (PA-OH) and Rita's are three very definitive exceptions which make products so good, they make your mother cry. No literally, she cries at how fat you got from eating at Rita's too much.
What we ordered is the same thing that you should order. A Gelati, with cherry water ice and vanilla custard. Now all of the water ice is great and all of the custards are yummy. But this particular combo is the winner.
What you need to get when you come to Rita's is a Gelati with Cherry Ice and Vanilla Custard. Mixing water ice with custard sounds like a horrible idea. It's not. Come and get it and we'll talk later. Seriously, I never thought I'd enjoy mixing custard with water ice until the guy in Delaware (gasp gasp gasp gasp) told me to try it. And my goodness did I love it. This Gelati will make you come... back for more.
The Jersey Shore is full of stuff that will make you come... back for more. Just ask Snooki and J-Woww and their ex-boyfriend Garland. They'll all tell you what's up. I like to name drop Garland because he's one of the very few people that actually reads all my reviews. Are you someone who actually reads my reviews? If so, message me, I'd love to hear from you. I might start name-dropping you too (but only if you don't want me to).
So. Gelati with Cherry. Just pop that cherry... pop the cherry... pop the cherry (sorry I have a stammering problem) right into your mouth and enjoy the amazing taste. It's probably good with other flavours of water ice too, but I first had it with Gelati, and when I had it with the Lemon Ice (which is very popular and they often sell out of it), it wasn't as good. With the Swedish Fish though, it was very very good. I do love the Lemon Ice though, and the Green Apple Ice too. If you're not in the mood for custard, the ice is wonderful by itself and has bits of fruit in it. If you're not in the mood for water ice, then the custard alone is lovely.
And remember, you're in the Jersey Shore. So enjoy that ice, act Italian-American, and start some drama with someone. Anyone. You can even start drama with one of my cats if you want. But they have not been de-clawed and will not be de-clawed so if they scratch you, it scars. I know this from personal experience.
I'm always like... "don't scratch me......ow!"
