Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard

This year was my son's first trip to Philly. We saw the fireworks and walked down to get some Rita's. Unfortunately, it was late and the crowds were getting rowdy. The owners explained that they were closing because they wanted to make sure their employees were able to make it home safely. We explained that it was my son's first time in Philly and they served us. The owners were extremely nice, caring, and placed service before self. Those core values are hard to come by in today's society. For that reason, I want to not only say thank you, but great work. Oh and the water ice was really good too!

Nice staff and good service. The chocolate custard is okay though, it tastes like the soft serves you get at an ice cream truck.

What an amazing dessert! It was actually mind blowing! There is one closer to where I live but I did not try it until my trip to Philly. Who knew that Italian ice and custard would go so well together! I had the lemon ice and vanilla/chocolate custard. It was a great combination! A+ I can not wait to return! I hope that the local one is as good.

They have a special flavor of Italian ice right now - Strawberry Watermelon. I love both of those things and normally I wouldn't go for the combination of both. It's like peanut butter and jelly. They can both be enjoyed on their own. Why insult them by mixing them?! I feel the same about strawberries and watermelon! They had posters and flyers everywhere for this limited time Strawberry Watermelon flavor so I went ahead and ordered a small. With the first bite I immediately regretted ordering a small. Why didn't I order a larger size? This was a solo walk from Greek place to concert venue so I needed something to take my mind off things... the problem was I ordered a small and it was gone within 3 blocks! I was holding my empty cup while looking for a trash can and heard someone on the street say... "Oooo, there's a Rita's close by. Let's go!" My only regret is ordering a small and trying this place(since I won't be able to have it on a regular basis!) I will always prefer Louisville's Snowhat, but Rita's is the next in line for Italian ice. Fast service. Friendly employees. Plenty of flavors to choose from. Inexpensive!

Ah, A Philly staple.. all of the flavored shaved ice flavors sound amazing. I had the watermelon and blue raspberry. But next time... i'm solely ordering the custard. It usually comes on top of a shaved ice but I could eat this thing on its own- it's like a soft ice cream.

We've heard before that East Coast water is THAT much better than what we have on the West Side. I suppose that's why Philly has a ton of these water ice spots -- much more than what's avail in CA. We were driving around, after having dined at Reading Terminal and were looking for water ice when we so happened to drive right by Rita's. With a quick maneuver, we curb parked and made our way to the stand. Sadly, they didn't have too many flavor options, least not my husband's must have Watermelon, but at least they had cherry. I usually get cherry with the frozen custard just cause it's such a painfully delicious combo. He got lemonade which had actual lemon rinds in it. He reported it as not too tart, but definitely refreshing. I enjoyed my gelati though I wish ice to custard ratio was a bit more equal. I sure got a lot of that custard, which took away from that cherry ice. Overall, we enjoyed our water ice. I still, however, really enjoy the FrostBites (same concept) that I get back home.

This is the first time I try the water ice. We ordered mango flavor with frozen yogurt on top. It looks great and tasteful. However we regretted that we ordered a large size as it can melt quickly. We tried to eat as fast as we can but still some were melt at the bottom. This is especially true when eating at hot summer day. So my recommendation is ordering small one for each. It is rather have few small one than having one large one. Surly you pay more for small one.

Scanning the menu for Slenderita (fat-free soft-serve), I don't see it. I inquire, "Do you have Slenderita?" Counterperson with a WTF?! look in her eyes responds, "Slenda-WHAT?" I choose a Gelati (frozen custard layered with Italian ice) instead. I vastly prefer my NW Washington, D.C. Rita's with its ample tables, chairs, benches outside and of course, Slenderita (even if I never have any intention of actually ordering it - the name's too fun not to say!) This Philly location's perfect for an en route frozen treat but not a place to hang out as it's simply a walk-up window.

I'm from California, and we don't have anything like this out here... everytime i come out to the east coast i ALWAYS make sure to get some italian/water ice, i love the stuff... Last time i was in Philadelphia i caught this place on South St and i had to try it... the first time i'd had it with custard on top! I love it! You guys on the east coast dont know how lucky you got it!

The frozen custard is quite good. I am not a water ice eater - but I love the custard at Rita's. News flash! Their "Gelatti" is NOT Gelatto. It is a bastardization combo of water ice and custard. Whatever. It tastes good. Bring on the coffee flavored frozen custard, please.

- I really only seek Rita's once or twice a year but when I do, it's a mission - recommend: cherry gelati aka vanilla frozen custard w/ cherry water ice on top and a swirl of vanilla frozen custard on top of that!! - almost always a line but it's well worth the wait - reminiscent of my penn state days

"Water Ice? What's that?! " ...was what I asked my bf when he brought me here. I got the mango flavor with vanilla custard. My bf warned me that the custard tasted like marshmallow crap (apparently he doesn't like it), but I LOVED it!! I like how you can mix the fruity snowcone like stuff at the bottom with the custard on top and it tasted like a tropical creamsicle! The thing I found most odd was that I was expecting the custard to be really cold, but oddly it was kind of room temperature. It works because the slushy/snow cone stuff at the bottom is freezing. I don't even know how to describe it...it's totally different from a snow cone and froyo. I think you just have to try it out yourself. =)

A few days back I was having a dreary day at work, and even though it was technically the first day of Spring it was feeling nothing like it. I was in need of a serious pick me up, so when Stephanie M. posted word that it was free water ice day at Rita's I was counting down to six and felt like my prayers were answered. and in a way they were. due to learning that there was a birthday cake flavor on the same thread I was more than curious to try it out. depending on your view you might find this incredibly intriguing or absolutely disgusting, but it tasted exactly like a birthday cake. I was actually at a birthday 4 days prior and the cake tasted exactly the same. Guess that's science for you. If you're a purist like me than your going to dub John's the best thing thing since sliced bread. But if you crave more impossible sounding flavors and more locations than your going to jump on the Rita's wagon. But no matter what one you prefer you're probably going to like something that the other offers. and Free Water Ice Day should be a national holiday by my book!

Very delicious and smooth Italian ices. What's great are their different options to have a little bit of everything: you can have straight up Italian ice, a blend of ice and custard, ice with custard on top, or a shake. I would highly recommend the ice with custard on top. On a warm sunny day, nothing seems to refresh you as much as having an ice and custard. They have your standard choice of flavors for both ice and custard, so mix and match to your hearts desire!

Isabella & Penny- best friendly, courteous , and welcoming employees of Rita Water I have ever met. Come see them on South Street!

Got the lemon ice with the vanilla custard. The custard is incredibly creamy and sweet, so the ice water balances it out very well. Be aware that there is more custard at the bottom (I did not know), so don't accidentally eat all your ice water and leave the custard behind. You can ask for samples of the different flavors.

water ice! all my jersey friend has been telling me about. It was good. The sorbet was yummy! I'm not a yogurt kinda person so I just ate the ice part. I just found out they opened one in Pasadena which is local so I will have to try that out.

We are visiting Philly and this was a fun place to stop and cool down. The workers were very helpful and cheerful. The flavors were bold and flavorful. Super good!

There are three things I miss from Philly: cheesesteaks, sicilian-style pizza and Rita's water ice. Ok, maybe I miss wawa because I like saying wawa... wawa. Anyway, the first day that Rita's opens everything is free. Seriously, how can anyone compete with that? My favorite flavor was root beer. It was so good I tear up just thinking about it. It is really a fantastic treat on one of those hot summer days.

After hearing all the east coast people rave about this place, I felt like it was time I gave it a try. And you know what? I like it! They offer frozen custard (soft-serve ice cream) and italian ice (flavored shaved ice). Being my first time, I thought I'd try both so i got the Gelati (frozen custard and italian iced layered). The vanilla custard was too sweet and tasted too much like whipped cream when eating alone. Paired with the mango italian iced however, it was pretty freaking good! :) While this dessert was quite yummy and unique, I definitely cannot finish even a small by myself because it is a very sweet dessert. I'll be coming back if I have someone to share with and am in a need of a sweet fix.

okay, my friend put this on her list of "to do" items for me, so while strolling south street on the most perfect day ever in philadelphia, we came across one. i had to get a water ice and the girl said, "it's kind of like shaved ice, kind of hard to explain, but you can try a sample." who am i to pass up free samples. i took a spoonful and decided it was smooth and flavored like fine shaved ice. i don't know why they call it water ice though. seems a little redundant to me, because ice is made from water. what was weird though was that unlike shaved ice, where you have all the syrup at the bottom, you weren't just left with white ice and a bottoming-out of syrup. so the syrup or whatever red cherry concoction they used stuck to the "water ice." weird.

Oh, Rita's, how good you are. Your ever-changing and always ambitious number of flavors makes me happy. Some of my favorites include: Georgia Peach Sweet tea Raspberry Lemonade Cherry Blueberry ! And custard? I can't believe you're anything other than a heart attack in a cone. And do I care? No. No I do not. Rita's is the perfect hotter than hell day remedy...at least temporarily. Authentic? I don't know about that...nor do I care.

I don't like water ice. Then again, I don't like cheese steaks. PS. It's pronounced waw-ter, not whud-der.

the girl working there was SO nice!!! she gave us all the samples we wanted :) we got a mango/pina colada... mango on bottom and pina colada on top... it was like tropical deliciousness. i love it!!! i miss it!! :(

I dig the cherry water ice. It tastes much better eating it in Philly then it does in CT. My husband had some sort of weird gelato and custard combo that he loved and none of the CT Rita's carry it. Also... I know this is not Italian Ice but I still like it. My family would strongly disagree with me enjoying such a treat.

oh, how i wished i lived in philly. i came here last year with some friends to visit other friends who live here. since it was the hot, hot, hot summer, they took us to rita's. oh. my. gawd. water ice is the best thing i've ever come across. i swear we had water ice every night we were there. the lemon was nice and tart and sweet. the cherry had real cherries. oh and the gelati. such a nice creamy goodness. the two textures of the water ice and custard seem off but go together so nicely. i miss water ice. stupid california and not having rita's out here. i'm thinking about moving out there just to have water ice...you east coasters are lucky.

There used to be this water-ice place down in the bowels of South Philly that had actual chunks of fruit in its icy product. That spoiled me against any other water ice. Rita's is not awful but it lacks the fresh-fruitiness that I have grown to love. I just know it's chock full of high fructose corn syrup, artificial color and flavor. I know now that water ice doesn't have to be like that and it tastes much better when it's not. It's a Philly institution like cheesesteaks and pretzels but that doesn't mean that it's good.

Delicious surprise! I've never had anything like this before. The ice cream and Italian ice (passionfruit flavor) together is a match made in heaven. Definitely would get again when I visit!

The water ice is great, but it's the frozen custard that really sold me on this place. You can't get frozen custard in California -- we haven't even HEARD of frozen custard in California. And, while you can get it in Chicago, it's certainly not as commonplace as it is on the East Coast. It's hard to describe what makes frozen custard so good, but just trust me on this. It is infinitely creamier and tastier than ice cream or frozen yogurt. It's just a whole experience, in a class by itself. At Rita's, you can get a combination of water ice and frozen custard, which is also quite good if you like both. Yummmmmmy.

Great iconic location for the best water ice. I had the mango-strawberry gelati. (They did not have my go to piña colada today.) Great sweet taste on a summer day. The staff were helpful and South Street is a perfect place for water ice. I don't recommend parking in front of the restaurant. It's costly if you go past 30 minutes with a sure ticket. Park up the block. The short walk will save your wallet. Unfortunately, there's limited seating -- like a 2 person bench so be prepared to walk and enjoy.

The gelati is truly to die for Fruity cool icy goodness + smooth sweet creamy custard = PERFECTION! YUM!

What can I say, it's the only thing I hope I'll crave if I ever get pregnant. The Georgia Peach and Custard Gelati is the best. Great for the nieces and nephews and dogs (mine goes crazy for Rita's). I love Rita's when I'm doing a lot of walking in the city. Cup, spoon, and go. Can someone tell me why they close in the winter? Whhhhyyyyy Waaa!

Finally tried this place after seeing people constantly posting pics on Instagram! I know there are locations everywhere now, but I wanted to try it where it started. My first Italian ice/water ice! It was the perfect warm day in Philly for Rita's. It wasn't crowded at all, but I had a hard time deciding what I wanted. They have a lot of options and flavors! The girl working there was really nice and let us try a million things. She would even over hear me and my friends discussing flavors and without us asking, would bring us a sample. Really good service! I finally decided on the pina colada gelatti (custard-pina colada water ice-custard). I was savoring the custard on top, not knowing there was more custard on the bottom! The water ice had small chunks of pineapples in it (yay texture!), which I really enjoyed with the richness of the custard. The water ice helps cut through the heaviness that is just the custard alone. I couldn't finish the entire thing, as much as I wanted to...I had a lot of other eats to do in Philly. I recommend this place, especially if it is hot out and you are visiting Philly!

Rita's has pretty much the same menu all over the NJ/PA area (maybe beyond as well, I just don't know), but the folks at this location seem to have a bit of difficulty with some of the more complicated items on the menu, which is rather surprising. In any case, I've decided after a few visits that I'm just best off with the standard fare with minimal modifications (if any). The standard water ice flavors are all there, which is reassuring, and thankfully they have the custard too, which is my personal favorite along with some Oreo crumbs. After waiting for 15-20 minutes in line, it took a few minutes to get the stuff for myself and 3 of my friends, which is totally fine, but what wasn't so fine was the triple charge that appeared on my credit card statement. I asked him why he had to swipe so many times but he just kept mumbling to himself. Regardless, the credit card company sorted it out without a hitch (yay AMEX)! All in all, rather mediocre at best. You're better off at another one of the locations in the area, such as at Suburban Station.

We are missing out here on the west coast! Perfect treat to cool and satisfy on a hot summer day!!! Fruit Punch and Lemonade was a great combo. Can't wait to try more flavors next time I'm back east.

I am aghast that people outside Philly don't know what the fuck water-ice is. Its only the best thing ever invented. Its a scoopable frozen fruit slush (not like a sno-cone. Don't EVEN go there). Its like a frozen drink or a slurpee with real fruit in it that it scooped like ice cream. Some people have with layered with frozen custard (called a "Gelati") but I prefer it in its pure fruity frozen state. I hate that it doesn't even exist here in California. Almost reason enough to move back to Philly.

We had dinner at tamarind Thai restaurant (recommended) and walked here afterwards. It's a to-go place with no seating so plan to walk around and eat your ice. The ice cream here is so creamy- love it. I always get the ice with ice cream on top - great combo. Lots of Italian ice flavors to select from.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO craving this .... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE open on the west coast ... specifically ... SAN FRAN or LA...!!!!! PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~~

Rita... you sexy minx! I wish these guys randomly branched out to London... I know it ain't gonna happen but there is nothing so damn quenching or cooling or delicious or heavenly than a big ol' cup of black cherry water ice. The taste instantly takes me back to hot sticky summers with great friends. Ritas and Wawa could be the two things I miss the most about Philly. Oh, and those friends of course. An ex-GF of mine used to go nuts at me for not pronouncing my T's in the British fashion - you can blame Rida's Wader Ice for that.

gelatti, ftw! go get yourself one during this hot & humid summer. enough said.

1) Rita's is great with their water ice flavors and their rich, thick custards. Oh combining them is out of this world 2) Getting Rita's in Philly, where it all began, brings my love to another level. 3) They give out free water ice and custard on the first day of spring!! The first day of spring brings out the masses to enjoy in the warmer weather and some great Rita's. the lines are crazy but the staff remained cool, calm, and collected while serving up the cups of ice and custard and their pretzels. I typically mix water ice with a custard but I tired the seasonal Peeps flavor and really enjoyed it. Rita's never fails to deliver.

I'm probably gonna hanged for saying this, but......I wasn't a fan of the water ice. :X I know, I know...but it was a little too sweet for my liking. The weird thing is that I really liked the vanilla custard. It was like a hearty version of soft serve and it didn't melt right away. I got a mango and vanilla custard gelati and ended up trading with my husband, who got a small vanilla custard. I gotta say, the sizes are very deceiving, as the water ice and custard are packed in there and very dense.

They don't just have Italian Ice here, but they also have frozen custard. I'm a HUGE fan of frozen custard, so I ordered myself a cup. It was whipped really well and was dispensed from what appeared to be an ice cream machine. The thickness and density of it was lighter and more airy than what I'm used to, but it was still delicious.

The commercialized Coney Island thing is co'ny. Rita's doesn't, has never, and will never blow my hair back. I tip my cap to the fact that they have Baskin & Robbins/Sonic flavor-possibilities. At the same time, for me to crave sugar-flavored ice, so much depends on the idea that it's reinventing the idea... not just opening up a box of popsicles, letting them melt, and selling them for ten times the price. I know I sound unfun (and contradictory, since I love DQ), but Rita's... mehhhhh. P.S. How do you people mix water ice and ice cream? That's like cheese on apple pie, mindboggling to my conservative tastes.

Rita's - easy location to get in and out of you are on foot, but if you are driving I wouldn't probably suggest it. They had all the standard Rita's flavors and they did have the Mango Peach sugar free which was delicious! Service was fast and friendly...overall a good Rita's location from our visit.

Best Italian Ice Water I've ever tasted. Not your $1 coco cherry from the corner. Not your mango from the local pizza shop. This is crack on ice. I wish there were some in NYC. Their flavor selection go from classic to inventive. Get a gelato or just some in a cup with nothing else. its the perfect cool down when its hot and your walking down South Street. Always look forward to a Cheesesteak and Ritas when visiting Philly. Perfect dessert!

Im giving this Rita's location 3 stars due to the following reasons: 1 star for the location. I'm glad there is now a Rita's within walking distance 1 star for the ice cream. It's delicious. 1 star because they know how to pile on the sprinkles -1 star because 2 out of the 3 times I have been there they have either been out of custard or they turned off the machine before closing. In my opinion, if you're open until 11, machines stay on until 11 -1 star: we were in line last night at about 10:50 (10 minutes before closing) and the worker came out and cut the line in half and said they would only serve those in the front of the line. They turned customers away that were already in line. I get you have to draw the line somewhere, but she should have stayed outside and said no more customers after the last person in line. Poor customer service.

My grandson & I stop at Rita's every week & buy 3 quart containers of their water ice. The price was great - 3 containers for $10.99. Well that price went way up when we went yesterday...the price is now over $15.00. But since we were there we ordered the same but when I asked for extra cups I noticed that they were considerably smaller. When I got home I measured them filling the old cup I had that measured 1 1/3 cup when the new size only measures 1 cup! That is 1/3 of a cup less that earlier this year. So it looks like the person buying a single cup is getting much less water ice! Needless to say we are not going back to Rita's...

YUM!!!! There's really nothing else to say about Rita's! It's the best cool, frozen, custard-y, refreshing, snack you can have on a hot summer day...or any time! I just wish they were open year round!!

On a hot day, you need to cool down fast. You must try this local Philly favorite. Lots of frozen options and lots of flavors to choose from. Wish they had a few more sugar free options but it didn't stop me from going for the mango-Peach frozen beverage. Employees were very friendly too!