Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard — Restaurant in Apple Valley

Rita's has three different types of frozen goodness: hard ice cream, soft-serve ice cream, and Italian ice. I have gone twice now to Rita's: once for a flight of Italian ice, and a second time to get a flight of the custard ice cream (hard). I enjoyed the hard custard ice cream more than the Italian ice. The Italian ice is smooth, almost like a slightly melted slushy, rather than the much harder kind that requires you to dig at it like you're Indiana Jones on a fossil-hunting expedition. That said, after a while the ice melts and you're left with a slightly icy substance that tastes like really cold Kool Aid. It's fine for a while, but eventually it gets tiring. So I suppose the lesson is to eat it quickly, brain freeze be damned!

The custard ice cream, however, was excellent. Tried four different flavors (banana cream, mint Oreo cookie, chocolate chip cookie dough, and black cherry cheesecake). Loved the mint Oreo, probably my favorite, followed closely by the cherry cheesecake. The cookie dough had plenty of large chunks and came in a close third. Last place by a long shot was the banana cream, mainly due to the fact I'm not a big fan of that "artificial" banana flavor that doesn't quite taste like real bananas (supposedly this is because the artificial flavor was based on a different species of banana that fell victim to blight many decades ago). Still edible, just not the kind of flavor I enjoy.

Rita's had maybe ten different flavors of hard custard ice cream, two flavors of soft-serve (chocolate and vanilla) and then maybe a dozen flavors of Italian ice. They also serve ice cream cookie sandwiches using the hard custard. Would like to see more flavors for the hard custard with perhaps something more novel than the typical flavor profile you get at most generic ice cream shops. All the same, definitely will be...

My mexican Friend and I went to Rita’s the other day and when the one Racist employee, yes only one, she is a fat white woman you will be able to distinguish her was very snappy with us and my friend tried one sample, and as I was gonna ask to try my first sample because I have previously never been here she very rudely and in a snappy manner asked so are you guys gonna sample the whole store or are you gonna buy anything, which obviously made us feel uncomfortable, and then when we were going to pay before we could even take any money or card out she asked, “So do you guys have some sort of payment, cash or card?” In an obviously demeaning manner, through all of this we were trying to see where she was coming from but she could’ve handled the entire interaction better rather than treating us in a dehumanizing matter and making us feel uncomfortable. Then the next day after the review my friend left instead of trying to solve the situation an employee or someone associated with Rita’s responded by in a way dismissing what had happened as some sort of ‘accident’ as if it literally didn’t happen to us. MIND YOU we are 14 year old and the employee who treated us like this was well past her 30’s there is no way someone who has been on this earth for a longer time than both of us combined shouldn’t have the mental capacity to handle situations like this, in a social environment, Truly disappointing, Rita’s Italian Ice in Apple Valley,...

I was just at the Apple Valley/Lakeville Cobblestone location and ordered a sundae with chocolate cookies and cream ice cream, gummy bears, and mini M&Ms. I wasn’t aware there were two different types of cookies and cream ice cream, but I specifically pointed to the chocolate version while ordering. Since I didn’t realize there were two options, I asked if it could be switched.

The employee who had partly made my sundae laughed at me and said “nope,” chuckling as he handed me the wrong order. I don’t usually tip, but I did this time because the girl working was helpful. However, the male employee with blonde hair was extremely rude.

It’s one thing to politely explain that a switch couldn’t be made once the sundae was started, but to laugh and dismiss me while handing me the order felt disrespectful and unprofessional. Honestly, I wish I could take back my tip and my business and give it to a place that values their customers. I’ve been a loyal Rita’s customer for over 8 years, and I’ve been to this location and the Eagan location many times. I’ve never had an experience like this until now. Very...