Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard — Restaurant in Bridgewater Township

💬 Quite likely the worst-serviced Rita's in the general Somerset area, at least during my experience, Summer 2024. Almost every night that I have visited, (around 9:30pm; their hours are until 10pm...) one of the teen girls would say that the blender is closed, or something else was not working. One night, they told I asked for two flavored ices, but they missed one of the ice flavors. Too bad I found out once I got home. Another night, one of the female teen employees told me the custard machine ‘WAS CLOSED.’ - I was like, "What does that mean? You guys close at 10!” She looked at me awkwardly and smirked; I then left. Another night, they told me they can only provide ices, no custard. Another night, they were already closed early (lights out, shutters down,) well before their listed closing-hours! Another light, the two individuals saw me walking over and started mumbling something to each other. Asked for a certain drink and then one of them said that 'They can only do ices and nothing else.’

I wouldn't be shocked if those teens are clocking their hours to get paid til 10 while closing the business around 9:30 or before. Not even sure if the store-owner knows that's happening. Such a pet-peeve when a business always closes earlier than their listed closing hours. At that point, put the closing-hours at 9:30... but then the kids might start closing shop at 9. I end up going the extra 10 minutes to...

Yesterday we arrived 21 mins before closing time, the male staff member saw us as we drove in (we made eye contact since I was looking out to ensure that they were open), then he hastily proceeded to pull down all the blinds indicating that they were closing up.

That was our last straw. For context why I say this: the day before this a full 1.5hrs before closing time this same worker came out to say that they were closed due to the storm (which lasted 20mins & was over by then, hence we were out ourselves). He said that they have to drive & they're not the most experienced drivers. I empathised with the anxiety given the weather but was confused considering that the rain was over. That's why we tried again the next day just to see him close up as we arrived, 21mins early. Sighhhh.

It was all very disappointing. We won't be going back...

The day was July 17, 2022. Cloudy outside. I ordered a small cup of blue raspberry Italian ice, and another for my friend Brendan. A sweet ginger girl named Allison was helping us, and she told me my total was $8.23. “No problem” I said as I handed her a $10 bill and told her to keep the change. A disgusted look came across her face as she said, “A real man would’ve tipped $5 and taken a shot of gummy bears.” I was confused by this, but couldn’t back down from the challenge. She handed me the cup of gummy bears filled to the brim. I said bottoms up as the gummy bears fell into my mouth. I swallowed them within seconds. And just like that, everything went black. I woke up hours later laying in a hospital with Brendan beside the bed. He told me everything was going to be okay. Surely will not be...