Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard — Restaurant in Maryland

I just wanted to start off saying, l've been coming to this Rita's with my family since the day it opened, what once was an AMAZING establishment, to getting to know the owner (Julie) I'm not sure if she's still the owner I could be wrong, to now being met with some of the most unwelcoming, unpleasant attitudes. I came to Rita's about 1 1/2 weeks ago with my partner walked in the door, no greeting, we pretty much had to ask to be serviced , I ordered a blendini , I could tell the employee making it was a bit irritated, she then made my blendini put it on the counter and then walked to the back , I noticed when I received it , it was hardly blended and there was still chunks of ice in it , I was a tad irritated but just figured it was a bad day cool. My partner then comes back today 8/6/25 and ordered a simple custard , not only is Rita’s pretty expensive I get it it’s a business but the portion in comparison to what it used to be to now ? Is extremely telling , the level of care Rita’s used to give as opposed to now ? It’s a complete 180°, the unpleasant and unwelcoming behavior is enough but we still tried to give the benefit of the doubt but I can honestly say the customer service has completely depleted and it’s honestly disheartening, what once was an amazing establishment that my family and I used to come to WEEKLY , to now feeling like a burden and unwelcome into a place people spend their hard earned money , I’ve tried to give this location the benefit of the doubt in hopes to hold onto the memories cherished here but it’s now a place I will honestly no longer give my money to. I do still wish this establishment the best of luck and I do hope they can give their employees a lesson on proper customer service , this was once such an amazing establishment and I hope they can one day...

I usually have better service at the Rita’s in Maryland City but service today was horrible and met with so much disrespect from Olivia. Normally when I visit I get better service and my purchases looks better. I ordered a Gelati with custard and when she made it there was only a little custard given on top. When I requested more custard she refused and went back and forth with me on what was the appropriate amount. So then I asked for a little sprinkles on top and she told me that was a $1.50 extra.. Smdh I will not patronize at this Rita's any longer… I’m trying to figure out what I paid $8 for.. Thank goodness the Sweetfrog in the same shopping center!

Update : Response to Owner Alan:

Thank you for your timely response. I updater the photo and added others for a comparison to what I am use to receiving. The additional photos is how the Gelati is served in other establishments which I will patronize with moving forward. I’ve been to your establishment 3 times this week and twice last week and had no problem with other staff and service other than running low on flavors but it was the same young lady taking my order and another fixing it each time but it Olivia who was very rude and would benefit from some customer...

How do you screw up Rita's? Our family loves Rita's, so we came by this store in Laurel after the first day of school. Our visit became a test of patience, they were out of peanut butter cups (how do you run out of peanut butter cups?) then their peach custard wasn't working, and their twists weren't working, and they didn't have waffle cones. We had to ask them what they actually had so that we could get something.

Then there was the service, the two employees seemed uninterested in serving us, and considering the amount of items that they were out of, they made no effort to provide us with alternatives. We asked them to make us a small cup only half full for our 20 month old, they just made it the regular size. I asked for a strawberry concrete with brownie bites and they made it with cookie dough. And it was just easier to eat the gross concoction than to deal with them any longer.

We are going to continue to go to Rita's, just...