https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmluiHZEZZI&feature=youtu.be

A new delight has come to town, and it is Rita’s Italian Ice. Lucky’s gas station in Stillwater now has another business inside its building. Lucky’s and Rita’s has been working on a redesign of its interior since Aug. and Rita’s has been serving its delicious treats to the public since Sept.

Flavored ice dates back to Ancient Rome, where the people would harvest snow from local mountaintops. The practice of making flavored ice then passed down through generations of Greeks, Chinese Emperors, and eventually to Marco Polo who returned to Italy with the recipe. All of this led to the large flavored ice and ice cream creameries and corporations that we have today. Especially Rita’s ice, which is incredibly popular on the East coast of the United States.

Rita’s is a chain Italian ice and custard shop which has over 600 locations in the world. Their menu includes a variety of different flavors of Italian ice, frozen custard, and cream ice, (yes it is just ice cream in reverse). As well as gelati, misto, blendini, and milkshakes.

Rita’s flavors are on a rotation, “We change our flavors everyday and everyday there will be a new flavor no matter what,” said Rita’s employee Laurena Anyay.

Junior Rebecca Franke went to Rita’s for the first time and commented on her experience. “I hadn’t really heard of it, I had only heard mention of it because my younger brother had asked me to drive him to ‘the new ice cream place’ but I did not know that this was the one he was talking about. I had never been there before and at first I was a little confused that it was in a gas station but as soon as I walked in it was clear the shop was its own thing. When you stepped up to the counter it felt like a regular ice cream shop. It was decorated very well with lots of bright and appealing colors.”

For those who prefer gluten free, Rita’s has an option. Anyay stated, “All of our custard is gluten free”, allowing customers like Franke, who is Celiac, to get a taste of their delicious product too. “I ordered a sundae with chocolate custard, peanut butter, chocolate chips, whipped cream, and a cherry on top. The worker was very careful in their preparation to avoid contamination and from what I could see of the station it looked to be very celiac and really any type of cross-contamination friendly”. Do not be worried about the taste, “The sundae itself was very good, and a very reasonable amount for the price (maybe not quite nelson’s proportions; but definitely worth the money, especially considering the quality). The custard was excellent, definitely one of the better ones I have tried,” Franke said.

There are many locations for ice cream and custard in Stillwater, but Rita’s is the only place with its own signature Italian Ice. Rita’s is here to stay.

Franke concluded, “I would definitely recommend it.”