Ritas Italian Ice & Custards!!

Lori--that is great news!! We have also missed ice cream a lot...but even when we could eat it, we would go to Rita's anyway! Philly Swirl is fine and really was a blessing, but sometimes it's just fun to pick up..take a drive and stop for ice cream!!! Thanks for the post.

Chris

just got email today from ritas and they will be testing a pistachio flavor starting in may. i believe in the new york and connecticut locations.

That S***'s!!!!
We have been so excited about the possibilities of getting an ice cream cone out somewhere and now this!!
We don't have that flavor here yet but...I guess it will reach us in NJ soon enough!
Back to the ice cream maker!!!
Lori

yep! i asked for an ice cream maker for Mothers day. target has one for $35 and no salt is needed???

Maybe we should all contact Ritas and ask them to stay nut free!! PS ice cream from new ice cream maker is delicious!!!

Quote:Originally posted by tidina:
[b]yep! i asked for an ice cream maker for Mothers day. target has one for $35 and no salt is needed???[/b]

I recently got a Cuisinart brand ice cream maker. It comes with recipes. You need to freeze the bowl overnight, connect it to the maker, pour in the ingredients and let it churn. No salt needed. Takes about 1/2 hr. Some of the varieties may require additional freezing in a separate container in your freezer to get harder. Well worth it although the ingredients can cost more than just buying it at the supermarket. But if that's what we need to do, so be it!

THANK YOU!!

I went to Rita's tonight after reading about it here. It was WONDERFUL to get "real" ice cream again.

I did a little happy dance until my dd yealled at me!

I talked to someone (by phone) in customer service about how hard it is to find PN/TN free ice cream and that I hope they don't spread the Pistachio to other locations. He said it is just a pilot program, and they will decide what to do based on the results. I plan to write. I may even start going weekly and save my receipts.

My ds and I had a discussion about it... and I explained how it would be smart for them because they would have all the PNTN allergic Americans as a demographic... he said, yeah, but they might lose 10X more nut eaters by NOT haing them... MY argument is that by having nuts, WE are completel unable to go... but in not having nuts they can have OUR business AND the business of the nuteaters, because they can still eat there... But I could kinda see his point and understand it must be difficult for business to want to cater to such a small demographic.

Tara P

we went to our ritas grand opening yesterday. ordered my son a lemon water ice and myself a banana gelati (banana water ice with vanilla soft serve). he took mine and loved it. it was great getting ice cream out. i emailed the company telling them how great it is and asking them to stay nut free.

We are adding the pistachio flavor to certain stores in New Jersey this season the majority of the stores are located in Monmouth and Bergen Counties. Give me a call and I will let you know if the Rita

I just called the number Tidina from Tidina's post. I was told that pistachio has been discontinued, due to allergies. It's nice to hear when a company listens to our concerns.

wow really, no way!! im shocked and amazed. i told marty this morning in an email after receiving his that they will lose a lot of customers and they were out for me!!! haha. i hope its true becaues i just got my info. this morning. i emailed marty again and asked about the allergens.

[This message has been edited by tidina (edited February 27, 2006).]

YOUR TOWN will not sell the pistachio this season. There is NO chance of any cross contamination of nut allergies at this store. We are going to further test the pistachio flavor in North Jersey due to demand from the customers in this market.

Imagine a customer calling up and saying "I demand pistachio!"

Will they let us know which stores?

i hate to sound rude because i am italian but northern new jersey and new york have a lot of italian people living there and they are big on pistachio. i know CT, NY introduced it last year. jersey shore not doing it but two counties in jersey are. i dont know why they said they discontinuing it.

WOO HOO!!
I know that I have already told you that we are adding Pistachio Nuts to several stores in New Jersey. After careful consideration we have decided to eliminate the PISTACHIOS from the recipe. We are still going to introduce the Pistachio flavor however the flavor will not contain any nuts. The flavor mix that we use to make the pistachio does not contain any real pistachio nuts or oils. This flavor will also be safe to eat for anyone that has a nut allergy. Please feel free to share this information with anyone that you fell may benefit from this news.
Thank you for your continued support of Rita's.
Marty Ferrill
Director of Research & Development
Rita's Water Ice Franchise Compa

tidina, thanks for posting that! They are opening a Rita's about 15 minutes from where I live, and I know ds is going to be over the moon to be able to go *out* for an ice cream for the first time [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

You all are so lucky to have this "Ritas". They will probably never put one in Mississippi! We have to be last at getting anything it seems! Sorry, for sounding off!
LOL! Ha!

well you can always open your own franchise [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

I have thought several times about opening up some kind of ice cream store or etc.
However, don't know if I'd actually go and do it, KWIM?
I guess we'll just enjoy soft serve at limited places and keep making our own and buying "safe" brands for now.

does everyone use wendys frosties and icees at bk and target and mcdonalds shakes, sundaes and soft serve? or no?

We get Wendy's Forsies and McD's shakes all the time.

I also thought of opening an ice cream place. I had even talked about doing it with a friend, found out what the rent was in the place I would have had it, started looking at ice cream makers online. Then found out I was moving from sunny Phoenix to cold Connecticut. This isn't the most profitable climate for ice cream--most independent places are only open less than half the year.

Do you know if the Middletown NY store will carry Pistachio? We went there on the first day of spring for our free ices and I don't recall seeing it on the menu that day. They don't seem to have every flavor everyday. I love the twisted melon, black cherry, strawberry (which you can use to make daiquiris!) and just tried the cappuccino. Last summer we were there every week!

tidina- yes, my PA DD has had the icees from Target, soft serve and shakes from McDs- never had an issue w/ them.

yes i love the new dark cherry one. its not the bright red regular one. tried it last year. mango use to be my favorite. my son likes strawberry, banana and root beer with the vanilla custard. havnt let him try the chocolate yet and cant get straight answers on jimmies so he doesnt eat those. the pretzels they sell are questionable. Marty Ferrill told me that each franchise buys their own. i asked girl, she was very nice but didnt know. emailed Marty but havnt heard back. they change flavors everyday, sometimes we are jonzing for banana and they dont have it. i want to try the coffee flavors too. the pistachio is just in NY, CT and some parts of jersey. i dont know if the one they are trying now has the protein or is safe for allergies?

Tidinia we get the icess from BK alot and we do have the McDonald's shakes,sundaes, soft serve and etc. Of course, we don't do the M&M's on it. We have had the Oreo blast or whatever it's called. We've had no problems.We do the Wendy's Frosty's also.

thanks, more options for us. appreciate all your feedback!!

The Middleton NY location may still be making the Pistachio with the nuts. After they are out of the existing inventory of pistachios they will no longer be permitted to make the pistachio with the nuts. You can call the store direct to find out if they are making the pistachio with nuts. The sprinkle manufacturer is QA products their phone number is 847-595-1960. The company does package peanuts in their facility however the nuts are packed in a separate room from the sprinkles. There is no shared equipment for processing the nuts and sprinkles.
Marty Ferrill
Director of Research & Development

my husband ordered my son the banana flavor today and didnt read the list of flavors to him like i do. well they came home and thank God i tasted my sons because it had chocolate chips in it. i called ritas and its new flavor and she couldnt tell me what kind they are so my husband getting a new flavor. i emailed company to find out if chips are safe. hope so.

[This message has been edited by tidina (edited April 29, 2006).]

Do any products contain EGG?

i dont know. the custard must contain milk. the icees may be egg safe?? you could call them or email them.

Tidina, How are you getting so much info from Ritas? I tried emailing them a couple of days ago regarding how they make their custard and how we know it is safe. They haven't replied. I want to make sure they don't just have some other ice cream company running their product for them. I checked it out and their custard is delicious! I am so excited at the possibility of being able to take ds there!
TJsmom

my contact is marty ferrill and some others. havent heard back either about those chocolate chips
[email]operations@ritascorp.com[/email]
[email]m.ferrill@ritascorp.com[/email]
[email]jimsasst@ritascorp.com[/email]

these are my contacts. good luck [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

Rita's seems very allergy aware but I just HAD to check on where there custard is made in case they lease time on another ice cream company's equipment. Here is the response I got regarding the possibility for cross contamination. How awesome! We will be there with the kids on Saturday!...

Our custard is manufactured at a dairy that does not handle any nuts in
their facility. As you are aware a typical ice cream plant makes many
flavors on the same equipment which increases the likelihood of cross
contamination. Our custard is manufactured at an actual dairy plant that
specializes in milk and cream production. If you have any other questions
please feel free to contact me again.

Hi Chris,
The chocolate chips do not have a peanut allergy listed on the box. The cones are absolutely safe the plant does not use any peanut oil in the manufacturing of the cones. I cannot tell you about the pretzels at this location we use several different companies that bake pretzels for the stores. If you call the store and ask for the owner you should be able to find out where they buy pretzels.
Marty