Rita's Italian Ice's Best Flavors Ranked Worst To Best

At Rita's Italian Ice, "Ice, Custard, Happiness" is the way of life. This establishment provides more than a delicious frozen treat. Rita's prides itself on community, building memories, and celebrating the little things in life, even if that means enjoying a little dessert daily. If you want a pick me up or have an extraordinary life milestone to celebrate, this place has you covered.

No matter the time of year, nothing brightens our day quite like a frozen treat. Rita's makes their famous Italian Ice daily so that you can guarantee a fresh frozen dessert every time. They offer a rotating selection of over 95 flavors, so you'll always find something you love. Thankfully for you, we tested the most common flavors to help you discover the best ones you should try.

Keep reading for Rita's Italian Ice's best flavors ranked from worst to best. The best flavors may surprise you.

We're kicking off this list with the grape flavor. Remember, although set up from worst to best, this roundup ranks the best of Rita's 95 rotating flavors. Grape is not the worst of all the tastes but it is the worst of the top flavors.

Now that we've clarified our rankings, let's start with Rita's grape-flavored Italian ice. Grape-flavored desserts tend to give us that cough medicine aftertaste, but Rita's grape Italian ice still hits the spot. Unsurprisingly, it offers an artificial taste, but many grape-flavored food products do.

We like to think of this flavor as we rank grape jelly. It's always on the table, but never the first one we reach to use on our toast. Many Rita's fans love the grape flavor, and social media followers of the brand note it sells out at some locations. If you like fruity desserts, especially grape, don't sleep on this flavor at Rita's.

It's peanut butter jelly time. The signature American sandwich arrives in Italian ice form at Rita's, white bread not included. While we would do anything for a sandwich coated in peanut butter and jelly, Rita's Italian ice version does not provide the same deliciousness.

According to Rita's chief executive officer, Jonathon Fornaci, the peanut butter and jelly ice tastes like mom used to make. After trying this dual flavor, we believe our moms crafted better peanut butter and jelly delights. After all, can you compare anything to what mom used to make?

While this dessert didn't make us run for the hills, we think we'll stick to peanut butter and jelly on white bread from here on out. Something about making an iced dessert peanut butter flavored doesn't sit right with us. This flavor isn't the worst, but it's not the best. We'll hold off and snag one of our other favorite flavors.

Next on our list, we tried guava passionfruit. Guava reminds us of a hybrid of pineapple and strawberry flavors. The vibrant pink passion fruit tastes fruity, too, but a tad tart. With these flavors combined, it'll transport you to an island paradise.

Guava passionfruit should be your next order if you like your Italian ice with an intense fruit flavor. This flavor packs a double fruity punch. With guava passionfruit, we love that you can taste both premium fruit flavors and they don't overpower each other.

The only thing that would make this flavor better is if we could eat the Italian ice out of a large fruit like pineapple or coconut on a beach under the sun. This flavor offers a unique taste of the tropics and is one we have yet to find in many other desserts. If you prefer a more subtle fruit taste, skip on the guava passionfruit's incredible punch.

This flavor will have you thinking you visited your local county fair. Rita's cotton candy Italian ice provides a little taste of the carnival food scene with its extra sweetness. We imagined this treat to be a light pink color, but it comes in a vibrant blue you can't miss.

You will find this bright blue Italian ice flavor to be much sweeter than the other flavors we ranked. It comes in Italian ice and custard variations, so no matter how you prefer cotton candy, Rita's will deliver.

Additionally, capitalize on the party buckets if you'd like to share Rita's cotton candy with friends and family. There will be plenty to go around with these massive buckets of cotton candy Ice. You can make a carnival full of all the best treats in your background.

We like this flavor, but we left it lower on the list due to its incredible sweetness. Not everyone can handle the sugar overload.

Mint and chocolate go together like yin and yang in the ice cream world. Rita's mint chocolate chip Italian Ice is no different. If this combination brings you joy, you'll want to jump on Rita's version.

What we appreciate about the mint chocolate chip Italian ice versus some fruity flavors is how creamy it is. Rita's refers to this variation as cream ice since it's more creamy than icy. The texture varies from the other flavors, but after a few bites, you'll adapt and start to love it.

This ice cream-inspired flavor offers a blast of mint in every bite, so get ready for a minty overload. While very minty, the chocolate chips add a subtle and sweet touch. If you love a lot of chocolate, combine this flavor with Italian chocolate ice for the best of both worlds. No matter how you order it, the mint chocolate chip remains a favorite flavor.

If you fancy tropical cocktails, you're likely familiar with the piña colada, a cocktail made with rum, coconut milk, and pineapple juice. While the drink can be served blended or shaken with ice, today, we're discussing the Italian ice flavor from Rita's.

Feel like you're on a beach getaway with the piña colada-flavored Italian ice. Rita's in New Jersey likes turning Sunday into Funday with their piña colada ice. Make your iced dessert a little more fun when you order the piña colada flavor. You can order this flavor as a gelati, misto, or frozen drink. Rum is not included at Rita's, but I'm sure you can imagine yourself sipping one at a beach bar somewhere.

You'll love this Italian ice flavor whether a piña colada is your cocktail of choice or not. This refreshing flavor will hit the spot anytime you're craving a fruity dessert.

The saying with Sour Patch Kids goes, "first they're sour, then they're sweet." The same goes for the Sour Patch Kids Rita's Italian Ice flavor. Your first bite sends a sour taste through your tastebuds and up your spine. The second bite tastes sweet, like a delicious candy. Rita's Sour Patch Kids Red Ice will surely satisfy whether you gravitate towards sour or sweet.

We believe red is the best Sour Patch Kids flavor, so it feels right that this Italian ice flavor is also red. This flavor remains a hit with Sour Patch Kids lovers and those who don't obsess over the candy.

The most significant warning we will provide is red ice will result in a red tongue; this provides a funny reaction to the dessert. The Sour Patch motto "Sour, Sweet, Gone" reigns true because we devoured this Italian ice quickly after receiving it.

White Claw isn't the only brand with a popular black cherry flavor. Rita's Wild Black Cherry Italian Ice won't leave you feeling tipsy but will have you coming back for another bite. This delicious and addicting dark cherry flavor bursts in your mouth. The Italian ice even offers little chunks of natural cherry throughout the dessert, a nice change compared to many other fruity flavors.

We find cherry-flavored desserts often taste artificial, but that's not the case with Rita's Italian Ice. This ice provides an intense but sweet flavor and leaves you feeling satisfied. Its deep reddish-black coloring has us drooling just looking at it. To create an even sweeter dessert, we suggest mixing it with chocolate for a delectable combination.

With this Wild Black Cherry dessert, you'll get a unique flavor, not something that tastes like cherry cough medicine; you can trust us on this one.

Growing up, did you gravitate toward blue slushies or snow cones because they turned your tongue blue? We have to admit that we did do this as children. Additionally, we are guilty as adults. When devouring Rita's blue raspberry Italian ice, you can't escape a blue tongue. A few licks will turn your tongue blue, and let's be honest; no one stops after a few bites.

To our surprise, we found the blue raspberry Italian ice to be sweeter than many other flavors we tasted. Raspberries offer a sweet-sour taste compared to sweeter fruits like strawberries, so tasting such sweetness in this flavor threw us for a loop.

Thankfully, we love sweet treats and found no problem indulging in this extra sweet and blue dessert. If you prefer more tart fruit flavors, stay away from this, but if you like a sweeter-tasting Italian Ice, blue raspberry might be for you.

When life gives you lemons, make lemon-flavored Italian ice. Rita's did just that and provided a light yellow-colored iced treat that we eat up faster than most. Nothing sounds more refreshing on a hot summer's day than a cold glass of lemonade — that is until we tried Rita's lemon-flavored Italian ice. It's like lemonade, but colder and in dessert form; what could be better?

This flavor looks similar to frozen lemonades at beach ice cream stands but rises above when it comes to taste. It provides a light lemon flavor but is not too sweet like many lemonade-flavored variations, and it still serves that tart punch you're looking for. Since you can eat this dessert with a spoon, you'll likely finish it much faster than a glass of lemonade.

Trust us on this; this Rita's Italian Ice flavor will become your new favorite if you fancy a cold glass of lemonade or anything lemon-flavored.

Few things taste better than freshly picked strawberries. Rita's provides a sweet and authentic strawberry flavor in Italian ice form. Additionally, while strawberries may taste the best in the spring, Rita's strawberry Italian ice satisfies all year round.

Those who enjoy strawberry desserts likely grab a scoop of ice cream from time to time. With Rita's strawberry Italian ice, you can enjoy the same refreshing flavors with less processed ingredients, and get it all in a dairy-free and gluten-free dessert.

The bright color may turn your tongue red, but the stain is worth every bite. Unlike many strawberry-flavored desserts that taste ultra sweet and artificial, Rita's provides a delicately sweet and fruity taste in every spoonful. For these reasons, we picked the strawberry flavor to our top five Rita's Italian Ice's best flavors. We urge you to head to Rita's for yourself and let us know if you agree.

What's better than Rita's strawberry Italian ice? Let's add mango to the mix for a delicious and fruity combination. The mango-strawberry flavor packs two juicy flavors in one incredible iced dessert. Mango-strawberry might be the best of all the delicious flavor combinations Rita offers. It made our top four on this list for a reason.

While we loved the strawberry flavor immensely, the server at our local Rita's suggested trying Mango-strawberry, and how could we argue with the expert? We followed suit, and this flavor exceeded our expectations by far.

We can only describe it as the perfect union of both fruits, with neither overpowering the other. The creaminess of the mango compliments the tangy and slightly acidic strawberry to create an iced fruity combination that does not compare to the different flavors offered at Rita's. It's mango and strawberry season all year long with this Italian ice combination we're obsessed with.

Are you curious about what flavor is the cherry on top of our top three Rita's Italian Ice flavors? Cherry stole our hearts with its authentic fruit taste and refreshing flavor. It's the ideal dessert for a sweltering hot day when you're looking for something lighter than an ice cream sundae, with cherries still included adding some fun texture to the dessert.

Many fruit-flavored desserts provide overly sweet results that taste more like sugar than the fruit itself. Rita's cherry Italian ice offers an incredible cherry flavor that does not mimic cherry-flavored cough drops or cherry cobbler. Rita's Italian Ice tastes like the cherries were freshly pitted and mixed into an icy blend.

We love a Shirley Temple with lots of cherries to sip on with dinner and cherry Italian ice from Rita's to snack on after dinner. This flavor made our top three because it's seriously that good.

The second-place flavor in our Rita's Italian Ice's best flavors ranked worst to the best list may surprise you. The Swedish Fish flavor rounds out the top two, and you might wonder what this flavor tastes like for the candy to reserve a name outside a fruit flavor. Snack Works, the company that owns Swedish Fish, advertises Swedish Fish as a berry-flavored candy, but fans of the snack taste hints of cherry in the candy.

With speculation of cherry lingering, how did this flavor beat out Rita's signature cherry? Fans of the Italian Ice find this tastes similar to our favorite cherry, but it packs more flavor, which we suspect comes from the berry aspect of the fruity candy. Overall, while the different fruits that make up the Swedish Fish Italian Ice flavor are unclear, we know that the flavor we tasted earned its place on this list.

Last but certainly not least, we believe Rita's mango flavor is the best of the best Italian ices (a bold statement, we know). Did you know it takes 3,200 mangoes to feed two monkeys twice a day for a year? In comparison, it only takes one Rita's mango Italian ice to satisfy us for the afternoon on a hot day. It's that delicious.

We believe mango to be Rita's most fruity and refreshing flavor. Every bite packs authentic mango flavor, and the sweetness makes you dive back into the cup for another spoonful.

To level up the mango flavor, layer it with vanilla ice cream in a gelati for an extra sweet and creamy dessert. Few combinations compare to the dessert Rita's crafts. We agree with Rita's acknowledgment of this combination as its number #1 flavor. If you haven't found a favorite flavor yet at Rita's, mango will surely be a top contender.