Rita’s Ice Custard Happiness, also known as Rita’s Italian Ice, is a hot spot for cool treats during your visit to the beach. From famous Italian ice to old-fashioned custard, Rita’s has a treat kids and adults will love.
Rita’s Italian Ice is made fresh daily and combines ice with fresh fruit. Italian Ice comes in just about every fruity and sweet flavor you can think of, including Mango, Blue Raspberry, Lemon, Green Apple, Chocolate, Cherry, Cotton Candy, Florida Orange, and Key Lime among others. For health or diet conscious consumers, Rita’s offers a sugar-free version of this treat, made with Splenda.
Rita’s Cream Ice rivals traditional ice cream in its creaminess, with a smooth and silky flavor. Cream Ice Flavors include Birthday Cake, Coconut Cream,  Cookies and Cream, Mint Oreo, S’mores and much more.
Rita’s Signature Custard offers smooth and creamy nostalgia. Choose from vanilla, chocolate and specialty flavors and top with fudge, caramel, sprinkles, or any of our 30 delicious choices!
Get creative with a Misto (a combination drink of your favorite Italian Ice and Custard flavors) or Blendini (Custard or Italian Ice mixed with your favorite candies and toppings, such as Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Snickers, Oreos, and M&Ms.

Or try our other heavenly treats, Gelatis, Sundaes, Milkshakes, and Frozen Lemonades.

With all the options and flavor combinations at Rita’s you can’t go wrong!  So come on in and experience a treat that will make your taste buds love you!
Ice, Custard and Happiness = Rita’s

Hours from Memorial Day to Labor day are 12:00pm - 10:00pm.  For Off Season Hours visit our website or call 252-441-4237!


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Hours
*Off-season hours may vary*
  • Monday12:00pm-10:00pm
  • Tuesday12:00pm-10:00pm
  • Wednesday12:00pm-10:00pm
  • Thursday12:00pm-10:00pm
  • Friday12:00pm-10:00pm
  • Saturday12:00pm-10:00pm
  • Sunday12:00pm-10:00pm
Categories
Restaurants
Big Buck's Homemade Ice Cream

Big Buck's Homemade Ice Cream

Serving our customers on the Outer Banks since 1994, Big Buck's ice Cream is dedicated serving you “The Best.” We offer a full line of super-premium ice cream products, smoothies, chocolates, and custom-made ice cream cakes! 2 locations are open all year: Duck  and Manteo, at The Waterfront Shops.

 

We offer a full line of Espresso Drinks from Hot Vanilla Cappuccinos and Hot Chocolate to Iced Caramel Lattes & Frozen Mochas, all made to order. Big Buck’s fresh fruit smoothies are lactose-free and made to order. Also offering lactose-free sorbets made from the best fruits available. Old time favorites are sure to please! Choose from a delicious collection of milkshakes, sundaes and banana splits.

 

Savor the moment with our Homemade Chocolate! Chocolates are made daily in each location. We offer a large selection from Dark to Milk to White. Milk Chocolate Oreos & Almond Toffee, Dark Chocolate Berries and Cherries Clusters & Hand-dipped Peppermint Patties with a Drizzle of White Chocolate, Extra-Dark Sea Salt Caramels & our famous homemade caramel chocolate pretzels oh & don’t forget the ever-popular caramel pecan turtle, just to name a few treats!

 

Belinda Pleva grew up serving ice cream out of her parent’s shop. She loved being part of what she calls “a happy business.” “I love it when people come into the shop and you hand them something, and it makes them smile,” Pleva says. “That moment when you hand an ice cream cone over to a little kid and their eyes just light up. That’s what I love about the ice cream business.”

 

In 1994, Pleva opened up her own ice cream and chocolate shop, Big Buck’s Ice Cream, in the brand-new Timbuk II Shopping Center in Corolla. Business was good, but something was missing.

 

“I was never satisfied with the ingredients in the ice creams and chocolates you could purchase back then. I wanted to serve my customers delicious flavors with ingredients they could actually pronounce,” Pleva says.

 

Pleva took a trip to Italy to study the gelaterias. She fell in love with the incredible flavors, and when she returned home to the Outer Banks, she began working tirelessly to perfect the flavors in her own ice cream.

 

Big Buck’s homemade ice cream combined the flavors of the Italian gelaterias and the richness of American ice cream. It quickly became a tourist favorite. After having the same unsatisfactory experience with the readymade chocolates she was selling, she also took a trip to Brussels to learn more about making handmade chocolates. Pleva brought the chocolate-making experience right back with her, and the result was the finest quality of chocolates on the Outer Banks.

 

After her huge success in the Corolla shop, Pleva was able to open up three more shops—one in Kitty Hawk, one in Manteo and one in Duck.

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