Rita’s Italian Ice, the world’s largest Italian Ice concept with more than 600 stores, announces its partnership with Sandella’s Flatbread Café, a leader in the fast-casual market with more than 130 locations. The company will formally announce its partnership and the first-ever Rita’s Italian Ice featuring Sandella’s Flatbread Café at its grand opening celebration, bringing Rita’s guests a dining option in addition to its signature “cool treats.”
“We were looking for a delicious and fun, yet contemporary, food concept to add to our Italian Ice portfolio and help franchisees grow,” says Jeff Moody, CEO of Rita’s Franchise Company. “As soon as we came across Sandella’s, we knew it was the perfect fit to offer our guests a complete dining experience and since opening last month, guests have been enjoying lunch and dinner and topping it off with a Rita’s Gelati.”
The café will offer guests fresh and delicious artisan wraps, paninis, quesadillas, and grilled flatbread pizzas all prepared on Sandella’s proprietary brick oven baked flatbread. The café will provide guests with a casual dining area — all in the same location as Rita’s Italian Ice, which will continue serving its signature Italian Ice and Frozen Custard treats.
“Now that our first café with Rita’s has officially opened its doors, we can’t wait to see where this partnership takes us,” says Michael Stimola, CEO of Sandella’s Flatbread Café. “Partnering with Rita’s was an obvious choice for us from the beginning, as we knew their treats would be the perfect complement to our menu items. We’re excited for the expansion of this power duo and look forward to bringing more Rita’s and Sandella’s cafés to cities and towns across the country.”
The new store, which opened last month, is located in the Clarkstown Plaza Shopping Center in historic Rockland County and is the first of four store locations in the area by franchisee Mark Pavlicek of County Clare American Desserts LLC.
With more than 30 years in business, Rita’s Italian Ice has been aggressively expanding across the United States and internationally with innovative new concepts and locations now open in the Philippines and coming soon in Canada and the Middle East.
