Rita’s Italian Ice plans to open this summer in downtown McHenry

Cathy Levatino was waiting in line at a Rita’s Italian Ice and Custard in St. Augustine, Florida, when she told her husband they should open a Rita’s.

His response was “they already have one here,” Levatino said.

What she meant, and what is happening two years after that comment, was to open a franchise of the popular frozen treat back home in Illinois.

“I am a Realtor; I started scoping out locations as soon as I got home,” Levatino said.

The Buffalo Grove resident started checking out locations in McHenry County and soon settled on the site at 3319 W. Elm St., McHenry. A former insurance office, the building is down the street from McHenry’s Riverwalk and the Riverwalk Shoppes now under construction.

“I noticed all of the work McHenry was doing” to attract business to its downtown, she said, and wanted something close to the water.

For the past 30 years, Levatino and her family have joined her brother boating on the Fox River. When they wanted to get ice cream, they had to park the boat and walk to the nearest McDonald’s, Levatino said.

Once the location at Route 120 and Riverside Drive opens, the plan is to allow people who are boating to call or text in an order and meet a delivery person nearby.

Construction began on the building in early May. Although she hoped to be open earlier in the summer, renovating a house that dates to at least the 1960s into a restaurant has not been a simple process, Levatino said.

The basement had to be reinforced to carry the custard and Italian ice makers’ weight, and the water and electric lines had to be updated.

It will be a very family-friendly and community-oriented business.”

—  Rita's Italian Ice and Custard franchisee Cathy Levatino

One thing she appreciates as a franchisee is that Rita’s allowed her and her husband to renovate an existing structure rather than build from scratch.

“They are very open and oriented to the franchisee for the best location” for the businesses, including repurposing older buildings, Levatino said.

She also found vintage red pleather-and-chrome tables, booth benches and stools and plans to use that retro decor inside the store.

“They came from someone’s basement; they had a bar/soda shop there,” she said. “I told them I would take all of it.”

She wants to stick to that vintage style while still using Rita’s corporate branding of red, green and white – the colors in Italy’s flag.

Outside, there is now an accessible ramp to the front door, and there is a small front patio area for those who want to eat outside.

Behind the building is a space for a larger outdoor dining area. That will not be completed until summer 2024. When it’s ready, Levatino said she wants to see families, including children and pets, eating together on the back patio.

If construction continues at its current pace, Levatino hopes to see the doors open in late July or early August.

They already have part of the staff needed to open. Her niece, Shelly Levatino, will be the store manager, and other family members have signed on to work there as well.

“We have a very large family,” she said. “It will be a very family-friendly and community-oriented business.”