Another Popular Business Closes in Wappingers Falls

We hate to see this happening all across the Hudson Valley.

Just last week we were talking about some of our favorite places in the Hudson Valley to grab frozen treats and now we need to take one of those places off of our list. According to a Facebook post by the owner and operator of Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard, Dan Pizzarelli, their Wappingers Falls location at 985 Route 376, is now closed.

The Facebook post read, "Attention Friends and family tonight is the last night for Ritas in Wappingers. We will be closing our doors at 9 pm. To much strain from the world has us going in a different direction. So if you want to come by and grab your last gelati, blendini, quarts of ice, or custard we will here." The post was put up on Sunday August 2nd, so they are now closed.

We reached out to Dan to see if he could let us know what happened and he told us that, "After 13 years we have decided to close Ritas as of Sunday."

The only good news on the closing is that it was not COVID-19 related. Dan told us that, "the lease agreement was up and the franchise agreement were up. We tried working things out with both sides but couldn’t come to agreement. Us closing is not COVID-19 related."

Dan and his family have been doing business in the Hudson Valley for a longtime and have had Rita's locations in Hyde Park, Poughkeepsie and Wappingers. They also run miniature golf and more at DC Sports on Route 9 in Wappingers Falls and have DC Golf and Duces restaurant at 10 Crannel Street in Poughkeepsie. They are open Tuesday thru Saturday serving dine in and takeout, with trivia every Tuesday.