Rita’s, an icy institution since 1984, has been spreading the gospel of Italian ice and frozen custard throughout the Bay Area. The newest purveyors, a Pleasanton one (320 St. Mary St.) and a Campbell shop (475 E. Campbell Ave.), join the locations in San Jose, Hayward, Castro Valley, San Carlos, Scotts Valley and Brentwood.

The chain’s specialties include the East Coast-born Italian ices, legendary in New York and New Jersey for decades — mango is the top seller — and the frozen custard that’s wildly popular in the Midwest, especially St. Louis.