Cositas Ricas (271 Grand Ave) was featured in a story The Daily Nutmeg about Smoothie Shops

[Diane Panasci]

I believe last year we went here for Dining Out Night. I remember a hot and sweet concoctions which I thoroughly enjoyed!

"Cositas Ricas (271 Grand Ave, New Haven; 203-782-4757), the final stop on our smoothie safari, is located along the main artery of Fair Haven, on flavorful Grand Avenue. This convenience-store-turned-fruit-hut is home to Mangonadas and Chamoyadas ($5, $8), two summer delicacies born from a counterintuitive mixture of mango and hot spices. Scoops of mango Italian ice are layered with Valentina hot sauce, chamoy sauce (made from pickled fruit) and Megalito’s sweet and sour chili powder. The Mangonada is topped with a high collar of fresh mango slices while the Chamoyada comes with a frill of dried mango slices and a pike-like straw coated in a thick, sour-sweet tamarind paste tossed with a spicy red powder.

While these smoothie cousins are a must-try at some point, they may not be the unmitigated cooling agent you want on a blistering summer’s day. But Cositas Ricas has you covered there, too, selling fresh fruit smoothies ($5, $6) that should hit the spot. Customers create their own from an array of ingredients behind glass, like the papaya, grape, blueberry, pineapple and honeydew I chose, or the cantaloupe, watermelon, mango and strawberry I didn’t. The end result could very well have come from a palm-topped bar on a Caribbean shore.

The only thing missing was the rum."