The commercial space at 610 Caroline Street is starting to show life, beginning with a new neon “Bistro,” sign in the front window. In early May, the new tenant “Always Flavored,” will complete their move from the current location on Princess Anne Street, giving the Fredericksburg dining crowd another option but this time adding beer and wine.
“We’re super excited,” said Rita Witte, the owner who has been at Princess Ann for the past 18 months. She’ll keep the same menu to start, the same green motif for the interior, and the overall feeling will be the same. At Always Flavored, the goal is simple: to bring people together through delicious food.
Some on Caroline Street are looking forward to more businesses coming down to the lower end, and Always Flavored will be a welcome addition to the 600 block. Linda Garrett next door at Gemstone Creations is looking forward to having a new neighbor. “Just saw the sign the other day,” Garrett said. “It will be nice to have something different on this end,” she added.
Their menu has breakfast and lunch selections that differ from usual corner breakfast places. The menu describes selections like the “Denver Sandwich,” which features scrambled eggs, bell peppers, and Spicy Mayo in the mix, and the “Chimichurri Steak and Egg” with “mouthwatering prime rib”. Every sandwich is crafted using “Rita’s Way, featuring our renowned sauces.”
For lunch, there is ‘Rita’s Reuben,” the “Thai Teriyaki Chicken,” or the “Furious Cuban,” with a “wrath of Rita Mustard.” She’s all over the place at Always Flavored.
Always Flavored’s sauces have gained recognition too. Instead of the Eagles hammering “Tequila Sunrise” out on stage, Always Flavored offers Brady’s Tequila Sunrise. Other sauces are the Wrath of Rita, Sweet Virginia Love BBQ Sauce, Honey Butt BBQ Rub, and Pissed Off Kristoff sauce. Ritabeata’s Sweet Virginia Love BBQ sauce won second place in the 2023 Scovie Awards out of the Southwest.
The Scovie Awards evolved from the National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show after 1996 when the contest was called The Fiery Foods Challenge. They were later renamed “The Scovie Awards” to honor the memory of Wilbur Scoville, the scientist who invented the Scoville Organoleptic Test in 1912 to determine the heat scale of chile peppers, the awards’ website says. Fiery Foods & Barbecue magazine sponsors the Albuquerque, New Mexico awards.
In addition to food and sauces, Always Flavored offers cooking classes for kids to “unleash your child’s inner chef.”. They offer a class for kids aged 4-16 where they learn to create sandwiches with AF sauces and seasonings.
Rita loves her Fredericksburg fan base in Fredericksburg and plans to have a grand opening celebration this spring before joining and then taking part in all the city’s restaurant activities like First Friday, Restaurant Week and more.
Mike Salmon is a freelance reporter for Potomac Local News.
