Ray’s Italian Water Ice and Custard

Custard is good here! It’s different than ice cream because it’s lighter but more rich. Ice cream is a lot creamy than custard so the texture is completely different. Usually, I can eat 2 scoops of ice cream with ease, but I recommend 1 scoop is more than enough. I recommend the coconut flavor!

I was craving for ice cream but wanted something different. I got the blueberry vanilla custard. It was delicious. Not sweet at all. My husband loved it too and he isn’t fond of custards at all. Wish we had this in my area.

My friend had told me about Ray’s so I figured why not try it now! We went during the week so there was literally no one there. You order and do everything out, order at one window and pick up at the next! There are patio chairs they have place outside so you can make a little seating area for the warmer months! I was very surprised at the pricing, it was shockingly cheap especially for this area.
I decided to order Cotton Candy water and ordered the little ones Chocolate (smalls). The sizing was perfect for the smalls, I was a bit disappointed they didn’t have a kids size for water ice but it wasn’t a big deal, I could just split the small in two!
The taste of taste of the water ice was great, I was expecting something really sweet but in all honesty, the only sweetness I really got was the very first time it hit my mouth. All in all I would say that the water ice was delicious and perfect for the price, definitely has become a favorite spot!

Saved me during my biggest frozen custard craving ever. I love frozen custard so much. It is very good and they give you such a great amount. Get some from this gem of a place!

This one is no where near as good as their original location, which I absolutely adore. We went on a Friday night, so of course they were busy, but the service was really holding up the line. I hate knocking a high schooler’s service, but the girl working the register had absolutely no idea what she was doing. The only two employees there couldn’t have been older than 17 years old. They really could have used a bit more help/​supervision to deal with a Friday night rush.
The ice cream didn’t taste the same as their other location. Everything we tried was overly sweet or too iced over. I’ll stick to the original.

Okay so we just discovered Rays. It is so good!
Instead of ice cream they have frozen custard. Now for people that are dairy free like me they have a wide assortment of Italian water ice.
It’s refreshing to go to a place that has more than just the standard one dairy free item. They also have multiple sugar free Italian waters on the menus.
The taste of the water ice is sweet and light. It does not taste overly sugared or like ice. I have gotten mango, peanut butter, tangerine and cotton candy. All of them were delicious.
My husband likes to get a mixture of Italian ice and frozen custard. He raves that it is great.
The service here is also spot on. You always get greeted with a smile, get your Italian ice quick and can be on your way.

I love their frozen custard so much I’ll forgo most every other ice cream just to have a twist cone. The only thing that would make it better is if they opened a location on Nuckols Rd. :-)

So, this is finally my 100^th review and I am perfectly content with my 100^th review going to Ray’s. My fiancé and I were booking it to Burger Bach when I looked across the street and saw the ice cream cone. I knew what I was having after Burger Bach. When we came back to Ray’s from dinner, I looked over the menu and realized I had been to Ray’s years ago at the other location and had forgotten the name. I ordered a single scoop of the lemon bar ice cream on a cone and my fiancé ordered a malt. Both were delicious! The lemon bar ice cream is out of this world amazing. It is full of lemon bars and creamy goodness. I had a taste of my fiancé’s malt and it was also delicious. Service was friendly and fast. Ray’s is such an awesome place for custard and such a great alternative to Rita’s if you are craving water ice and custard. Also, the prices are unbeatable, probably the cheapest ice cream shop in Richmond. I was stunned when my total was cheaper than what my fiancé and I usually get from Sweet Frog. Ray’s is an absolute MUST in Short Pump.

The perfect icy summer treat when you’re not in the mood for the richness of ice cream! The water ice is kind of like in between a slushee and a snowcone. I had the lemon flavor and it was very refreshing! Watermelon and blue raspberry are great as well. They also have many flavors of custard, which I have yet to try.

YUM!!! Really really good custard. I love little mom and pop custard shops. Far superior to chains like sweet frog and cold stone. Great prices too! Big fan.

I am a long-​time fan of Rita’s on the east coast, and have been missing it ever since moving down to RVA. Let me just say — Ray’s hits the mark. The custard is super creamy and decadent, and there are always tons of flavors of Italian ice!
My favorite thing to get is a Ray’s Rocket, half Italian ice, half custard. Huge portion (more than enough for two people) and super delicious. I get the chocolate ice with chocolate/​vanilla twist custard and it never disappoints.
I’ve also tried their version of a blizzard with vanilla custard and pumpkin pie — literally blended with a slice of pie! The pie seemed to even be homemade, which was a nice twist.
Location is tucked away in the West End, so be sure not to miss it! Totally worth every penny. This is quickly becoming a «go to» place whenever we have visitors in town.

This place is good stuff. They aren’t up tight about letting you sample some of their awesome flavors, they have plenty to choose from. and the price is right. No complaints at all.

Everything you like about the Lauderdale Drive (insanely busy) Ray’s location is (finally!) here in West Broad Village, and is another welcome business to an area that desperately needs this shot in the arm. This is still one of the best ways to spend five bucks in Richmond outside of a night at the Byrd Theatre, and the first place I take out-​of-​towners during the summer (and usually the spring and fall too). My new favorite is the Ray’s Rocket with their out of this world Black Cherry ice and their chocolate soft serve (who says a rocket needs to be vanilla?). It’s like eating a frozen chocolate jelly ring!
The format for ordering is the same, same friendly and helpful family, and there are lots of flavors of ice and custard to choose from with their live menu on their website. I am sure that as the word gets out, this place will be hoppin’ like the Lauderdale Ray’s, so avoid a long wait in line and head up to West Broad Village before the line snakes down toward Broad Street!