Ray’s Ice Cream Company

I love the Boston Cooler.
Great local made ice cream… and open until 11.
I’ve been coming here since I was a kid and it has never disappointed. I also really dig the blueberry pie ice cream. So good.

Been going to Ray’s since I was a kid! Brought a friend to Ray’s today that was visiting from Kansas City and she loved it! The small was HUGE! Delicious!

I don’t understand the bad reviews! This place was incredible. Their portion sizes were huge which was so great! (Some would recommend splitting, I would just say just get the Kiddie.) For the amount of ice cream you get, the prices are very reasonable. Delicious flavors and so many options, it was a challenge to choose! We also loved the Old-​Fashioned feel!

I absolutely love this place. It feel like an old fashioned ice cream shop and has everything from scoops of ice cream to sundaes and milkshakes. They have a wide variety of flavors to choose from all the way from mild to adventurous.
Word of caution… Don’t get anything bigger than the kiddy scoop. It is almost 3 scoops of ice cream, and should be enough for anyone out there.

Overall: Nice little spot. They changed their closing time from 11 to 10, which is still pretty cool. I got a Black Cherry Shake. It was good, exactly what I wanted.
Flavors: A nice spread of flavors. They were presented nicely. Black cherry was very tasty.
Service: It was quick and the staff was pleasant. Several employees for a nice balance.
I recommend this place. Check it out.

The serving sizes are ridiculous and unfortunately not in a good way. A «kiddie» cone was almost $ 4 and had 4 scoops of ice cream on it. It was too large for one adult and would be enormous for a small child. I can’t even imagine what a large would look like– I’d have to imagine it’s nearly a gallon. While I would normally appreciate a generous serving, I have no desire to eat this much ice cream in one sitting. Ray’s is less that a mile walk from my house, but I don’t think I’ll be going there often if I don’t want to get diabetes. Please offer more reasonable sized portions (at appropriate prices)!

When we first moved to Coolidge we had no idea what hidden treasure we had as a neighbor.
When we first stopped we waited in a line that almost made it to Coolidge. The place was packed and we were soon to find out why.
I love mint ice cream but saw a flavor named peppermint and decided to try that. It was sooo creamy and refreshing.
By far my favorite ice cream has to be the Mackinac fudge!
You can order large tubs to take home. We love that !
Everytime our family comes into town they always make it a point to stop at Rays.
The customer service is very friendly and speedy. Hope the summer lasted longer so I could enjoy walking to Rays.

This place is simply amazing! It’s like a flashback in time. The ice cream is delicious and the sundaes look amazing. It’s on the pricer side but well worth it based on the portion/​quality.

Yes, it’s a staple in the area, they’ve been around forever… I remember going when I was a kid and it seemed like an endless supply of options. Well, you’ve still got a great selection to choose from, and a kiddie size, while it will set you back almost $ 4, you get a decent amount. Honestly though? The ice cream isn’t really anything to write home about. It’s ice cream, not drop to your knees and thank the good lord for super premium ingredients, it’s not super creamy gelato… it’s just, ice cream.

Yummy yummy in my tummy! Ray’s is definitely a hit with the locals. There is usually a line out the door (make sure to close the door because they have their a/​c on!). You can get stuff from shakes ($ 7.70) to a single scoop ($ 4something). A single scoop is more like a double scoop so they even have a kiddie size for those with a smaller appetite. I had the cookie monster ice cream and it was delish! It little pricey but totally worth it!

I’ve only been here a few times, but it’s always disappointing. The only people who work there are kids who don’t seem to know anything. I always order a kids scoop for myself and my son because I just want a little bit, but they end up giving us two giant scoops instead. Why would anyone order a normal size cone? It’s just a waste when you only want one small scoop. My son wanted sprinkles, and the kid working there didn’t seem to know if they have sprinkles there. Rather than looking or finding out if they had sprinkles, he just said that they sold out of them. The ice cream tastes fine, nothing special. I realize the place is old, but it needs updating. The ceilings and everything just give a dirty vibe.

It’s dangerous that I can walk here. Ray’s is that good. That have a unique variety of flavors and new ones daily. I am a personal fan of anything caramel. A word of advice, their kiddie size is huge! If you get the regular be prepared to either share or get sick!

We love ice cream. We can name off special ice cream stores in a dozen towns across the state. This is one of them and we love Ray’s. We are not in Royal Oak much but we almost Always stop in here. Service is top notch. The ice cream is awesome too. Well worth the extra drive time to visit.
The girls got waffle cones and they were monsterous and very reasonably priced. Great selection too

Love this place. Great flavors (GUINESS! White Russian!) and giant servings. If what I got last night is the single scoop, I am downright afraid of the double! I’m sure it’s busy in the summer, but there was no wait on a nice late winter day. Perfect destination for a bike ride if you’re within a few miles!

I love this place, when i lived within walking distance it was downright dangerous! Every so often they will be out of something, but their flavors are amazing. Pumpkin, strawberry lemonade, blueberry pie… the list goes on. Now if only people would learn to close the door in the summer when there is a long line!

Although they have a nice old fashioned store with many different ice cream flavors, I feel that the actual quality of the ice cream isn’t that great. It seems like they use high-​fructose corn syrup in their overly-​sweetened products, because I always have that syrup-​y glucose taste in my mouth afterwards. In addition, they are WAY over-​priced!!!
If you just HAVE to go there, my advice is to order a single, kid-​sized scoop, unless you plan on taking a second mortgage out on your house.

Ray’s Ice cream is great! You know this is true if you have tried it!
I was buying it at the store for a while before I made it to this joint! Overall, there is nothing impressive about this space, other than all the ice cream they will scoop for you — and it is good! It reminds me of an up-​north-​Michigan, old-​school ice cream shop, but with excellent locally made ice cream!
Solid spot and worth a trip!

Very good ice cream here… I had a couple of different flavors: Chocolate Malt Crunch and Peanut Butter Chocolate all topped with dark fudge chocolate sauce (Sander’s, I believe) and it was great. It was a huge portion (they don’t get shy with each scoop) and everything was very rich and tasted fresh.
Definitely stop by this great ice cream parlor!

I come to Rays about three times a year for their seasonal ice cream flavors beyond that, I’m hardly a regular. As fellow Unilocalers have noted, something has changed at Rays and not for the better. Perhaps hype and growth to satiate the hype have taken it’s toll. What was once a five-​star experience is now a three-​star experience.
I give Rays it’s due when it comes to creative flavors and scoop size. My personal favorites are Fat Elvis, Peppermint and the Egg Nog. I also like the sit-​down counter if you can get a seat. It’s more relaxing and you seem to enjoy the experience a little more. However, Rays swings and misses when it comes to flavors such as Black Raspberry Chip, Almond Coy and Pistachio. Scoops are generous but may not matter if the flavor misses the mark.
Like many have noted, the lines at Rays can be lengthy and at times slow. Since Rays is hit or miss, the wait can be worth it or not. Pricing too is now at an all time high. The industry has seen an increase across the board because of a rise in base commodity prices ie. milk, cream, sugar, chocolate, etc. but Rays has just become expensive. We now just buy Rays at Plum Market and get the half gallon for less than the price of two people eating in.
The young people who work there are exactly that: they’re young. The service they provide is adequate as the world no longer seems to have a need for a pro soda jerk.
To paraphrase Captain Stinger from Top Gun: «You [Rays] are going for Best Ice Cream Shop. For five weeks, you’ll be making ice cream against the best ice cream shops in Michigan. You were number one, Jilberts was number two. Rays, lost it – turned in their scoop. Jilberts, you guys are number one.»
Please return to the basics.

Wow, terrible, terrible. Let me tell you in which way!
We came here b/​c it’s been exactly 50weeks since our last visit (I referred to my Instagram page) and that time I got pumpkin ice cream b/​c I get pumpkin obsessed every fall around my birthday. I ran 12 miles in prep for the Detroit Half Marathon this coming Sunday so I wanted an early treat. Boy oh boy did I NOT get that. Here’s why:
1) Line out the door. No prob for a 58 °F crisp evening and long lines usually indicate something good right? Wrong. Only 2 high school/​community college kids working. They were slow, not professional and throwing around bottles of whipped cream when they were empty. They smiled and were pleasant but c’mon when you have a line of 9 out the door, call in reinforcements!
2)Service: b/​c there were only 2 working, the place was a mess. Yeah, its old school ice cream parlor counter seats but none of the tables were wiped so sticky table tops everywhere, napkin holders not refilled, Sunday paper opened and spread across the counter tables. I asked if they could wipe some tables off and for napkins and they took a good 10 mins trying to help other customers out before they could clean and get me napkins. When those customers got their ice cream, they too wanted to sit but had no place to!
3) Cleanliness: Again b/​c of short staffing and the mess on the CUSTOMER side, it was also messy on THEIR side. Peanuts spilled across their topping station w/​chocolate syrup and cherry cordial juice droppings and not wiped up. Their ice cream display case had ice cream from other ice cream flavors that dropped into another batch b/​c they were scooping too fast. Half their ice cream was empty and not even changed out for new ice cream! They told me they were out of pumpkin but fine, replace it w/​something else like your Mackinac Island fudge which you had on your list of flavors but didn’t put out!
4) Taste: OMG, it was overly sweet, overly mixed or not mixed thoroughly enough. Consistency is definitely not their forte! I wanted pumpkin but they were out. Ok, I’ll make do w/​cookies n’ cream b/​c how can you go wrong w/​Oreo ice cream? Their cookies n’ cream was so overly mixed that the «vanilla» base was the color of mocha and you could no longer taste chunks of oreos. FAIL. I got a 2 scoop sundae so my 2^nd flavor was cinnamon, it was good, well mixed and flecks of cinnamon throughout. Even color throughout as well. My fiancé got rum raisin and chocolate malt crunch. The rum raisin had some patches where the ice cream was «yellow» for the rum coloring and other parts that were white! The chocolate malt crunch was TOO SWEET. All you tasted was chocolate and no malt and what crunch?
5) Toppings: Again we got 2 scoop sundae’s and I got butterscotch only b/​c they were out of peanut butter. It was terrible. Glossy and see through that it looked like yellow corn syrup. Fiancé got Sanders but it looked like tiny flecks of chocolate powder that was reconstituted w/​water. It tasted like stale Hershey’s and not the choc fudge that Sander’s is known for. Sander’s would be embarrassed if they knew Ray’s was serving this!
6) Cost: Adjusting for inflation is one thing but price gouging is another. For 2 two-​scoop sundae’s and 1 single scoop of ice cream it came out to $ 19.42. WTF? I’m happy to pay for quality b/​c I’m a huge foodie (see my instagram page) but damn, I don’t like feeling like I’m ripped off and ripped off I was. We immediately discussed our Unilocal rating as we tried to eat our ice cream. We got ¹⁄₃ of the way thru and set it aside and did an analysis (I was w/​2 engineers after all). One played devil’s advocate and no matter how we weighed the pros & cons, Ray’s has gone DOWNHILL.
SE Detroit is our new adopted home and I’m all for supporting local restaurants and businesses. I shop at Eastern Market Tues & Saturday and RO Farmers market and buying local generic Michigan brands like Spartan but I would gladly go 2 – 3 blocks north to Oberweis Dairy where I pay for what I get. Hell I would’ve gone to Guernsey Dairy in Northville or even the local custard stands!
Shame on you Rays Ice cream. You’ve gone down hill and don’t even know how to reach out to your customers to turn yourself right-​side up. The store has cover photos of award wins from Hour Detroit Magazine 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2013. I really don’t know how and then I realized, they won for their loyal followers. Makes me question how some businesses actually win these awards.