Gray's Ice Cream

16 East Rd., Tiverton, RI - (401) 624-4500

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Posted By Michael Stern on 7/28/2009 9:49:00 AM

It is a fact that New England has the best ice cream in the nation; the question is: where in New England is the best of the best? Many aficionados vote for Gray’s, a one-of-a-kind general store and ice cream parlor that has been making its own since Ms. Gray opened in the kitchen of her home here in 1923. Owned and operated since 1981 by Marilyn Dennis, it remains a quirky kind of business, still offering a miscellany of groceries and household items and a very short counter for indoor dining. Most customers eat in their car in the broad parking lot or at one of a handful of picnic tables with a view of Mrs. Dennis’s llama and cows (of the former, she complained, “he’ll eat weeds before alfalfa hay, and has no interest in ice cream cones.”)

The ice cream is grand and dignified, as opposed to the giddy, silly sorts of high-priced pints that derive their personality from mix-ins of candy bars and cookies. Gray’s myriad flavors are simple and comprehensible, including all the usuals, plus New England favorites Grape-Nuts and frozen pudding. Note especially ginger ice cream, made from real ginger root, flecks of which dot the creamy white custard. And the coffee ice cream has been honored with “best of” awards by Rhode Island magazine for more than a decade. It is an endearing kind of coffee flavor, very creamy and just sweet enough, robust but not at all overcaffeinated or bitter.

Indeed, Rhode Islanders love all manner of coffee-flavored creamery concoctions, ranging from the ubiquitous “coffee milk” to Gray’s luscious coffee cabinet. Coffee milk is like chocolate milk, but made with coffee syrup instead of chocolate. A cabinet is Rhode Islandese for a foamy blend of milk, syrup, and ice cream – known elsewhere as a milk shake; here at Gray’s, order a coffee milk shake and you get coffee milk, i.e., nothing but milk and coffee syrup. Got that?

Scorecard

Overall: Legendary - Worth driving from anyplace

coffee cabinet	Mocha Chip Ice Cream
ginger ice cream	Vanilla Ice Cream
Strawberry Ice Cream	Hot Fudge Sauce
Frozen Pudding Ice Cream

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"A Gray's cone coming out the order window: that's ginger ice cream on top, coffee on the bottom. Mmmmm."
Michael Stern

"A couple of New England's favorite flavors... frozen pudding on the right and Grape-Nuts on the left."
Cliff Strutz

"Gray's order windows uncharacteristically uncrowded. That's because this picture was taken at 11am. By evening, on a nice summer night, there are long lines. "
Michael Stern

"An old-fashioned carved wood sign marks an old-fashioned ice cream parlor ... with some of the best ice cream in New England."
Michael Stern