Ruby Scoops Ice Cream & Sweets — Restaurant in Richmond

positives: I enjoyed two of the 6 dairy flavors I tried. One of them was butter brickle, and the other was strawberry red bean. The store was aesthetically pleasing and clean. The young girl behind the counter was very kind (I believe she was someone's daughter, she seemed maybe 16 years old along with a really young boy).

negatives: 1. The ice cream/sorbet flavors are not labeled anywhere on the glass or near the icecream. There is no way to tell which flavors are what by simply looking at them, especially since they have very unique flavors that may include nuts. There is a list hanging back on the wall, but there is no way to know which flavor you are looking at and what they contain, or even their names without repeatedly asking.

Because they didn't have the icecream labeled, I had to ask what each flavor was. The young girl who was serving me was very kind, but the older woman who might have been her mom or her aunt, seemed very annoyed. She started tapping her hand on the counter like she was getting annoyed and impatient that I was asking what each flavor was (because they aren't labeled at all how would I know?) and in the end I decided to just get a flight, which is 6 scoops. She then loudly replied, "SMART" and the girl asked which flavors I wanted. I just don't understand why she had to have an attitude considering none of the flavors were labeled.

You can not sit in the store to eat at all. This is okay, but there is no outdoor seating so we just stood around in the heat and ate as our ice-cream completely melted.

You are only allowed to sample one flavor. This policy doesn't make much sense.

This is a minor thing, but I wish they just told me that the flight is 6 flavors but is for two people to share, and not for one person. I thought the scoops would be very small, but they were huge and the fact that the other lady replied "smart" was so off putting considering they knew it was my first time and that I was not sharing the ice cream, my friend and her boyfriend were sharing, and I was getting it for myself.

All things considered, the experience was just okay. Thus...

I really wanted to try Ruby Scoops, and dragged my trusty foodie sidekick with me. The place is located in the up and coming area of Brookland Park Blvd. in the north side (The area is not too bad, but just be careful). As soon as we opened the door one of the employees yelled out, "Put on a mask!" (We're both vaccinated, but I get it). I couldn't find my mask initially, and asked if they had any disposable, they do and charge $1. I have a problem with businesses charging for masks, especially since they are requesting it, IJS. Also, many of these businesses can request masks for free to distribute to their customers. Anywho, was the start to ruining my experience. Customer Service, Customer Service, Customer Service! I don't think anyone there had any stake in the business (I would hope not), or they would have changed their attitude. When we arrived the place was not busy, however the staff couldn't seem to get their bearings. One of them was rude, and dismissive, so much that someone else took my order! I requested a sample of one of the flavors, and was snapped at as though I asked to borrow money, " WE DON'T DO SAMPLES!" (Don't use COVID as an excuse for being cheap, ijs) I asked details about the ice cream flavors and what differentiates them from others and they couldn't even answer that. Maybe they should stick with the food truck. I should've listened to my son and just left, but I wanted to really try their signature winning ice cream ( I guess I will have to watch the video, to find out why they won). I finally ordered ( my son waited outside) the snicker doodle ice cream sandwich, with banana ice cream. The banana ice cream had chocolate and some other concoctions mixed in. It was good, but not the best I have had. We also had 2 scoops of the sorbet. I selected 2 flavors, since I love tropical fruit. I selected guava margarita (was the better flavor), and passion fruit, neither tasted that great. I was sooo disappointed! I hate when I'm psyched to try a place out and it bomb's! You guys enjoy, but this a...

I tried Ruby Scoops again today, and I decided to get the flight (6 scoops) so that I could try as many flavors as possible. After getting a better idea of what their ice cream tastes like as well as the other qualities of the shop, I'm updating my rating to three stars. The 8 flavors that I've tried are: Honey Cornbread, Black Sesame, Butter Brickle, Strawberry Sweet Red Bean, River City Cobblestone, Dulce De Leche, Thai Basil, and Guava Daquiri.

Out of all of the 8 flavors, I'd say that I only enjoyed 3-4 of them which were Honey Cornbread, Butter Brickle, Strawberry Sweet Red Bean, and Dulce de Leche. I didn't like the sorbet flavors at all (Thai Basil and Guava Daquiri), but maybe I just don't like sorbet. The Black Sesame tasted like nothing to me. The River City Cobblestone, which is their version of Rocky Road, had none of the "Rocky" aspects in my scoop. It was just chocolate ice cream. Overall the ice cream was just good, but not great. The staff was pretty friendly!

I do wish that the ice creams under the glass were labelled, so that I know which ice cream is what. It may also be a good idea to have a small description of what each flavor is since the flavors have unique names. I have no problem with them being COVID conscious (it's important to me as well), but it is a bit unfortunate that samples aren't allowed/they only give you one sample. They don't allow you to eat the ice cream inside due to COVID, which is their choice but I wish there was at least seating outside because I don't want to spill the ice cream in my car. Being COVID conscious is understandable, but all of the precautions put together just makes it feel like overkill.

So in conclusion, based on the fact that I only liked half of the flavors I got and the fact that other ice cream shops let you have samples and have seating areas, I'm going to have to update my rating to 3 stars. I probably won't be returning, but I'm glad...