Ralph's Italian Ices Opens Doors on Main Street

Ralph's Famous Italian Ices opened its doors on Wednesday at 3 p.m. on East Main Street.

The frozen ice cream shop is located right next to Cliff's Rendezvous, at 309 E. Main Street, and is expecting to be open until about 9:30 p.m. during the week - though manager Danielle Gruner said they'll wait and see how traffic turns out to close the doors.

Gruner said crews worked through Tuesday night, to 6 a.m. Wednesday, to get the shop ready, though the Riverhead location isn't the owners' first Ralph's franchise. Gruner said the principals also own the Port Jefferson and Greenport shops.

Mike Tracy of Aquebogue said he's been driving by daily to see when Ralph's would open up shop.

"We go to the one in Greenport and Port Jeff, so we couldn't wait," he said.

Once the summer comes around, Gruner said the shop will likely open up at noon during the week and at 11 a.m. on weekends, and will stay open anywhere from 11 p.m. to midnight on weekends.

by the summer in a space in the same building as Ralph's. The entire building, which previously hosted an auto parts shop, was renovated, and the middle space is still under construction and reportedly without a tenant.