I love the place (and the sign), but the food is mostly misses. The late night happy hour is nice during the summer, although a little heavy. If Anthony's ever puts a Beach Cafe next door, I'd be over there a lot more often. fyi, they are paddleboards.

Take your out-of-town friends for a stroll through Ray's, just to admire the view, then eat at the Cuban sandwich shop across the street. The food there is exponentially better. Or, if you must have the view while you eat, try Agua Verde —the view is just as good and the food is marginally better.

I think of Ray's the same way I think of dining at the Space Needle...the food is mediocre and probably overpriced, but always pleases my fam when they visit.

Never eaten there. Used their bathroom once, and checked out the menu. Wasn't impressed. Grabbed sandwiches across the street and ate at the beach. Though I suppose that only works on sunny days.

Impeccable review as always. You are a hero.

Sounds about right. I'd go to the cafe for the late night happy hour when I lived at the marina. At half price the food was acceptable and back in the day there were not many late night dining options in Ballard.

My dad used to eat at Ray's back when he lived at The Lockspot Apartments and went salmon fishing out in Elliot Bay. Back when Ray's was a lunch counter catering to the fishermen.

It's a little different now.

Take your elderly parents or grandparents to Chinook's instead. Pretty much the same deal all around, except the food's pretty good.

Actually, Anthony's right next door has as great a view, an outdoor patio that is lovely, and somewhat better food (and a later happy hour).

Cocktails at sunset. That's it. No need for anything else.

It amazes me that these types of places don't attract top chefs. How amazing would it be to dine on a seasonably relevant and well cooked meal with flavor intensity and great service while taking in the utopian view?

#11, view restaurants rarely have great food. But I think Ray's is better than the review implied. In particular that Boathouse salad is damn good, and I always like the fish.

Something else I like about Ray's is that it's quiet enough to have a conversation in the place. And the service is very good. The "competition" to Ray's would be Palisades in Magnolia, which has an even better view but no intimacy at all. I like Ray's food better than Palisades too.

Good times have been had by many in my circle of friends. The upstairs and downstairs experiences are different enough to classify as different venues. Still, with my out-of-town visitors and I suffering (downstairs) service that was beyond embarrassing in promptness and demeanor, it's hard to justify the visit on view alone.

Ate there just the other day for the first time (even though I've lived here my whole life) with some out of town guests. The mussels were outstanding (that broth!). The sablefish WAS excellent (though I didn't care for the sauce so much, not my style), and I thought the crab cake was alright, but my salmon with the Sampler was definitely overdone. The service was not great up to the point at which our real server showed up (the hostess and bar staff were too brisk and obviously apathetic for my taste), and she was awesome actually.
The chocolate cake was unreal, it was so good that I actually dreamt of it the next night. My primary qualm is that there's no parking unless you go valet, and I hate valet service. I was fairly happy altogether - but I also wasn't paying. Had I faced the bill, I would have not only been unimpressed, but furious. At prices like that, service should be impeccable and so should the food.