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Shellfest Returns This November!

We’re celebrating fresh, PNW shellfish this November with our annual Shellfest! Available in the Boathouse & Cafe daily now through November 30 – try them all!

Shellfest Menu

Oyster Shooter
house-infused spicy vodka, Dimitri’s bloody  mix, old bay rim, oyster $8
Steamed Manila Clams
chorizo, sherry, oregano, butter (by the half or full pound) GF $11/$22 

Steamed Penn Cove Mussels
shallot, garlic, white wine, butter, herbs (by the half or full pound) GF $11/$22

Peel & Eat Alaskan Spot Prawns
old bay dusted, bopo, lemon GF $28

Fried Coconut Shrimp 
thai chili dipping sauce DF $14

Baked Oysters
lime-seaweed butter, pickled sea beans GF $5/each

Oysters on the Half Shell
with shallot mignonette GF/DF $4/each

Black Pepper Tanner Crab
jasmine rice, steamed bok choy, scallion $36

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Celebrating 50 Years this June!

We’re 50!! Thank you to everyone who has spent the last six months celebrating with us (and to many, the last 50 years). This June we’re diving into our 50th summer season so grateful for this community.

Though our roots in Ballard date back to the 1930s, the Boathouse and Cafe that you all know and love came to be 50 years ago when our owners had the idea to take a steakhouse approach to fresh, sustainably sourced fish and local seafood, grilling and preparing it simply to let the seafood shine.

50 years later we are honored to continue this same approach with the love and support of the incredible Ray’s community!

We remain locally owned and operated in the same location we opened at in 1973. After a devastating fire in 1987, another fire in the 90s, and many economic ups and downs, we’ve always bounced back with the help of our hard working team and unwavering support from you, our loyal guests.

We thank all of Ray’s staff, past and present, for being stewards of our mission and we thank our guests for making Ray’s a tradition that continues on with each generation.

Please raise a glass with us this month and cheers to the next 50 years!!

Highlights of Ray’s history, 50 years & beyond:

  • Ray’s begins: In 1939 namesake Ray Lichtenberger moved his growing boat rental and bait house to the current location and later opened a coffee house. Through the 1960s Ray’s operated as both a casual fish and chips cafe and boat rental. In 1973, Russ Wohlers, Earl Lasher and Duke Moscrip bought Ray’s Boathouse and transformed it into a nationally respected seafood restaurant while maintaining its cordial atmosphere. Moscrip left to pursue other restaurant ventures and Elizabeth Gingrich joined the ownership team in 1975. Seattle Sonics star Jack Sikma would join the ownership team a few years later and is still an owner today.
  • Under Wohlers, Ray’s built its reputation on seasonal dishes prepared simply to highlight the flavors of impeccably fresh seafood and the freshest locally grown produce.
  • Ray’s became part of a Pacific Northwest food revolution by helping to introduce its distinctive regional cuisine built around Northwest products, microbrews and wines.
  • This approach drew national recognition from top food critics, writers, chefs, and personalities including Julia Child who received a personal tour of the Puget Sound from Russ’ seaplane in the 1990s. It also captured the hearts and palates of locals and tourists who packed the restaurants nightly to enjoy the fresh, seasonal fare.
  • Many “firsts:” Ray’s was the first to reintroduce Seattleites to Olympia oysters, the region’s only native oyster, elevated Northwest delicacies such as singing scallops, Loughborough Inlet spot prawns, Copper River Salmon, Bruce Gore “frozen at sea” salmon and the then-novel concept of serving red wine with fish.
  • In 2002 Ray’s earned an America’s Classics award from the James Beard Foundation.
  • Notable Employees: Ray’s has had the pleasure of employing and fostering many local chefs and notable figures including Chris Cornell of Soundgarden who worked as a line cook in the 1980s.
  • Sustainable seafood before it was popular: In 1976, Ray’s was also the first local restaurant to purchase its own wholesale fish buyer’s license, allowing it to buy directly from the fisherpeople, ensuring the freshest catch—light years ahead of today’s “sustainable seafood” consciousness
  • Ownership from within: Two new co-owners stepped into the partnership from within the Ray’s family after Gingrich retired in 2017: Tom Olsson, a longtime Ray’s team member who started in Ray’s kitchens and worked his way to Chief Financial Officer, and General Manager Douglas Zellers, best known for managing iconic local restaurants.

Photo by Ali Nassersaid

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Shellfest Returns January 6-31!

Join us for Shellfest Friday, January 6-31, 2023 and try an array of delicious new shellfish dishes created by our Executive Chef Kevin Murray and team!

We’re highlighting Dungeness Crab on our Shellfest menu with one dish representing a classic preparation from Ray’s history and the other a new dish created by Chef Kevin.

Shellfest Menu 2023

  • Oysters on the Half Shell GFred wine mignonette $4 each, 3 for $12,  6 for $22
      • Royal Miyagi – British Columbia, CAN smooth textured meats with a mild brininess and kiwi-like finish
      • Samish Pearl – Samish Bay, WA full firm meat relinquishes delicate cucumber notes and a crisp salty brine
  • Baked Oyster Rockefeller butter, parsley, bread crumbs, herbs $5 each
  • Chilled Peel & Eat Prawns GFOld Bay dusted, butter sauce, piquillo aïoli $22
  • Penn Cove Mussels GFsteamed in a spicy tomato broth $20
  • Manila Clams GFTom Kha, Thai basil, scallion, chili oil $20
  • Sautéed Prawns GFGarlic herb butter, charred lemon $21
  • Seared Yucatan Octopus Chorizo bean purée, ancho chili aioli, crispy potato, red radish, cilantro $26

Ray’s 50th Anniversary Celebration!

January Feature: Dungeness Crab

  • Black Pepper Crab Steamed gai lan, garlic, scallion, jasmine rice. Small (4oz) $30 or Large (8oz) $56 (classic Ray’s dish)
  • Crab & Avocado Salad GFJicama, winter citrus, arugula, citrus vinaigrette, candied pine nuts $28 (new dish from Chef Kevin)

Items subject to change throughout the month without notice. Menu is available for lunch and dinner daily.

This limited menu ends January 31, 2023 so make sure to enjoy it while it lasts!

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Enjoy Shellfest at Ray’s January 7-24!

Our annual shellfish celebration returns Tuesday, January 7 for lunch and dinner with a special menu available for only three weeks in the Boathouse while our Café undergoes renovations. Executive Chef Paul Duncan has created a mouthwatering menu with Dungeness Crab, Shrimp, Scallops and more!

Reserve today for lunch or dinner and don’t miss this limited time menu before it ends on Friday, January 24!

Sautéed Day Boat Garlic Prawns  – $16
White wine, garlic, butter, fresh herbs

Popcorn Shrimp – $16
Crispy Rock Shrimp and popcorn, Louis dressing

Dungeness Crab Clusters  – $25
Emulsified butter sauce

Pan-Fried Oysters – $18
Wakame salad, garlic aioli

NW Bouillabaisse  – $26
Alaskan King Crab, clams, mussels, grilled baguette, rouille

Chilled Peel & Eat Shrimp – $14
Spice poached, cocktail sauce

Sea Scallop Carbonara – $18
House smoked bacon, egg yolk, cream, linguini

Alaskan King Crab Knuckles – $32
Half pound, chimichurri, fried garlic

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Salish Sea Chef’s Dinner at Ray’s November 14!

Sustainable Seafood Celebration is joining forces with five incredible Northwest chefs with a passion for seafood, for an evening focused on sustainable seafood practices and successes in the Salish Sea. Guests will learn about the many success stories of local seafood from excellent runs of Baker River Sockeye in 2019 to expanding tribal fishing practices and more. They will meet the people who are driving this forward and making changes from fishermen and women to chefs and activists.

Five featured chefs will create a multi-course dinner with each preparing one course that highlights local seafood including: Salish Sea Dungeness Crab, Baker River Sockeye Salmon, Salish Sea Halibut, reef net Salish Sea Pink Salmon, and fresh oysters.

Featured Chefs
Paul Duncan, Ray’s Boathouse
Renee Erickson, The Whale Wins
Kevin Davis, Blueacre Seafood
Wayne Johnson, FareStart
Adam Stevenson, Copperleaf at Cedarbrook Lodge

Salmon Safe Wines
Brickhouse Vineyards Chardonnay Ribbon Ridge, OR 2016
L’Ecole No. 41 ‘Perigee’ Estate Red Seven Hills Vineyard, Walla Walla Valley, WA 2015
Sokol Blosser Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir Dundee Hills, OR 2018

“We’re extremely excited to share the many successes coming out of the Salish Sea with folks. We are facing perilous times in our environment and it’s important for people to see and understand that visible progress is being made and that our salmon and halibut runs can get stronger”, said Riley Starks, Salish Sea fisherman, founder of Salish Center for Sustainable Fishing Methods, co-founder of Sustainable Seafood Celebration.

The dinner event is Thursday, November 14 at 6 p.m. at Ray’s Boathouse in Ballard (in the Northwest Room) where the Salish Sea has been their backyard for 46 years. The evening will be co-hosted by Sustainable Seafood Celebration co-founders Riley Starks and Larry Mellum, owner of Pike Place Chowder.

Each chef will dine at a table with guests for more intimate conversation about protecting and nurturing the bounty of the Salish Sea and why sustainable fishing practices is important to them.

Tickets
Tickets are $125 per person and inclusive of multi-course dinner, salmon safe wine and gratuity. Reservations are required to attend and tickets must be purchased online by Friday, November 1, 2019. All guests must be 21 years of age and older to attend. Ticket proceeds benefit Sustainable Seafood Celebration and its partners in the fight to restore sustainable fishing practices, wild salmon runs and local waterways. Tickets available for purchase here.

About Sustainable Seafood Celebration
Sustainable Seafood Celebration is a nonprofit group launched in 2018. Its mission is to raise awareness of the fruits of the Salish Sea – encouraging efforts to keep our local waters healthy despite rapid population growth; rebuilding healthy populations of wild salmon from the Salish Sea; supporting the survival of the Orcas; and highlighting the successful results of good policy and responsible management. More at sustainableseafoodcelebration.org.

About the Salish Sea
The Salish Sea is one of the world’s largest and biologically rich inland seas. Its name pays tribute to the first inhabitants of the region, the Coast Salish. The Salish Sea is an inland sea that encompasses Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands and the waters off of Vancouver, B.C. The area spans from Olympia, Washington in the south to the Campbell River, British Columbia in the north, and west to Neah Bay and includes the large cities of Seattle and Vancouver.

About Riley Starks
A Washington native, Riley Starks took the less traveled fork in the road for the first time when he eschewed law school and bought his first fishing boat in 1973. He has been a commercial fisherman all of his life, and along the way explored other uncharted territory on Lummi Island by building Nettles Farm in 1992, buying and operating the Willows Inn in 2001, founding Lummi Island Wild, a reefnet salmon business, and finally owning and operating Nettles Farm B&B in 2013.

About Larry Mellum
Larry Mellum is the founder and owner of Pike Place Chowder in Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market. In the 1990s he and a partner opened the Charlestown Street Cafe in West Seattle where they held a weekly chowder contest that drew fans from all over the state and lead to first-place wins in several national chowder cook-offs. In 2003 Larry opened Pike Place Chowder where eight varieties of chowder are served daily. Four years later a second eatery was opened in the Pacific Place Shopping Center. In 2018 Pike Place Chowder’s New England Clam Chowder was acclaimed by Yelp, “The Most Popular Dish in America”.

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Oysters & Bubbles at Ray’s Feb. 1-28!

Enjoy perfect pairings of ice-cold oysters on the half shell with crisp sparkling wines from around the world at Ray’s Boathouse and Café from Friday, February 1-Thursday, February 28! Our local oysters are the most delicious in colder months when the water produces a really clean and bright tasting oyster.

Choose from a rotating variety of local oysters served individually, by the duo, or as a half dozen with a special menu of sparkling wines available by the glass, half bottle, and bottle.

Oyster varieties will be served on the half shell with red wine mignonette and pricing is $3.75 for one, $7 for two, and $20 for six.

Sparkling wines include the following with pricing by 3oz, 6oz, and bottle:

Bollinger ‘Special Cuvée’ Brut $16 / $32 / $125
Mestress ‘1312’ Brut Reserva Cava $6 / $12 / $46
Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs $10 / $19 / $75
Treveri Blanc de Blancs Brut Zero $5.5 / $11 / $42

While oyster varieties will change daily, Ray’s Boathouse Wine Director Chip Croteau’s favorite pairing is the full flavored and hearty beach grown Miyagi oyster with the rich yet elegant barrel fermented style of Bollinger Champagne.

Our Oysters & Bubbles menus are available daily from February 1-28 in both our main level Boathouse and our upstairs Cafe. Oysters will rotate daily and menus may change without notice. Reserve in the Boathouse or the Cafe today. Cheers!

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Shellfest Returns to the Cafe Jan. 8-27!

Ray’s Café is kicking off the New Year with Shellfest this January 8-27!

Each winter our local icy waters deliver the freshest crab, clams and oysters available and Ray’s Executive Chef Paul Duncan has created an exciting, limited menu to celebrate this winter bounty. The new shellfish dishes are only available during Shellfest at our upstairs Cafe from January 8-27, and are offered in addition to our regular Café menu.

Reservations are available daily from 11:30am-9pm and are strongly encouraged during Shellfest. Guests can reserve at rays.com/cafe or at 206.789.3770.

Shellfest Menu

Dungeness Crab Bruschetta – garlic aioli, pickled shallot, Dungeness crab meat, avocado. $17

Bourbon-Garlic Prawns – blackened prawns, bourbon, sautéed garlic, grilled bread. $16

Oysters on the Half Shell – mignonette, lemon. $20

Scampi Fettuccini Alfredo – prawns, garlic, white wine, cream, herbs. $26

Pan Seared Pacific Oysters – lightly breaded, garlic aioli, chorizo vinaigrette, dirty rice. $18

Prawn Cocktail – poached and chilled prawns, cucumber, avocado, traditional sauce. $18

Popcorn Shrimp – breaded, fried, Louis dressing. $16

Mussels Wilson – Uli’s chorizo, sherry, garlic, butter. $14

* Menu subject to change without notice.

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Shuck & Sip: Oysters & Sparkling Wine at Ray’s Feb. 19-Mar. 4

Oysters Unshucked

We’re kicking off our 45th year celebrating the simple joys of cool, refreshing oysters on the half-shell paired perfectly with crisp sparkling wines.

From Monday, February 19 through Sunday, March 4 in the Boathouse and Café enjoy a variety of local Penn Cove oysters served individually, by the duo, or as a half-dozen with an assortment of sparkling wines from all over the world available by the glass, half-bottle and bottle.

Café oyster varieties and featured sparkling wines include the following and pricing is: $3.75 for one, $7 for two, $20 for six.

  • Compass Point. Samish Bay, WA – Crisp, sweet, plump meats with a medium-high salinity and a mean finish
  • Purple Mountain – Moderately deep cups with firm, plump, sweet meats, a hint of mineral and a moderately high salinity.
  • Rock Point – Creamy texture, sweet flavor, medium salinity and a cucumber finish.

Cafe Sparkling Wines include the following with pricing by 3oz, 6oz and bottle:

  • Lucien Albrecht Brut Rosé, Crémant d’Alsace, FRA NV $5 / $10 / $37. Tart red currant, rhubarb and strawberry come together in a very refreshing and well rounded rosé
  • Agusti Torelló Brut Nature Gran Reserva, Cava, ESP 2011 $8 / $15 / $54. Aromas of butter and toasted bread lead into flavors of ripe stone fruits, bright yellow apple and hints of lemon.
  • Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs, CA, USA 2013 $10 / $19 / $75. Fresh aromas of green apple, pineapple and grapefruit; nuances of fresh-baked brioche and lemon zest on the palate
  • Pol Roger Brut Epernay, FRA NV $73 (bottle only). An elegant Champagne, with a smoky, minerally underpinning and subtle flavors of poached pear, toast, candied lemon zest and ginger

Menu subject to change.

Make your reservations for the Café at 206.782.0094 or online; and in the Boathouse at 206.789.3770 or online.

We look forward to seeing you as we Shuck & Sip in honor of 45 delicious years!

 

 

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Shellfest Returns in the Cafe January 4th-31st!

shellfish

Ray’s is celebrating shellfish season this January! Join us in the Cafe to enjoy a variety of specially prepared shrimp, crab and oyster dishes, only available January 4-31. It’s the perfect time for the novice shellfish eater to try something new, and shellfish lovers to go enjoy their favorites.

We’ll feature rotating wine and cocktail pairings for each dish, check in weekly for changing selections. Reserve here today for lunch or dinner!

Shellfest Menu:

Clam Chancellor Chorizo, sherry, smoked scallop $8/15
Mussels Wilson White wine, garlic, chili flake $8/15
Buffalo shrimp & wings Habanero sauce, blue cheese, celery $13
Rock Shrimp Tacos Crispy fried rock shrimp, Pico de gallo, chipotle-sour cream, shredded romaine lettuce, tortilla chips, salsa $14
Chilled Peel & Eat Prawns Lemon-spice poached, Louis dressing 10
Half Pound Popcorn Shrimp Lightly breaded, fried golden brown, tartar sauce, cocktail sauce $14
Ray’s clam chowder House smoked bacon, clams, cream $6/8
Washington Razor Clams Pan fried, panko crusted, saffron-shallot jam, jalapeno tartar $13
Baked Half Shell Oysters Half dozen with Uli’s Andouille sausage, leeks, smoked paprika-butter $16
Steamed Half Pound Snow Crab Legs Drawn butter, fried potatoes $19
Prawn Cocktail Classic cocktail sauce, lemon $9

Rays Signature Bloody Mary with Grilled Prawn House infused horseradish & garlic vodka, Dimitris Bloody mix, grilled & chilled prawn kebob garnish $10