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Boathouse Happy Hour 5-6pm Daily!

Kick off your evening or end your day with our Boathouse Happy Hour! It’s the perfect mix of Boathouse food and drinks to enjoy with friends, on a date, or with family.

Join us nightly at Ray’s first floor Boathouse for Happy Hour from 5-6pm and take in the gorgeous views. It’s the best happy hour in Seattle!

Boathouse Happy Hour Menu

Food
Ray’s Clam Chowder house smoked bacon, red potato
Little Gem Salad green goddess, pickled lemon, feta, scallions, cherry tomatoes
Crispy Fried Calamari mini sweet peppers, green goddess dressing
Ancho Crusted Albacore ginger sesame sauce, wakame
Crispy Brussels Sprouts muhummara, walnuts, scallions (pictured)
PNW Mussels jalapeño-lime butter, radish, baguette
PNW Manila Clams onion, celery, Old Bay, white wine, baguette

Premium Cocktails
Negroni Broker’s London Dry gin, Campari, sweet vermouth, up
Old Fashioned Old Forester Bourbon, demerara, bitters mix, rocks
Vesper Martini Bombay Sapphire gin, Lillet Blanc, vodka, up
Vodka Martini Grey Goose vodka, Dolin dry vermouth, up, olives or a twist

Click here for the full drink list including beer, wine and more cocktails!

(no substitutions, excludes holidays)

The Boathouse is open nightly at 5pm for happy hour, dinner and drinks. View our menus here. We look forward to seeing you soon!

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April Seafood Spotlight: Alaskan Halibut

Enjoy two Alaskan halibut specials at Ray’s Boathouse and Cafe this April in celebration of our 50th year!

Halibut has been a guest favorite since day one at Ray’s. This meaty yet tender fish has the most incredible flavor and is perfection on the grill or pan seared until crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside.

This April enjoy a classic halibut dish from our founding chef/partner Russ Wohlers – Pan Seared Halibut with Smoked Tomato Coulis. As well as a new dish from Executive Chef Kevin Murray – Halibut Tiradito.

Enjoy them both today through April 30 in our Boathouse or Cafe!

50th Anniversary April Halibut Specials

Pan Seared Halibut
creamy polenta, smoked tomato coulis, sautéed king oyster mushrooms, fried leeks 50
Halibut Tiradito
ají amarillo-yuzu leche de tigre, scallion, radish, cilantro 22
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Kicking Off 50 Years of Ray’s!

June 23, 2023 will mark 50 incredible years of service at Ray’s Boathouse.

It’s an understatement to say that a lot has happened in Seattle over the past 50 years as our community grew into its own as a destination full of great things to do for visitors from all over the world, including sport fishing.

In the late 1950s Ray Lichtenberger felt that Harbor Island was getting too congested so he decided to move his fishing boat rental business to sleepy little Ballard. After a few iterations of a fishing boat rental store that started to sell more food than bait, a restaurant was born. In 1973 it became Ray’s Boathouse and the rest is history. History that was built by so many hardworking people both employed by Ray’s directly and the people who caught, raised, grew, brewed, distilled, and vinified the great products we have had the luxury to work with.

There is an undeniable humanity to providing hospitality for our guests, team, and suppliers. When it is done right it leaves a lasting impression that becomes ‘who you are’. Most of us have seen restaurants sprout up that scramble to find an identity and a theme and are tasked with figuring out who they are and/or what they want to be. Our tenure has allowed us the one simple thing: Be Ray’s. Evolve, stay current, change, win some, lose a few, but never stop being Ray’s.

I believe I speak for the Ray’s leadership that has served this endeavor before me and with me: little of our identity would be possible without the kindness of our loyal guests and the (very) hardworking team members we have had by our side since our brand was born. It’s difficult to express gratitude of this scope.

Our mission continues to be that the people we hire for the next 50 years (and beyond) understand what we have created and that they should always ‘Be Ray’s’ with every guest, team member, and purveyor.

Thank you to every person who has helped us thus far and here’s to another 50 years.

With gratitude,
Douglas Zellers
Ray’s Co-owner & General Manager

 

Photo by Halley Sunwold

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Happy New Year!

 

Community Spirit in 2020
&
Looking Ahead to 2021
As we enter the New Year, I wish to take this time to reflect on some wonderful things that our community helped make happen in 2020. I hope to convey my gratitude for all of the hard work and dedication that our guests, team, fishers, farmers, brewers, distillers, and purveyors have put in to make these possible. This was not an easy year for anyone. However, much like sharing food, adversity can bring people together. When communities come together, great things can happen. And we saw this happen here at Ray’s on a daily basis. I am humbled to be part of an organization that fosters this togetherness. Here are a few successes that touched me for which I am most grateful:

Rock The Vote:  We engaged rockthevote.org and encouraged restaurant industry voter registration through social media, in-house materials, and our Ray’s newsletter. The result contributed to more than 4.1 million Washington State voters casting a ballot this year, compared to the 3 million cast in 2008.

Black Lives Matter: We donated 100% of the gratuity from the first month of our meals-to-go program and helped raise awareness within our community as we help to declare racism a public health crisis in Washington State.

Ballard Food Bank: We provided two large perishable food drop-offs plus 100% of our gratuity from our December “gifts to go” promotion to help support those in need throughout our neighborhood.

Educator Gift Card Promotion: This past September, as remote learning started up again, we offered a gratis $20 card for each $100 in gift cards purchased with the hopes that people would gift it to those who are (or have become) educators in their families.

Reinventing Rays Happy Hour: When we re-opened in June, we knew that Seattle would need “more happy.” Our team worked hard to reinstitute our famous Cafe happy hour and facilitated some much-needed outdoor relaxation time for friends and families at a discount.

Best Seafood in Seattle: The fishers and purveyors who bring us amazing seafood, the culinary team members who make it happen, and our loyal Rays fans who voted us to the top as the Seattle Met magazine Best of 2020 “Best Seafood Restaurant”for the second consecutive year.

Resiliency: The guests who have supported us for 47 years, our flexible team that embraces ‘speed to market’ and absorbs change after change, and our compassionate leadership groups’ long-term strategic vision have allowed us to be nimble, adapt, and survive this current challenge. We earned a spot on the Seattle P-I’s “16 Historic Seattle Restaurants Still Open – and What They Look Like Today”article posted on 12/4.

Ray’s has been in Ballard long enough to have lived through the 70s oil crisis, the 80s economic depression, the 90s recession, the 2000s dot com bubble-bursting and the housing market crash. There will be a point in the future when we will all look back on 2020 and reflect on how we each persevered over the challenges we faced. I hope that when this happens, we will each be able to remember those around us who helped prop us up, kept us moving, and provided support. I know I certainly will. And I will thank my family, both here at work and at home, for helping me to remain grateful.
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A Letter of Thanks from Executive Chef Kevin

This Thanksgiving brings a close-knit holiday at home with loved ones, a day that we at Ray’s would otherwise be happily working for you. It’s a glimpse of reality the year has bestowed upon the restaurant industry.

However different this holiday may look, there is still plenty for which we can be thankful. As a chef, I am always grateful for the bounty the Pacific Northwest has to offer, and the countless people that work every day to ensure that it arrives on our holiday tables. From the farmers of Eastern Washington to the fishermen of Alaska, salespeople to the delivery drivers, the simple act of providing a warm meal requires a multitude of passionate professionals. The Thanksgiving meal is an amazing testament to the complex coordination between these people and is truly something to be thankful for each and every day.

Anne Utigard of King’s Garden is one such person. Once per week she drives from her farm in Eastern Washington over the Cascades to Seattle to deliver her produce to many local Seattle restaurants. Crates of summer-ripened tomatoes give way to autumn sunchokes and squash. Ray’s is lucky to be one of her first stops, both for the quality of her vegetables and for the kindness of her spirit, as anyone who has met Anne can tell you. I look forward to the next time her truck comes rattling into the parking lot.

I’m thankful for our relationship with Fish & Family Seafoods, a family-run business led by Lexi and Adam Hackett out of Sitka, Alaska. They supply us with pristine wild Alaska King salmon, and kind enough to be our guides around Sitka on a Ray’s Managers’ trip a few years back. At Rays, we are also, along with so many of our regular guests, grateful for Penn Cove Shellfish. Multiple generations of Ray’s chefs have had the pleasure of working with Penn Cove mussels, clams and oysters over the past 5 decades (the first Penn Cove delivery to Ray’s was in 1977!). Rawle Jefferds, one of the founders, still hand-delivers shellfish twice per week, without fail a smile on his face, eager to share the pleasures of the sea.

From land—or sea—to your plate is a long trip, and there are many hands on your food in between. Without them and their logistical savvy, getting food onto your plate would be impossible. Eydfinn Tausen of Olympic Seafoods has a knack for sourcing some of Neah Bay’s highest quality sablefish, for which anyone who has tried Ray’s sablefish in sake kasu should be grateful! As well, he coordinates the delivery of thousands of pounds of fat, oily keta salmon straight from Alaska’s Yukon River to Ray’s Boathouse every year. Daniel Shilley, our Merlino Foods delivery driver, is another of thanks. He is the ideal driver: neat, organized, controlled, and calm, a welcome sight twice weekly bearing sacks of flour, jugs of oils, and boxes of luxury. Daniel is always looking for ways to help and goes above and beyond the call of delivery driver.

By no means is this list exhaustive, there are so many more people that I could share, too many in fact. Thanks go to all of you!

Most of all, I am grateful for the amazing staff we have at Ray’s. For my fellow chefs, cooks, dishwashers, front of house staff, and everyone else. They work extremely hard to provide high quality food and service day in and day out. To all my industry friends and colleagues: stay strong, we will get through this time together, and use this time to reflect on what really matters in life and in work. I look forward to cooking and eating with all of you very soon!

During this holiday season, please be safe and stay at home. Wear your mask, and social distance. Please. Try out a new dish that you normally wouldn’t. This Thanksgiving is different, and it’s okay if your holiday table looks different, too! Support local independent restaurants and other small businesses, whether that is ordering take-out/delivery, buying gift cards, or just staying home and being safe so we can all get back to work. Tip, well and often. Urge your local Senator to support the RESTAURANTS ACT which would establish a $120 billion Independent Restaurant Revitalization Fund. We must support our independent restaurants and the thousands of farmers, fishermen, delivery drivers, and others that rely on them!

Finally, a big “thank you” to all health care workers who are working every day on the front lines to keep us all safe!

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holidays,
Executive Chef Kevin Murray

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New! Ray’s Family Meals To-go

Try our new Ray’s Family Meals to-go with four delicious family-style menus! Each ones comes fully cooked and is hot and ready to eat at pickup. Family Meals are available to order online daily from 11:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. only on Ray’s Toast page.

Order a meal for one to two people or build a bigger family meal by adding two or three of the same meal or mixing and matching. We’ve also included recommended wine and cocktail pairings for each meal that can be added on for an additional cost. Cheers!

Ray’s Family Meal Menu:

True Cod Fish & Chips Meal (serves 1-2) $30
Cup of Ray’s New England Style Clam Chowder
2 piece True Cod fish and Chips
Cookie Bag (house baked cookies that change daily)

Pairing suggestions:
Torre Oria Brut Cava Sparkling Wine (bottle)
Underground Wine Projects ‘Mr Pink’ Washington Rosé 2019(bottle)
Black Cherry Margarita (serves 2)

Ray’s Famous Sablefish Dinner (serves 1-2) $62
Caesar Salad
1 large Crab Cake with orange-tarragon aïoli
Sablefish in Sake Kasu

Pairing suggestions:
Willakenzie Estate Pinot Noir ‘Pierre Leon’ Willamette Valley, OR 2014 (bottle)
Sokol Blosser Estate Pinot Gris Willamette Valley, OR 2018 (bottle)
Barrel-Aged Brooklyn Cocktail (serves 2)

An Evening of Seafood (serves 2) $80
Bowl of Ray’s New England Style Clam Chowder
Ray’s Seafood Salad featuring Oregon bay shrimp, house smoked Alaskan Coho salmon and house smoked scallops
Pan Seared Sea Scallops with squid ink spaghetti OR Alaskan King Salmon with sweet corn purée and sautéed asparagus
Mississippi Mud Pie

Pairing suggestions:
Treveri Blanc de Blancs Sparkling Wine from Washington (bottle)
Seven Hills Sauvignon Blanc Walla Walla, WA 2019 (bottle)
Ray’s Barrel-Aged Negroni Cocktail (serves 2)

Ray’s ShellFeast (serves 2-3) $105
Bowl of Ray’s New England Style Clam Chowder
Prawn Cocktail
Mediterranean Mussels with Thai style red curry, coconut milk broth
1lb King Crab with butter and lemon
Grilled Asparagus
Grilled Corn on the Cob
2 rolls with Butter

Pairing Suggestions:
Bollinger Champagne (bottle)
Treveri Blanc de Blancs Sparkling Wine from Washington (bottle)
Ray’s Private Select Woodford Reserve Perfect Manhattan (serves 2)

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It’s Summer Patio Season at Ray’s Café!

It’s that time of year! Our upstairs Café deck is bathed in sunshine and offers gorgeous views of Shilshole Bay and the Olympic Mountains, plus colorful summer sunsets! Soak up some vitamin d while enjoying your favorite fresh seafood dishes, Ballard beers, and daily Happy Hour specials.

The Café is serving up Ray’s favorites like True Cod Fish & Chips, Ahi Poke, Dungeness Crab Cakes, Oysters on the Half Shell and more with summer specials like Wild Alaskan King Salmon with sweet corn puree, Farm Lettuce Salad with seasonal berries, Zucchini Feta Cakes, and more. Sip chilled Washington wine, ice cold beer, or a Black Cherry Margarita while you take in the fresh air and spectacular views!

Daily Happy Hour from 4-6pm brings drink specials like Bad Jimmy’s Brewing ‘Bad Light’ Golden Ale, Negronis, Moscow Mules, Margaritas and more. Dishes include Caesar Salad, Crispy Calamari, Tuna Poke, Manila Clams, Penn Cove Mussels and more all at special Happy Hour pricing!

We’re now accepting walk-ins only for parties of five people or less and we kindly ask that you wear your mask at all times when not seated at your table eating and drinking. All of our tables on the deck and indoors are spaced 6ft apart and we are practicing social distancing in all areas of the restaurant. 

The Cafe is open seven days a week! Joins us Sunday-Thursday from 11:30am-9pm and Friday and Saturday from 11:30am-10pm. We’ll see you soon!

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Easter Brunch & Dinner April 12 at Ray’s Boathouse & Cafe!

Spring is in the air at Seattle’s best seafood restaurant! Gather your friends and family for a beautiful, waterfront Easter brunch or dinner on Sunday, April 12, 2020 in the Boathouse and Café.

Reservations are highly recommended and available for groups up to 8 guests (including children and highchairs). Reserve in the Café or the Boathouse today!

Café
Brunch Buffet
Enjoy our Grand Holiday Brunch Buffet from 9am-2pm (last seating) featuring a Carving Station with House Smoked Wild Salmon, Raw Bar with oysters on the half shell, breakfast dishes, appetizers, salads, sides, desserts and much more! $65 per guest for brunch, juice and sodas, and $32.50 for children 5-11 (prices exclude tax and gratuity). View menu details below; menu subject to change without notice.

Dinner
We will open for dinner at 4pm serving our regular menu until 7pm.

Bar
The Cafe Bar will have the same menu offerings and hours as above for brunch and dinner but is on a first come basis with no reservations taken.

Upstairs Cafe Brunch Buffet Menu

Menu subject to change without notice

Salads
Spring Panzanella salad
Spring mixed green salad
Chicory Salad, Pecans, apple Manchego, sherry vinaigrette
Classic chopped Caesar salad
Soba noodle salad, sesame, sweet soy, ginger, peppers, edamame
Antipasto assorted meats and pickled vegetables
Caprese salad
Roasted Beets with French Feta, Hazelnuts, arugula and sherry vinaigrette
Assorted fresh fruits and berries

Raw Bar
Chilled peel & eat prawns
Oysters on the half shell
Dungeness Crab Leg

Breakfast
Eggs benedict
Scrambled eggs
Brioche french toast
Uli’s breakfast sausage
Carlton Farms Bacon
Pan seared true cod, broccolini and lemon caper beurre blanc
Sautéed garlic prawns
Grilled herbed chicken breast, green bean and cherry tomatoes
Crispy breakfast potatoes, old bay, scallion
Penn Cove manila clams & mussels
Three cheese mac n’ cheese
Bay shrimp mac n’ cheese
Green Beans with walnuts and lemon
Washington spring asparagus
Whipped Washington russet potatoes
Roasted cremini mushrooms

Carving Board
Roasted RR Ranch prime rib of beef
House smoked wild Alaskan Salmon

Dessert Table
Assorted house made desserts and pastries

Boathouse
Brunch
We are serving some of our best-selling appetizers, salads and Boathouse entrées along with a $35 holiday-inspired, 3-course brunch menu (beverages, tax and gratuity not included), from 10:30am-3pm.

Dinner
Spring-inspired 3-course menu with choice of appetizer, entrée and dessert for $65, alongside the Boathouse’s full dinner menu from 3-7pm.

Bar
The Boathouse Bar will have the same menu offerings and hours as above for brunch and dinner but is on a first come basis with no reservations taken.

Boathouse Easter Brunch

Menu subject to change without notice

Appetizers
choice of one
Ceviche fresh halibut, jalapeno, citrus marinade, cilantro
Dungeness Crab Salad pickled cucumber, micro greens, lemon aioli
Washington Asparagus prosciutto, hazelnuts, chili
White Bean-Truffle Parmesan, crouton, Fresh herbs

Entrees
choice of one
Frittata spring vegetables, basil, eggs, feta, mixed greens with lemon vinaigrette
Brioche French Toast house smoked bacon, fried red potatoes, maple syrup
Espresso Braised Beef espresso braised bottom round, tomato, ramp, chard, fried polenta, pecorino Romano
Pan Seared Halibut fregola Sarda, wild mushroom, English peas, beurre blanc

Dessert
presented at dinner

Boathouse Easter Dinner

Menu subject to change without notice

Appetizers
choice of one
Ceviche fresh halibut, jalapeno, citrus marinade, cilantro
Dungeness Crab Salad pickled cucumber, micro greens, lemon aioli
Washington Asparagus prosciutto, hazelnuts, chili
White Bean-Truffle Parmesan, crouton, Fresh herbs

Entrees
choice of one
Applewood Grilled King Salmon white bean bruschetta, glazed baby carrots
Espresso braised Beef braised bottom round, tomato, ramp, chard, fried polenta, pecorino Romano
Pan Seared Halibut fregola sarda, wild mushroom, English peas, beurre blanc

Dessert
presented at dinner

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Holiday Gift Card Bonus Offer!

Give the gift of Ray’s this holiday season!

Now through December 31, 2019, for every $100 you spend on Ray’s gift cards you will receive a complimentary $20 gift card! Keep it for yourself or gift it!

Gift cards are available in any amount and can be purchased online (recommended) or at Ray’s Guest Relations desk in the Boathouse.

Treat your loved ones to fresh Northwest seafood and stunning waterfront views on Shilshole Bay with a Ray’s gift card!

Happy holidays!

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Ray’s Cafe Limited Summer Menu Aug. 1-15!

Ray’s Cafe is offering an exciting limited summer menu August 1-15!

Join us on our famous Cafe patio to enjoy the best views in Seattle while you sip on our house Bloody Mary with a Bering Sea King Crab Leg(!), and a fresh Dungeness Crab Roll!

Grab your sunnies and we’ll see you on the patio!!!

Ray’s Cafe August 1-15 Special Menu

“The Deadliest Cocktail” Ray’s Bloody Mary with house infused spicy vodka, a giant Bering Sea King Crab Leg garnish and a spicy rim, $44

Dungeness Crab Roll fennel and green apple slaw, New England style hot dog roll, $24

House Smoked Salmon Salad local snap peas, frisee, green goddess dressing, $14

Washington Blueberry-Passion Fruit Parfait coconut panna cotta, passion fruit chai, local blueberries, $10

Avennia ‘Oliane’ Sauvignon Blanc, Yakima Valley, WA 2017 $16 glass/$62 bottle. Barrel fermented with native yeast, the aromas of lemon verbena, lemon oil and herbs emerge. The flavors are tart, racy and acid driven, with a long, drawn out finish. It’s elegant and subtle.