We had been here a couple of times, but went yesterday for the first time in several years. I remember it being good, but last night was mediocre at best. We had the Crab dip as an appetizer, which was pretty flavorful, but they literally gave us 8 tortilla chips to eat it with. The main courses we had were the Fish & Chips and Seafood Salad. The fish and chips were very small portions and soggy, the salad had some good smoked salmon, but overall was bland, and the coleslaw with the chips had zero flavor. Overall a very disappointing experience. It seems like you're paying only for the view at this place now - I'll head elsewhere for seafood from now on. read more

the food is just as good as the restaurant, but the prices are a littler more reasonable. of course, its not quite as classy looking, but its a tradeoff i'm willing to make. the view is spectacular, but bring sunglasses, because the glare is often a problem. read more

Went out with the family for my birthday. It was out of the way for me. I don't leave near here anymore, but I have wanted to go so I made the trek down from Edmonds. Traffic and driving through the city to get to the waterfront was the only drawback for me. The rest of the experience was very good! Not only was the staff courteous, they were efficient. I can always tell good service when 1) My water is always full during the meal and 2) they don't ask me to fill my water. Here's a tip for servers: If my water is not full, fill it. No need to ask me. Just fill it! Occasionally, you get the best kind of service like I got here... my water was filled magically! I notice many things, but if you're ninja enough to fill my glass without me noticing, you're getting a better tip! I don't love water, I just love to see efficiency. However, water being tasteless as it is, that was not the highlight of my experience. The food was delicious! For starters, we ordered a plate of calamari. The calamari was noticeably delicate - not too chewy and tasted very fresh to me. It's hard to get calamari just right, but they nailed it. My entire family all got different entrees and we each enjoyed our meal. Considering there was 5 of us and a child, that's pretty good. I had the Coho salmon and it was delectable! It was served on top of a potato pancake with green beans. Not only was my salmon actually medium well, but I didn't find a single bone. My mother said there was a couple bones in her cod, though, but sometimes that can't be helped. I wouldn't have given them any less of a rating for having bones, but I was happy to find none in my dish. My girlfriend had the shrimp and crab cakes. They were quite good, too. Forgot what everyone else was having, but I certainly enjoyed it. I'd definitely come back for special occasions. As for the price, I didn't pay because it was my birthday. I have a feeling it was a little pricey for the entire fam. Whatever, I had great seafood. Next time I will try the Ciopinno read more

The view, the service and the food. All spot on. I returned to Ray's last night after living in NYC for 7 years. I was thrilled that it was as good as I remembered. I had the wicked wings that are spicy and sweet at the same time. And for an entree I went with the blackened rockfish over corn polenta which was in a creole sauce. I don't really have words for the flavor. Amazing! My fiance had the scallops which were some of the best either of us has had. read more

If you are planning to head to Ray's Cafe during the weekdays, you'll definitely be disappointed. I know times change and menu's change, but come on, do they really need to downsize their menu to one tiny page and full of practically bar-food. The menu used to be extensive and it was a privileged to be able to take out of town guests to, for the view & food. And becareful to request a window seat, otherwise they will stick you in their back room, where well... you only see walls and feel like they stuck you in the back of the kitchen. Talk about Ambiance down the drain!!! Now, there is NOTHING special about their food. It is just regular american food, with some seafood options. If you're going to pay that much much for that kind of food, your best bet would be to stay in the Capital Hill/Downtown area. There are more choices, better food, and all for the same prices! We have no idea what happened to Ray's and what instigated the dramatic change and downward spiral, but this place is now disappointing if you are looking for a special place to take people and awesome food. But am giving it a 2 star, because the service we received was pretty decent. read more

Good food and good service. I appreciate that the menu indicates which items are gluten-free.

It used to be my go to place for clients as I live/work in the area. I entertained a client on Tuesday and it just wasn't the old Rays Cafe. The service was fine with a couple of notes; Two of us ordered the Rock Shrimp Tacos which were fine. Our server said he recommends the avocado which really ups the flavor. Sounded good so we both said "sure". The bread was, well, not fresh. I take that back. One roll was fresh and the others sat on everyones place after the first bite. Two guests had salads and the lettuce was as was remarked quite soft for romaine. Business done in a pleasant atmosphere. Check arrives and everything looked fine until I spied a $3.00 add on to each taco order for the avocado. REALLY, between the two orders they used at best 1/2 an avocado. No mention of "would you like to add the avocado for an extra $3?" I wouldn't have had the cajones to ask and then add it. I'm not going to take issue with a client present but no way will order anything without asking the price. Seriously, this used to be a regular for me. At least once a week with 4. With the addition of many new restaurants in DT Ballard, I will be meeting my clients in Ballard. read more

Met some old high school friends here for happy hour, sat on the deck at sun down which wound up being an issue as I was facing the water and couldn't see the person across from me. After joking with the waiter to stand in one spot for me to block the sun he brought out sunglasses! Still have them and sported them the rest of the night. Wait staff were friendly, happy hours food was good, Actual menu is spendy but that's why we went for happy hour :) read more

My husband and I frequent Ray's cafe 1-2 times a month on the weekends for lunch. Here's my 2 cents. If everyone is over 21, sit in the bar. It is more relaxing and a little quieter as you can be shielded a but from the little one's.:). The view is quite lovely and in the summer you can choose to sit out on the terrace. The cafe is located on the top floor of Ray's Boathouse and is a more casual restaurant. Their kitchen and chefs are different than the ones downstairs so don;t expect the dishes to taste the same. We like to share dishes so we tend to order about 5 or 6 dishes, a mix of appetizers and main meal. Our favorites include starting with a bowl of clam chowder, then a plate of their Seared Ahi which has a very tasty dipping sauce, then usually the Fish & Chips (sometimes they have Halibut which is a score) and their grass fed beef cheesburger. Our bill for all the items usually comes to about $65 +tip We have tried some of the regular lunches but have not found them to be as consistently good as the kitchen downstairs. We have tried the steak twice and the 1st time it was buttery and melted in our mouth and the 2nd time it was tough and grisly so we forego that one now. My suggestion is stick with the fried foods, etc and you will enjoy your lunch. Overall, the consistency of the items we order are good and the service in the bar is excellent. Where else can you go and have good food with a beautiful view! read more

Summary: Overpriced and mediocre food, in a tired looking dining room w/ nice views. Went there for lunch w/ my wife and little one. Here's what we ordered: - Northwest Seafood Pasta ($19) - Fish & Chips (half / $15) - Kids Grilled Salmon ($9.95) The pasta dish was very bland and contained way too much liquid. There was a decent amount of seafood, but it was truly tasteless. Fish and chips were "ok" - really nothing special here. The fish and chips at Ivar's and Red Mill Totem House are superior. My wife said the fries were the best thing we ate during that lunch. The Kids Grilled Salmon was a big disappointment. My wife and I were both shocked at the portion size of the fish - maybe a 1 inch wide, thin portion of a fillet (towards the tail of the fish), served on a large mound of mashed potatoes. Very sad. Maybe it's better for dinner, but we probably won't be coming back. We'll stick w/ Ivar's Salmon House. read more

We had dinner last night at Ray's Cafe. The service was very slow. We got our drink orders about 45 minutes into sitting down and our starters about an hour in. We chose to order from the Seattle Restaurant Week menu, so perhaps Ray's decided we aren't paying enough because the food was meh. The flank stake, while cooked to a nice soft medium, was tasteless. Zero herbs, spices or flavor. Had to resort to table salt. The Lemon Pound Cake and Chocolate Brownie deserts looked and tasted like plain old muffins. It was such a disappointing visit. The only thing that was really awesome and Ray's couldn't mess up was the sunset. read more

I wish I liked this place more because I live close. I brought visiting family members here and it happened to be restaurant week. We all spent the $32 for the three course meal. The parsnip soup was delicous and the desserts did not dissapoint. The fried oysters were overdone, but this is coming from someone who doesn't eat oysters regularly so I won't judge those too harshly. I give the two stars mostly for the entrees. My two guests had the salmon and I had the carbonara. The salmon and veggies had, and I am not exaggerating, two little cauliflower pieces and four little pieces of potato. It was embarrassing how pathetic and empty the plate looked. Additionally, I found four scallops in my scallop carbonara. My advice to Ray's is that if you are going to do restaurant week, do it right. If you are going to skimp, don't make it so obvious. Or just tell us you are out of something! I will not be returning here nor recommending this place to visitors who regularly ask for seafood recommendations. read more

I've been going to Ray's for close to 20 years, but the food quality has been going down steadily for the past year or so. I had lunch there on Monday (8/6) and it was, bar none, the worst meal I have had at Ray's. I ordered Blackened Fish Tacos. The tacos were watery -- i.e., taking a bite resulted in a steady stream of watery juice falling off all over the plate. The fish was dry and tasteless, and the half of the taco was made up of shredded carrots. The salad (corn & Jicama) was bland and had zero taste whatsoever. After how asked how my meal was by our waitress, I shared my feedback, which she then passed on the the chef/kitchen. They ended up comp'ing my meal, but I would have gladly paid for a great dish. read more

The good 'ol Ray's is gone. Fortunately, they still have the great view. Unfortunately, the once great (though always pricey) food is gone. Now, the fine dining space down stairs has been turned into a bleak bar space, not even as nice as the Cafe upstairs. We like the Cafe for the view -- and now go for drinks and appetizers - then dine elsewhere. I would suggest anyone wanting a nice deck experience with a great view do the same, but if you are looking for a good dinner -- there are many other places to go in Seattle with really good seafood. read more

I was really excited to come here for a Friday night date night--even more so because the weather was a picture-perfect Seattle summer evening. And the views did not disappoint. The setting is absolutely spectacular! I only wish the food matched it. Our meals were fine, but just missed the mark here and there, especially for the price we paid. Drinks were great, and lots to choose from, and the starter (a crab and corn chowder) was yummy too. But our mains fell short. They weren't bad, they just weren't something I'd want to come back and eat again. The best part of my cod fish and chips was the tartar dipping sauce. The salmon had a good grilled flavor, but was underseasoned. The salted chocolate caramel dessert was too salty. (and we love the salt part of salted caramel!). I wish I could say I wanted to come back because the location is so lovely, but the food wasn't compelling enough. Perhaps we'll give the Boathouse a try sometime. read more

Ugh. We made early reservations for Mothers Day dinner because we had a group with little kids. They were not ready at our reservation time. We asked for inside seating, and none was available despite the reservation. We would have had to wait an indefinite amount of time for an inside table. 20 minutes after our reservation, we were finally seated outside. We were not dressed for it, so the kids were cold despite the blankets. We ordered right away, but the entrees did not come out until 1:50 after our reservation (1:30 after we were seated). Two of the four entrees were cold and were sent back. We quickly split the two warm entrees and left. The ladies in our party were looking forward to dessert, but they skipped it since it was too late and they did not get their entrees. The dinner soured Mothers Day. read more

We were in Seattle for a wedding last summer, and this place is WOW. Make sure to request a seat on the patio, the waterfront view is one of the best I've ever had. The food and drinks were great too, which was a bonus because we were there mostly for the view and to spend some time dining outside. Took an uber from downtown Seattle, and the uber fare both ways was well worth it to wet our whistle at this great spot outside of the city. read more

I've been here several times, tonight I came for my birthday dinner. It was already dark out but we decided to sit outside because they give you blankets to keep you warm which was great, and even at night the view of the water and lights in the distance is beautiful. I ordered a burger with no bun and substituted sautéed mushrooms for fries, our waitress was very accommodating about it. The order came out quickly and my food was flavorful and well cooked. I recommend substituting mushrooms for fries if you are a dieter and like veggies, their mushrooms sautéed in butter are delicious. Desert was a creme brûlée which was pretty good and strawberry shortcake which was exceptional, although it would have been even better with a few more fresh berries, the basil infused cream was very good. Service here is always friendly and attentive, tonight was no exception, the food is just short of amazing although a little pricy, but I guess you're paying for the view and ambiance too. Overall a great experience, and still one of my favorite places for a nice dinner out with family. read more

Ray's Café - Seafood Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Held a bridal shower here and we were able to get two tables in a secluded corner of the cafe without actually renting a private room. This worked out so well for our group and the event went great. The staff was very accommodating to our schedule and the server took great care of us. Highly recommend hosting a small group event in this back space if you want an upscale casual setting but don't have the money to spend on renting a private room in the restaurant. Food and beverages were also fresh and great! read more

After 30 years of dining at Rays we will never go back. It took 90 min to get over cooked and bland food. We also overheard many others complain heading out to the parking lot. Try Anthony ' s next door and you will be much happier. read more

Just thinking about Ray's Cafe makes me wish it was summer. This is my #1 favorite place to go when the sun is shining, especially if I have an out-of-town visitor. We can sit out on the patio drinking champagne, watching the boats go by. The sunsets are amazing, and if it starts to get chilly, they'll come around and put blankets around our shoulders. Hurry up, summertime! I want Ray's. read more

Nice place ... fish tacos were great.. skip the alvacado. Great view, service was fine read more

Despite the Yelp reviews, Ray's Cafe was a huge disappointment. We were entertaining friends from out of town who wanted seafood. I thought the view and food would be a good choice at Ray's. We ordered both fish and shellfish, and unfortunately all of it was terrible. The cocktail shrimp had that strange translucent color like the grocery store, and it tasted like it was frozen. For a seafood place on the ocean in the Pacific Northwest, frozen shrimp is pretty sad. If I wanted Red Lobster, I would have gone to Red Lobster. Ambiance was nice, waiter was nice, but the food was really pretty terrible. read more

The view is wonderful. The food is ok. But a great peaceful calm outdoor deck to enjoy wine and seafood appys.

Never been here for the happy hour. I come here often for dinner though. I was told that it is cheeper then the boathouse just below for nearly the same food. So I figured why spend more just for fancy eating when you can eat up stairs get great food and it is not like the decor is bad. It can be hard to get a table at peek times and I have had some slightly shotty serivice once or twice but it gets a solid 4 or 4.5 stars. read more

Ray's Caf is not one of those hip, chic, happening places that becomes the restaurant du jour, but this is not a bad thing. Ray's is a really comfortable, unpretentious restaurant. There's no dim lighting or candles on the table, but the service is reliable, the views are good, and the fish is delicious. The sablefish was to die for, and the tasty seafood salad was huge. Clam chowder wasn't shabby either. Bread was rock hard but you can't have it all. Great place for a down-to-earth, casual dinner. read more

Spectacular view. I went here a while back, the view is absolutely amazing. The food however was not as memorable. I mean it was not bad i just cant remember what i had. Fish for sure but the view is just so good. Oh and make sure you got in business casual. If you go just casual, you'll be under dressed but anything formal, you will be severally over dressed. I would recommend just on the view read more

The patio view is gorgeous!! Even if it's chilly and windy when you ask to sit outdoors, they'll give you blankets. I came at lunchtime, and you can look out over sparkling water (Seattle really does water views the best) and watch the boats play around. read more

Great place for dinner if you don't mind stepping up to the higher priced entrees. Skip lunch and lunch-priced items (though the salmon sandwich is good.) Oh, Ray's Cafe. You don't know how lucky you are to be getting those three stars right now. Seriously, I've been coming here for years, and today you disappointed me with lunch. First, let me tell the people reading this review - Ray's is pretty great. If you stick to the seafood with the straight-up preparations, you will be happy. The deck on a sunny day is phenomenal. The drinks are great, as is the tap list, and there are non-alcoholic mix drinks available. Today, the calamari was perfect. They were tender, perfectly fried, and delicious with the aioli. Man, oh man, though - the other fried lunch items were "off." The fish and chips featured decent battered french fries, but the fish was a bit bland and dry. My fried shrimp tacos would have been great if the lettuce hadn't been reminiscent of salad bar iceberg and the tomatoes small watery vessels. The shrimp, though, was perfect, but a little under-seasoned for a taco. The flour tortilla seemed a little stale. The biggest insult to my senses was my son's food. Kid's menus don't have to be gourmet, but the dinosaur chicken nuggets were an insult to chicken nuggets everywhere. I tried one bite, and instantly flashed back to elementary school in Kentucky, where corporal punishment was still a thing, and mechanically separated chicken molded into fancy shapes with preservatives and salt was a novelty. I rhapsodized a bit to my husband as to how McDonalds could get chicken nuggets SO RIGHT, and these chicken nuggets by comparison were SO WRONG. That says something. The lunch menu at Ray's Cafe also has their dinner items, and those are where you should invest your interest. Crab legs, salmon, dungeness crab, sablefish - you cannot go wrong with these entrees. The price just about doubles for a meal if you order from that part of the menu, but it's money well spent. I've eaten here many times, and I'll come back for sure, however, the trimmed corners on the lower-end items feel like I've been ripped off, and my kid deserves better than knock-off chicken nuggets that came from the 1980's. read more

Patio was perfect to enjoy dinner and watch the sunset. Good drink selection and all the salmon dishes were great. Perfect for date night although a little chilly up there read more

Get there early... wait... no... then I won't get a table! 4:00 - 6:00 every day is happy hour. $2.00 Henry's, a Large Portion of steamer clams, and the house salad (I get mine without the blue cheese)... throw in another beer about half-way through and it's a great way to start the evening! And, the whole meal ends up being under $15. Jennie likes the Thai Mussels. They also have salmon skewers which are very very yummy. Bob's mom likes them... calls them fish popsicles... read more

A bit pricey for the quality. But quality of food and presentation were very good. Alaska halibut was a bit over cooked and not well seasoned. Crab cakes good. scallops were excellent. read more

My first visit to Ray's, it was a sunny Sept day, loved the view! Warm, gorgeous, seals in and out of the water...Had the crab cakes, very yummy, also tried the clam chowder- I'm not a fan of clam chowder...but hands down, their's is very good. Left me wanting more..... Will definately be back! read more

A local brought me here for dinner in time to catch the sunset. Watching your hometown UW win the 1st round of the NCAA tournament at the same time was an added bonus. For a few minutes there, this Sun Devil was a Husky. Anyway, Ray's sold me instantly. The clam chowder was delicious. The selection of local brews was right up my alley. The sweet potato fries that my friend was addicted to were very addictive. For my main entree I ordered sauteed gulf shrimp, and I found it to be merely above average in terms of flavor and general deliciousness. Not dissatisfying though. The service was superb. And the views over the water were of course unforgettable. read more

went for birthday dinner celebration here on what seemed like a deceptive summer day. we had a deck reservation but by the time we got there, the sun had set and we found the temperature had dipped quite significantly to warrant a deck seat. Regardless, we still got a nice table by the window with a gorgeous view of the olympic mountains with vivid sunset hues. We ordered the spicy margarita with harbanero which provided a good kick. We were a touch surprised to learn that the kitchens were different for the boathouse and cafe although to our pleasant surprise we were informed by our server that we could still order from the boathouse menu. We decided to combine the best of both worlds and ordered one dish apiece from both the kitchens. We went with the scallop dish from the boathouse kitchen with oxbow swiss chard, artichokes, fennel, pecorino toscano, black olive butter which all blended perfectly to create a delicious entree. The scallops were perfectly cooked and seared and the black olive butter provided the right amount of moistness to the dish to compensate for the lack of sauce. The other entree dish we ordered from the cafe kitchen was the Chatham Strait Sablefish in Sake Kasu grilled choy sum, jasmine rice, honey soy and scallion oil. The sablefish was perfectly tender and just melted in the mouth. It had a good amount of char but when we asked our server she mentioned it was normal for this type of fish. The honey soy and scallion oil concoction added a good amount of richness to the dish that was counterbalanced by the crispness of the choy sum and the rice. The dessert was served on the house and was extremely moist flourless chocolate cake. The service was polite and very friendly. All in all a great culinary experience with a view to die for. I'd definitely mark this restaurant on my shortlist of places to experience good pacific northwest cuisine. read more

Run, don't walk, to Ray's Cafe and get the Calamari! If there are 3 of you I would suggest ordering 2 baskets because 1 just won't be enough to split 3 ways! Hands down the best Calamari we have ever had - it is tender, succulent and the light batter if perfectly crunchy. They of course have other food at Ray's which is good but I can't seem to order beyond the Calamari. Trust me, you won't regret it! read more

Can I just say that it's hard to find a place on a Sunday afternoon that still serves "lunch" and not "brunch"? Ray's serves "lunch"...HOORAY! I brought the in laws here and had a great meal. The whole experience was good from start to finish. The adorable hostess had our table ready in no time, the waiter came right over, the water, menu, bread person on their game. All that was missing was frolicking sea lions or acrobatic paddle boarders. The food was perfect. We had a selection of mussels, fish & chips, fish tacos and the portions from the appetizer section of the menu were plenty big for this hungry bunch. I will go back to Ray's and hope it's sunnier next time, maybe they can work on that..... read more

Great setting...the upstairs cafe offers a more casual experience than the restaurant. You can definitely get better seafood at a number of places in town...but having a cocktail on the deck on a sunny day as the sun sets is a great Seattle experience. Oh...and get your head around their approach to "medium" on seafood such as salmon. They will gladly cook it "well" (-as they call it-)...normal for many of us. read more

This place is AWESOME for happy hour! You get the great views, great atmosphere all for cheap! We like to go here for their late happy hour for dinner and drinks. We really like their clams, salad, and ahi. read more

Excellent fresh seafood at a spectacular location to watch the sun set over the Peugeot Sound little ways out but a def 5 star restaurant at reasonable prices highly recommend eating there at sunset read more