Ray's Grill

Foods good but that's about it

On my most recent trip to Ray's I can absolutely confirm that this is a don't miss spot in the Stratford/Bridgeport corridor for bar food and drinks in a classic atmosphere.  I don't get here often enough but my friend from Fairfield who has owned and operated several restaurants in his day will be a regular with or without me from this point on.  Here's the most recent experience:

1) Parked in front on Barnum Ave.  The street scene was animated.  It was about 1 PM.  We went inside and the bartender couldn't get to us fast enough.  We had menus and a beer in less than two minutes, were given an assist on where to look on the wall for specials and a tip or two about the menu.  It was the same way throughout the visit.  Service here gets an A+.

2) We ordered the stuffed clams as an app.  3 apiece for something like $1.25 each.  They were not as good as my mom's but nobody's ever are.  They had a bit of spice to them.  I tweaked them with a bit of Tabasco.  Nice dish overall.  C+.  

3) Gunsmoke was on the TV.  Very entertaining.  The other TV had sports on.  People at the bar were friendly and telling jokes.  The place was whistle clean, although at some point in the visit someone inside the joint smoked a cigarette somewhere.  I never saw who or where but I'm glad I was finished eating.  I'm ignoring the cigarette and giving them an A+ for ambiance because the crowd was so nice and the place was so clean and Gunsmoke was a great bonus.

4) We ordered a couple of Ray's Death Burgers.  This is a small grinder roll with tomatoes on the bottom, some lettuce (not much), two Cheeseburgers side by side, topped with sauteed onions, spicy hot chili and hot peppers.  Nice dish.  Maybe a little too much bread and the cheeseburgers were smallish but I was full and it was spicy hot and delicious.  It came with fries (which were very good) and coleslaw (which was mediocre) .  I'm giving the death burger a B+.  

5) The check came.  4 beers, 6 stuffed clams, 2 death burgers = $32.  A total bargain.  I give value an A+.

I don't think it's fair to judge them against my mom's awesome stuffed clams and a mediocre coleslaw probably shouldn't prevent a sandwich from getting an A.  That's why I'm upgrading my overall review from 4 to 5 stars!  In all seriousness, you're not going to find a value like this coupled with excellent service (as good as any other place in town) in a nice clean setting with friendly patrons and Gunsmoke on TV.  This is a great neighborhood bar!  A really great neighborhood bar!  They deserve all 5 stars and I deserve to go back and destroy some of the awesome hot dogs I saw on the menu and test drive their classic Reuben to see how it stacks up against some of the others in the area.

Ray's continues to exceed expectations.  Don't pass this one up!

sketchy, sketchy, sketchy.