Ray's Boathouse is a restaurant in the
Ballard neighborhood of
Seattle, Washington, United States, located on
Shilshole Bay along the
Puget Sound shoreline. It is noted for its
seafood
Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus an ...
and views of Puget Sound and the
Olympic Mountains, and has been listed as one of the city's top restaurants alongside
The Herbfarm
The Herbfarm is an American restaurant serving Pacific Northwest cuisine and an early practitioner of local food. This is a philosophy that promotes the growing, enjoyment, and consumption of foods from a limited region.
The Herbfarm is located ...
.
History
In 1939, founder Ray Lichtenberger, moved his growing boat rental and bait house to the current location and opened a
coffeehouse
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...
in 1945. By 1952, he’d built the
neon sign that flashes “RAY’S” in bold, red letters on the dock.
In 1973, Russ Wohlers led a group of local entrepreneurs in transforming the place into a full-service fresh
seafood restaurant
A seafood restaurant is a restaurant that specializes in seafood cuisine and seafood dishes, such as fish and shellfish. Dishes may include freshwater fish. The concept may focus upon the preparation and service of fresh seafood, (as opposed to ...
. The restaurant originally opened in June 1973. In 1983, Ray's was one of four restaurants that began serving fresh
Copper River salmon for the first time, and is credited with bringing awareness of
local food to Seattle's fish consumers. That year the restaurant also introduced commercially harvested
Olympia oyster
''Ostrea lurida'', common name the Olympia oyster, after Olympia, Washington in the Puget Sound area, is a species of edible oyster, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Ostreidae. This species occurs on the northern Pacific coast of North A ...
s to its menu, heralding a "comeback" for the species which had had a total harvest measured in hundreds of gallons a few years earlier.
In 2002, Ray's was awarded in the
America's Classics category of the
James Beard Foundation Awards. In 2004, its then-executive chef Charles Ramseyer was recognized as one of the nation's most innovative fish chefs by ''
Wine Spectator
''Wine Spectator'' is an American lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture, and gives out ratings to certain types of wine. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertain ...
''. The establishment was refurbished in 2013.
In popular culture
It appeared in ''
1,000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die
''1,000 Places to See in the US and Canada Before You Die'' ({{ISBN, 0761147381, 2007) is a book written by Patricia Schultz as a follow up book to ''1,000 Places to See Before You Die''.
The listing below is divided into sections like the book ...
'', and has featured on lists of tourist destinations by
Moon Guides (Williams),
Fodor's and
Frommer's
Frommer's is a travel guide book series created by Arthur Frommer in 1957. Frommer's has since expanded to include more than 350 guidebooks in 14 series, as well as other media including an eponymous radio show and a website. In 2017, the company ...
, among others.
At one time the restaurant employed
Chris Cornell as a chef, prior to him co-founding the rock band
Soundgarden. Cornell attended the retirement party at Ray's of longtime chef Wayne Ludvigsen in 1997.
Bibliography
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References
External links
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{{Restaurants in Seattle
1973 establishments in Washington (state)
Ballard, Seattle
America's Classics winners
Restaurants established in 1973
Seafood restaurants in Seattle