Ray's Boathouse is a restaurant in the Ballard neighborhood of

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, United States, located on Shilshole Bay along the

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

shoreline. It is noted for its

seafood Seafood is any form of Marine life, sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including Fish as food, fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of Mollusca, molluscs (e.g., bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters, and mussel ...

and views of Puget Sound and the

Olympic Mountains The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus (Washington), Mount Olympus is the high ...

, 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 serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

in 1945. By 1952, he’d built the

neon sign In the signage industry, neon signs are electric signs lighted by long luminous gas-discharge tubes that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in Decem ...

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 Local food is food that is produced within a short distance of where it is consumed, often accompanied by a social structure and supply chain different from the large-scale supermarket Food system, system. Local food (or locavore) movements ...

to Seattle's fish consumers. That year the restaurant also introduced commercially harvested Olympia oysters 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 Since 1998, the James Beard Foundation has awarded the title of America's Classics to multiple restaurants. The award focuses on family-owned restaurants across the country that have been operating for at least a decade. According to the ''Washin ...

category of the

James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...

s. 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, wine culture and wine ratings. It is the flagship publication of M. Shanken Communications, which also publishes ''Cigar Aficionado'', ''Whisky Advocate'', ''Market Watch' ...

''. 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'', and has featured on lists of tourist destinations by Moon Guides (Williams),

Fodor's Fodor's is a producer of English-language travel guides and online tourism information. It was founded by Hungarian Eugene Fodor, who created his first travel guide, ''1936...on the Continent'', with the intention of improving upon the directo ...

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 com ...

, among others. At one time the restaurant employed

Chris Cornell Christopher John Cornell ( Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and the primary lyricist for the rock music, rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave. He also had a ...

as a chef, prior to him co-founding the rock band

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell switched to rhythm guitar in 1985, replaced on drums initially ...

. Cornell attended the retirement party at Ray's of longtime chef Wayne Ludvigsen in 1997.

Bibliography

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References

External links

* {{Restaurants in Seattle 1973 establishments in Washington (state) Restaurants in Ballard, Seattle America's Classics winners Restaurants established in 1973 Seafood restaurants in Seattle