Ray's the Steaks and Retro Ray's (Next Door) - Michael Landrum's Steakhouses in Courthouse - Closed

[monavano]

Second dinner at Ray's the Steaks last week, and Mr. MV and I took his parents.

"Outrageous!" was my MIL's response to the crab bisque, which I had hyped for days. "The best ever!" became a running joke with us for the next couple of days, because she just couldn't stop saying it. I just reveled in the gobs of crab meat and the depth of flavor in the stock. I think it's the best too!

3 Strip steaks with various preparations and a filet mignon were done to order (med and med rare) and everyone loved the sides, especially the garlic mashed potatoes. In-laws were impressed with the "doggy bag" box with refreshed sides. I used my leftover strip steak to make Thai basil beef last night, and Mr. MV took his leftover box for lunch today at work. What an amazing deal.

FIL who is a key lime pie connoisseur loved dessert.

The pre-dinner cashews and post-dinner fudge are a really nice touch.

[DanielK]

Anybody know what time they start serving dinner at East River?

They're open for lunch, and I'm pretty sure they're open through the afternoon. I don't think they close between lunch and dinner service.

[fuzzy510]

They're open for lunch, and I'm pretty sure they're open through the afternoon. I don't think they close between lunch and dinner service.

Even better!

[ktmoomau]

We had a big family dinner at Ray's the Steaks Saturday night. My Uncle from Garrett County that requested dinner there came down. We started out with a great Pinotage that Mark suggested, well we started, middled and finished. We had deviled eggs, chowder and sherried crab bisque to start. All good as normal, everyone enjoyed. We all got steaks. I had the NY strip au poivre, Aunt had the hanger steak (which was very good), Adam had the spicy diablo encrusted tri-tip perhaps? I can't remember, but the crust was fantastic. Uncle had the NY strip (plain). Everything was fantastic, cooked to order. We ended with the coconut pie, which is not like coconut cream pie, it is in a graham cracker crust and has good whip cream coming with it. I really enjoyed it. Anyway the evening was fantastic and the food was all really good. So just another normal review for them... Next time I think I am going to get the hanger steak.

[GaryME]

Hi. Heresy re Ray's the Steak

.

We live In the West End DC. Our home restaurants are at Westend Bistro, Ris, Blue Duck, Marcels, etc. A nice group. We frequent these places and are treated well. Nevertheless we decided to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary at Ray"s the Steak. We have eaten at Hellberger a bunch of times, even pre Obama, and were at the old Ray's location and even visited Ray's the Classic.

So we went tonight and were treated well, the food was quite good and everyone was friendly. Nevertheless we truly felt the prime directive was to turn tables. We did not linger, we do not do that, but nevertheless that's how we felt. Our dinner showed up before we finished our appetizers and the check showed up while we were still eating. No one asked whether we wanted coffee or desert. Don't get me wrong, the food was quite good, but I do not think we will go there for a celebration again. FYI total time there from being seated at about 7:40 pm to paid and out the door was about 50 minutes.

[ktmoomau]

Hi. Heresy re Ray's the Steak

.

We live In the West End DC. Our home restaurants are at Westend Bistro, Ris, Blue Duck, Marcels, etc. A nice group. We frequent these places and are treated well. Nevertheless we decided to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary at Ray"s the Steak. We have eaten at Hellberger a bunch of times, even pre Obama, and were at the old Ray's location and even visited Ray's the Classic.

So we went tonight and were treated well, the food was quite good and everyone was friendly. Nevertheless we truly felt the prime directive was to turn tables. We did not linger, we do not do that, but nevertheless that's how we felt. Our dinner showed up before we finished our appetizers and the check showed up while we were still eating. No one asked whether we wanted coffee or desert. Don't get me wrong, the food was quite good, but I do not think we will go there for a celebration again. FYI total time there from being seated at about 7:40 pm to paid and out the door was about 50 minutes.

I should note when we had our dinner my brother's fiance noticed we were getting looks from the hostess. I didn't really pay too much attention, but I didn't feel we were lingering too long. She though after a bit said we should move to a bar down the street because she thought they were trying to get us to leave, so we did. It wasn't noticeable enough that it bothered me, but she was a waitress for a long time so I think she is more observant of those signals. Anyway it wasn't a big deal as we had finished our meal.

[xdcx]

the thing I've always liked about ray's is that it strives to serve as many people as possible and to do that it means that they need to be as efficient and turn as many tables over as possible. While I can understand not wanting to be rushed out the door before you're finished eating, you can't offer first come first serve seating in half the restaurant and have people linger, it just doesn't work. I've never been there any time after 5 where there wasn't a wait and a long line of people waiting for tables. I've been one of those people and I'm always really happy when I finally get my table.

[ktmoomau]

While I can understand not wanting to be rushed out the door before you're finished eating, you can't offer first come first serve seating in half the restaurant and have people linger, it just doesn't work.

I will note we were on the reservations side (I had reservations 30 days out just in case as we were a party of 7) not that it means anything different in my mind.

[tentimesodds]

the thing I've always liked about ray's is that it strives to serve as many people as possible and to do that it means that they need to be as efficient and turn as many tables over as possible. While I can understand not wanting to be rushed out the door before you're finished eating, you can't offer first come first serve seating in half the restaurant and have people linger, it just doesn't work. I've never been there any time after 5 where there wasn't a wait and a long line of people waiting for tables. I've been one of those people and I'm always really happy when I finally get my table.

Didn't the old in-person reservations policy at the original RTS have "seatings" at 5, 6:30, 8 and 9:30? (or 5:30, 7, 8:30 and 10?) The point being that they were contemplating the meal (including paying the check) taking less than 90 minutes? (I could be totally wrong here, blasted memory)

[ktmoomau]

Didn't the old in-person reservations policy at the original RTS have "seatings" at 5, 6:30, 8 and 9:30? (or 5:30, 7, 8:30 and 10?) The point being that they were contemplating the meal (including paying the check) taking less than 90 minutes? (I could be totally wrong here, blasted memory)

You are right, but the new policy is completely different. About 1/2 the restaurant is for reservations, call ahead in advance, normal reservations now. And not at a set seating time. The other half is first come first serve. There also wasn't really space to fit big parties, now completely different situation again.

[asdca]

I (finally) went to Ray's last night for my birthday dinner with some friends. I was hesitant to try it for an occasion based on what I'd read here, but I figured if I could get a reservation, I'd go for it and if they rushed us out, we'd go have a drink elsewhere.

Instead, we enjoyed a leisurely dinner with no looks from anyone or hints or signals from our (pretty non-chalant) server. We were seated about 6:40 and didn't leave until 8:30. All the food we ordered was delicious and my friends, who had been there many times before, said they'd never had anything less than a great meal at Ray's. When I called to make the reservation, they asked if we would be celebrating anything. I noticed when I checked in for our reservation that "bday" was noted on the sheet and our server brought us a slice of key lime pie and an order of chocolate mousse to share.

All in all, it was a great birthday dinner and I'm glad i decided that we should go there. I'm already looking forward to my next visit.

[zoramargolis]

According to this article in the Washington Post, Ray's The Steaks East River is DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier's favorite restaurant.

[DameEdna]

According to this article in the Washington Post, Ray's The Steaks East River is DC Police Chief Cathy Lanier's favorite restaurant.

Another chapter in the book "How to Win Friends and Influence People With Meat." A book starring ... well you know.

[Barbara]

Another chapter in the book "How to Win Friends and Influence People With Meat." A book starring ... well you know.

To further quote Dame Edna, "There's another six months where Landrum's advertising budget is ZERO!"

[durwoodx]

Honestly I am rather impressed at the seemingly endless variety of ways ML is able to combine business opportunism and social activism into free advertising. And I mean that in a very good way.

[DanielK]

I've been there at least 6 times since the opening, and I think there's always been at least one table of police officers seated every time I've gone. It seems that it's not just Chief Lanier's favorite hangout in DC.

[Rovers2000]

Get the Brazillian Strip (with Piranha? sauce). As someone who tends to skew towards the tougher, more flavorful cuts of meat, I really loved this take. Perfectly medium rare with a nice char, the sauce perfectly complementing the steak in every way.

Split a bottle of the Bodega Tamari Riserva Malbec (one of the 47 (!) bottles priced at 30 or less on the wine list) with the +1 which we both found to be deliciously easy to drink, to the point where I had to double check the name on the way out in the event I decided to pick up a few bottles.

In no way did I feel rushed, in fact, I found the service to be quite delightful.

All in all last night just confirmed what I knew going in, I need to visit Ray's more often.

[mame11]

On a whim tonight friends and I made the trip to Rays on the River. We have been meaning to go since it opened but the timing was never right. Nothing like a whim to be right about Rays. Okay, so that was my favorite meal in D.C. since first discovering the original Rays. I ordered the Ribeye medium and it was perfect. I had the creamed corn and sweet potato fries as sides. Yes, I know two starches but I did have a garden salad as well. Wow. The sweet potato fries were fresh cut and delicious. The steak was perfect.

We each got different entrees with the intention of sharing. I had a bite of the prime rib. I am not a prime rib expert but that was good. My other friend got the skirt steak... which I heard was really good but I was too busy eating sweet potato fries to care about more meat.

But, perhaps most importantly for M. Landrum, the food might not be what we would have in Memphis but the ambiance sure was. It literally reminds me of a place we went while I was growing up for meat & threes.

p.s. can't wait to get back for a non-steak meal consisting of fried chicken and ribs... now that is Memphis food...

[DanCole42]

Ray's the Steaks now offers dry-aged beef. They get the steers from a farm in Virginia.

I'm thrilled at all the attention Virginia beef has been getting lately, and the porterhouse and long bone ribeye were delicious. Deeply beefy. Generous portions. And it's Ray's, so half the price you'd be getting anywhere else.

[u-bet!]

Ray's the Steaks now offers dry-aged beef.

Any indication of whether this is a limited-time special, or will it be a regular menu offering?

[DanielK]

Another successful dinner at East River before another unsuccessful United game at RFK.

They've changed the menu up a bit, adding a lot more burger types, and dropping the prices on some of the entrees. The fried chicken is now 4 pieces (dark or white) rather than 5, but it's $9.95. And that still includes salad and two sides.

Two ravenously hungry people, two orders of chicken, two soft drinks, and one shared dessert, enough leftovers for a huge lunch tomorrow, and the total after tax and >20% tip was still less than $20/person.

[susanmab]

I finally made it to East River.

That was the best ribeye I've ever had. Ever.

That place was great in all the other ways as well, service was attentive but not obtrusive, atmosphere was lively, and I love the albums on the walls - that's a nice touch.

[DanCole42]

Any indication of whether this is a limited-time special, or will it be a regular menu offering?

Unknown. Best to go soon just in case.

[Michael Landrum]

Any indication of whether this is a limited-time special, or will it be a regular menu offering?

It's hard to tell which restaurant you are asking about, but at "Ray's: The Steaks" (but not at "Ray's: The Steaks at East River" yet), over the past six months we have been developing a pilot program of purchasing entire cattle from local Virginia farmers and having them dry-aged as entire sides to our specifications (right now, 35-40 days is our standard). The cattle are pasture-raised on natural grass and finished with an enriched grass diet featuring spent beer grains (yay!!!) and natural silage.

This involves a long process of developing relationships, trust, production capacity and processing and aging capability and has just recently begun bearing fruit, with supply steadily increasing as the project develops. Right now, we are concentrating on making available a decent selection on Saturdays, with possibly some limited availability on Sundays and Fridays. In all cases, though, people have been buying them up like crazy and they usually sell out early in the evening--so apologies in advance.

On our end, we have come up with some pretty amazing non-standard butchering techniques that allow us to produce some tremendous traditional dry-aged, bone-in cuts--Porterhouse, T-Bone--as well as some entirely unique cuts, like dry-aged, bone-in Chateaubriand, Long-Bone Cowboys, and the Chuck-Eye Cowboy (my favorite), with more on the way.

The real excitement from this program, at least for me, is that by guaranteeing a market for local farmers to raise cattle to our standards, rather than shipping off to feed lots, and by buying directly from the farmers, we will in time be able to keep entire communities of family farmers on their farms and engaged in low-impact, economically viable farming and stewardship of the land, as well as adding substantially to the local economies of the surrounding communities throughout the entire production chain. All this without having to charge our guests punitive, prohibitive prices or surcharges for moral superiority and/or guilt abatement.

In short (and numbers are just for demonstration purposes, so please let's not get all wonky), when selling to a middleman to be sent off to a feedlot, the farmer clears about $75 a head, just enough to die a slow death of a thousand small bleeding cuts. From me, between the farmer and the processor, they clear about $750--enough to survive and even thrive (in cases where it is not already too late).

So, as I mentioned, these cuts are available right now on a somewhat regular, but extremely limited, basis, with a steadily increasing supply as our investment in our local communities begins to grow and as the pipeline from already existing relationships increase its flow.

[DanCole42]

local Virginia farmers

This is my favorite part.

[jasonc]

This is great Michael. For me, the the biggest drawback involved in eating at Ray's was that you used cornfed beef. For both health, and ethical reasons, this steered me away from your restaurants more than I would have liked. I am wholly behind this new initiative, however, and you've certainly earned more of my business. I am also quite willing to spend more for this type of beef.

[DonRocks]

The real excitement from this program, at least for me, is that by guaranteeing a market for local farmers to raise cattle to our standards, rather than shipping off to feed lots, and by buying directly from the farmers, we will in time be able to keep entire communities of family farmers on their farms and engaged in low-impact, economically viable farming and stewardship of the land, as well as adding substantially to the local economies of the surrounding communities throughout the entire production chain. All this without having to charge our guests punitive, prohibitive prices or surcharges for moral superiority and/or guilt abatement.

Sincerely yours,

yeSiam Walton,

Walton's Mountain, VA

[porcupine]

Long-Bone Cowboys

Bet that one's going to be popular.

[DPop]

Hiyo!

[sweth]

This is great Michael. For me, the the biggest drawback involved in eating at Ray's was that you used cornfed beef.

It's worth noting, though, that these cows are still grain-finished, which in my experience means they will still taste more like grain-fed than grass-fed.

Also, Michael--out of curiosity, why the "yay" for the grains being post-brewing malts? Malt-finishing beef is mostly to the benefit of the producers (the brewers don't have to pay to dispose of their malts and the farmers pay less than for commercial grain feed, plus of course the greater sustainability of both endeavors as a result of lower costs and "upcycling" of resources); I'm not aware of anyone who claims any difference in taste between cows fed malt vs. grain.

[Michael Landrum]

Also, Michael--out of curiosity, why the "yay" for the grains being post-brewing malts?

It makes it a lot easier on the reticulum.

You'd say "yay" too.

[Michael Landrum]

As far as incentives are concerned at East River, when I became aware of an opportunity to contribute an endeavor of substance and real value at Benning and Minnesota, the only incentive (and reward) that I would ever need can be found here.

Look and listen closely, and please do not delete.

[otello]

It's hard to tell which restaurant you are asking about, but at "Ray's: The Steaks" (but not at "Ray's: The Steaks at East River" yet), over the past six months we have been developing a pilot program of purchasing entire cattle from local Virginia farmers and having them dry-aged as entire sides to our specifications (right now, 35-40 days is our standard). The cattle are pasture-raised on natural grass and finished with an enriched grass diet featuring spent beer grains (yay!!!) and natural silage.

This involves a long process of developing relationships, trust, production capacity and processing and aging capability and has just recently begun bearing fruit, with supply steadily increasing as the project develops. Right now, we are concentrating on making available a decent selection on Saturdays, with possibly some limited availability on Sundays and Fridays. In all cases, though, people have been buying them up like crazy and they usually sell out early in the evening--so apologies in advance.

On our end, we have come up with some pretty amazing non-standard butchering techniques that allow us to produce some tremendous traditional dry-aged, bone-in cuts--Porterhouse, T-Bone--as well as some entirely unique cuts, like dry-aged, bone-in Chateaubriand, Long-Bone Cowboys, and the Chuck-Eye Cowboy (my favorite), with more on the way.

The real excitement from this program, at least for me, is that by guaranteeing a market for local farmers to raise cattle to our standards, rather than shipping off to feed lots, and by buying directly from the farmers, we will in time be able to keep entire communities of family farmers on their farms and engaged in low-impact, economically viable farming and stewardship of the land, as well as adding substantially to the local economies of the surrounding communities throughout the entire production chain. All this without having to charge our guests punitive, prohibitive prices or surcharges for moral superiority and/or guilt abatement.

In short (and numbers are just for demonstration purposes, so please let's not get all wonky), when selling to a middleman to be sent off to a feedlot, the farmer clears about $75 a head, just enough to die a slow death of a thousand small bleeding cuts. From me, between the farmer and the processor, they clear about $750--enough to survive and even thrive (in cases where it is not already too late).

So, as I mentioned, these cuts are available right now on a somewhat regular, but extremely limited, basis, with a steadily increasing supply as our investment in our local communities begins to grow and as the pipeline from already existing relationships increase its flow.

This is great news. I can't wait to try them.

[silentbob]

Generally speaking, how easy/difficult would it be to get a table at the Courthouse location as a walk-in party of 8 during the 5:00 hour on a Friday? We're looking to celebrate there with our parents after a civil marriage ceremony earlier in the day.

On a separate note, I'm a huge fan of the chili at East River, especially the level of heat and the quality of meat in it. Less so the burger, which was ordered rare but came out closer to medium-well -- no worries, I'll just get it at Hell-Burger (which has almost always hit the spot) in the future. We all enjoyed the sides (especially the collard greens and sweet-potato fries) though. Our stomachs were so full that it was tough to stand for the whole DCU game afterwards.

[goodeats]

We're looking to celebrate there with our parents after a civil marriage ceremony earlier in the day.

W-O-W! Early congrats!!! Lucky on both ends. Many blessings to you both.

I believe you can now make advance reservations, so you might want to call. There is a back room in the Courthouse location.

[DanielK]

East River, ... tough to stand for the whole DCU game afterwards.

Say hi next time. I'm at East River with one of my kids before nearly every home DCU game, wearing our jerseys.

Are you Screaming Eagles/Barra Brava? We sit on the opposite side of the field, but it's entertaining watching/listening to the supporters clubs!

[silentbob]

W-O-W! Early congrats!!! Lucky on both ends. Many blessings to you both.

I believe you can now make advance reservations, so you might want to call. There is a back room in the Courthouse location.

Thanks! The wedding is still next year but it's non-religious and our officiant can't legally marry us, so we're doing it in court first. I was under the impression (based on posts upthread) that reservations aren't taken for parties larger than 6?

Say hi next time. I'm at East River with one of my kids before nearly every home DCU game, wearing our jerseys.

Are you Screaming Eagles/Barra Brava? We sit on the opposite side of the field, but it's entertaining watching/listening to the supporters clubs!

Screaming Eagles for the last several years...my seats are in 134, right next to the Barra. Not sure yet if I'm renewing next year with the team in such disarray.

[Scott Johnston]

This thread really needs to be split in two, the two locations are very different and even I am getting confused on the responses.

[Mark Slater]

This thread really needs to be split in two, the two locations are very different and even I am getting confused on the responses.

Not possible. They both have the same name. Those are the rules.

[pqmvt]

I've heard Micheal Landrum signed a lease for ~1500SF at City Vista this week. Around the corner from the popular Taylor Deli and Kushi Izakaya. Not sure what concept he has planned. Hellburger? Ray's the Catch? Ray's the Glass?

[catharine]

This thread really needs to be split in two, the two locations are very different and even I am getting confused on the responses.

I totally agree. I logged before my first visit to East River a few months ago to get some ideas about getting there and what to order. I sorted through pages and pages of posts, many of which did not specify to which restaurant they pertained. I know this is a touchy subject but I really believe that it is a disservice to our board members to keep these two different establishments in one thread.

[durwoodx]

Another vote for that (not that it's a democracy)

[Michael Landrum]

But then how would there be enough room for Eve to have three threads under one roof and Citronelle and Cityzen two apiece???

[DonRocks]

[Two people are walking out of the Capitol. One says to the other: "Let's go to Ray's: The Steaks." What does the other one say? What would any reasonable owner want them to say?

Answer: "Which one?"

I saw a Red, Hot, & Blue catering truck last night at the Woodson game - shall we start a separate thread for that, too? Ben's Chili Bowl at Nationals Park? Harry's Tap Room at Dulles Airport? Ray's Hell-Burger Too? Yes! Organic Market in Fairlawn? (also east of the Anacostia, by the way) Iron Bridge Wine Company in Warrenton? Where does it say "East River" on the sign? With the rapid expansion of the Ray's empire, maybe we should start a Ray's: The Forum so this website can be all Ray's, all the time. Would that make everyone happy?

A stronger case could be made for splitting Indique and Indique Heights, or La Canela and La Flor de la Canela (before La Flor closed), into separate threads.

And did you really just make a comparison with Eve, Citronelle, and CityZen?]

[Joe H]

From "The List": "Ray's The Glass will open in the same building as Ray'sThe Steaks. Ray's The Glass will be a 60-seat bar that will share Ray's The Steaks' kitchen. RTG will feature an ever-changing selection of wine (including flights), along with classes, one-on-one consultations and tasting dinners with more elaborate food than is currently offered at Ray's the Steaks."

[brr]

Anyone have any recommendatons on a place to grab a drink/cocktail before a late-ish dinner at Rays tomorrow?

[DonRocks]

Anyone have any recommendatons on a place to grab a drink/cocktail before a late-ish dinner at Rays tomorrow?

Uniontown Bar and Grill?

<ducking>

[goodeats]

Anyone have any recommendatons on a place to grab a drink/cocktail before a late-ish dinner at Rays tomorrow?

Curious - there is wine available at Ray's - do you just want a cocktail? If so, then head a bit further up to Clarendon to Eventide's lounge for a few cocktails/wine/drink.

If you don't want to go that far, then Fire Works has beer in Courthouse, or go downhill a bit to Cafe Asia or Domaso/Cityhouse in Rosslyn for a few.

[brr]

Curious - there is wine available at Ray's - do you just want a cocktail? If so, then head a bit further up to Clarendon to Eventide's lounge for a few cocktails/wine/drink.

If you don't want to go that far, then Fire Works has beer in Courthouse, or go downhill a bit to Cafe Asia or Domaso/Cityhouse in Rosslyn for a few.

Thanks

Sorry for any confusion. Definitely going to Courthouse Rays, and have never been to the new setup so didn;t know if pre dinner drinks at the bar were an option. Someone else suggested Fireworks as well

[goodeats]

Definitely going to Courthouse Rays, and have never been to the new setup so didn;t know if pre dinner drinks at the bar were an option.

Please note that there is no bar to saddle up to. I found this out the hard way (old brain playin' them tricks again) when I wanted to hang out with a wineglass one Sunday evening, and ended up pulling up a chair to a table and eating a meal (with said glass of wine, of course).