Ray’s The Steaks East River
First off, let me apologize, no pictures on this one. I had the iPhone but was in a food frenzy and just didn’t remember to snap the pic. How did this happen do you ask? How could a blogger of food not post a pic about what he writes? Read on to find out!
My friend, Jon, called me a few nights ago and said simply “We’re going to dinner at Rays the Steaks”.
“No way!”, I said, “I’m not driving all the way down to Arlington from the Hill during the week. The traffic will kill us”.
“We’re not going to Arlington, we’re going down Benning road to the new location” Jon so smugly said.
Aghast! Could it be true? Could a quality steak house move just minutes from me? I quickly said yes and off we went to an adventure of food. What did we find? One hell of a good dinner!
We climbed into the Jeep Liberty, headed down H street, can’t wait for the construction to end, and crossed over the bridge into what Google Maps calls “Fort Dupont/Lower Central NE”. Never heard of it? Mostly because not much is there. It’s a poorer area of DC that honestly doesn’t have much to pull people in. Until now.
Once we found Dix street we pulled into the parking lot and headed inside. The restaurant had a nice big open space. We were greeted instantly and shown right to a table. There weren’t many other patrons but, hey, it just opened. The menu was pretty straightforward, steak, pulled pork, crab cake, pretty much what we expected. The beer list was, well, not so good. Budweiser, Heineken, and one specialty beer all in the bottle, nothing on draft. Oh and Michelob Ultra too. Fun times. I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting a blockbuster at this point. Location wasn’t great, tucked behind a shopping center and a little awkward to find, but there was parking which is nice for DC. Crappy beer menu but, again, they just opened.
The waiter, extremely nice, greeted us and told us about the specials. A sliced beef sandwich with choice of two sides for 12 bucks, which I ordered. Jon ordered the prime rib, 16 oz, for 20 bucks, and we sampled, well not sampled as we’ve had it many times before, the one good beer on the menu, Delirum.
Very soon after, like 10 minutes, the food arrived. First, let me say, both our eyes bulged as we saw the size of the prime rib. Ever see John Candy eat the big steak in The Great Outdoors? Was kinda like that. That beasty had to be 22oz+. My sliced beef sandwich oozed sauce and smelled of heaven.
We both dug in and after one bite we realized the enormity of what was happening. The sliced beef sandwich was dreamingly good. The sauce danced on my tastes buds and demanded I eat more. The slaw that came with was good too, and fit perfectly on top of the beef. How was the prime rib you ask? Cooked perfectly and perhaps the most tender meat I’ve had at a steak house in a long time. Jon said, and I quote, “This is one of the best steaks i’ve had in DC in a long time”. He was right.
Ok, so the french fries were eh, the beer menu was eh, maybe worse than eh, but this isn’t a frites and beer kinda place. The steak/meat? Ten out of ten stars. Really freakin good. Jon mentioned that the owner of Rays opened this store in a more impoverished neighborhood and hired only local folks to run it. Good move. Everyone that worked there was super nice and super on the ball. We didn’t wait for anything, though admittedly the place wasn’t that full.
So, if you want a nice solid steak head on over. The place isn’t so busy yet, which if you live off H street is a blessing, but the food is really really good. Super high quality local steak house only minutes across Benning road. The staff is very nice and the prices are dirt cheap for this good of a meal.
Oh and the enormity that I said earlier? That’s our waist line increasing as we’re sure to go back. Again. And again.
Ray’s The Steaks East River
Located at: 3905 Dix Street Northeast, Washington, DC 20019-1401
(202) 396-7297
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