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


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Agreed on the oysters - very, very well done. The hangar steak with frites and salad at $16.99 is just an amazing value. Steak cooked perfectly and every bit as good as the fancier room down the road. Service, considering it was opening night, was fantastic. Can't wait to get back to try the catfish.

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I also tried the oysters and was very happy with the dish -- and with my first-ever helping of Ray's fried shrimp.

I like the concept and was thrilled to see Robert Bloch from Bobby's Crabcakes is consulting there.

Interesting. Any word on whether he influenced this version of the crab royale? I noticed the menu described it as "Fresh Jumbo Lump Crab, Lightly Seasoned and Broiled," where as Ray's the Steaks menu says, "Fresh Jumbo Lump Crab, Broiled and Finished with a Sherry-Shallot Butter." (Which also leads me to ask if that makes it any different from Ray's the Classics' "Jumbo Lump Crabmeat, Seasoned, Broiled and Finished with a Sherry-Shallot Beurre Blanc" or East River's "Over a Half-Pound of Pure, Fresh Jumbo Lump Crab Lightly Seasoned and Broiled.")

Say hi next time. :mellow:

It's possible I left before you arrived... I had the distinction of being in the first party seated in the dining room on opening day.

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Apropos of nothing here, my wife was wondering when Mr. Landrum was going to open a chicken fingers and grilled cheese place called "Ray's: The Kids." Plain buttered pasta for the wee ones, 32oz wine flights for the parents.

I have also posited the idea of some sort of Ray's onesie merchandise for our son. Mr. Landrum came up with a concept on the spot of an outfit with the Ray's Hellburger logo on the front and his face on the nether regions. How can we make this a reality?

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I have also posited the idea of some sort of Ray's onesie merchandise for our son. Mr. Landrum came up with a concept on the spot of an outfit with the Ray's Hellburger logo on the front and his face on the nether regions. How can we make this a reality?

I hope you mean the rear "nether regions". I am having trouble visualizing the humor otherwise.

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Ray's to the 3rd is inspired by Michael Landrum's admiration for Bistro du Coin. He calls it "a French bistro for people who don't speak French." Or who speak just enough to know what steak-frites means. There are thirteen variations of steak-frites from which to choose, from basic to luxurious, along with several other entree options. Very soon, the bare walls will be adorned with movie posters of old classic American films, in French. We had an extremely satisfying meal there last night (J&I and our daughter K, no-longer-a-vegetarian-nor-a-teenager, and her BF who drove up from Chapel Hill for the weekend) and had a chance to chat with an exuberant Michael, who is head over heels in love with his newest creation. Up until the last minute, apparently, it was going to be called Ray's Hellburger 3, which is what is printed on the top of the check and receipt. But he has taken some of the best menu ideas from his other ventures and serves them up in a casual, low-key and budget-friendly environment.

We ordered the cornmeal-crusted fried oysters, which were the best I've ever eaten, hot out of the fryer with a shattering thin crust and creamy, briny interior. You have to order these if you like fried oysters. The crab bisque was a delicious serving of crab-essenced cream, as always, though I remember there being more crabmeat in the last bowl I had, at RTS a while back. We also had tastes of the fried shrimp, which were perfectly cooked and flavorful, especially if you like a hint of iodine, which I do, and the steak tartar devilled eggs. J ordered the Memphis hot fried chicken and I ordered hanger steak frites, and we shared the proteins. First, these dishes are both crazy bargains. It's a teeny bit disconcerting to have a plate with two black hunks of chicken set in front of you. I mean, they looked burned beyond redemption, but they were delicious--not hugely spicy (although Michael promises to ramp up the heat in the future), a little bit salty, with juicy meat under the blackened crust. Both pieces were "airline cut" breasts--boneless breasts with a section of bone-in wing attached, which Michael says is necessary both for consistency and economy of cooking time. That's fine with me, because I prefer white meat, but J prefers dark, and was happy to swap his 2nd piece of chicken for half of my hanger steak. K, who never was a strict vegetarian when I made osso buco and she could cadge some marrow from our braised veal bones, ordered the hanger steak with roasted bone marrow. We all had a taste, and it was still almost more than she could finish. The hanger steaks were cooked perfectly, and just couldn't be any better than they are. The many sauces served deserve mention: the chicken came with a cilantro-jalapeño sauce and a tomato-based sauce, the hangers came with bearnaise, the appetizers had tartar, remoulade and cocktail sauces. And they were all excellent. The wine list is bare-bones, compared to the abbondanza that Mark Slater serves up at RTS, but we were happy with the Sean Minor 'Four Bears' pinot noir, a grapy slurpable choice that fits the bistro theme well. The service was friendly and attentive and we'd never have known they'd only been open for a few days, it was that smooth.

We were all stuffed, but managed to find room for a shared black-and-white milkshake for dessert. It was like sucking super-cold chocolate mousse through a straw. It was enjoyed by all, especially K's new BF, who is so obsessed with milkshakes that he sometimes is compelled to satisfy his craving at McDonald's. He proclaimed Ray's to the 3rd's version "fantastic!"

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Thumbs up on "Rays to the Third Power" (as the 8.5 x 11 signs taped to the windows actually claim as the name).

Sure, I'd love it if Michael Landrum had a website or made it easier to figure out the basics on a new spot. You know, no PR firm or anything (god forbid) but maybe announcing it more than 3 hours in advance? Maybe even just a placeholder page online with address, a phone number and hours? But, I know, that's just not how ML works. And that's okay. To each chef and restaurant owner his own. At the end of the day, we all favor spots that work for us based on whatever set of criteria. For me, this new Rays absolutely works. Hmmm, come to think of it, so do the other Rays but I digress.

We made it earlier this week and thought it an honest and delicious spot that fully delivers on what (I think?) it's supposed to be.

VENUE

Bare bones, man. But that's the drill. No real sign outside--just those funny sheets that look like they came off an adjacent office's copy machine at the last minute. Oh yeah, that's right. They probably did. Let's see, what else? There were tables, chairs, pretty big room. A bar toward the back. I'm struggling to say much more. There were some windows. Nothing really to highlight here at all but, again, I think that's all part of the point. It's a fairly large space, clean and basic. Keep costs down and put some damn good grub on plates at reasonable prices. Check. So, onward we go.

SERVICE

Actually very good. Our waiter was friendly, funny, answered some questions and didn't bluff answers for others. We didn't want for anything. A fine job.

FOOD

Totally delivered on all expectations. We enjoyed:

- a couple of different cuts of steaks (highbrow and lowbrow). Both were cooked perfectly, nicely seasoned, all around excellent just like at all the other Rays.

- Mac & Cheese (I always have to check this out) was solid. Not a standout but generous portion and I'd get it again. Pretty filling in its own right.

- Fried oysters. After being seriously tempted by the kazilion oysters on a po-boy roll (maybe it was actually a dozen oysters), we just got the appetizer. These are really good. Light but crispy corn meal breading perfect for the plump oysters. A highlight of the meal.

- Ray's "hell chicken." This is also really nice. A spicy version of the fried chicken. Comes with a dry rub which seemed as if it had been engineered to at least the third--if not the fourth--power in terms of nailing the perfect amount of heat. What's the "perfect amount of heat" given we all have different preferences? Damned if I know but, at our table, we had folks who claimed low or high tolerance to spice and all agreed the dry rub was i) spicy/hot, ii) not too hot but, for some, close and, for none, too little and iii) allowed the flavor of the juicy and flavorful chicken to come through fully. This is also served with two kinds of sauce (green and red, diablo or piranha maybe? something else? landshark?) some of us used to spice things up even a bit more to personal taste. Nice.

- Beers. Fairly limited on the draft selection. Think they had three on tap. We had two of them. Enjoyed 'em but could see a real beer-meister being a tad disappointed with the lineup given the nature of the food and it's perfect suitability to some good and interesting brews. Maybe Freddy's and Chris can join forces with Ray's TTT on beer? Random impractical idea.

VALUE

I didn't keep a receipt to report what this all cost us but I do know it wasn't much. Super value at Rays TTT (my new official acronym for a name too long and arduous to keep writing).

I don't know Michael Landrum but I totally appreciate what he's trying to do here and respect how he has done it. We'll absolutely be back.

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I didn't keep a receipt to report what this all cost us but I do know it wasn't much. Super value at Rays TTT (my new official acronym for a name too long and arduous to keep writing).

You could use the more accurate Rays^3 or Rays3. ;)

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Oyster po-boy? Please elaborate.

I believe they actually call it the "Oyster Not-So-Po' Boy" since it has this redonkulously rich remoulade sauce all over it. Very good. My only complaint - A bit TOO much bread that overwhelms the (very tasty) filling inside.

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- Ray's "hell chicken." This is also really nice. A spicy version of the fried chicken. Comes with a dry rub which seemed as if it had been engineered to at least the third--if not the fourth--power in terms of nailing the perfect amount of heat. What's the "perfect amount of heat" given we all have different preferences? Damned if I know but, at our table, we had folks who claimed low or high tolerance to spice and all agreed the dry rub was i) spicy/hot, ii) not too hot but, for some, close and, for none, too little and iii) allowed the flavor of the juicy and flavorful chicken to come through fully. This is also served with two kinds of sauce (green and red, diablo or piranha maybe? something else? landshark?) some of us used to spice things up even a bit more to personal taste. Nice.

I went here right after it opened and they didn't have this one on the menu yet. I ordered the regular fried chicken (which was very good) but kept thinking to myself, "I wish they had a spicy version". Guess I better go back and see how it is!

Now if someone can just convince them to serve the chicken with some waffles ...

- Beers. Fairly limited on the draft selection. Think they had three on tap. We had two of them. Enjoyed 'em but could see a real beer-meister being a tad disappointed with the lineup given the nature of the food and it's perfect suitability to some good and interesting brews. Maybe Freddy's and Chris can join forces with Ray's TTT on beer? Random impractical idea.

Yeah this was my biggest disappointment too. I'm a big beer person and the selection was pretty small and had a few boring choices on it too, as I recall. I'd love to see them get some more interesting stuff on bottle and on tap, they had a lot more stuff at The Classics when I went there and I was expecting something more like that.

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I believe they actually call it the "Oyster Not-So-Po' Boy" since it has this redonkulously rich remoulade sauce all over it. Very good. My only complaint - A bit TOO much bread that overwhelms the (very tasty) filling inside.

Didn't actually have it as durwoodx did. I do remember it being described as with a remoulade sauce. Also at least one other ingredient on the roll that I don't recall. As soon as our server said it had a dozen oysters on it, we tuned out a bit simply because we weren't hungry enough to attempt it. Next time. Oh, and the baguette on which it's served was described as coming from "a DC bakery" but nothing more specific than that.

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The new spot isn't listed yet but:

http://raysthesteaks.com/

Also:

http://donrockwell.com/index.php?showtopic=13054

(Also not updated yet)

:)

Very cool! Thanks leleboo. For some reason, I'd been told there was no ML website and it didn't come up easily on google but no doubt that was just operator error. I did a search for "de turd finger" though so can't understand what the problem was :D

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Very cool! Thanks leleboo. For some reason, I'd been told there was no ML website and it didn't come up easily on google but no doubt that was just operator error.

You were quite correct - Mr. Landrum did not have a proper website until quite recently; not operator error by any means. I think there is a post by Mr. Durwood (?) in the RTS thread about finally having an official website.

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I went here right after it opened and...

Hey! I've never "welcomed" someone to dr.com because I still feel like I'm pretty new at this but, what the hell?

Welcome, Koozebanian Fazoob! You'll have to come to one of the don rockwell events (picnic in a couple of weeks under Events? click here for more info) if only to tell the surely interesting story behind your handle :) I've only ever been to one but really enjoyed it and can vouch for what the organizers say: newcomers really, really welcome a lot (they say something just like that anyway; it's heartfelt).

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Very cool! Thanks leleboo. For some reason, I'd been told there was no ML website and it didn't come up easily on google but no doubt that was just operator error. I did a search for "de turd finger" though so can't understand what the problem was :D

You were quite correct - Mr. Landrum did not have a proper website until quite recently; not operator error by any means.

Yep, the website is new -- although if you google "Ray's the Steaks" it's result #2, and if you google "Rays the Steaks" (no apostrophe) it's result #1. More complicated if you're looking for Hell Burger (hyphen? one word? two?), and definitely a fail if you are looking for R^3 -- there's no link to ML's own website for the new spot -- with or without the apostrophe, you only get the news items, and, oddly, the link to the place page on foursquare. Heh.

It is a sign of too much procrastination on my part this morning that I'm researching this.

Hey! I've never "welcomed" someone to dr.com because I still feel like I'm pretty new at this but, what the hell?

Welcome, Koozebanian Fazoob! You'll have to come to one of the don rockwell events (picnic in a couple of weeks under Events? click here for more info) if only to tell the surely interesting story behind your handle :) I've only ever been to one but really enjoyed it and can vouch for what the organizers say: newcomers really, really welcome a lot (they say something just like that anyway; it's heartfelt).

Seconded!! :)

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Five hungry USAFA cadets after three rounds of the armed services chess tournament + one tired colonel serving as officer-in-charge/chaperon + one future AF wife who really finds little other reason to venture to virginia on a weekend that wmata decides to virtually shut down her rail service = table for 7 at 8 p.m. at R^3.

the waiter handled the request for separate checks -- and the fact that more than half the table wasn't drinking, on a saturday night -- with ease and aplomb. every steak was cooked as ordered, and pretty much the only hush that fell over the table all night occurred when the food arrived and each cadet took his first bite. i mean, yes, these kids have gotten used to dining in a facility that has to serve 4500 people in ten minutes and dishes up something that they actually lovingly referred to as "hamsters" (it's chicken, really, or chicken-esque at least), but i'm pretty sure that their appreciation of the steaks on offer -- and the one who had the cajun catfish offered everyone some cornbread, saying, "you guys, seriously, try this" -- went beyond mere comparisons to mitchell hall.

like i said, i'm too lazy and too district-centric to drag myself even as far as rosslyn on a regular basis, but damn if that hanger steak didn't provide a great cap to an already really good day.

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Hours? Days open?

Service begins at 5:30 pm, 5 on Sundays; opening for lunch starting this coming Tuesday. Appears to serve as late as the other places ("until at least 10" according to the website for RTS), so I'm also guessing at open nights being the same (i.e., every night); call for confirmation. Phone: 703-974-7171.

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Went last night for a quick early dinner. Rolled in around 6:30 and the place was pretty-much empty. I ordered the filet au poivre. My wife had the skillet fried chicken. We shared the fried oysters to start. As mentioned, the oysters are superb. We both enjoyed the cornmeal breading and the oysters were plump and great. The skillet fried chicken was excellent. Smoked, then fried, and served with cole slaw, a piece of cornbread and mac and cheese. The chicken was very juicy. My steak was great as always. It was served with fries (which seemed the same as the ones at Hell Burger) which were crisp and hot. It was also served with a small salad with a garlicy vinegrette dressing and a small piece of bread on the same plate as the fries and steak (which I didn't really get; why it was on the plate? and it was pretty lousy).

Overall, like Michael's other places, this was a winner. The price point is less than Rays, almost too cheap.

Oddities - No tea or iced tea - soda or water where the only non alcoholic options.

Oh, they now validate parking and will be open for lunch soon.

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On a hunch, I went to R^3 for lunch after reading on ArlNow.com that Hellburger II had closed. Sure enough, there on the lunch menu were Hellburgers - with a twist. The menu lists an 'All-American" burger made with the same mix of ground beef at Hellburger and cooked the way you like it. Included are many of the standard toppings we have all come to love, and each burger order comes with the pom frites that accompany the steaks at R^3 in the evening. The twist is you have the option of ordering one,two or three of of the 5 ounce hamburger pattys for your burger. Prices start at $6 for one patty up to $14 for a total of 15 ounces of ground beef goodness.

My wife and I each had a single patty, and it was perfection. Just the right amount of food for us, and just as well prepared - juicy and tender - as at Hellburger, with a properly sized bun for the patty and plenty of hot fries.

Also on the menu are fried chicken and hell chicken sandwiches, with a choice of fries or slaw as a side. There are also Oyster, Shrimp and Catfish "Not-So-Po'Boy" sandwiches listed, along with all of the beers, wines and milkshakes you find at dinner.

A great selection in a roomy space (mostly empty at 12:30 today) with food at an insanely good price point. The Michael Landrum empire justs keeps getting bigger and better!

TSchaad

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The twist is you have the option of ordering one,two or three of of the 5 ounce hamburger pattys for your burger. Prices start at $6 for one patty up to $14 for a total of 15 ounces of ground beef goodness.

Didn't Hell Burger Too serve the same 10 oz patties as the original? Are these now thin burgers, a la Five Guys?

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Hellburger II did serve the same 10 oz size for the standard meat blend. The other burger options (like the bison burger) seemed smaller. The change here is you can decide which size burger you want rather than accepting a one size fits all approach. I've seen some customers (not many) leaving with the portion of the burger they couldn't finish. This approach lets people like my wife order something they like in a portion size they can finish (thank you Michael).

And no - there is no way you could possibly confuse a single patty All American Burger at R^3 with a Five Guys burger.

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This isn't a 'professional' forum, it is a community of people enthusiastic about food. Sometimes we kid, occasionally we step over the line and Don has to pull us back. If Michael is cool with this particular header, I have no problem following along. I enjoy R^3 and this is where I go to tell others what I think about it.

TSchaad

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This isn't a 'professional' forum, it is a community of people enthusiastic about food. Sometimes we kid, occasionally we step over the line and Don has to pull us back. If Michael is cool with this particular header, I have no problem following along. I enjoy R^3 and this is where I go to tell others what I think about it.

TSchaad

I really enjoyed R3 (see upthread) and also happy to follow along. Might just gently suggest at least a subtitle to the thread with the actual name of the place though. Thinking of all those who come to this forum who aren't (yet) members or the possible majority of members for whom the title won't signify anything. You know, for anyone looking for "Ray's to the Third" in the list of threads or whatever.

Then again, for those that know to use google to search dr.com, if you type "donrockwell rays to the third" into a google search, up comes deterred finger straightaway :D

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It took me a while to get the title and yet, I don't quite get it (not uncommon for me here :D ) I'd like to see the real name as the main header and then maybe a nice little funny sumthin' sumthin'.

I'm afraid newcomers and those not familiar with the particular brand of humor bandied about here just might scratch their heads or worse, get frustrated not finding information on the new Ray's (and there has been a lot of great feedback that I know I'll use soon when ordering)

Thanks.

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The new place did get its own thread, which is why I assumed it had this title and subtitle. Well, it currently has its own thread <_<. Don has been reluctant to give each of the Ray's places its own dedicated thread because it doesn't fit with his organizational structure to do that. That's why East River and the Courthouse Steaks locations share a thread despite the different menus. Because of the different menus, Michael wanted them to have their own threads. This has been a issue of, uh, lively debate for some time.

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