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Ray's Hell-Burger - Great Hamburgers at City Vista - Closed


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Is there a good time to hit Hell-Burgers? My dad and I made the pilgrimage from Rockville to give it a try on a Saturday afternoon and the place was packed. Or, since the burgers are now available at Ray's the Classics, should I go there instead?
I usually go right after I get off from work, getting there around 5:45-5:55. If there's a line, it's usually not more than two or three parties. Often they're busy deciding what they want, so if you know ahead of time you can just walk right up. :P
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I had a Dogcatcher last night, dripping rare and marrowy, and I don't care if the other 45% are the bodies of the Improprietor's enemies; it was damn tasty. And the potato puffs were quite handy for sopping up some of the stray bloody goodness.
I'm coming down this weekend - can't wait need marrow and potato puff mmmmmmmm
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I'll admit that I've never been there on a Saturday afternoon, but even when the line is to the door, it takes less than 10 minutes to get to the counter, and maybe 10 more for your burger.

The burger at RTC is the same patty, but not the same variety of toppings, and the atmosphere at RHB is certainly part of the charm. As are the root beer floats. :P

I definitely agree with all the above! However, the problem we had was finding a seat. Everybody was dawdling and there was nary a table to be found. But that's part of the package so I'm OK with that. :D

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I definitely agree with all the above! However, the problem we had was finding a seat. Everybody was dawdling and there was nary a table to be found.

That makes sense on a weekend - I'm used to weekday lunch trips where everyone is heading back to work, so there's not so much dawdling, and it's pretty easy to get a table even though the lines are long.

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I got my bike out of the basement on Saturday, dusted it off, pumped up the tires, and went for a quick jaunt - that ended up being 20 miles. I hadn't ridden it in over two years, ouch.

Needless to say when my cycling companion suggested Hellburger as we were finishing up, I pedaled faster, exhausted though I was.

Sweet, sweet reward. yikes.

I had the diablo with gruyere - I'm not sure what possessed me. Gruyere is one of my favorite cheeses, but it doesn't stand up to the diablo spice. It was still mega-yummy, the cheese was still a nice texture addition.

My standby is still the au poivre with something blue, although considering how much I love the Blue Devil at RTS, I might have to try diablo with blue next time I have earned a Hellburger.

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Via The Hill:

The Hill’s White House correspondent, Sam Youngman, informed us minutes ago that the president and vice president left the White House for their weekly lunch, and headed to Alexandria, Va. for lunch.

According to one Twitter user, President Obama and Vice President Biden are continuing in this administration’s affinity for cheeseburgers, dining at a burger joint in Virginia.

The Washington Times’s Amanda Carpenter tweeted Tuesday:

So Obama and Biden are eating at Ray’s Hell Burger. That’s a block from my house. But I’m at work. No fun!

(Not sure why they have it located in Alexandria...)

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What happened to all the post people had the other day. Looks like they got deleted.

Went to Ray's today for lunch and it was a zoo, but the crew was doing their best to help the situation. Passing out complementary fresh squeezed lemonade to the crowd waiting out the door and briefing all of the n00bs on the process helped the situation. However, it still took too long to get a burger and two of ours were slightly overcooked. Hopefully the crowds will die down to a more acceptable level in the next couple of weeks. I wonder how many burgers they sold today?

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I saw Dante Alighieri and Cyd Charisse ahead of me in line today. Dante used terza rima to order his burger medium rare with extra mushrooms and Cyd threw her leg over the counter as she translated the poet's request.

Post of the year so far!

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I went yesterday afternoon. The line was outside but they were controlling who went in based on table availability. The mob was actually handled very well and the quality was good as usual.

Of course, with the national media attention it is becoming harder to get a Ray's fix. The only logical solution is for Michael to open up a place in Centreville.

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My Mother's Day gift this year rocked my world: I split a burger with Vermont cheddar and mushrooms with my daughter, heretofore known as Veggie-teen. She has returned to the fold! And my husband, who normally refuses to stand on line to wait for anything, waited in the line outside WITHOUT COMPLAINING.

The food runner wished me a happy mother's day.

bliss.

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My Mother's Day gift this year rocked my world: I split a burger with Vermont cheddar and mushrooms with my daughter, heretofore known as Veggie-teen. She has returned to the fold! And my husband, who normally refuses to stand on line to wait for anything, waited in the line outside WITHOUT COMPLAINING.

The food runner wished me a happy mother's day.

bliss.

Dear Mr. Bourdain,

Bacon is no longer the "gateway protein".

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My Mother's Day gift this year rocked my world: I split a burger with Vermont cheddar and mushrooms with my daughter, heretofore known as Veggie-teen. She has returned to the fold!

The food runner wished me a happy mother's day.

bliss.

WoW! New slogan for the Hellburger "Will transform a comitted vegetarian to a meat eater." [ok, not exactly "will make the blind see" but a transformational experience nevertheless.]
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My Mother's Day gift this year rocked my world: I split a burger with Vermont cheddar and mushrooms with my daughter, heretofore known as Veggie-teen. She has returned to the fold! And my husband, who normally refuses to stand on line to wait for anything, waited in the line outside WITHOUT COMPLAINING.

The food runner wished me a happy mother's day.

bliss.

I have the same, my daughter rarely eats meat and never hamburgers UNLESS I take her to HB.
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WoW! New slogan for the Hellburger "Will transform a comitted vegetarian to a meat eater." [ok, not exactly "will make the blind see" but a transformational experience nevertheless.]
Um...it was Ray's the Steaks where I officially stopped being a vegetarian after 11+ years...I blame Tripewriter -- he just looked like he was enjoying his steak soooooooo much, how could I resist?!
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WoW! New slogan for the Hellburger "Will transform a comitted vegetarian to a meat eater." [ok, not exactly "will make the blind see" but a transformational experience nevertheless.]
Well, not quite. She's been eating fried chicken at Bojangles for a while. And she did eat some lamb meatballs at home a month ago. So it wasn't the Hellburger that effected the transformation. It's just the first time in years that I've seen her eat medium rare beef.
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Given the hype, I approached my maiden visit at lunch today prepared to be disappointed - sort of like hearing from everyone about what a great movie Sideways was and then finally seeing it and thinking THIS is what all the fuss was about? But oh my, this was no disappointment. This was a drippy mess of beefy goodness that was better than the $59 ribeye I had at Bourbon Steak the week before. Per the advice on the chain, I went simple to start - white cheddar, bacon, grilled onions and pickles. Next time I'll start branching out, but the bar has been set.

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I was there Sunday middle afternoon (about 3) and the line was to the right down to the end of the building. Given this I might have been shocked at what it was at 1pm lunch rush.

The crew handled it very well, like the professionals that they are. The line didn't talk as long as I thought (maybe 1/2 hour or so to get inside), once inside it was smooth too.

There was international media there (The BBC was doing a story), and even with all that - Great food was had by all. I think they ran out of the potato things, but a side of mac & cheese more than made up for it :D .

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Last summer I use to go Sundays ~4pm and there was barely any wait to order. I've had a craving for a Hell-burger the past month, but last week went to Palena to avoid the lines. I'm guessing lunchtime until closing it's slammed now.

Anyone visited post-POTUS, when the line isn't out the door?

Is there a window of opportunity, a magic time to visit? :D

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Last summer I use to go Sundays ~4pm and there was barely any wait to order. I've had a craving for a Hell-burger the past month, but last week went to Palena to avoid the lines. I'm guessing lunchtime until closing it's slammed now.

Anyone visited post-POTUS, when the line isn't out the door?

Is there a window of opportunity, a magic time to visit? :D

I went about 10 days ago... Friday evening about 1030pm.... no line :blink:

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Hearing all of these stories about the lines make me very happy that the butcher burgers are at RTC in Silver Spring, which is more convenient for me anyway......
Yes, but Ray's the Classics isn't open for lunch. :D I did see that Hell Burger now opens at 11am. I might try getting there as it opens today just to see what it's like.

(1/2 hour just to get inside? Seriously? There's no way I will be able to bring my kids until the crowds die down. It was hard enough trying to get a table as it was before. Maybe someday there will be a Hell Burger across the river.)

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Yes, but Ray's the Classics isn't open for lunch. :D I did see that Hell Burger now opens at 11am. I might try getting there as it opens today just to see what it's like.

(1/2 hour just to get inside? Seriously? There's no way I will be able to bring my kids until the crowds die down. It was hard enough trying to get a table as it was before. Maybe someday there will be a Hell Burger across the river.)

Seriously yes - We got in line at 2:30 and we were inside just after 3. We probably caught the end of lunch since it quieted down right after us. I wasn't going to wait, I offered Ray's the Classics for dinner not to wait in line but my daughter said "No we are waiting" (Thanks to the magic of blackberry, I can be entertained while waiting in line)
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This was the perfect afternoon to go to Ray's Hell Burger:

It was raining on and off.

Key Bridge was clogged (we took Chain Bridge).

We went after lunch and before dinner.

BHO was at 5 Guys. His visit to Ray's is now officially old hat.

The place was half empty. Lots of parking. Ray's the Catch is still a week or two away.

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We went Thursday night with friends. They have a new line policy -- if the line is a certain (undefined) length, you have to wait outside, which was actually much less irritating than we first thought it would be, and it made a huge difference in terms of the comfort level as we ate, so good choice. There's a $10 special -- cheeseburger, any side, and any drink -- great deal. The burger was OUTSTANDING! Much better than the last time we were there, and with the improvement in the seating/serving/noise/crowding, it was a far superior experience and made us decide to start going back here more often :-)

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Alas and alack, I may need to seek the safety of the arras.

Sadly, I must report that it does not appear that Ray's The Catch will be opening anytime soon (meaning probably not this summer). It's not all bad news, though, so don't kill me. Yet.

The increased demand at Hell-Burger from President Obama's visit shows no sign of tapering off--in fact, it continues to increase, week after week, incessantly and relentlessly. And despite every effort to increase efficiency, proficiency and quality, it has become impossible to maintain a satisfactory level of service and guest accommodation at 1713 Wilson alone. Not only have we been running the risk of alienating and failing our long-term clientele, we are constantly pushing up against our own breaking point, personnel-wise, production-wise and at the systems and physical plant levels.

This is a situation that requires top priority and an immediate solution.

Further, at this point it would be irresponsible and a real disservice to the guest were we to embark on a new endeavor while existing guests are not being served or accommodated as well as they deserve in the current operation, as long as an immediate solution is at hand.

Consequently, this week, perhaps as early as Woden's Day, we will be shifting our regular Hell-Burger service to 1725 Wilson Boulevard (the erstwhile location of Ray's The Steaks, and still-future location of Ray's The Catch) and 1713 Wilson will become The Hell Express, for take-out, overflow and ice cream, floats and (maybe) shakes. It will still be counter service at 1725 and no, there will not be beer or wine, and no, Jake, begging will not help. But there will be more and better-spaced seating and better bathroom access in addition to hopefully shorter lines.

What does this mean for the future of Ray's The Catch? Well, perhaps by the end of the summer the madness will die down (fat chance, I know, unless we decide to intentionally suck (as opposed to occasionally and unintentionally sucking now)) and the simple transition to Ray's The Catch will occur at 1725 early Fall. Or the madness will ever ensue, in which case Ray's The Catch will have to wait until a new location of Ray's Hell-Burger is opened, thus drawing off demand sufficiently to proceed with our previous plans--an event which is already in the works and in a most surprising location (for me at least).

It seems that once again I am foisted on my own petard, so feel free to have at me if you so please.

Michael, a quick question about the news that the current Hell-Burger site will become Hell Express, and the old RTS site will become Hell-Burger. Will Hell Express have any tables at all, or only takeout? I try to patronize as often as I can for take-out (I live two blocks away), but the crowds (and, to be honest, the unsurpassed rudeness of a small minority of your customers) have turned me off a few times. A dedicated take-out window would be well received, at least by me...

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1713 Wilson will become The Hell Express, for take-out, overflow and ice cream, floats and (maybe) shakes.
That's a good first draft of a name. We can do better:

Ray's Straight To Hellburger?

Go Out and Ray's Hellburger?

Takeaway Bag Outta Hell?

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Since the two Hellburger threads are closed, I'd like to suggest a name for the carryout here:

HELL TO GO

This is in honor of Michael's plan, when the old RTS was too crowded, to tell people that if they didn't want to wait, they could just GO TO HELL, whereupon he would point down to the other storefront.

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That's great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By the way, I absolutely applaud Michael for his passionate insistence on maintaining quality and the best service he can provide. To the point that he is delaying another restaurant opening rather than possibly sacrificing this.

Make it stop. Dear God, make it stop.

Dear M,

Done.

G.

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Visited Ray's Hell Burger Friday around 1pm. Busy but things went well - got a table before our order was ready and the bus staff was great about cleaning up from the last guest quickly. Burgers were awesome as usual (Big Poppa - only way to go!). Only feedback I have is our cashier/order taker. I greeted him with a 'how ya doin'" and got absolutely no response. Gave him a little look like, "hi, this is your friendly customer looking for some friendly service" and he shared, "I'm not really doing great". Lovely, thanks for sharing. Then he just halfway listened to our order, so we had to repeat several parts of it. Still got it wrong, with only one soda. While I don't need gregarious, basic civility is expected. Young man - work on your attitude. I work in a public service job - I have to be polite to my customers every day, you can too.

Maybe the recent expansion into 1725 Wilson caused a panicked hiring spree. But one little thing like that can ruin an otherwise amazing dining experience. Keep up the great work - we're headed to Ray's the Steaks next week!!

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Headed to RHB right after work last night - my first post-Obama visit. The door to the old location was closed, so we went to the old RTS space - that seems to be the main location now. It's strange to see the walls all painted for what was going to by Ray's the Catch!

At 5:50 when we arrived, there was no line and plenty of available tables. Even by the time we left there was barely a line and things were moving quickly. The parking lot is as much a clusterfuck as ever, but there was ample street parking on Quinn (it stops being permit-only at 5).

I got the burger with mushrooms, roasted peppers, cheddar, bacon, etc. I can't quite recall the name... something like Let's Get It On or Let's Make Out. The burgers are still the same high quality beefy goodness. The paddy seemed a little thinner than it used to be. This was good, as I'm a fan of a high char to interior juiciness ratio.

My two complaints were that the burger seemed a little under-salted and the bacon didn't seem as thick as it used to be.

Overall, I did not notice any significant change between pre- and post-Obama. Given all the new staff members brought on board, I gotta give kudos to Michael's quality control and training: they're still putting out a great product.

Also, I have no idea why I ordered a burger with roasted peppers. I hate sweet ingredients mixed with red meat. Completely overpowering to my sweet-aversive tastebuds. Yes, I'm not a fan of sweet things. Does that mean I have no soul?

Gonna try and convince the Mrs. to head back there next week...

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We stopped by Hell burger (new location) for an early dinner on Sunday. I was surprised at how packed it was at 5-6pm. We were a little concerned about getting a seat but one opened up after we ordered...even found a highchair. We ordered 2 burgers, 2 orders of potato puffs and 1 order of mac & cheese for the little one. The wait for the food seemed long and the little one was getting fidgety (she's almost 2yr). I think the noise was making her uncomfortable too. As soon as we stepped inside she wanted to be picked up...too many people and too much noise. But we managed to keep her calm enough until the food finally arrived. She devoured the mac & cheese and the orange slices that came with the burgers. I was pleasantly surprised that she liked the mac & cheese since it boasted about 7 cheeses...I thought it might be too fancy for her. The one bite I got was very creamy and I can see why she liked it. The burgers were fantastic although we ordered both “recommended” and I think mine was more rare than Pete’s. This is the only place I’ll eat a burger that rare. It was good. I don’t think I will get blackened again but I enjoyed it as a change of pace. I can't believe how full I was for the rest of the night.

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I've had bad luck recently with overcooked burgers. Wednesday evening I ordered four Ray's Hell-Burgers (at the new location), recommended, with Vermont cheddar and bacon, and all four came out medium-well. People need to fully understand just how much demand has increased here since President Obama's visit - at around 8:30, there was still a line, and the burgers took an unacceptably long time to arrive. Over $36 - cash only. For me? Not worth it right now, and I'll wait to see how things change once the new operation gets up-and-running (I assume with two locations going at once, the waits will decrease significantly). Was it wrong of me to eat two of them?

Cheers,

Rocks.

Indeed. Now is the perfect time to dig in to the superior and delectable burgers at Palena, Central, and, possibly my new favorite, Vidalia.

Actually, for those keeping score, the demand increased by (only) about 25% in the immediate aftermath of President Obama's visit--but previously we were already operating at three times the level for which the space was designed and can reasonably accommodate. Now we are managing at four times that level. Expanding to the old Ray's The Steaks location hasn't really helped--kinda like adding a new lane on the Beltway, traffic just gets busier. (Now that I mention it, I am getting to feel a little bit like Monsieur Hulot).

Another great idea is to fire up the Weber, pulse some 50-50 Chuck-Sirloin blend in the Cuisinart, and then spend the time waiting sipping on some Rolling Rocks.

Edited to add better link

Edited to add an even better one

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Took a couple of friends from out of town to Hell-Burger for lunch around 1pm on Monday, and was surprised to find that the old Ray's space was closed once again. They were still using the outdoor tables there though. Amazingly it wasn't too crowded, and we were able to get a table with little difficulty. Our order got a little mixed up, but everything came out tasting great as always.

Does this mean that ML has changed his mind and is moving forward again on RTC?

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Took a couple of friends from out of town to Hell-Burger for lunch around 1pm on Monday, and was surprised to find that the old Ray's space was closed once again. They were still using the outdoor tables there though. Amazingly it wasn't too crowded, and we were able to get a table with little difficulty. Our order got a little mixed up, but everything came out tasting great as always.

Does this mean that ML has changed his mind and is moving forward again on RTC?

You are assuming I have a mind.

Maintenance, repairs, equipment installation at 1725 Wilson Monday and Tuesday.

It is impossible to describe how beat up we get everyday just trying to keep up with the crowds. That "not too crowded" Monday (the Monday after a holiday weekend)? Ohh, 600 people.

On any given day, at different times throughout the day, we may be serving at 1713, 1725 or both, depending on the day, time, and cleaning and prep schedules.

As far as the Catch goes, it is impossible to make any plans--for anything--at all right now due to the ongoing insanity. Impending reviews don't help matters at all (in fact, have once again forced me to cancel whatever little time off I was planning to take this summer)--especially since based on his questions, I am sure that Tom Sietsema is going to bring up that whole fallacious "time limit" thing that his little network of spies and the chronically aggrieved love to bitch to him about, thereby encouraging people to come poke the bears. Of course, they are always so shocked when they find out that this bear has learned how to pick the lock on his cage. It's always so funny how bullies turn into the biggest cry babies, and liars, when denied their right to threaten and bully. You'd think that Tom would know that by now before he give credence to their whinging.

It's enough to make me want to put on some moose antlers and head up to Wasilla. Or to set up a web site and change from Invision 2.0 to Invision 3.0. Arrrgh.

I'd really hate to have to stop taking reservations again.

By the way, glad the Hell-Burgers didn't suck.

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Now is the perfect time to dig in to the superior and delectable burgers at Palena, Central, and, possibly my new favorite, Vidalia.

I want to comment on how nice it was of Michael to promote some of his competitors' burgers, rather than just directing people to Ray's The Classic's for Hell-Burgers. I had one at the bar at Ray's The Classics the Thursday before July 4, and it was perfectly cooked -- pink in the middle, juicy, flavorful. Plus we we were able to be seated right away, and the food was served very promptly. Plus, they serve wine. Plus, the bartender was friendly and attentive. Plus, the AFI Silver Theater is right across the street. (They sometimes show Jacques Tati movies). The only negative is that RTC doesn't offer the full gamut of cheese options.

PS "RTC" = Ray's the Classics and Ray's the Catch -- it's a litle confusing. Maybe RTCL and RTCA?

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You are assuming I have a mind.

Maintenance, repairs, equipment installation at 1725 Wilson Monday and Tuesday.

It is impossible to describe how beat up we get everyday just trying to keep up with the crowds. That "not too crowded" Monday (the Monday after a holiday weekend)? Ohh, 600 people.

On any given day, at different times throughout the day, we may be serving at 1713, 1725 or both, depending on the day, time, and cleaning and prep schedules.

As far as the Catch goes, it is impossible to make any plans--for anything--at all right now due to the ongoing insanity. Impending reviews don't help matters at all (in fact, have once again forced me to cancel whatever little time off I was planning to take this summer)--especially since based on his questions, I am sure that Tom Sietsema is going to bring up that whole fallacious "time limit" thing that his little network of spies and the chronically aggrieved love to bitch to him about, thereby encouraging people to come poke the bears. Of course, they are always so shocked when they find out that this bear has learned how to pick the lock on his cage. It's always so funny how bullies turn into the biggest cry babies, and liars, when denied their right to threaten and bully. You'd think that Tom would know that by now before he give credence to their whinging.

It's enough to make me want to put on some moose antlers and head up to Wasilla. Or to set up a web site and change from Invision 2.0 to Invision 3.0. Arrrgh.

I'd really hate to have to stop taking reservations again.

By the way, glad the Hell-Burgers didn't suck.

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It's sad when someone works their butt off to give people a great meal at a terriffic price, and some people decide they have to complain that they weren't allowed to lounge around after the meal like they can at Ruth Chris. If you want to sit around for a half hour bloviating after you finish eating, go somewhere else. That will just leave more seats available for people like us who realize how good they have it at Ray's.

TSchaad

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