Ray Ray’s Hog Pit

Found this gem on road trip coming home from Kentucky, and it was my favorite spot we visited. The food was so good I wish this truck was closer to us so i could visit it all the time.
My favorite was the Jerk Chicken. If you in the area it is a must go to.

Disclaimer: This review is only on the brisket!
I may have only tried the brisket, but I think it’s all you need to order. You’re welcome for making your decision that much easier! But seriously, it’s delicious. They meat is tender and their sweet sauce it full of flavor. You literally just walk to up the food truck and place your order. The food is ready in just a few minutes! The staff is super nice and you can tell that they love what they do. I can’t wait to go back to Columbus and get it again.
Based on my friends comments about their food: The sides are okay… If you’re going to get something, get the cheesy potatoes. They were sold of out mac n cheese when we came, so it might be a popular item.

Literally the BEST BBQ we’ve ever had! There is no better BBQ in town! We love the ribs and brisket. We’ve even chosen to get it tonight, Christmas Eve! The ribs fall off the bone and have great flavour, the brisket has a lovely smokey taste but is tender and moist. Definitely would recommend.

As a vegetarian I can say I was happy. The mac n cheese really is some of the best with wide haluski egg noodles kicked in for a nice chewy touch. The sauces are great and worth exploring. As a non meat eater but at least a complicit purchaser, it looked good, smelled good and had a lovely pink smoke ring. Located behind Ace of Cups, Ray Ray’s is a quick grab and go and smells so tempting on a cold afternoon!

Went to this place a few months back. I splurged on the whole rack and I think it was about $ 24 bucks. Which isn’t an issue, I expected to pay about that for a whole rack of baby back ribs.
The sauce was good but tbh it wasn’t in my humble opinion all it was cracked up to be by my friends. I got a side of the baked beans too, and they were AWESOME though! I highly recommend! I have heard the mac and cheese is great too, but unfortunately it wasn’t available the day that I went.
I’ll go back, it was tasty! Some of the best BBQ in Columbus that’s for sure. I think i could put this as a four star, but I’ve been spoiled by some Kansas City BBQ in Kansas City and now I’m jaded for life towards anything other than Joe’s. But if you haven’t been to Ray Ray’s, go. Its worth it.

So I was really excited to eat at Ray Ray’s! My sister made a list of places to eat in Columbus and this place was one of them.
We got to Ray Ray’s and there was a pretty long line which is a good thing. People really want this stuff! While we were waiting they ran out of brisket and mac and cheese. They already had been out of banana pudding. That was literally everything I wanted to get. (Basically I am going to have to come back).
The staff was really friendly and helpful. We got our smoked meat and bounced. We got home and devoured our meat assortment of the pulled pork, jerk chicken, and spare ribs. We also got some sauces such as the sweet barbecue, the vinaigrette, and jalapeño sauce. I highly recommend getting a assortment so you can dip and try all of them. My favorite was the vinaigrette! The jerk chicken was grilled to perfection and extremely moist. The sandwich comes with these pickled vegetables which really hit it out of the park for me. The spare ribs were also good. The pulled pork also had a nice smokey crispy charr on it. Yum Yum! Lastly we got the cheesy potatoes and collard greens. Get the cheesy potatoes!
Once again I didn’t get what I came here for but I still got a pleasureful meal in the end. If you love barbecue, it is a must go!

«What’s that smell? Oh god, it’s Saturday. Let’s get Ray Ray’s.»
That is the statement I make to my boyfriend pretty much every weekend when we drive down High Street. We follow the smell to the parking lot behind Ace of Cups. Park the car. Wait in line. Order brisket. Be happy.
Brisket is probably one of my all-​time favorite foods and the brisket here is really good. A few years ago, I had a bad experience here with dry pulled pork and brisket, but I think that was an off day. Every visit since has been consistent and delicious. The burnt ends on the brisket might be the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.
If the side dishes were better, I would probably bump up my rating to five stars. The mac and cheese is fantastic, but everything else is very forgettable.
For other dog owners out there — they will give your dog a bone if you bring them along!

HI this is one of the best BBQ places in town, I like another also so I can’t pick which one I like best I give them both four stars. This one does certainly have great food, I tasted the beef and ordered the pork sandwich. I think both were wonderful! Sides were good but you go there for the meat! I liked the truck based place too! I will go back every time I visit Columbus Oh.

Please don’t come here. I don’t want the lines to get longer and I don’t want them to run out of ribs until I can get there. Go to any of the other places around that are so clearly not in the same class. Oops, an errant endorsement. I can’t help myself. Long live Ray Ray’s.

I love food trucks, and I’m a big fan of the concept of a BBQ food truck that has a smoker behind it. We were in town for the Rolling Stones concert at OSU, and wanted a quick but quality dinner we could grab & eat in the hotel room before we left for the concert. Ray Ray’s met those requirements as it was less than 5min away from our hotel.
Service: service was very friendly, it was like ordering from an old friend. I like that.
Food: I ordered the brisket sandwich with a side of cheesy potatoes. Now, disclaimer… I’m a brisket snob. I don’t know why I consistently do this to myself, because it seems that no one outside of the state of Texas can properly smoke beef brisket, but still, I seek out even subpar brisket. I saw the brisket mentioned in a lot of Unilocal reviews & thought I should try it. This brisket was «ok.» It still retained quite a bit of juice (although I think they *might* be soaking it in the back, pre-​sliced, instead of sliced when ordered…). I think this would have been a «good’ish» brisket, if it had some bark on it. Where is the bark? My sandwich had one little tiny sliver on it… highly disappointing (& goes to support my soaking theory). The bun was a seeded hoagie roll, and I wish it had been something a bit more elevated than that… it should have been toasted on the inside at least. I got the sweet BBQ sauce on the side, and I liked that even their sweet sauce has some heat to it. The cheesy potatoes are more of an au gratin style, instead of hashbrown style, in case anyone was curious. I’m not normally a huge cheesy potato fan, but I liked these a lot. It tasted like they maybe mixed some dry rub seasoning into the potatoes? Whatever it was, I liked it.
Overall, this might be good for Columbus Ohio BBQ, but I was a bit disappointed for the BBQ quality in general. If we found ourselves in the area again & needed a quick, easy, non-​chain meal, we would probably return.

Food — If you’ve never been here, get 1 of everything. Get bulk meat, not the sandwiches. The bread from the sandwiches just masks the flavor of the meat.
Jerk chicken: juicy, flavorful, tender
Pulled Pork: probably the best pulled pork I’ve had when it’s topped with their sweet bbq sauce
Smoked Beef Brisket: wow this was fatty. the meat was good, flavorful, the crust could be a bit chewy, but there was 1 ounce of pure fat out of the 4oz I ordered…
Baby Back Ribs: really tough. the meat wasn’t falling off the bone like it should have. And there was waaayyy too much dry rub on it. I’ve had way better ribs from anywhere else.
Mac & Cheese: perfect amount of cheese. love the variety of noodles in it!
Get there right at noon to beat the worst lines. The prices are about average for barbecue places (like at Jazz & Rib Fest). Loved everything except the ribs and beef brisket. Definitely a step above other BBQ joints around Columbus, but not amazing. How do you mess up ribs and brisket like that?

You’re read it on Unilocal before, you’ll see it here again: Ray Ray’s is the best. This is my favorite food in Columbus, hands down.
Do you want tender, juicy beef brisket? Are you looking for smoky, moist pulled pork? Maybe you’re in the mood for perfect ribs? Ray Ray’s hits every meat note perfectly. From the moment you’re in smelling distance, instinctual salivary response takes over; the smoke is brilliant. You won’t be disappointed when food hits mouth either.
And that’s key: the meats are that good even without sauce. Of course, adding a lip-​smacking, finger-​licking sauce after the fact doesn’t hurt (in fact, it’s incredible). Factor in those killer sides (a great mac & cheese, perfect collard greens), and this becomes an ideal weekend destination.
Yes, Ray Ray’s is popular. Yes, you will wait in line if you hit the lunch rush. And yes, you will enjoy it anyway. The hype is real.

I love Ray Ray’s, and it’s probably the best BBQ you’re going to find around the greater Columbus area, but I can’t say it’s the best BBQ I’ve ever had. I’d probably give it a 4.5 star, but the sincerity and awesomeness of the guys running it definitely bump it up to a solid 5.
When I say 4.5 star, I’m really just judging the ribs, because that’s all I’ve had recently, although I did have the brisket back in the day when they were over in Mya’s (former) spot next to the convenience store, and I remember it being pretty tasty. Anyway, back to the ribs. This latest visit I was feeling pretty ambitious so I got a half rack of baby back ribs with Ray Ray’s dry rub and a half rack of the spare ribs with the spicy dry rub. I hadn’t had the dry rubs before, so I got an order of their sweet and habanero sauces on the side just in case.
When I got back to my house, I realized I may have over ordered, but I managed to slam it all down. The baby back ribs are definitely my favorite as far as the meat goes, but I like the spicy dry rub more. Overall though, I think the rubs could use a bit more flavor, and I ended up using a bit of the habanero and sweet sauces; both of which were very tasty.
When I was there around noon this past Sunday, there was a little bit of a line that moved fairly slowly. I’d say it was a good 15 – 20 minutes before I ordered, so be prepared to wait longer if the line has more than 10 – 15 people.
I will be back, because I really want to try the Jerk Chicken sandwich and try the brisket again, both of which look super tasty. You’ll be hard-​pressed to find good BBQ around Columbus, and most of Ohio for that matter, so it’s nice to have some guys really putting in the effort to pump out quality smoked meats.

Good, but not nearly the best I’ve ever had. Not even close. My walk-​away impression is «pretty good but really, really over-​hyped».
Given the long lines, I frankly expected it to be a little better.
The dry rub ribs were good, but dry. Sauces were good. Tenderloin was solid.
Cole slaw sucked — totally Gordon Food Service. Shame on you, Ray Ray.
Mac & cheese was only OK. Rubbery and not that flavorful. Needed salt and really didn’t taste much like cheese. Disappointing.
Collared Greens and baked beans were very good.
Banana pudding was Jello mix. Shame on you.
All in all, solidly deserving of 3 ½ stars but not even close to 5 stars.
But don’t believe the hype, or give too much credit to those long lines…

I met a few friends here for a UYE. What a perfect day: blue skies, light breeze, whiffs of smoked beef, the ultimate spring afternoon!
The few times I’ve been here before, I’ve always gotten their brisket. While it’s always been top notch, I decided to go out of my comfort zone. Stephen and I shared a full rack of baby back ribs, collard greens, and coleslaw. The gentleman in the window was fast and efficient with our order. They’ve got it down pat.
The ribs were super moist. Pink from the smoking. Perhaps next time, I would get them with light sauce, to taste the meat some more, but nothing bad about them at all! The greens were interesting. First time for collard greens — they have a tart/​tangy-​ness. Loved the coleslaw. Juicy.
I splurged and got the banana pudding — I wanted something sweet. I’ve always been a giant fan of the pudding/​wafers concoction. Haha, I love the fact that it’s «served in a ¼ pound deli container. The smooth texture, rich flavor? Um, I’ll take that to go anytime!

I’m giving this 4 stars for the atmosphere and the fact that it is in Ohio. However, I’m not sure Ray Ray’s would hold up against the competition in St. Louis, or other southern BBQ places. Having lived in St. Louis, I can attest to this.
Get here early! I got to Ray Ray’s at noon, right when it opened and there was already a line. It took 35 minutes to get through it, which actually isn’t too bad for BBQ on a weekend. The service is almost Jimmy John’s fast — once you order, they almost immediately hand you your food.
Get the brisket and pulled pork. It’s not the best I’ve had, but probably the best you’ll have around Columbus. They have a fenced in patio area behind Ace of Cups next to their food truck, so you can hang out with some friends and eat your meal. h

Ray Ray’s is tucked away near the Ace of Cups parking lot, near Hound Dog’s. I remember when this truck was parked in that food mart farther up High St, and I’ve been hooked ever since.
I’ve tried everything on their menu at least a half dozen times. When I’m in line, the choice is difficult because everything is of excellent quality. Brisket? Yes. Jerk chicken? Yes. Pork? Yes.
However, one dish stands out to me: their wings. I don’t think they offer them every day, but they are smoked and then deep-​fried, presumably outside the pearly gates because they are heavenly.
Go to Ray Ray’s and take your friends. It doesn’t really help to get there early because there is a constant line. Rainy days are good days with short (er) waits.