Ray’s Grille & Tavern

This place isn’t bad at all. My husband, two kids (7m and 20m) went there with some friends after a meeting at the nearby FL Hospital. No one really knew the area and we pretty much just blindly picked a restaurant. My first thought walking in was «uh oh… this is a bar.» The restaurant is pretty dark and dingy and the bar is immediately to your left. The carpets and booths aren’t in the greatest shape either. I quickly asked one of the servers if they were kid friendly, and she assured me kids are fine.
The osyter bar wasn’t running (this was 4pm on a Thursday), so we just did the regular menu. I had the blackened tilapia with hush puppies and a caesar salad. Everything was delicious. A bit lacking on the dressing for the salad, but I’m one of those «I’ll have some salad with my dressing» people, so it’s probably just me. Our friends had the coconut shrimp (said it was great) and some type of salmon fish salad I think (also delicious). My husband had the blackened chicken with veggies, but didn’t like it. In their defense my husband is incredibly anal and picky and bases most of his opinions on aesthetics so I think the aforementioned dinginess threw him off.
The service wasn’t the best. I’m hoping she was just new but she kept having to go check to get answers to our questions. She didn’t even know the on-​tap beers or how certain things were prepared. The food was all correct, but the she did the «staring at you from a distance» to kind of rush us out of there. I’m thinking maybe she was about to get off.
Overall this wasn’t a bad place. It’s not somewhere I’d go out of my way to return to, but the food was pretty great. I think if they did some work on the appearance they’d get more business.

Great local flavor and very good Happy Hour!!!

I’ve been here before as oyster bar. My family and I went since its my husbands spot. We had the mozzarella sticks in where the cheese wasn’t melted all the way, the kids had Mac and cheese which is the usual for them. My husband had the oysters and wings they were good. I had a chicken with teriyaki glaze very good and fried shrimp good not to much breading. There was only one waitress on a Saturday night in where people started coming in. While my husband orders his pitcher of beer a roach appears on the wall of my booth in where my children were playing. Waitress takes note, while things were calming down another one appears and at that point I want to leave, they cut half my bill off cause they want us back. I AM NEVER GOING BACK!!! That is just gross and my whole freaking meal should’ve been free just know that when there is one there is more and it can also be where the food is at.

Having gone fairly early on a Sunday we were pretty much the only ones there. The waitress was pleasant and attentive. The appetisers came out fairly quickly but it did seem to take a bit before we got the entrées.
We got mozzarella sticks and gator fritters as appetisers. The mozzarella sticks were okay… not very flavourful. The gator fritters were pretty good but they had a strong peppery flavour on them that was a little overpowering at times. They came with a good side sauce.
For my entrée I had the grilled salmon with red potatoes and corn fritters.
The salmon and potatoes were bland and required salt. The salmon was very flakey and tender but looked more baked than grilled. After the addition of the salt it tasted quite good, however.
The corn fritters were tasty but they were very small and there were only six of them which was disappointing. If they’re going to be that small there should be more.
My brother goes here often for their cheap wing specials. I’ll probably go again to try their wings; otherwise I’m not in a rush to go back.

Remember Oyster Bar on Chickasaw? Well… ITS BACK! under new management and completely restored, and now called: Ray’s Grille & Tavern. It now has an actual oyster bar where you can sit on one of the bar stools and watch the guy flyin’ away as he shucks oysters like a pro.
They kept the same staff and food/​drink specials as they had before and it’s really worth it to stop by on Sundays where you can get 2 for 1 drinks (At very reasonable prices) all day and 69 cent oysters. Speaking of their oysters, they are always fresh and probably the best you’ll find in the area.
Friendly staff, good food and drinks, and a comfortable place to wind down; can’t ask for more.

Went here on a business trip to Florida. The food was very good. Their selection of wings was great, (I liked the sweet and spicy best). The homeade blue-​cheese dressing is perfect for dipping. Their newly opened oyster bar found fresh Louisiana oysters and we had some excellent oysters Rockefeller. All of the food was fresh and delicious.