Ray’s Seafood & Lobster

Weak. It was all weak. Got clam chowder, garden salad, cheeseburger and whole fried clam dinner. Bland. Clam chowder tasted more like creamed corn with a couple clam bits. Clams didn’t taste very fresh. Bun was stale.

Good food/​HORRIFIC service. Just horrific.
I am in Rye with a couple of friends for Memorial Day Weekend. We pulled into town late last night and noticed they closed at 9. We called in on the way to Rye hoping to just quickly run in and pick up the food. We walk in and stand by the register where tons of people are working in the kitchen and walking in and out. We stood there for a SOLID 10 minutes and nobody said not one word to us. Not one word! One older woman stood at the register with her head down practically the entire time and didn’t utter a peep. It was not too busy in there and all that would have been necessary is for someone (ANYONE) to say they would be with us shortly. Nope. Finally a hostess came and asked if we had been helped. I said not as yet and that we were here to pick up food we ordered. She went around the register and got our food and handed it to me. As she is handing me the food a young girl comes running from behind the register reaching her arms out saying WAIT… insinuating that we had not paid for the food. Mind you… we were not walking or out or looking as though we were attempting to leave. I handed her my card and said «Yes, that is why we are still standing here.» We order 72 dollars worth of food and they deserved not one penny of my money. If you don’t have to go here DONT. Awful customer service. I hope the owners see this review. I am not from here but it looks like this is a norm for this place. Also, the fries are frozen. The lobster was good but overall it is just way over priced and poor service. Just avoid this place as much as you can.

Great food, great service, great view! Price was fine too! Just don’t settle for a crappy view if anther table is obviously open or just needs to be cleared off. Speak up and you’ll get a better table! Enjoy!

Just went in to have a birthday dinner based on the fact that the website says they are open until 9PM. A server promptly made sure she told us that they were closed. Ok Petey’s here we come… be happy to give you our business. I wonder if the owner would approve of the early close. Probably not… just walked in to Petey’s right down the street and it is packed with happy people!

Just meh. Ordered fish & chips, came with crinkle cut fries which was kind of odd. The breaking on the fish (haddock) was kinda blah as well. My dad enjoyed his 1 ¼lb lobster.

Loved this place. Arrived early so parking and seating wasn’t a problem as earlier reviews have noted. We had the seafood platter and twin lobsters. Everything was cooked perfectly, super fresh and delicious. Platter wasn’t overly greasy; lobster was sweet. Service was fine, but I see how it might be an issue when really busy. I would definitely go back and recommend it for people that want a casual laid-​back atmosphere with quality seafood.

Stopped in today and the place didn’t look too busy. I waited where there was staff not acknowledging me. No eye contact with their heads down. I man came downstairs and walked right by me. I spoke out to the back of his head. Where do I order something to go? He turned and said right here when somebody eventually gets to you. Rude! Would never go back!

We stopped by on a whim while touring the seacoast and were very happy we did. I had the Red Sangria — nice, but I prefer a little more fruit flavor. The Clam Chowder was excellent. We also shared a Fried Seafood Platter — Haddock, clams, shrimp, and scallops with fries. Excellently cooked — the seafood was still juicy and the fries were crisp. Plenty of food — we left full.
It is not a fancy restaurant — the placemats are the menus, Styrofoam cups for soup, paper plates for food, but real silverware and glassware. We sat downstairs — I wish we had requested upstairs — the only view was traffic and the sea wall.
The service was excellent — quick and very friendly. She checked on us a number of times to make sure we were happy with what we ordered.
Overall, a good meal. Good food and great service. We would definitely go back.

OK. This is a GREAT dive of a place. This place is a place to come for lobster or other seafood at a great price. No B.S., no pretense, just good fresh food, good beer and drinks with a great view of the ocean right across the street from their second floor inside or outside dining. We came for lunch on Sept. 25^th, and I had twin 1.25 lobster for $ 24. I had great lobster chowder with whole claw pieces in it. Yes, the soup comes in styrofoam, but you wouldn’t get any better if it were poured from a silver pitcher into your pre-​heated bowl at your table by a guy in a white waiter’s jacket. You’ll sit at wooden tables, there is a pop-​up napkin dispenser on each table. You’ll get your lobster in a styrofoam take out box … you have to ask for a glass for your beer … but you’ll love it unless you need the pretense.

Well beyond the hustle and bustle of Hampton center you will find Ray’s tucked away along Ocean Boulevard in Rye. After passing by beautiful ocean views and majestic, waterfront homes the little blue seafood shack appears. My family has been dining at Ray’s since I was a child and I can even remember the original restaurant which was destroyed by fire many years ago. The resurrection of Ray’s post-​fire rendered a much more casual dining experience, yet the delicious food remained the same.
Ray’s has some pretty good fried seafood, but the dining experience as a whole is really not worth more than three stars. There are two levels of dining area and I highly recommend requesting a seat on the second floor. There are much better ocean views and I feel the upper dining room is a bit more spacious. A cozy bar is also located on the second floor to the rear of the building overlooking the marsh.
My parents and I all ordered fish and chips on our visit to Ray’s yesterday. As always it was excellent. On past visits I have tried their fried clams, scallops, and calamari — all are equally as good. I have yet to try the baked dinners since a visit to Ray’s is my opportunity to splurge. Their fish chowder is very good and I like the addition of corn which gives it a slightly sweet flavor. Their fries are crinkle cut which makes them a little more special than most ordinary fries. Ray’s is casual so expect paper plates and plastic utensils. This is no frills, beachfront dining at its best.
We had an excellent server yesterday named Emily. She was sweet, helpful, and very attentive. HOWEVER, despite our delicious food and wonderful server, yesterday’s dining experience was not perfect. Service was a bit slow and I have noticed this on past visits as well. We had an odd greeting by the hostess. The front lobby area is small and upon entering yesterday many people stood tightly packed as they requested tables. My dad was left stuck holding the door open with no room to move from the doorway. The hostess muttered in a somewhat less than tactful manner to please close the door as we were letting the air conditioning out. I’m sure a minute or two of the open door was not going to greatly affect the indoor temperature and my dad quite honestly had little room to move. A more preferable approach would have been to welcome my dad into the restaurant and find him a place to stand so he would not be stuck in the doorway. Once seated I noticed a window in the dining room was open as well so one way or another that precious air conditioning was escaping.
The food always brings us back and has for over thirty years. I recommend a stop at Ray’s when in Rye. Just be sure to close the door behind you.

Clam chowder is ON POINT! Great, friendly staff with an excellent range of fresh seafood options with a twist! Awesome place to go to!

Have stopped here a couple of times on my say to Maine. Good seafood at affordable prices. Had the mixed fried seafood dinner, along with seafood chowder, and both were very good. You also get a bonus in that the restaurant has a great view of the ocean.

Would give it less stars if possible. Went to the takeout window and no one would take my order. They kept closing the sliding glass window in my face and would not make eye contact. Literally the worst customer service I have ever seen.

Yes the location is nice, great views & all. But we won’t be back for the food. Clam chowder was lukewarm & very thin, sent it back. The clam fritters were bread only, no clams to be found. The special of the day was good: crab stuffed haddock with lobster sauce, but for $ 19 you’d expect it to be good! Overpriced, run down in a nice location.

Steamers were awesome! The wife had the seafood chowder and I had the lobster chowder (the potatoes) were not cooked but the chowder was worthy. Ate in the Bah area it was freezing ! The AC defiantly works!

Definitely remember it being better over the last few years. Used to have lobster chowder but got rid of it. They will charge you two dollars to share a plate regardless of price. Not good when you spend $ 30 on a plate. Took a while for our drinks. Great location right on water. Food was okay. Again just feel like it’s deteriorated

Love Ray’s. It a right on the water with a lovely view. they catch their own lobster and everything tastes like they caught it that morning and they very well may have! Make a trip to Ray’s. Its worth it!

the food was great but way overpriced… and REALLY, they charged us $ 2.00 for an extra CARDBOARD plate! how cheap. We won’t be back.

Food was fantastic, but some of the dinner meals were overpriced. Seafood chowder was some of the best I have had. One of my kids who doesn’t eat seafood said that even the basic cheeseburger was really good. Fried scallops were cooked perfectly and very flavorful.

I stopped here for lunch on my way to Portsmouth, NH recently. Craving seafood and after doing some Unilocal research Ray’s seemed to fit the bill. Pulling into the gravel parking lot, my first impression was that it was a charming ramshackle restaurant with a view of the ocean as well as indoor and outdoor seating.
After sitting our server promptly came over, took our drink order and told us the specials of the day. There are no beers on draft but they do have a variety of micro brews. I ordered a blueberry ale from a brewery out of Bar Harbor, ME which was light and refreshing as I pursed the menu.
The prices were a bit high but in considering the location we were in — it was not out of the ordinary. However here is where my experience turned from good to just MEH (and disappointing). I was going to order an appetizer of the clam and crab cakes to split with my dining companion– so I asked if they were freshly made. I mean — it’s a seafood restaurant on the shore, should there be any reason why it’s not. Alas we were told that they were frozen. What!!! Frozen!!!
Sorry but any seafood restaurant located literally steps from the ocean should not in good conscience sell clam and crab cakes that are not fresh — that should not be acceptable! I do give credit to our server for at least being honest and telling us the truth.
We did order them but they tasted frozen and no amount of tarter sauce could mask that. After finding out that our appetizers were previously frozen, I can only hope that my grilled fish sandwich (which was really good, moist and perfectly seasoned) was also. However, I don’t have high hopes that this was the case.