Ray’s Brick Oven and Grill Review

First Impression
John:  First I have to note that this review almost never happened because Tim was on his deathbed all week. Due to his illness, I’d say that about 80 percent of his five senses weren’t working – taste definitely being one of them. So we invited along Jon Copsey to be Tim’s eyes, ears, nose and mouth (apparently Tim’s sense of touch was still intact).

If a pizza place, an Italian restaurant and a classy bar had a kid, Ray’s would be it. The important thing to remember here is that not all Italian restaurants are pizza places (Olive Garden), not all pizza places are Italian Restaurants (Pizza Hut) and most of the time, pizza places and Italian restaurants are not classy bars. Somehow, Ray’s manages to be all three. Their bar boasts over 100 different kinds of vodka, so unless you’re Russian and you’ve tasted them all, you’ll probably find something you like.

The atmosphere is upbeat and the place was pleasantly crowded when we went. Our server was great too. In medieval times, Tim probably wouldn’t have even been allowed in the restaurant with his gout like symptoms, but Ray’s let him in and our server treated him like an equal.

Tim: It’s difficult to do a review when all you can think about is the nice warm comforter in your king size bed at home. But having been at Ray’s before I knew that they had a good combination of classy and casual and that the atmosphere would be easily enjoyed regardless of medical condition.

Entrée’s
John: This is going to be hard to believe, but I may have had the best chicken sandwich ever in the form of Ray’s Chicken Pesto Sandwich. The chicken is marinated in pesto, and then served with red peppers and provolone cheese on top. It was succulent, quite tasty and the peppers added a perfect panache. If I’m ever left on an island, I want an iPod, a toaster oven and this chicken sandwich. If this happened, I would be content for about 10 years or until my chicken sandwich was gone.

We also had the hanger steak kabob, which was interesting. I’ve never been blown away by kabobs and this one didn’t blow me away either. I felt like the vegetables could have been grilled a little more, and the steak was a tad undercooked because we ordered it medium, but I’ll let Sir Get Everyone Sick complain about that because I actually like my steak medium rare.

Finally, we tried the meat calzone. All husbands/fathers reading please heed my advice on the following: if your wife goes out of town (and with her, everyone’s hope for a home cooked meal), call Ray’s and order a calzone. They’re between $8.50 and $12.75 and they’re huge. By my estimation, they would feed two averaged sized kids plus yourself. You can get a variety of toppings, so no kids go unhappy and everyone wins, except of course mom because she doesn’t get to eat any of the scrumptiously gargantuan pizza dish.

Tim: I too thoroughly enjoyed the chicken sandwich. Everything Breech said, I gladly echo.

The kebob was the lowlight of the entrees, but the meat was tender (if undercooked) and there was a good variety of vegetables to go with it.

The calzone looked like it was a full-sized pizza just folded in half, stuffed with toppings and cut open in slits on the top to let the insides cook. There was no shortage of toppings and the accompanying marinara sauce provided enjoyable dipping.

Dessert
John: Since there were three of us, we went for the dessert trifecta, something Jared from Subway would never try. We ordered the tiramisu (my favorite), a piece of chocolate cake (Tim’s favorite) and an almond crusted cake (Copsey’s favorite) that our server called “underappreciated.”

Amyn the manager also told us that there was a secret way to eat the almond crusted cake that would make you appreciate the underappreciated dish even more. You had to eat every layer at once, rather than slicing through and eating each layer individually. I would go on my rant about what exactly underappreciated means, but Tim would just edit it out, so I won’t. Anyway, the tiramisu was perfect. It had a coffee and cocoa flavor that blended well with the cake taste on the bottom layer of the dish.

Tim: This is where my sinus-clouded taste buds apparently had all they could take for the day and waved the white flag. I took a few bites of everything but the only thing that really registered on my palate was the chocolate cake. I took a bite of everything then sat back as Copsey and Breech took turns accidentally stabbing each other’s hands in an effort to get at the remaining desserts. So they must have been good.

Ray’s Brick Oven and Grill Location:  880 Holcomb Bridge Rd Ste 100B Roswell (678) 639-7297 Price Range: $6 - $20.50

Final Impression
John: Ray’s really shocked me. I didn’t know what to expect from the Italian-pizza-bar-restaurant hybrid. I’ve found that in life and at restaurants, my final impression is usually correlated to what my expectations were going in. For Ray’s, I thought “Yay, we’re going to a pizza restaurant,” but I couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Ray’s, like a lot of the brunette, brown eyed girls I meet, is only a quarter Italian. And shockingly, the menu was so extensive at the ‘pizza’ restaurant that we didn’t even order pizza.

Because of their friendly prices, Ray’s is a place you can visit two to four times a month and not feel like you’re breaking the bank. As I was leaving, I kept thinking, “I wish I had a Ray’s closer to my house.” Ray must have been reading my mind because as of today, there is a new location 2.1 miles from my where I live.

Tim: It was so tempting for me to put Breech’s address right here after that last line, but I’ll restrain myself.