Ray's the Steaks East River: Much more than steaks

The smoked fried chicken at Ray's the Steak's east river is nothing short of a miracle. For a few reasons...one is that the juicy, salty, smokey meat is perfectly fried and flavored. The 25 minutes sipping wine before it arrives (as they warn you) is well invested in the jalapeno cornbread.

Secondly, it costs me about $11 for an organic, free-range bird at the grocery. At Ray's it's $11.95 for half a bird plus a leg, a salad and two sides. How is this possible?

Lastly, and not least, is that this place is amazing-- and I mean it. It isn't a fancy place transplanted into a very different neighborhood from where it "belongs". This is a local place, with local people, local staff and (somehow) a local vibe. It's a family restaurant kind of like the places in NH I used to go as a kid -- but the food is really good, almost too good. We took my parents here and they loved it.

There are a few missteps- a turkey burger comes "dry" with none of the ordered toppings both times we got it. Another night, a steak ordered "blue" comes back medium, hardly pink (a new steak was out quickly when it mentioned it). The precision isn't similar to the Silver Spring and Arlington locations. Lastly, while their wine list is reasonable and excellent, they could use a decent micro brew on tap.

Did I mention I can get there in 12 minutes on back roads? I kept saying to my husband over and over that we could go here once a week, twice a week, why cook anymore!

Child-friendly? As I mentioned, it is welcoming and nice for children, although it is a quiet place so screams would have to be outside. No one seemed to mind our little one fussing. And all of the sides would be good choices for children.

For us, the best part is that Piglet loves it here, and Ray's openly welcomed our little one on a busy Friday night and there were even other babies there. He adores the ceiling fans, and if he ends up outside on an especially impatient night he can chat with the copious men and women in uniform. Oh, and there is even a baby friendly restroom. A family-friendly local place with amazing food in NE DC / PG County!!!

Not a surprise we have been here more than any other place since he was born.