Ray's Boathouse

Ray's Boathouse is a restaurant at Shilshole Bay on Seattle's Puget Sound shoreline, noted for its seafood and views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.[1][2][3] It has been listed as one of the city's top restaurants alongside The Herbfarm,[4] and appeared in 1,000 Places to See in the USA and Canada Before You Die.[5] It is listed as a destination for visitors by Moon Guides (Williams), Fodor's, Frommer's and others.[6][7][8][1]

Ray's in the 1970s

Originally opened in June, 1973 the venue had a refurbishment in 2013.[9]

In 1983, Ray's was one of four restaurants that began serving fresh Copper River salmon for the first time, and is credited with bringing awareness of local food to Seattle's fish consumers.[10][11][12] The restaurant also hosted the first restaurant introduction of commercially harvested Olympia oysters, in February 1983, heralding a "comeback" for the species, which had had a total harvest measured in hundreds of gallons a few years earlier.[13]

Prior to being the singer of the rock band Soundgarden, Chris Cornell was employed as a chef at the restaurant. [14]

In 2002, the restaurant was awarded in America's Classics category of the James Beard Foundation Awards.[15][16]

In 2004, then-executive chef Charles Ramseyer was recognized as one of the nation's most innovative fish chefs by Wine Spectator.[17]