This one has been on the list for a few weeks after I read about the Chef/Owner, James Anderson, was a semi-finalist for the famous James Beard award. Ray Ray’s is a food truck operation that opened a sit down restaurant in Granville OH in April of this year. Granville is actually not too far from us so we took the doors off the Jeep and enjoyed a nice ride down 161 to Granville.

As soon as you pull into the parking lot, you get a pretty good idea what this place is all about, BBQ! While I think of pork and filling my belly with it, the kids instead think about what a cute pig this is. They obviously had to climb all over the statue and get their picture taken with “Malcolm”.

Malcolm

Time to head inside and see what this place has to offer. When we first walked in, we were a little confused about how the place operated to be honest. It operates more in a “fast food” style in that you order up front and then go find an open seat. There’s no wait staff or anything so when you run out of your drink, head on up to the counter and get another. The dining room was very large and there was also an outdoor eating area with many more tables.

There’s so much to choose from as you’ll see from their menu. So how can you possibly decide between all the different choices? That’s easy, you get them all! We decided to split the Sampler which offers almost all the different meat selections that they offer. Alex and Chloe didn’t want any sides, also known as “Threes” according to Ray Ray’s. I decided to get some baked beans just in case they changed their mind. Check out this spread!

First, I must give them credit for trying everything. The pork belly is obviously quite fatty but in the beginning, that was Alex’s favorite. Obviously when meat is cooked well, the more fat, the better flavor you get so it wasn’t surprising he liked the flavor, but Alex is definitely not one to enjoy pure fat. Neither of them like the cauliflower, and to be honest, neither did I.

My favorite meat is a close one between the pork belly and the brisket, with the brisket winning out, just barely. Alex and Chloe both decided that the turkey was their favorite. In fact, they liked it so much, they sent me up to get another order of it. While I was up there, after having another look at the cornbread pudding, I just had to try it so I got an order of that as well. I’m so glad I did, as that was the best cornbread pudding I’ve ever had. If you visit, be sure to get this as one of your sides.

You don’t find strawberry shortcake at many restaurants so when the kids saw this, they HAD to have it. I figured after all the food we had, they would split one but they both decided they wanted their own piece. And surprisingly they both ate the entire slice! I was secretly hoping to play cleanup on that one.

After Chloe finished her dessert, she was still waiting for me to finish my beer. She looked over and noticed a fly was trapped in a spider-web in the window. Being the protector of all living things, she decided to save the fly from the spider. She grabbed it out of the web and put it on the table, hoping it could then fly free. However, the fly’s wings were still stuck in the sticky web. So yes, she worked on freeing the fly’s wings by picking off the webbing. Hopefully the fly used its lifeline to the fullest and didn’t fly right back into that web!

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