Ray’s

"[Their burger] just has that diner-y feel. It's on a potato roll which lends to a little bit of sweetness. It's perfect in its simplicity. The patty sticks right out of the bun. You know how when you're eating Lucky Charms and you're like, 'Oh, I gotta get through the crunchy stuff to get to the marshmallows?' With this, you get that beef in that first bite and by the end of it, you're so satisfied that you'll just eat whatever parts of like the bread are there. It soaks up all the juices at the bitter end too. So you get the beefy first bite and then you get the fatty, beefy, juicy potato bun-y sweet end. And they fully overcook it a little in a good way where the cheese is all just fully melted, covering every single crevice of the patty." - brennan carley

"Let's go to Ray's," said every single person on the Lower East Side at some point in the last two years. This place might look like your average faux-retro neighborhood dive (that isn't really a dive), but it's actually a small clubhouse where you pack yourself in next to others and drink a tequila soda. One of the owners was a cast member of Succession, and you'll probably see people trying to spot him. But it's not like you care. All you want to do is enjoy some whiskey and french fries under a framed picture of dogs playing pool. (Right?)" - Bryan Kim, Hannah Albertine

"At Ray’s, you can be in the presence of a disco ball, and if you’re lucky, you might see a celebrity, or at the very least, a micro-influencer. The faux dive bar has been one of the on the Lower East Side since it opened in 2019. And this second location in Greenpoint loses nothing in translation—it looks exactly the same. Claim a curved booth in the wood-paneled space, and then have some pre-dinner drinks next to a bust of Elvis, encased in glass. Or come after dinner near McCarren Park, and grab a seat at the bar. Someone who could be distantly related to Timothée Chalamet will make your espresso martini, and on your seventh sip you might work up the courage to make a name for yourself at the pool table. " - Willa Moore

"Ray’s looks like somewhere the main character in a 1980s movie would get into a bar fight. This fight would obviously involve at least one pool cue, and at the end, the protagonist would have a beer and attempt to treat a black eye with a raw steak. That’s the feeling we get when we see the jukebox, disco ball, red vinyl bar stools, and wood-paneled walls. Despite its appearance, Ray’s only opened a couple years ago, and, while there is a pool table, fighting is not allowed. It’s almost guaranteed to be busy here no matter when you come. Consider this fact to mean a higher likelihood of meeting someone you’ll introduce to your roommate too soon into your courtship." - hannah albertine, nikko duren

"The NYC equivalent of Cheers, Ray’s, nestled on a quiet corner in the Lower East Side and co-owned by Justin Theroux and Nicholas Braun, is the perfect place to order a beer and a shot and slink back into a booth for hours on end."