Blog Post 2

Ray's Pizza: A Stereotypical College Heaven?

We all know the stereotype, college students eat lots of pizza. But why shouldn’t they? It’s cheap, can feed multiple people and tastes delicious. The minute I set foot on the Georgia Tech campus I immediately decided to stake out the best pizza joint on campus, and I’m sure many of my fellow students had set similar goals as I. Aside from the usual suspects like Papa John’s, one of the earlier contenders was Ray’s New York Pizza, located in Technology Square just past the Barnes and Noble.

Immediately this restaurant showed promise, aside from the joy inspiring “buzzcard accepted here” sign, the restaurant contained many menu items which warranted inspection by tasting. In addition to staples such as pizza, pasta and calzone the menu contained less typical dishes like falafel and gyros. These extra menu options were original and exciting and I couldn’t wait to see if they were any good.

The answer however is sadly not very much at all. Though Ray’s surely deserves credit for offering more than just pizza, I had a bad experience some of their non-typical dishes. One example was with the falafel. On the menu the falafel looks like a very good deal, as you get three large falafels with pita bread and tahini sauce for only about three dollars. Sadly, however, the food is not good enough to make it worth getting at all. The falafels are overcooked and oddly colored, the pita bread is extremely chewy, and the tahini is a tasteless soup. I really wanted to try the gyros when I first walked in, but the failure with the falafel dish convinced me otherwise. The pasta dishes, or lack thereof, are also concerning. Aside from the staples spaghetti and lasagna the only other pasta dish offered was the fettuccine alfredo. I really would have liked to see a baked ziti or a penne alla vodka option. Despite the shortcomings with this part of the menu, the pizza and calzone went a long way towards making it up.

Every experience I have had ordering pizza and calzone at this place has been rewarded with incredible food. Pizzas there are clearly made with high quality ingredients, cheese which melts in your mouth, juicy meat toppings, and the best crust I have ever tasted. The spinach topping there, one that I am very picky about, is exceptional as well. The calzone here is on the same delicious level as the pizza, with generous amounts of cheese and toppings stuffing the inside and parmesan cheese on the outside coating the warm, delicious crust.

Even though the pizza and calzone is so good, the prices are actually reasonable when you take into consideration the portion size you are getting. Though the slices may seem expensive at first glance, a closer inspection would reveal that it is actually a very good deal. For instance, a plain slice is nearly 3 dollars, very pricey, but it is certainly large enough (much larger than regular a slice from a pie) to make up for it. I have always fancied myself as a big eater but I’d have to come with a real appetite to eat two slices. The most expensive slice, Ray’s deluxe, comes in at the high price of $4.25, but includes all the toppings from the Ray’s veggie deluxe and the Ray’s meat deluxe. Though may seem like a lot of money for a slice, it is so big and contains enough food for one slice alone to serve as a fulfilling meal. Spending $4.25 for a tasty, fulfilling meal is not bad at all.

Pies here follow pretty much the same guidelines as slices, though they are more expensive per volume on average than competitors, Ray’s pizzas seem to be richer and more filling than anything I’ve tried from other places. For example, a large 18 inch costs 16 dollars, but I could easily see it feeding four people. At just four dollars a share, this is probably a cheaper option than a place like Papa John’s where you would need to buy multiple pies to feed everyone. The cheese seems much denser, and the reasonably priced toppings actually go a long way towards filling you up. To test out if Ray’s pizza was really more filling than what I was used to I decided to see how much pizza I could eat in one sitting. I am used to easily being able to eat a medium two topping pizza from most places with no problems, but I was embarrassed when I attempted this at Ray’s. I got full before I even got halfway done and didn’t come close to finishing. I was introduced to one of the prerequisites for enjoying dining at Ray’s: make sure you have a fridge to put your leftovers, as they are too good to go to waste.

The remains of my unfinished pizza dissapeared soon after this picture was taken

Though it turned out that the pizza ends up being reasonably priced, Ray’s does one better with their calzones. For about nine dollars, you get more or less the amount of food in a medium pizza. That’s a lot of food. This is plenty enough food to share between two people, and if you take one on on your own you can stuff yourself and still have enough calzone left over for a snack later. There were however, two minor shortcomings with the calzones. First, there is no small size, so if a customer does not want to bring home any leftovers they are forced to buy a lot more than they need. The second is that all of the calzones except one come with pre-picked toppings. The only one where you pick your own is the most expensive, because it allows you to pick 5 toppings. When I choose this option I ended up picking toppings I didn’t really want just to get my money’s worth. Still, it is silly to complain too much about calzones at Ray’s, they are delicious, and for their size seem at least a couple dollars cheaper than you would think.

Many pizzerias go cheap with their interior dining facilities, but Ray’s has a generous indoor and outdoor seating. There is also a bar. The service is decent yet at times inattentive. One plus is that servers are constantly checking on you and seem happy to ask you for a free refill on your drink, but when I ordered a pizza once it came out with neither plates nor a pizza spatula. One time when I went there the fire alarm was blaring for about 20 minutes and the staff continued about like nothing was going on. When you asked they simply said there was no way to turn it off. In hindsight however when the alarm did go off me and my party were too engrossed in eating our calzone to even notice.

The place also does delivery and takeout, and while I haven’t had any experience with delivery I have been pleased with the takeout. I ordered a takeout calzone on a Friday night, arrived in 15 minutes and paid and left in about 3. Maybe I just got lucky, but that seemed very fast for me, especially on Friday.

I have eaten at many good pizza places but Ray’s has to be considered as one of the better ones. Though I would likely stay away from some of the other food options, but if you wanted pizza or calzone I would have to say this is the place for you. I would personally recommend the calzone, as it is one of the best tasting options on the menu and is also ridiculously cheap. In my opinion, great tasting inexpensive pizza and calzone couple the fact that buzzfunds are accepted equals an epic win.

Rating: ★★★☆☆