Everyone loves Five Guy’s- and who can blame them? With real ground beef, never frozen, made to order burgers and unlimited free toppings, it’s hard to go wrong. They’re definitely a step up from your typical Mickey D’s.Ray’s Hell Burger is sorta like Five Guys, but UPGRADED (no Beyonce).
First, they get the prime beef used for their burgers from Ray’s the Steaks, their sister restaurant and grind all the meat on site several times a day. From there, you can choose your burger style (seared with peppercorn crust, brushed with a spicy chipotle marinade, etc), doneness/ temperature, and toppings (for no extra cost). Toppings include classic such as grilled onions as well as your classics jazzed up a bit such as cognac & sherry sautéed mushrooms.Now this place isn’t the cheapest but for a few bucks more than Five Guys, you can get some top quality ish! Your standard 10 oz burger with any of the toppings from the set list will cost you about $7 (no cheese). If you decide to add any of the specialty toppings such as seared foie gras with truffle oil or roasted bone marrow, you’ll be charged a few bucks more.
Like I mentioned earlier, cheese is an additional cost. Of course, they’ve got your typical Mozzarella, Munster, or Cheddar cheese, but if you really wanna go all out, this place offers specialty cheeses including Chimay a la Biere, Aged Danish Bleu and Imported Double Cream Brie.
If the endless choices and options make you dizzy, you can also order from a menu of burgers, all with nods to hip-hop artists, including the B.I.G. Poppa, the Fat Joe, and the Mack.
If you decide to check this place out, be prepared to make a get your hands dirty… any place that has rolls of paper towels at each table is sure to be a bit messy. The buns don’t hold the delectable, juicy patties very well and the bread tends to fall apart. Also, none of the hot, hell or heck sauce is very hot… at least not nearly as hot as I would like it to be.
Sides are great (but don’t expect any fries) and they feature a delicious draft root beer. Don’t expect to find a menu online (except here)- this place has no website… it doesn’t even have a sign outside.
If you do plan to venture out to Ray’s,
don’t forget to write down the address:
1713 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA 22209
