The Big Ray Ray's original
$6.40Two quarter-pound patties, melted orange cheese, shredded lettuce, pickle, and the sauce Ray mixed in a bucket in 1987. Still the same bucket recipe.
The menu
What's on
Prices are the same at every counter. The recipes have not changed since Ray wrote them down, except the bun, which got better in 2009 and he grudgingly agreed.
The Burgers
Every one of them cooked to the same second, at every counter, in every town. Ray always said a burger should taste like the last good one you had.
The Foreman
$7.95Half a pound of chuck, smoked bacon, aged cheddar, crisp onion, and a slick of black pepper mayo on a toasted brioche bun.
Little Ray
$3.20The plain one. One patty, one slice of cheese, ketchup, mustard, two pickles. Ordered more than anything else on this menu.
The Double Shift Big appetite
$9.60Three patties, three slices of cheese, bacon, fried onions and a second bun through the middle to hold it together. Comes with a napkin count of four.
Garden Ray
$6.10Charred mushroom and barley patty, smoked tomato relish, lettuce, red onion. Cooked on its own plate, never the shared grill.
Ray Junior Meal Under 10s
$4.75Little Ray, small fries, apple slices and a drink, in a box with a paper crown on the lid.
Sides
Salted at the fryer, not at the counter. It matters, apparently.
Fries
$2.40Skin on, twice fried, salted within nine seconds of coming out of the oil.
Loaded Fries
$4.30Fries under cheese sauce, bacon crumb and pickled jalapeño.
Onion Rings
$3.10Six thick rings in a beer batter, with a pot of Ray sauce.
Slaw
$1.90Cabbage, carrot, cider vinegar, very little mayonnaise. Ray hated wet slaw.
Shakes & Drinks
The shake machine is checked twice a shift and it is always working.
Malt Shake
$3.80Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry or coffee, spun thick enough to bend a straw.
Fountain Soda
$1.80Free refills, all day, no need to ask anyone.
Filter Coffee
$1.60Brewed on the hour. The pot is changed on the hour whether or not it is empty.
Counter recommendation engine
The screen above the till suggests an item to you as you reach the front. It has your queue position, the time of day, the weather, what the person in front of you ordered and what is currently over-stocked in the walk-in.
Suggestions accepted, last quarter31.6%
Average basket lift when accepted+$1.85
Waste against forecast-42%
Crew do not choose what is suggested to you and cannot change it. If you would rather order something else, say so — the person at the till will put it through, and the screen will move on.
Allergens & nutrition
Full allergen sheets are printed at every counter and updated the same morning any supplier changes. Ask at the till. If it is not on the sheet, we will not guess.