Ray Ray’s Wing Shack

CLOSED — Owner posted on Facebook the wing shack is closed. Wings will be back for special events such as Super Bowl and Father’s Day. :(

Really enjoyed the dry rub. Some of the best wings I’ve had in Columbus

Best wings ever! But what else do you expect from Ray Rays Hog Pit?! They offer great flavors and the wings are perfectly smoked! The wing shack is in the back of Ace of Cups. There is a great patio area set up — so place your order, grab a drink, and get messy! Sides are simple — usually waffle fries (get them extra crispy) but sometimes specials are available. Prices are extremely reasonable.

These are the best wings we’ve had in Columbus thus far, I think. They come in two ways — rubs and sauces. I’d say they all skew toward spicy, which is just fine with me.
I’ve been several times now and it’s never taken more than 5 minutes for an order to come up. You can buy them in 1 and 2 pound increments (7 – 10 wings per pound, I think) and they also have a Sunday special of 40 wings for $ 25.
My recommendation is to get one of the rubs and the sauce on the side — best of both worlds!

One thing I realized during my stint on the east coast is that I really lub me some dry rub wings. I mean, think about it: why drench something in sauce after it’s been fried? Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of frying it in the first place (assuming you’re looking for crunch, not heart disease). Over there, dry rubs are predominantly Old Bay based rubs – compared to that, the two Ray Ray’s rubs I tried were pretty sweet. As someone else mentioned, their house rub tastes remarkably similar to the seasoning you’d find on a BBQ potato chip. Personally, I enjoyed the Jerk more (couldn’t rationalize ordering 3 lbs of chicken wings, so didn’t get a chance to try the Habanero).
The good news is that regardless of whichever rub or sauce you decide upon, the smoke flavor comes right through – you’ll notice it in that moment right before you take a bite. The only drawback is that at $ 8 for 1 lbs, you’re looking at around $ 1 per wing, which is pretty steep – not quite cheap enough to justify religious patronage.

Delicious. I’m a big fan of Ray Ray’s BBQ truck, so this is a more amazing option because it’s available all week. The wings are amazing. I’ve had them sauced and with the house shake and sauce on the side, and that’s the way I suggest.
These wings taste like a cross between bacon and ribs covered in the dust from BBQ potato chips, except more delicious. Can’t wait to go back.
Also, the plantains are kind of boss too.

Tasty Food all around
Lunchtime and was feeling adventurous. Decided to check out Ray Ray’s for some wings. One thing that struck me immediately was the lack of flavor options. There were only 3 sauces and 3 rubs listed, with another sauce explained to me. The attendant was gracious enough to allow me to try every sauce/​rub I was curious about. Ordered up some sweet bbq wings along with waffle fries and plantains. Not long after everything was out. The fries were very well executed, wonderful seasoning. The wings aren’t breaded so it is just sauce and chicken. I’m usually more for breaded wings but these were actually delightful this way and the sauce stayed put (i notice sometimes nonbreaded wings can’t hold the sauce as well). The plantains added a sweet to satisfy the rest of my taste buds. Not the best wings in town, but darn good.

Oh, man.
After doing wings as a periodic special, the Ray Rays’ team have made a permanent operation attached to the back of Ace of Cups, and it is awesome. Order by the pound, get some fries (I had them «fully loaded» with sauce, cheese, and diced jalapenos), or perhaps go for the plantains, complete with dipping sauce.
I got my wings with the house rub, and split them between the habanero likker and sriracha BBQ sauces. The habanero was brilliant — spicy, but fruity, and with tons of flavor. You know there’s a kick to it, but it’s so much more than just heat.
Even better, you can order and then walk into AoC if you’re not in the mood to sit outside. What goes better with wings than a nice cold brew?

I’ve been back three times in two weeks. ’nuff said

Skip the trunk line (even though it is worth the wait) and get some wings. The newest edition to the Ray Rays menu features 1 pound or 2 pound wing baskets with a variety of flavors that please. I had a Pound of wings (don’t be intimidated by the size between two people it was perfect) and a generous portion of waffle fries with nice seasoning. Fried to perfection these fries made me do a double take and almost came to blows over the last morsel! Do yourself a favor and try some today!
The ribs and sandwiches are so amazing it feels bad to rate them. The Unilocal Rating only goes up to 5 stars but that will only tell you half the story. They are the best BBQ in central Ohio and if you think I’m just pulling your ribs you are artfully mistaken.
Enjoy!

I, Roko, and new addition Jungle Justin made the trip down to the Ace of Cups to see if Ray Ray’s was serving their wings. The Ukraine Brain had an after-​lunch meeting, and couldn’t join. We figured that if they didn’t have the wings, we could still have some of the best BBQ in town to make up for it, but we lucked out when we discovered that their outside window (on the patio) was serving from noon on Fridays.
You order the wings by the pound (one pound for $ 8, two for $ 14), and they’ve got both wet tossed wings and dry rub. I opted for two pounds of the «buffalo» wings, the other guys both split two pounds each between buffalo and House Shake (a dry rub).
I’ll go with their impressions of the dry rub first– they likened it to a Snyder’s Barbecue Potato Chip on a wing. This was, in their opinion, a very good thing.
Now, on to my impression of the buffalo wings.
First, the wings are really, really good. Thick, fully cooked, smoked wings, that are thrown into a fryer to crisp up and get hot. Each wing has a really nice smoky flavor that is reminiscent of when Hoggy’s was still alive and had their smoked wings at the Polaris spot. I would say that these wings would probably taste just fine on their own with a little salt and black pepper.
But this isn’t a story about naked smoked wings with black pepper. This is about smoked *buffalo* wings.
Their sauce is extremely well done, though it is a bit on the spicy side (you don’t have choices in how much heat, here). What it tastes like is a base of Frank’s red-​hot, with additional chili spices, and a mix of black and white pepper. It has a slow heat that builds through your first pound, and peaks about halfway through the second pound. Sitting here an hour later, I can still feel some of the heat in the back of my throat, but it’s a good heat. Just enough to glisten with a bit of dew-​sweat, not enough to pound a jug of water.
Speaking of which– the outside window doesn’t have drinks. You can get some inside the Ace of Cups (where they are now serving cans of soda), or some complementary water in the big Igloo containers (one was inside and one was outside). For seating, you can choose the patio, or head inside to sit at one of the bar tables, or upstairs in the loft.
These could easily wind up being the best wings in Columbus, but I would personally prefer a less-​spicy option. I’ll still go back; no doubt in my mind.

What could be better than Ray Rays Hog Pit? Well the newly installed Ray Ray’s Wing Shack next door attached to Ace of Cups. We were there on a glorious spring day. First got some burnt ends from Ray Rays. Found a picnic table out back of Ace of Cups and went in for some «colbeers» to enjoy our Ray Rays with. What a country!!!
The wings are smoked, then deep fried with your choice of 3 rubs and 3 sauces. Combo them up. I had the house rub and buffalo — Great combo. Also tried the habanero one. Great!
The wings are decent size and crispy with that smoky flavor that also locks in some of the juices. If you like wings, beer and smoked meat — GO HERE! It is worth the trip!!!