Johnny Ray’s

I would like to paint you a word picture, precious reader. Whether you are legitimately looking for somewhere to eat in Grundy Center, Iowa, or whether I’m on your friends list and you noticed the «new review!» Tag next to my name… Or if you just stumbled upon this completely by chance. Let me in your head for a few minutes.
Imagine, if you will, a wedding weekend campus. There are the dorms (The Americinn), there’s the mess hall (this place), and there’s the venue itself. All within about an 8^th of a mile of each other. Less distance than most major college campuses, I’d wager — and way more fun.
You see, if you were one of the hundred or so people who crossed the country to come to my wedding, you stayed in the only hotel in town, and you ate at Johnny Ray’s. Breakfast? Johnny Ray’s. Lunch? Johnny Ray’s. A late night drink? Johnny’s Ray’s. The bachelorette party, the wedding rehearsal, and a friendly after wedding get together? Johnny. Ray’s.
«Sure, take a picture behind the bar!» Was yelled enthusiastically at some point. I honestly can’t remember when, because I was probably very drunk. «I’m not sure how much this beer costs. Have it for a dollar…» Was uttered nonchalantly to one of my friends at around 11pm when the bar, by all accounts, really should have already been closed… «It was stuff like this that made this bar so memorable and wonderful. They were so amazingly accommodating for the whole wedding party, and it left a big impression on my family. In fact, I think my aunt still keeps in touch with the owner… And she lives here in California.
But how was the food? It was great! I think. I have so many fond memories of this place that it’s hard to be unbiased, but I do believe the food was pretty good. The drinks were cheap and the staff was friendly — and it was so awesome to have a hub for all the out-​of-​towners to hang out at while last minute wedding preparations were under way… And, well, for any reason at all.
I think I’m going to have to make it back here at some point in October to help celebrate my first wedding anniversary.

Apparently driving on highway 20 in eastern Iowa there aren’t a lot of places to eat. We took a 7mile detour and it was worth it! The food was really good and very reasonably priced. $ 25 for three of us. Portion sizes were very generous. If you like spicy, get the jalapeño chicken ciabatta sandwich! The service was friendly — my only issue was she never came back to refill our drinks after we got our food. Otherwise I would have given 5 stars