Ray’s Golden Lion Restaurant

Take my review with a grain of salt I guess, cause I hate sceamo music, and not a huge fan of oriental food. Came here because my boyfriends’s brother plays drums in a bad, so we came to support him. Sat in the bar. This review is only getting two stars, because the bartender made me a delicious drink. Which I chugged in the first song in order to even stand being in this place. It was filled with underage kids, because this is the only night scene for underage kids in Richland. Cops came and «hung out» for a while. Loud, dark, weird. Made me want to hit someone. Got outa there fast.

This is how food form a Mongolian Grill should taste. This is the only Mongolian place in that doesn’t end up steaming the food by adding too much water. Yes the place could use a little or big remodel, but the food is soo good I can overlook that. The people that run this place are very friendly and just make the dinning experience great.

We found Ray’s Golden Lion, online, in town from the Seattle area on business. We understand that it frequently has live music, but it was quiet, not crowded that night and that was fine with us; we came for the food. Very reasonably priced and delicious Chinese fare… but we were further treated by the staff. Our waiter was the son of the owner and he was conversational and charming. Later, his father, who was actually in the back, cooking, came out and offered a gift of Tofu. A charming evening with charming people, thoroughly unexpected. We’ll stop in again when in Richland and hope for another night without music (!)

When a bar is this much of a dive, it just invites the worst. Flashing lights are a regular sight, and with good reason.

One of the best Mongolian around. the sauces are what set them apart from others. unfortunately the décor REALLY needs to be cleaned up.

Ray’s Golden Lion and I have a relationship which goes back over a decade. I remember in the olden days (when I moved to Washington in the late 90s), I would come to here on the weekends to get my dance on with some hip hop/R&B. That went on for a year or two, and then I stopped going.
Over the years, I’ve seen the music change here. For the last few years, it seems they’ve mainly focused on live bands, and with that they’ve also opened up the place for the under 21 crowd. So while driving by on GW Way on a random weekend evening, you might see all kinds of kids staged outside; it looked popular.
All of a sudden, this old man found himself there!
I happened to discover a band from Walla Walla while checking out The Anchor (
) in Waitsburg. This 2-​person band brought it and were totally rockin’! The band is Rubberneck, and they seemed like they can’t be much over 21. Anyway, when I heard they were going to be at Ray’s (on a school night), I had to ride my bike over and check ‘em out!
It was weird to be back here again, but it in a good way. The bar area is roped off for the 21 & over crowd; that’s where I went. The stage looks like it was in about the same area it was when I used to dance on it back in the day. That made me feel nostalgic and happy.
Since I was there early (didn’t want to miss Rubberneck), I hung out in the bar. It was definitely happening there. I liked the crowd. It was a mix of normal, to rockabilly, to punk (well, and of course dork, since I was there!). I was just happy because we had there was rockabilly in Richland on a Thursday night!
The bar was well-​stocked with all kinds of hard stuff, but I went with an Iron Horse Irish Death. They have (12) beers on tap — and pretty decent ones. The bartender was pretty nice and always had a smile and his patrons seemed to have fun with him. There was a large screen TV behind the bar to watch in between people watching.
The venue is nice. There’s a small open area for dancing in front of the stage. The acoustics were surprisingly good for a small venue. I really liked the sign: «Mosh At Your Own Risk».
Rubberneck was the second band of the night. They totally rocked it with their bluesy style. The guitar/​singer is young phenom. His percussionist also brought it with his plastic trash can bass, washboard and spoon, and the canister of Pringles attached to his set up.
Sometimes it’s cool to visit old haunts, so glad I stopped on by!

I have to say… When I went here. There was only the chatty bartender (wonderful conversationalists and FUNNY!), his father reading a paper and what appeared to be a regular. Everything else was dark accept for just around the bar. I had my doubts. But, they were so laidback and friendly, the drinks deadly and it was just nice to be in a place that they dont try to hard, they are very generous and its been in the family for a looong time. There is a little grubbyness to the place but I think thats what gives it charm! I highly recommend this place and I know I’ll be back, this time to test his fathers wonderful food!

Don’t wast your time, or risk your health. The place smelled terrible and the food was questionable. It was $ 10.75 per person for dinner, and was not at all worth it. The ingredients did not look fresh and there was even a hair one tray. Save a stomach ache and go to a real Mongolian grill!