Dotty & Ray’s

Great neighborhood spot, since 1958. Salem is a charming city/​town but I feel many of the restaurants are overpriced and touristy. Treating you as if they’re never going to see you again! And, for me with that attitude they won’t. However, here we were greeted so warmly and sincerely it made my day! Yes no frills atmosphere, but clean and accommodating. The food was SUPER and so fairly priced compared to other restaurants. We ordered the turkey club, with fresh roasted turkey and it was enormous as well as the fried clam platter and friend clam roll. Both were enormous portions of both the whole belly and clam strips with the best onion rings I’ve ever had. Could easily have been shared but was so good had to keep eating! The interesting thing to me was all the fried food was so light and clean, not a drop of grease. Didn’t feel so guilty! Also understand the breakfast menu, and omelette a are outstanding. Our server was so sweet and sincerely interested in our enjoying the food. Street parking is readily available and the famous lobster rolls are only 12.95 vs the other places of $ 25 plus! Hurry and check it out-​you won’t be disappointed!

So I’ve never actually eaten at Dotty and Rays so this review is based on the older man that owns this place. If you park on the Side street (I believe it’s Foster st) and you aren’t going to his restaurant, he comes out the back door and screams at you! He has told me several times that I can not park there. I have also seen him yell at other people parking there. He thinks it’s parking for his restaurant but It’s actually public parking at the end of the street. I was told by the police it is public parking and he is not in charge of who parks there.
Reading the other reviews it seems like the food isn’t bad but I will never go in there and I always tell anyone who mentions this place that the owner is terrible!

A small neighborhood diner. 6.50 $ breakfast special gets you coffee, a tiny orange juice, 2 eggs, your choice of meat, home fries, and toast. Rest of the menu is similarly priced. A cheap no frills no BS breakfast. Does the trick and then some. Cash only.

Classic diner atmosphere, local charm. My family roots run deep here. I am a multi generational diner. Great for fried seafood. Reminds me of home and family.

Service was great, food was okay. My sister and I had the haddock sandwich so I’m basing the rating on one dish since we both had the same thing. It did seem to be a local favorite and the other dishes being served looked yummy. If I ever go back to Salem I would try it again.

Great bang for the buck. Phenomenal fried seafood. Can’t stop thinking about the clams. Mmmmm.

Awesome, standard diner fare. Food prices from 1994. Friendly staff, friendly regulars and a television. My only complaint is that they don’t open earlier! The atmosphere might be a wee bit senior oriented, but who cares? It’s quiet and calm and there aren’t families with a bunch of kids running around. Your best bet is to crawl from bed at six thirty, wander down the street and settle in for a while.

This is a really great place for lunch. I’m partial to it for convenience, but the food here really beats the other nearby places (Leslie’s and Euro — bleh) hands down.
And so cheap! Two meals and two drinks for $ 12 is a steal.
One of my favorite meals here is the simple turkey club. I can’t say exactly why, but it’s absolutely delicious. And huge.
I do wish the fries here were a little more special. They’re steak fries, which I usually like, but are a little too thick and sometimes taste more like potato instead of fries.
The fried haddock is excellent, as are the fish cakes, chicken kebob salad, macaroni, and hamburgers.
We get the same gruff but friendly waitress every time.

I probably walked by this place 50 times before one hungry day working from home I decided to venture in– I am now hooked. Every dish they serve reminds me of something my grandmother would make. Their prices are great and they have fresh brewed iced tea which is always a big win. I recommend whatever is on the board. Today I had baked mac-​n-​cheese and fish cakes.

Dotty & Ray’s is down the street from my fiancé’s apartment. We’ve driven by a thousand times and when we finally stopped in on a family recommendation, we were not disappointed.
Now, I’m a diner fan. And when I enter a diner-​type atmosphere I have certain expectations. Regular customers, waitresses that are more focused on the speed of service rather than being overly-​friendly, and greasy super delicious food. I got everything I expected and wanted.
We went on a weekend morning so they had their Belgian waffles on the menu (a weekend only item). I got it covered in strawberries and whipped cream… a calorically irresponsible delight. My hot chocolate arrived in a blue polka-​dotted mug. I felt like I was eating breakfast at home. I loved it!
The prices can’t be beat (another perk of diner food)! Dotty & Ray’s is right on 114 but parking can be a bit of a pain to find. So worth it though! Great little spot!

I took the commuter rail to Salem for my friend’s wedding, and needed to get some tasty morsels before anything else. Also coffee.
We walked into Dotty & Rays around 12:30 and were almost giggly joy at the awesome diner atmosphere. The waitress came from behind the counter and flopped down menus, letting us know that both breakfast were available. She brought us some coffee, and took our orders. I listened to a guy complain about an absent guy who refers to that corner of the counter as «My Seat.»
What a jerk!
The omelettes ($ 4 – 6) were big and cheesy, and cooked with the ingredients right in the egg, instead of having been placed inside the already cooked egg. I found this made the whole stay together better, and there were no scorched outer-​egg shenanigans.
She didn’t seem to mind that I asked for hot sauce, and the toast came pre-​buttered with approximately 1 stick per half-​slice. It was covered past saturation, and more dripped down the side. I used the toast as a platform to hold slices of cheesy, meaty omelette and guide them into my greedy mouth-​hole. It was beautiful.
The home fries were the potato kind, not the fried ‘whatisthis’ kind, and they were tastily spiced. They were a lil crispy on the outside and I liked it.
No faults as far as I can tell, except that our bill was about $ 5 too high. We didn’t care. We were fat and happy. I want to eat some of their lunch next time I’m up there!

After reading the other great reviews here, I decided to check out Dotty & Ray’s. Well, it got off to a real bad start. No decaf coffee! Even the smallest hole in the wall breakfast joint has a pot of decaf ready these days. They also did not have any egg substitutes like EggBeaters available, so I ordered two eggs scrambled with the home fries and wheat toast. The eggs were cooked perfectly, but the home fries were under cooked (hard) and some of the pieces were huge. The toast was overdone and very dry, almost to the point of being burnt.
It may be I just hit this place on a bad day, but I have been to a lot of small breakfast places like this and Dotty & Ray’s definitely missed the mark.

Dotty and Ray’s is a gift to Salem residents. It’s a small-​town diner in a city. The wait staff knows me by name and knows what I’ll order even before I sit down. :-).
I have yet to find a better breakfast place! It’s cheap and tasty! The omelettes are great! The American Breakfast is super filling. The breakfast sandwiches are good, too!
If you are into a lunch or dinner then burgers are totally the way to go. They are so juicy and delicious! You won’t pay much for them either!
Whether I’m eating breakfast or dinner, I can expect to walk out paying less than $ 15 for 2 meals!!!
I love Dotty and Ray’s!!!

good value, good food (especially breakfast), very townie, which I like a lot, make sure to tip well as your bill will be about 15 bucks, I always leave at least a 5

Dotty & Rays is walking distance from my house and they make a mean breakfast– i would give it five stars but the waitress thats usually there is kind of a spaz– running around like there is a line out the door and is often hurried and“forgetful” about bringing things-​more coffee, water, splenda etc. –one star
I oftern find her smoking right outside the door, and then coming right back in and handling plates, orders etc. without washing her hands. I smoke, and that creeps me out.
Very affordable, cute and yummy otherwise.
CASH ONLY.

Dotty and Rays… an institution… a true hole in the wall that is a gem. The cheeseburgers are simple, but man I don’t think you can buy a better tasting one. What with all the toppings you can put on at the «Burger Emporium» joints… heck D&R has it going on in the keep it simple category .true blue perfectly proportioned Burger and fries… and of course their breakfast is legendary I’ve been eating there going back 30 years now and Dotty was still the owner. The new owners are keeping it a great restaurant and there just aren’t too many like D&R anymore. Good stuff, reasonably priced and excellent service!
It’s all good.
I just found out the new owners have had it for 28 years… lol
keep up the great job!

Great greasy spoon for Sunday morning breakfasts. Nice local feel, good service, friendly folks. Standard greasy spoon breakfast options and reasonable prices.
No cards here – cash only!