This place is ALWAYS busy. The food is great. The prices are very reasonable. I recently moved to Elgin and have been there every weekend.

The best in Elgin. If you have not had their chilaquiles I suggest you try them, amazingly good. The soups of the day are amazing. If you ask for fresh salsa they will bring it out for you. The owner and all of the staff are very nice and always welcome you with a smile. Hey and if it's your bday they come out with an ice cream Sunday and a song. I love rays. read more

Best little staple restaurant and award winning! it's so good and feels like a throwback in time.

Just a great diner. Staff is great. Food is greater. Cream of chicken soup is phenomenal.

Not exactly on the beaten path for restaurants, but a really good meal for a great price! The decor was dated, but the food is delicious. My husband and I ate here and left full for under $20! Our server was very sweet and accommodating. She went above and beyond to make our experience a great one. We'll definitely be back next time we're in the area. read more

Oh boy I got the full rays experience when I visited Ray's Family Restaurant. As far as I know the only thing you need to be aware of when entering this establishment is that no one is named Ray. I learned this the hard way. The food was delicious but I cannot help but think it would have been better if it was prepared bye Ray himself. read more

This place is worth driving to great prices great food They are only open till 3pm Portion size is good and food is fresh I can recommend this place it is worth 5 stars and you won't be disappointed read more

very great restaurant with quality food! i've been eating here ever since i was younger and nothings changed since. however this is a family owned business so my guess is they're starting to let the younger ones run the restaurant, and the lady who now takes orders over the phone is very rude. other than that i have no complaints. read more

Let me start by saying that the service was outstanding! Despite the restautant being very busy, our coffee and water cups remained full and our waitress checked in on us frequently. The food, at least mine, was mediocre at best. I got a chicken club sandwich, and I felt like the chicken breast was slightly undercooked and chewy. I swapped the fries for fruit and got a tiny cup of diced cantalope. My family though did enjoy their food, so maybe I just ordered the wrong thing. I'll definately give it another try though. read more

Even threw the crisis of covid 19 Ray has always been a great place go to or just recently call for a late night dinner after a long night of work. read more

Great Food Friendly people They great you at the door like family Good prices Great people watching There is nothing else you could ask for xcept that winning lotto ticket. Don't let the line scare you, if I were that efficient I would be the CEO of Apple. read more

Great local find . Went for breakfast. Food great. Very hospitable. Meal was superb. Hot and flavorful. Actually a lot of food! Service great too We will be going back soon Can't wait to try lunch meal or dinner. Will definitely recommend this gem. read more

They were great but haven't followed guidelines and I have a mother that could mother that could die now because of ignorant people..She was healthy before.fuck you businesses that won't listen read more

My work schedule allows me to have mid-week weekends. Some weeks I only work 3 days and if it happens that I get 2 consecutive weekdays off, I get a mid-week weekend. So one mid-week weekend, or Tuesday as some people might call it, we had a day of errands to run and needed a place to fuel up. With our first errand completed, I searched for a place to eat. Ray's happened to be within 5 minutes of St. Joseph's Hospital in Elgin. I used to work at St. Joe's, and I would always hear that Ray's was great for the morning meal, but never made it a point to try it out. Wish I tried them earlier. This place is on the East side of Elgin, near Rt. 25 and Rt. 20. You might miss it, it's pretty small. When we walked in, at 0900 am, there were 2 tables left. Our server was almost the same server you've seen in movie diners, wearing that waitress dress, white orthopedic looking shoes, plastic-rimmed cat-eye glasses.... Or maybe I was imagining it. Because this place just looks like every diner I've ever seen in a movie. Goodfellas. When Henry meets with Jimmy to discuss his case and Jimmy asks Henry to whack somebody. Reservoir Dogs. Mr. Pink discusses his philosophy on tipping, while the virtues of the song "Like a Virgin" are pored over. Pulp Fiction. Honey Bunny and Pumpkin discuss various disadvantages of robbing liquor stores, banks and jewelry stores, and why restaurants are the ideal place to knock over. Casino. Ace catches Ginger with that smarmy James Woods, I mean Lester Diamond. Lester then gets his tuchus handed to him in the parking lot. I understand that all of the situations I've listed are gangster-y in nature, but none of the above activities occured at Ray's. The only crime committed was the murdering I put on my Denver omelette. The short order cooks here are really true to the name. I pretty much asked for it, the waitress turned around, turned back around and dropped an omelette in front of me. It also happened to be very good. I'm a little particular about omelettes; I'm not crazy about filled omelettes, where the egg is cooked, the ingredients put in the middle and the egg folded over, like a blintze. I like where egg and ingredient are molded together in the pan, then folded onto a plate, because that's how I do it at home. And that's how they do it at Ray's. And the ratio of egg to ingredient was perfect, every square inch of egg had some ham, green pepper, or onion in it. All omelettes come with hash browns and toast. The tap water tastes good and the coffee is refilled early and often. I vote that you come out to Ray's and eat a home-cooked meal. (see what I did there?) read more

Ray's is a family owned restaurant. This place has been around for a while. They offer delicious breakfast items! It is extremely affordable. I took a friend with me here we both got an omelette, the bill came out to be around $10 for both of us! When you get to this place, expect a short wait. This place is very small and compact, but their food is to-die-for! The wait is definitely worth it. What I love about this place is that their breakfast is not as greasy as the other places. After you've enjoyed your breakfast, you don't not have that overstuffed grease feeling in your stomach. The owner is extremely friendly, he is usually going around making sure everything came out okay. My favorite things to get here are: - Denver Omelette - Waffles - French Toast read more

Thanks yelp, because if it wasn't for you I probably wouldn't have ever found such a gem! Went today at 8am with daughter n husband....no wait (by the time we left there was one) food was really good, and this place used butter to fry their hash browns and real butter not oil for their toast!! Would give it 5 stars but need to go back once more and give lunch a try before I give it the ultimate score! A definite go to, and don't be afraid of the outside.....looks are deceiving and that's a good thing. For those that have to wait, they offer you a drink while in line. How sweet is that ;) read more

Great breakfast diner with friendly staff and delicious food. Weekend mornings are busy so be prepared to wait but definitely worth it.

We stumbled upon this place while going for a Sunday drive...searching for breakfast at 1p. We were a little skeptical from the looks of the outside, but know that some of the best food places do look a little drab. And, the fact that the parking lot was PACKED was a good sign. We had to wait a few minutes which gave me a chance to watch the food come out of the kitchen and the servers. Everything looked wonderful and the servers, cashier and host, even though they were BUSY took the time to make sure everyone and everything was okay. It was very tight seating and difficult to get through the tables and a bit noisy...like a true diner, it added to the charm. The food was GREAT! And, they will give you as many butters as you want. And, they take debit/credit cards! One of our new favorite Sunday spots! read more

Yes, yes, and yes. Everything you want in a diner. Wonderful staff. Cool environment. And tremendous food. I swear there's a 1/4C of butter in the hash browns. Killer breakfast specials leave you feeling full for hours and cost less than a cup of coffee and pastry at Starbucks. Leave an 80% tip and you'll still walk out having had unlimited coffee refills, a full belly, and spent less than $10. read more

Second time at Rays this morning. The first time out (a few weeks ago) I had the eggs, bacon, and hash browns. Pretty good, but nothing to write home about. The coffee is a diner-great. Warms you up and gets the motor running. For a total bill of $13 (two of us) it was a great value. This morning, I decided to up the ante a bit. I couldn't decide between the banana pancakes or chocolate chip, so I let our server decide. She was happy to oblige: Banana pancakes. Nailed it. At least 20 slices of banana on top of three monster pancakes. Whipped cream made it a pretty epic tower of goodness. They were great! What you need to know: Great service: the coffee cup is always full. Great food: don't worry about leaving hungry. Decent atmosphere: a little like grandma's. And yes. You're likely to miss it your first time around the block :-) Highly recommended! read more

I LOVE this place! If you like snooty servers, high prices, and terrible food... this is NOT the place for you! Family, wholesome goodness... From the warm welcome at the door from the AWESOME owner, to the extremely friendly staff, and the DELICIOUS food... you will NOT be disappointed!!! You will feel like a part of Ray's family! Even though we've only been here 3 times, the staff recognizes us and remembers our usual order! The owner even offers us coffee as we're waiting in line for a table! He has the best jokes, and the best coffee and homemade hash browns around!!! xoxo read more

For the last 35+ years, all of my family and I have been frequenting Ray's "finer diner" ( as my dad called it ) Family Restaurant. An Iconic classic American staple when it comes to quality, taste, proportions, and atmosphere. There is always a mixture of people, from all walks of life, all sorts of backgrounds, every religion, race, color, creed. It is the example of what we all look for and strive to be in our daily lives. Honesty and Goodness. Owned and run by a wonder family, who have always been there for their employees and their customers. Here's to another 40 years and more of happiness and success. read more

Ray's has been a mainstay for years on Elgin's southeast side. If you love good home cooked breakfast, hard to beat it. I ordered some take out the other day while we're dealing with this virus. It gave me a chance to talk to the owner too. Great guy, trying to get through this season. A place we definitely want to keep open. read more

Great food service and easy to get to location! Very friendly staff! The country fried steak with eggs and with hash browns Wes wonderful!

My brother and I decided to finally drop in and have lunch at Ray's, having driven past it for years and years and years on our way home from work. After stuffing ourselves with their grand slam breakfast and a side of hashbrowns it pleases me to say we should've stopped in there a long time ago. Ray's certainly does not disappoint. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a top notch diner experience breakfast or lunch. read more

Based on Yelp reviews, I gave this place a try. I was promptly greeted and seated in the crowded restaurant. Just in time, as shortly after I was seated people had to wait for tables. The entire staff was friendly. This is the kind of place where everyone knows your name. I dined alone and still had a good time. read more

This is just about the perfect diner. The food is great, the atmosphere is fun, and the prices are pretty good. The owner is always there to say hello and welcome you in, and the staff remembers you even after just a few visits. If you are looking for a quick breakfast or a good burger, this is the best place around. read more

I've gone here a couple times over the years. The service is very good and friendly. I typically go here solo so even though there's always a line when I go, Ray himself does his best to find a spot for me. The place is really small but they make use of every inch of the place to provide seating areas for their customers. The entrees are very good, especially love having the mushroom and swiss omelet. They have a parking lot in the back but I usually park on the street with no problem. Ray's is truly a Gem in Elgin and it seems everybody knows everybody here. read more

This place is wonderful, my husband and I love diners and this place adds character to the Elgin community. We have only ever been there for breakfast, but they are ALWAYS busy, the first time we went was a little after 7am and there wasn't a line but beginning at 7:45am it picked up a lot and there was a line out the door! It seems like a family run business, and they are truly the nicest people ever, you feel comfortable when you walk in and they make you feel appreciated for choosing Ray's to dine. This is definitely a favorite and would recommend anyone to come here and try it out at least once, you will not regret it :) read more

Absolutely amazing, great service and even better food. Great family ran diner. I go here as often as I can. I would give it 6 stars if it was possible! read more

This is the best restaurant around they are great all around. Great food Great prices Great portions Great service. Get the skirt steak & eggs it's the best. read more

First time here! New Years morning. Walked pleasantly greeted. Nice cozy spot. If you want quiet go somewhere else. This is the good old mom and pop restaurant. Everyone knew everybody when they walked in the door. Food was great! Had the ribeye skillet! Coffee was always full too! They offered salsa I said sure, oooh boy it was spicy soooo good! Go to this place a nice hidden gem in Elgin! WILL RETURN! read more

I was here in Elgin visiting for a couple of days and my friends that are locals said this was a great spot, i cant begin to express how great the experience was! They made my birthday so much better and even went above and beyond for my crepes! The service was phenomenal the waiters were extra nice. Would come back again in a heartbeat! read more

This place is awesome. Small, cozy, great service....taste of items in right on spot. Try their skillets...cant go wrong with those. Parking is in the back...not a huge lot but you will find one, probably with 1-2 minutes of wait. 10/10 read more

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! We had the corn beef hash breakfast and gyro omelet with banana pancakes. I will lovingly spread the word. The service was outstanding. It is a group effort but at the highest level. They turn the tables quickly because of their impeccable service. The decor is clean and comfortable. Come to ELGIN right off of the HWY 25 exit off of 20. The entrance is in the back by the parking or the front facing the street. read more

Ray's Diner - Gyro omelet with crunchy hash browns with onions and cheese and a side of banana pancakes!!!!! - Diners Near Me - Elgin, Illinois

Great food and friendly service. We had the grilled salmon and the haddock and both were cooked and seasoned perfectly. First visit and will definitely be back. Can't wait to try breakfast. read more

The best diner in the world, biscuits and gravy are killer, everything is top notch, fast, friendly and affordable!!! I love Rays!

Always great food and amazing service has been my #1 choice for breakfast my entire life (25 plus years)!!

Thank you Yelp, another Gem. A great local neighborhood dinner, it ain't very big, everyone seems to know everyone and the prices are more than reasonable. We stopped in for breakfast on a Saturday morning, we got seated right away and were in and out quickly. I had a skillet which was excellent and my wife had Pancakes (2 thumbs up!) Only thing I can complain about if anything is no brewed Ice tea its from the coke machine. But I can live with that. I would love to go back for lunch sometimes and try some other things. Count us a big fans! read more

Rays is a great little diner with good food at reasonable prices and a very friendly staff. What more could you ask for? We ordered the Monte Cristo with ham and a side of hash browns. Chicken soup with rice was included. Food came out fresh and fast. Our server was always there with a refill on drinks and the owners works the register with a smile and a sincere thank you when you leave. All of this is consist ant with the three times we've been there. Highly recommend Rays Family Restaurant. read more