The welcoming vibe of Ray’s is pretty apparent to anyone who’s been, but for the folks at home, what were you trying to create when you conceived it? Was it sort of your ideal vision of a local bar?
CARLOS QUIRARTE: Definitely. Even with the name Ray’s, the idea was that it could exist in any city. In every city, in D.C. where Justin grew up. We wanted a place that made everybody, no matter what, feel like: hey, that’s familiar. I want to go there. Without making it feel like a set.
THEROUX: It’s also just one of those places, where the more it gets lived in, like an old shoe—or an old hat…
You’re speaking our language.
JUSTIN: The more it gets used, the more beautiful it becomes. It feels comfortable. Like a living room. In Austin, there are a lot of bars like this. They’re not pretentious, or trying to be exclusive. We’ve just tried to let it be organic to New York and the neighborhood and whoever ends up coming. So, we had a whole Taylor Swift night, which was not expected…
CARLOS: We had a vintage sale just last weekend with local people from the neighborhood. We try not to take it too seriously, just have fun. We’re of the mind that If we’re not having fun, how can anyone else?