SEATTLE — At Ray’s Boathouse, it was all hands on deck, as so many people “decked the halls” on Christmas Day.
In the course of an afternoon, the Ballard-based eatery handled more than 800 reservations as guests poured in and the booze and food flowed!
“There’s a lot of preparation that goes into it and day of, we just take a deep breath and do what we’re good at,” said Emmett Niland, manager at Ray’s Boathouse.
It was Niland’s 11th Christmas on duty at the restaurant. He told KOMO he placed food orders for Christmas right before Labor Day.
“It’s always weird when you get to the end of the summer and it’s 80 degrees and sunny and you’re thinking of Thanksgiving and Christmas already,” he noted.
According to Niland, Ray’s Boathouse sold out within nine hours of reservations going online for Thanksgiving. Additionally, within 36 hours of Christmas reservations going online, the restaurant was booked up yet again.
“It gets booked fast, so you have to plan ahead. It’s hard to be spontaneous,” said customer Paula Mark, who has celebrated Christmas dinner with her husband at Ray’s Boathouse since the days of Ronald Reagan.
Year after year, she said making reservations requires determination and dedication.
“The streets are empty (on Christmas Day), but you come into a restaurant like this and it’s cheery and lots of people,” she said.
The result? A merry, merry day that’s very, very busy.
“The energy is always fun, the environment is always fun, holiday guests are always in a great mood,” said Niland.