Ray's Pizza — Restaurant in Phoenix

This is a restaurant which not only has singularly marvelous pizza, but, has, for two and a half decades now, been near and dear to my heart.

I will turn 40 years old in less than one year's time. At the young age of fifteen, I had the opportunity to experience poignant tragedy in the form of the completely unexpected death of my 11 year old brother--a warm, gentle, loving boy.

I can't remember specifically when, as to this day, that entire week remains something of a blur, but, at some point--as my family's home was abuzz with friends and families, coworkers and others, all who knew not what to say--two humongous piles of pizza boxes were delivered to our home.

I don't remember the specific wording of the affixed note, but it was something to the effect of "We heard about your situation and simply wanted to reach out and share our love with you."

To this day, no one knows how they even knew, but, as a fifteen year old, I had no problem helping them out of their apparent "excess pizza problem."

I've never forgotten the name.

Ray's.

Delivering for Doordash a couple months ago, I ended up back at the very restaurant that sent those pizzas. None of the employees had any idea what I was talking about--I'd say it was a fair bet that none of them had 25 years Ray's employment under their belt. All the same, I ended up ordering a pizza myself a few days later and, my goodness, it tasted just as good as it had before.

Thanks for your heart back on November 3rd, 1999, and thanks a bunch for still making great tasting pies!

-Adam Lee

(Brother to Jacob Andrew Lee a.k.a....

I've lived in this area for over 40 years and have tried every pizzeria in the area. As a transplanted NYer who has also worked in pizzerias for many years, I know good pizza and honestly it's not easy to find in AZ. Lately, all the places I usually go to have really been skimping on the toppings. Unless you say something to them about it, I've been getting pizzas with hardly any toppings. Recently I decided to try Rays on 19th ave & Deer Valley and I haven't gone anywhere else since! We always order pepperoni and black olives and when I opened the box I was very happy! Toppings that actually covered the whole pizza! The crust is perfect too. Not too thin, not too thick. I've been ordering from them for over a year now and everytime its the same. So many pizzerias these days are charging so much for a simple large pizza and then being stingy with the toppings! Look, I don't mind paying $20+ for a pizza but don't cheat me on the toppings if you're going to charge that much! Rays doesn't do that and that's why they are my current go-to place for pizza in the north central valley. Quality, consistency and reasonable prices! I recommend you try Ray's next time you're craving...

Went in to Ray's Pizza at 35th Ave and Union Hills. I ordered BBQ wings (20). Only customer in store and they weren't getting any other orders being place. There were 3 employees (one taking orders, and 2 making orders). It took a long time to get my order. My order was placed in a bag and what they gave me was hot wings!!! I did not know until I got home. They close at 8 PM. I called them 10 minutes prior to close...the phone was picked up but no body said anything, then the call was disconnected. I called right back and the same thing happened. Called back on a different phone and the same result. Called them today, the person who answered the phone said there was nothing she could do because she doesn't have yesterday's tickets so she can't verify that I placed an order. She was very rude. They don't provide a receipt so I am SOL. I will dispute the charge. If I could give 1/2 star I would have. I let her know she lost a customer and that I will inform everyone I know about the poor service. They weren't busy and still got the order wrong!! Based on the customers (me only) in the store, they can't afford to lose anymore...