Petaluma’s Watering Holes: Ray’s has changed, but the bar remains the same

Opened in 1947, Ray’s Tavern has found popularity with a new crowd|

THE WATERING HOLES OF PETALUMA

This is the third in a five-part series exploring the historic bars of Petaluma and surrounding areas. In part four, running next week, we take a visit to the bar at SEARED. Formerly Graziano’s, founded in 1983, the stately bar has become one of downtown Petaluma’s most popular happy hour locations.

Blanketed on one side in a sheath of corrugated metal, with a distinctive seaweed/artichoke-green exterior facing Western Avenue, Ray’s Delicatessen & Tavern has been part of Petaluma for 72 years - and one could argue that it’s never been more popular than it is today. At around 2 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon, the place feels busy, but it is actually experiencing its usual lull between lunchtime and the afterschool rush. That’s when kids from the nearby middle school will fill the deli side of the operation, grabbing snacks and sodas on their way home. On the bar side, meanwhile, as oldies play on the sound system and patrons chat and eat sandwiches, about two-thirds of the bar’s seats are filled, making the small, old-fashioned tavern feel like the most sought-after spot in town.

“Here in the bar, it always feels like you’ve stepped out of one world and into a whole different place,” says co-owner Miranda Austin, taking a seat and a break from making sandwiches. Austin and her husband Eli Schuepbach have owned Ray’s for almost nine years now, and have overseen a transformation of the place that is more prevalent over on the deli side than here in the bar, where it really does feel as if you’ve stepped back in time.

“When we took it over, it was still a grocery store on that side and a 21-and-over bar on this side,” explains Austin. “That was basically the set-up since 1947, when Ray Colaizzi Sr. turned the place from a car dealership into a grocery store and bar.”

Though it’s hard to believe, the place being anything but large, the building at the corner of Western and Webster (across from Hermann Sons Hall), did previously house a Buick dealership, and an auto repair shop named Western Avenue Garage. Then, in 1947, Colaizzi purchased the place and turned it into a grocery store and tavern, the latter a common stop-off spot for farmers travelling into and out of town, and for sports teams from all over the West Side of Petaluma.

For years, Ray’s was one of several grocery-store/bars in Petaluma, operating in town alongside such iconic institutions as Volpi’s, Fair West, Mario & John’s and Aigus Country Market. Of those, Volpi’s long ago replaced the grocery store with a restaurant, but has kept the bar in the back of the building. Mario & John’s phased out the grocery and expanded the bar into that space, while Fair West and Aigus closed the bar part of their operations and now just run as grocery stores, with Mike’s Barber Shop in the spot where the Fair West bar used to be, one block east of Ray’s.

“When we took it over, we knew that the grocery store wasn’t really going to be our thing,” Austin says. “We’re food people, and we liked the idea of creating a European-style pub and eatery. I lived in Germany for a little while, so I wondered if it might be possible to create something like what they have there and in Ireland and England, a family place. Where kids are welcome and the food is good, and it just happens to have a bar as part of it.”

Gone today is the grocery store, replaced with a delicatessen and tables, which rapidly became a popular daytime spot for kids on their way to and from the nearby Middle School, and for neighborhood folks looking for a sandwich or salad.

“This side still has a historic bar feel to it, but now it feels friendlier for families, and my own kids can come in and out, which has always been important to me,” Austin says.

The lively chatter in the room is regularly augmented by the cheerful ding of the bell from the deli side, alerting the staff that a fresh sandwich has been constructed and is waiting for delivery, either to a deli customer or someone on the bar side. Austin points out that many people who come in for a sandwich enjoy eating it in the tavern.

“Some people like it out there, where it’s a bit brighter,” she says, “and some just love the vibe in here.” Gesturing to the ceiling, adorned with hundreds of dollar bills tacked improbably over her head, she adds, “The dollars on the ceiling have been a thing here for a long, long time. We didn’t do much renovation. We loved the way it looks, and never saw any need to change it. The only things we did were to add some more taps for beer, and change a few of the things on display, bringing in art shows out in the deli side, but keeping most of the décor in here.”

The bar still boasts a number of photos of old airplanes and ships, many of old-timer customers who still come in and point themselves out in some of the photographs. The Men’s and Women’s restrooms are identified by whimsical metal figures depicting, for lack of a better explanation, male and female styles of commode utilization. Along with old signs and memorabilia, including a painting of Jesus and a WWII-era poster warning against “loose talk,” Austin and Schuepbach have gradually added some of their own family photos and mementos.

“Slowly but surely, we’ve brought some of our own things in, putting our own stamp on the place,” she says, adding that the clientele that she and her husband have developed covers a huge demographic. “On weekends, we have a lot of families with kids and some sports people, a mix of young and old. When we first bought the place, I was worried that we would have a hard time building the business because we’re sort of out-of-the-way. But what we’ve discovered is, people come here on purpose. They don’t find us accidentally, like what happens with businesses in high volume downtown areas. Our clients are a combination of neighborhood folks who live nearby, and people who drive or walk or ride here because they love our food or just really like the environment in here in the bar.”

With a smile, she adds, “Our customers are here because they don’t want to be anywhere else.”

THE WATERING HOLES OF PETALUMA

This is the third in a five-part series exploring the historic bars of Petaluma and surrounding areas. In part four, running next week, we take a visit to the bar at SEARED. Formerly Graziano’s, founded in 1983, the stately bar has become one of downtown Petaluma’s most popular happy hour locations.

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