A popular but unfounded legend tells the story of how Ann Campbell was responsible for the southern tradition of eating grits with fried fish. She started serving the coarsely ground grain and cold-blooded aquatic animals together when she acquired a small restaurant in a less-than-one-square-mile town.

“Before she began serving grits as a side dish, most people thought of them as a breakfast only food,” her grandson, Dan Booth, said. “Today people would not even think about eating fish without grits.”

Originally constructed in 1950s Ray City, Ray’s Millpond Cafe came under the ownership of Chester Campbell on October 23, 1963. He presented the restaurant to his mother, Ann, who operated it for nearly 16 years alongside another son, Lamar Booth.

“Back then, there were not many fish places around the area,” Dan added.

Ann retired on September 1, 1979. Lamar assumed responsibility for Ray’s Millpond Cafe, later turning over the reigns to his two sons and daughters-in-law, Dan, Larry, Joyce and Doris Booth, and his grandson and granddaughter-in-law, Eric and Ashleigh Booth. Each one takes great pride in the restaurant, hoping to continue the tradition of passing it along to future generations of the family.

At Ray’s Millpond Cafe, catfish is always the catch of the day and probably best enjoyed southern fried the old fashioned way. Other types of fish featured on the menu are grouper, mullet, flounder and nile perch. All can be ordered broiled plain or with a bit of butter, lemon pepper or cajun seasoning and are served with hushpuppies, french fries, cole slaw, pickles and grits. Half-size dinners are also available.

Eighty-three-year-old Lamar is considered the fish expert of the Ray’s Millpond Cafe family. He has the job no one else wants — cleaning all the catfish and mullet that comes into the restaurant — and he can be found at his favorite table every Wednesday night enjoying dinner with friends.

Appetizers offered at Ray’s Millpond Cafe include everything from fried dill pickles to sweet potato slices to oyster stew. Besides fish, there’s shrimp and deviled crab for the seafood lover, chicken and hamburger steak for the land lover. Anyone wanting to take their taste buds on an adventure of sorts can order up some farm raised South Georgia alligator.

“We sell a lot of alligator and catfish,” Dan noted.

Over the course of five decades, the special recipe hushpuppies at Ray’s Millpond Cafe have become the most talked about item featured on the menu. Many have attempted to obtain the details of the mix from Booth family members. Some have even resorted to trickery. All have failed. That secret lives in the walls of the restaurant, and they are certainly not talking.

Dan would only go so far as to squash a longtime rumor that pieces of lilies from the millpond are among the hushpuppy recipe’s list of ingredients. “They are not,” he said. While on the subject of secrets, Eric chimed in on the sweetened tea served at Ray’s Millpond Cafe and loved by all. “It is not made with pond water,” he said.

Ray’s Millpond Cafe is exactly how someone might imagine a fish place to be like in small town South Georgia. It’s simple. There are no frills. It’s a come-as-you-are kind of place, one that makes anyone and everyone feel right at home. In some ways, it’s a lot like a museum with its displayed alligator heads and memorabilia of local historical significance. A 17-pound bass caught in the 3,500-acre pond by J.C. Skinner on December 18, 1965, hangs on the wall.

“Both children and adults love to stick their hands inside the mouths of the alligators and look at the fish,” Dan said.

Live alligators, as well as a few turtles, can be found outside Ray’s Millpond Cafe. A wooded deck over the water allows young and old the opportunity to enjoy the best nature has to offer in the area. It was once the site of an old gristmill — a social gathering place in its heyday — built by Thomas Marcus Ray and Levi J. Knight in 1867 and torn down in 1979.



Ray’s Millpond

Location: If coming from Valdosta via Bemiss Road, make a right turn onto Jones Street, just past the stop sign in Ray City, and keep going until you run into the restaurant. Just don’t run into the pond.

Telephone: (229) 455-4075

Hours: Open from 5pm to 10pm Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Dress: Definitely casual.

Services: Private dining rooms available for parties, receptions, corporate meetings, reunions and more.