Ray’s on the River waitress retires after 38 years

By Sammie Purcell

After 38 years on the floor, Lynne Gomez has left Ray’s on the River. If you’ve ever been to Ray’s, there’s a good chance Gomez was your waitress. She started serving at the Sandy Springs staple on Aug. 20, 1985 and retired in June. Throughout her years at the restaurant, she not only gained work experience, but a family as well.

Gomez used the word – family – multiple times when I spoke with her on the phone about her time at Ray’s. She recently moved down to Fort Walton Beach, Florida with her husband, whom she met through a colleague at the restaurant. The beach is not a bad place to retire, but she recalled the beautiful scenery she used to enjoy during her downtime at the restaurant.

“That’s really cool to look at, as far as the river goes, and the landscape and everything,” Gomez said. “It just doesn’t get old, you know?”

As a parting gift, Ray’s Restaurants gave Gomez a Mazda Miata convertible, a vehicle she described as her “dream car.” In an emailed statement, Ray’s Restaurants founder Ray Schoenbaum complimented Gomez’s work ethic over the years.

“We will miss her as will the staff and so many of our guests and wish her the best in her retirement,” Schoenbaum said.

During our conversation, Gomez reminisced about her working relationship with Schoenbaum. Whenever his family or friends would come into Ray’s, she would usually wait on them. As much as she’s grown up in the restaurant, she’s also watched his children grow up from little kids to adults, now with their own families.

“It was just fun for me to go there,” Gomez said. “It was like a family. Everybody that I met, I just joshed with, right off the bat. There were four of us girls, and we were all around the same age, and it was just like family right away. We all just meshed really well.”

Scan the QR code to read Sammie’s full Q&A with Gomez.