Actor Justin Theroux Opens Lower East Side Bar

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — Justin Theroux and the team behind the famed and now shuttered French restaurant Le Turtle opened a new bar on the Lower East Side over the weekend.

Ray's Bar opened Friday, taking the place of the former Le Turtle restaurant at 177 Chrystie St., across the street from Sara D. Roosevelt Park.

The actor, best known for his part in Zoolander and for being the ex husband of Jennifer Aniston, announced the bar's opening last week in an Instagram post.

"Hey New York City. [My dog] Kuma and I are opening a bar with a couple friends called Ray's. ... Sometimes you wanna go where nobody knows your name," Theroux wrote on Instagram. Eater first reported on the new bar.

The Lower East Side French restaurant Le Turtle closed in January after four years of business on Chrystie Street. Le Turtle's Taavo Somer and Carlos Quirarte are working with Theroux on the latest project, as well as Jon Neidich of The Happiest Hour and artist Matt McCormick. The four are tagged with Theroux in an Instagram promotional post for Ray's Bar.

Ray's Bar will be open daily 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., according to the bar's Instagram page.

View this post on Instagram

It’s hot out there, come in for a cold one and enjoy our fine air conditioning. We open at 5pm. #raysbarnyc
A post shared by Taavo Somer (@taavosomer) on Jul 20, 2019 at 7:33am PDT