Return to Ruby Tuesday

More than a year ago we stumbled into a Ruby Tuesday and ran into a woman who'd been my manager when I waitressed at school more than a decade ago. She told me that big changes were coming to Ruby's they wanted to shake off the Applebee's vibe and move more toward upscale dining. 

Sometime ago I heard about Ruby's PR uh stunts promoting the launch of their updated brand and menu. They had announced they were going to blow up a Ruby Tuesday and rebuild from the ground up or some other metaphor. But it turned out they actually blew up like an old Bo Jangles fast food place instead of a Ruby Tuesday - but no matter because they were NEW and IMPROVED. But we didn't happen into Ruby's for many many months. I'd been turned off first by a switch to Hunts ketchup and then to the ketchup rationing, and an encounter with something the manager might have called FreshPrep or pre-prep (read pre-cooked and we put it in the microwave) bacon. 

But this week I needed new tires and Ruby Tuesday was impossibly close to the tire shop so we went in for an early dinner. 

We went in and found a pleasantly updated Ruby Tuesday. Things were fresh and mellow. It was a more grown up Ruby's. I got salad from the bar, as I'd done on breaks during so many shifts working at other Ruby Tuesday locations, and started to think things had taken a step in the right direction.

I guess they have but I can say I was grossed out by the burger sliders. I'm not such a fan of beef in the first place, but they had put a heap of random seasoning into the little bites and it made them both too dubious for me to eat and too pathetically trying too hard to be chic.

When we have to get tires again I'll stick to salad and a Ruby Relaxer because they do make a mean Ruby Relaxer.