Dinner at Ruby Tuesday

I won a $50 gift certificate to Ruby Tuesday at my company Christmas Party this past Friday night so I decided to take my parents out to dinner at the new Ruby Tuesday that opened up very recently in Moanalua Shopping Center. Most of the comments I'd heard about Ruby Tuesday was that it was "all right" with no one really having tremendously positive things to say about it so I wasn't expecting much going in.

The decor was interesting. A bunch of movie and other miscellaneous paraphenelia adorned the walls and there were TVs everywhere. It's scary that Americans are getting to a point where they simply can't be without a TV wherever they go. I find it kind of sad that a "family" restaurant where you're supposed to go to spend time with your family and enjoy a meal together has TVs all over to draw your attention, taking time away from actually having a conversation with your loved ones. Oh well...

Ruby Tuesday's slogan is "Simple Fresh American Dining" and that seems to be accurate. Looking at their menu, I thought it was fairly limited. A half dozen or so appetizers, a few steak selections (actually the selections were varieties of the same thing), a few chicken selections, a few seafood selections, and ribs. Simple is right. The menu selections at TGIF and Cheesecake Factory are much more diverse.

Our waitress was an Anna Farris doppleganger that seemed a bit valley girl-ish and cold at first. This made me apprehensive about our order being correct but she later opened up and I achieved some decent banter with her (channelling Seinfeld's Costanza who likes to banter with waitresses). ^__^



We started off with the spinach and artichoke dip appetizer.The dip was actually very good, although I was yearning for bits of crab like you get at Ryan's Grill. But still, it was good. They give you colored tortilla chips which they claim to bake fresh everyday but about half of our chips were a little on the stale side. Anna said that if we had let her know she would've replaced them but because the service was a bit slow I was afraid that we wouldn't get the new chips till after our entrees arrived and that they would be stale too.

Then the entrees came. I had a half order of Classic BBQ baby back ribs. It came with a huge baked potato with the works and a piece of garlic bread. The ribs were okay. The meat fell of the bones like how they're supposed to yet it was still a bit dry. The bbq sauce was also a bit bland but acceptable.

My mother ordered the shrimp pasta parmesan.This entree came with about a dozen small sized shrimp over penne pasta covered by a Parmesan cream sauce. The shrimp were not that juicy and the cream sauce was also dry. She did not really enjoy it and after having a taste of it, I have to say I didn't really either.

My father ordered the ribeye steak.Now this was a pleasant surprise. I usually don't order steaks at restaurants that aren't steak restaurants because the quality has always been disappointing but I'll admit...the ribeye was pretty good! The meat was very tender and flavorful. This too came accompanied by a baked potato and garlic bread. The only minor flaw was that my dad ordered it medium but it came out closer to medium rare but that's the way he and I like it anyhow. So thumbs up for the ribeye!

I also ordered a trip to the salad bar ($3.99) and it was pretty good as well. I would just get a platefull and the three of us shared.

The total bill came out to about $71 for the three of us. 3 entrees, 1 appetizer, 1 side salad bar, and 1 soft drink. I gave the standard 15% tip to Anna so the total came out to $82. Kind of pricy for a meal for 3 of that quality. It's a good thing I had my $50 gift card so I spent only $32 out of pocket.

Overall, a satisfactory visit that pretty much agreed with my preconception of the place. At those prices, I doubt I'd go back unless it was for the decently priced ribeye ($21.99).

I'd give Ruby Tuesday a 6/10.