This also used to be one of the places my parents and I would usually go to whenever we were at the mall. I personally liked Ruby Tuesday a lot better before they decided to be more like an upscale restaurant. In the 90's, they had a much more laid back, casual atmosphere with a lot of cool vintage items and pictures hanging on the walls, TV sets to watch while waiting for your food, a great mix of music playing, and they had a much better variety of food, as well. I especially miss those long brown breadsticks and honey butter (delicious!) and that Ruby Magic smoothie they used to serve. Even their desserts were so good back in the day. And yeah, I even miss those tiffany lamps. Now I find the atmosphere of their current restaurants to be boring and trying too hard to look upscale, and the selection on the menu leaves a lot to be desired. The older items they still serve just don't taste the same. The only thing my mom still likes about them is the salad bar.
I have nice memories of eating lunch at Ruby Tuesday's while shopping at various malls in Virginia during the 90s. It was an alternative to typical fast food, an affordable and pleasant atmosphere too. Additionally, I remember American Cafe! I didn't know it was related to Ruby Tuesday's. There was an American Cafe in Tysons Corner, VA and also in downtown DC near Metro Center. I remember eating at both locations with my Aunt.
We use to go to Ruby Tuesday all the time when we went to the mall. I can remember going there with a group of about 20 people from work, and the food was good we all enjoyed ourselves. This particular location was attached to the mall, and was seen immediately as you entered the malls main parking entrance. We even would go to the mall just to eat at Ruby Tuesday and leave. During this time around 2003 the mall was still doing pretty well, still had foot traffic and no anchor stores were sitting empty. Two weeks later Ruby Tuesday closed, no one knew why. Just closed. Fast Forward about 12 years later I was visiting family and we decided to go to a stand alone Ruby Tuesday that was built and opened in their area about 40 miles away. As I sat there and read the menu I kept thinking its like they only have burgers, and not much selection. That was my last time eating there. I just felt like everything was missing and nothing stood out like it did before. They obviously slimmed the menu. That location I believe is now also closed. When the Mall location closed abruptly it was rumored they were going to build a stand alone restaurant which left people hopeful but that never materialized.
I worked at rubys from 2016-2020 and I can say ABSOLUTELY the pandemic killed our store. We always joked about how bad our store was and we'd shit down any day but then it actually happened and we all lost our jobs.
@@ThePodCastDojo you’d be right, I’m a Rhode Islander and we have some of the last Friendly’s in the nation up here. Still amazing as ever, especially the crazy ice cream and novelty items like the mozzarella stick sandwich. Haven’t been in years but I need to go back before it shuts for good
I liked going to the restaurants. with my family. They were closing stores even before the pandemic issues. Salad bars lost their appeal if the were not kept clean and displayed in an appealing manner. Red Robin is doing well. Ruby Tuesday did not modernize to what the younger generation wanted. Too many stores and relying on shopping malls were bad decisions.
I was a corporate trainer for Ruby Tuesday’s throughout the ‘90s and went into management near the end. I opened probably 20 units for them and worked in dozens of units up and down the east coast. In my opinion their IPO was the turning point. Until then the food quality was very high, most of the food was prepped in house, but after the IPO the shift was to cheaper, and therefore, lower quality ingredients. Microwaves became the primary cooking tool for a lot of the menu. And also, I can confirm that units were closed without any notice, just a sign on the door when the staff arrived to work. Was pretty disgraceful.
@@ThePodCastDojo Correct. The Initial Public Offering. I feel they started chasing the shareholders rather than doing what had made them worth investing in in the first place.
@@ThePodCastDojo I don't even know where to start. I worked there from 2009-2020. Did everything from serving, bartending, hosting, dish washer, expo, cooked, salad bar prep, and worked up to a shift leader position in 2016. - There was a high turn over rate because the company didn't care about its employees as long as it still made a dollar. I saw customers treat employees like garbage to the point of tears, causing a scene, racial slurs, or even sexually harassing female waitresses, and not be asked to leave. - one of my coworkers that I worked alongside with for 10 years moved up into a salary management position at a Ruby Tuesday in a different city and she told me a customer was causing a scene at the host stand saying the host was watching porn on their phone in the front lobby. The host showed the manager on duty (not my old coworker) their phone, and there was nothing like that on there. The customer kept saying they wanted that host fired. That manager finally got that customer to leave and sent the host home for the night... When the host walked out to their car, that customer jumped them in the parking lot and then fled the scene. The police got involved and the next day, that host was fired for being in a physical altercation with a customer.
@@ThePodCastDojo - that same coworker who went to manage at that Ruby Tuesday lost her job because they permanently closed her store with no notice. After 10 years with the company they told her there was no option to transfer and no severance pay. - that also happened at another Ruby Tuesday that was down the road from our location. The first week of December 2018, they sent out an email to the employees of that location at midnight saying they didn't have a job the next day. Another sever I knew from there had been with the company for 10 years. She could either transfer to our store, or accept a severance package of $200 after 10 years of working for the company. They don't tell the employees that they're going to close down a location because they know if they do, those employees will either quit on the spot or take the first job they're offered somewhere else and then quit. If you don't have employees to push your product, you lose money... And they wanted to squeeze every penny out an employee that they could get before closing those doors for good.
@@ThePodCastDojo - talking about squeezing every penny out of its employees, Rubys cut as many corners as possible to save on cost. Like on catering. They would clock someone in as a server making $2.13/hr and have them deliver orders that cost hundreds of dollars, using the employee's car and the person delivering/setting up the catering order saw no gas money or anything from the delivery fee. Automatic gratuity was also done away with because in order to add it, Ruby Tuesday had to pay a tax on it... So instead, they no longer allowed us to automatically add gratuity to any kind of check for any reason. Even if the customer told us to add it, we had to tell them that wasn't allowed and that they had to put in the amount of gratuity they wanted to add. The worst I had seen was a guy delivering/setting up a $1,000 catering order by himself and received a $0 tip because the person who ordered it was mad Ruby Tuesday couldn't just add that to their bill. - also they would cut corners on cost by screwing employees out of overtime. Overtime would kick in after 40hrs... They would make you work up to 40, and then you better be off the clock. Didn't matter if you were still working or not, they would clock you out or go into the computer and rolls your worked hours back. So if you worked 41 hours, they would go in and roll it back an hour to where it looked like you forgot to clock out, or you clocked in too early... And that's illegal.
This also used to be one of the places my parents and I would usually go to whenever we were at the mall. I personally liked Ruby Tuesday a lot better before they decided to be more like an upscale restaurant. In the 90's, they had a much more laid back, casual atmosphere with a lot of cool vintage items and pictures hanging on the walls, TV sets to watch while waiting for your food, a great mix of music playing, and they had a much better variety of food, as well. I especially miss those long brown breadsticks and honey butter (delicious!) and that Ruby Magic smoothie they used to serve. Even their desserts were so good back in the day. And yeah, I even miss those tiffany lamps. Now I find the atmosphere of their current restaurants to be boring and trying too hard to look upscale, and the selection on the menu leaves a lot to be desired. The older items they still serve just don't taste the same. The only thing my mom still likes about them is the salad bar.
Ruby Tuesday in the early 90’s was incredible…amazing food and atmosphere. I would give anything to go back and have a meal there…
I have nice memories of eating lunch at Ruby Tuesday's while shopping at various malls in Virginia during the 90s. It was an alternative to typical fast food, an affordable and pleasant atmosphere too. Additionally, I remember American Cafe! I didn't know it was related to Ruby Tuesday's. There was an American Cafe in Tysons Corner, VA and also in downtown DC near Metro Center. I remember eating at both locations with my Aunt.
How was the food at American Cafe? I had no idea Morrisons was attached to them prior to this video
@@ThePodCastDojo I remember Morrison's too. American Cafe had modern casual food and a pleasing atmosphere
I think I remember the fried mozzarella at American Cafe the most : )
I was just a teenager, but American Cafe felt more creative and unique.
Thanks for the video! I miss going to
Ruby Tuesday, my local one closed a long time ago in a mall, my nearest one is now 40 minutes away.
Thank you for letting me use your video! I got your text. Im going to check it out tonight
The one in Lancaster, PA was set to close but the mayor bought the location and made it into a franchise.
Just picked up lunch from Ruby Tuesday. Great burgers.
I love Ruby Tuesday
Excellent
Nice job here! I’m looking forward to seeing a new Abandoned Locations video.
Great job!
Thank you!
My Local Ruby Tuesday Is still open Yay!
They have declared chapter 11. Hope they make it. Good salad bar
Hahahahaha. I fully enjoyed this video. Ruby's doesn't give a fuck about workers and they have no idea what they're doing.
Glad you enjoyed it! Sadly I think thats the story of a lot of big companies
We use to go to Ruby Tuesday all the time when we went to the mall. I can remember going there with a group of about 20 people from work, and the food was good we all enjoyed ourselves. This particular location was attached to the mall, and was seen immediately as you entered the malls main parking entrance. We even would go to the mall just to eat at Ruby Tuesday and leave. During this time around 2003 the mall was still doing pretty well, still had foot traffic and no anchor stores were sitting empty. Two weeks later Ruby Tuesday closed, no one knew why. Just closed. Fast Forward about 12 years later I was visiting family and we decided to go to a stand alone Ruby Tuesday that was built and opened in their area about 40 miles away. As I sat there and read the menu I kept thinking its like they only have burgers, and not much selection. That was my last time eating there. I just felt like everything was missing and nothing stood out like it did before. They obviously slimmed the menu. That location I believe is now also closed. When the Mall location closed abruptly it was rumored they were going to build a stand alone restaurant which left people hopeful but that never materialized.
I worked at rubys from 2016-2020 and I can say ABSOLUTELY the pandemic killed our store. We always joked about how bad our store was and we'd shit down any day but then it actually happened and we all lost our jobs.
They really did that to themselves and it was a great place to eat years ago.
They really did. It sounds like it boiled down to poor management
It's only one left in Baltimore MD now
RT and Friendly’s are practically out the door. I remember when the one in Daytona closed and they were always famous for their salad bars.
I think Friendly's is more up north now. But I agree that they are on their way out. And further than RT.
@@ThePodCastDojo you’d be right, I’m a Rhode Islander and we have some of the last Friendly’s in the nation up here. Still amazing as ever, especially the crazy ice cream and novelty items like the mozzarella stick sandwich. Haven’t been in years but I need to go back before it shuts for good
I used to go to Ruby Tuesday’s but the food wasn’t the best thing in the world for me but it was good and the one I live close to is around 50 minutes
Great video! RIP RT 💔 It was my family’s go to spot
Thank you! Sad to see it go. End of an era for sure
Sometime you should do the Jac pac meat factory that was in Manchester New Hampshire my grandmother used to live near that factory
It’s good in Tulsa. I want it back in Oregon.
I was in Tulsa this June. I can't remember if I saw one. Don't think I had to chance to eat there. Would loved to have tried it out
@@ThePodCastDojo yes I went yesterday, we have just one, but it’s good!
I liked going to the restaurants. with my family. They were closing stores even before the pandemic issues. Salad bars lost their appeal if the were not kept clean and displayed in an appealing manner. Red Robin is doing well. Ruby Tuesday did not modernize to what the younger generation wanted. Too many stores and relying on shopping malls were bad decisions.
I still eat at the one across from the mall in Colonial heights
I think that one closed down
@@ThePodCastDojo damn I had good memories there
I was a corporate trainer for Ruby Tuesday’s throughout the ‘90s and went into management near the end. I opened probably 20 units for them and worked in dozens of units up and down the east coast. In my opinion their IPO was the turning point. Until then the food quality was very high, most of the food was prepped in house, but after the IPO the shift was to cheaper, and therefore, lower quality ingredients. Microwaves became the primary cooking tool for a lot of the menu. And also, I can confirm that units were closed without any notice, just a sign on the door when the staff arrived to work. Was pretty disgraceful.
Thank you for sharing your experience. By IPO, do you mean when they became publicly traded?
@@ThePodCastDojo Correct. The Initial Public Offering. I feel they started chasing the shareholders rather than doing what had made them worth investing in in the first place.
I'm sad I never ate there before the Sikeston, MO location closed. I guess COVID-19 probably killed them off.
I'm sure it didn't help a lot of their locations for sure
I’ve never been to Ruby Tuesday.
Id say try them once before they are all gone
That restaurant sucks go to the one in Huntington West Virginia inside the mall
Is it a better location or is that the better location?
No I used to work there that plate sucks you got to learn how to treat your people
Places are closing because people are lazy and sit on their ass and order delivery
I worked for Ruby Tuesday for just over 11 years, and I can say first hand that it was terrible.
Oh really? If you dont mind my asking what made it bad? Were you in management?
@@ThePodCastDojo I just wrote everything out and I'm going to have to send it in sections because it's long... But worth the read
@@ThePodCastDojo I don't even know where to start. I worked there from 2009-2020. Did everything from serving, bartending, hosting, dish washer, expo, cooked, salad bar prep, and worked up to a shift leader position in 2016.
- There was a high turn over rate because the company didn't care about its employees as long as it still made a dollar. I saw customers treat employees like garbage to the point of tears, causing a scene, racial slurs, or even sexually harassing female waitresses, and not be asked to leave.
- one of my coworkers that I worked alongside with for 10 years moved up into a salary management position at a Ruby Tuesday in a different city and she told me a customer was causing a scene at the host stand saying the host was watching porn on their phone in the front lobby. The host showed the manager on duty (not my old coworker) their phone, and there was nothing like that on there. The customer kept saying they wanted that host fired. That manager finally got that customer to leave and sent the host home for the night... When the host walked out to their car, that customer jumped them in the parking lot and then fled the scene. The police got involved and the next day, that host was fired for being in a physical altercation with a customer.
@@ThePodCastDojo - that same coworker who went to manage at that Ruby Tuesday lost her job because they permanently closed her store with no notice. After 10 years with the company they told her there was no option to transfer and no severance pay.
- that also happened at another Ruby Tuesday that was down the road from our location. The first week of December 2018, they sent out an email to the employees of that location at midnight saying they didn't have a job the next day. Another sever I knew from there had been with the company for 10 years. She could either transfer to our store, or accept a severance package of $200 after 10 years of working for the company. They don't tell the employees that they're going to close down a location because they know if they do, those employees will either quit on the spot or take the first job they're offered somewhere else and then quit. If you don't have employees to push your product, you lose money... And they wanted to squeeze every penny out an employee that they could get before closing those doors for good.
@@ThePodCastDojo - talking about squeezing every penny out of its employees, Rubys cut as many corners as possible to save on cost. Like on catering. They would clock someone in as a server making $2.13/hr and have them deliver orders that cost hundreds of dollars, using the employee's car and the person delivering/setting up the catering order saw no gas money or anything from the delivery fee. Automatic gratuity was also done away with because in order to add it, Ruby Tuesday had to pay a tax on it... So instead, they no longer allowed us to automatically add gratuity to any kind of check for any reason. Even if the customer told us to add it, we had to tell them that wasn't allowed and that they had to put in the amount of gratuity they wanted to add. The worst I had seen was a guy delivering/setting up a $1,000 catering order by himself and received a $0 tip because the person who ordered it was mad Ruby Tuesday couldn't just add that to their bill.
- also they would cut corners on cost by screwing employees out of overtime. Overtime would kick in after 40hrs... They would make you work up to 40, and then you better be off the clock. Didn't matter if you were still working or not, they would clock you out or go into the computer and rolls your worked hours back. So if you worked 41 hours, they would go in and roll it back an hour to where it looked like you forgot to clock out, or you clocked in too early... And that's illegal.