Bankrupt - Ruby Tuesday
Вставка
- Опубліковано 30 лис 2023
- Get a Nebula Lifetime Membership at - go.nebula.tv/lifetime?ref=bri...
Or get 40% off on an annual plan at - go.nebula.tv/brightsunfilms
Started in the early 1970's, the Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain quickly grew to become an international goliath. They had restaurants spanning several countries, employed tens of thousands of people and at its peak, grew to over 900 locations. But ever since their peak in 2007, the chain has seen a quick downfall until their bankruptcy in 2021. So join me today as I look into the rise and fall of this iconic restaurant chain known for their salad bar, Ruby Tuesday.
Patreon - / brightsunfilms
Merch - shopbrightsunfilms.com
Instagram - / brightsunfilms
X/Twitter - / brightsunfilms
--------------
Bright Sun Films 2023
Presented in 4K - Розваги
So let's see;
Abandon identity
Raise prices
Appeal to a new crowd, alienate the old crowd
Results: Fail spectacularly
That particular bug seems to be an epidemic in boardrooms lately.
The awe inspiring levels of ignorance and the pure arrogance to be surprised that this approach would be anything but a backfire of hilariously absurd levels just goes that just because you WERE successful doesn’t mean you were anything other than lucky.
You perfectly described the fall of Nascar.
Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme
Sounds like Disney
I’m Nigerian but for some reason I love watching these videos of random American companies I’ve never heard of going bankrupt
The history is interesting!
That’s really interesting that you’re in Africa, of all places, but “love to see American companies go bankrupt.” So much here to chew on, but I suggest you focus on your own continent & not one of the ones that own yours outright & always will.
Bitchy and insecure there darling.@@nomihagan
@@nomihaganbruh he's just stating he likes watching random videos about companies he doesn't know. chill
@@nomihaganpeople can watch what they want. I'm not American either but I watch them because it's always a story of how the mighty were brought down by the weight of their own hubris. And hubris is something many American companies and to some extent, even Americans have in ship loads.
I used to meet my mom for Ruby Tuesday lunch once every couple of weeks. One time-the last time-we parked in a spot right in front of the entrance doors. A man came running out of the restaurant and proceeded to projectile vomit into the trashcan right in front of us. We promptly backed out of the parking lot and never returned. RIP Ruby Tuesday
That’s one way to permanently close out a tradition 😂
🧢
/thathappened
@@darkangel7589 I had a similar experience, only instead of a Ruby Tuesday it was a local Japanese buffet, and instead of a random person…it was me after we got home. I got a really bad case of food poisoning from some oysters.
We never went to that buffet again
@@sirdorkster You're using it wrong. This is a very believable story
I worked for Ruby Tuesday from 1996 to 2014. When they changed concepts and got rid of the artifacts and Tiffany lamps is when they started to decline, eventually losing their identity and confusing and ultimately losing all their customers.
good points. so how did you like working there?
I actually remember around that time of the switch. We were fairly regular customers, we were shocked with the switch. I got that pasta primavera that was shown in this video for a second. It was disgusting, I've no joke had better pasta from an MRE. Went back once and it wasn't any better. Haven't been back since.
Yea before the switch pretty much everything was made from scratch, rice pilaf, Cole slaw, steamed veggies, even the cheese was shredded from huge blocks every day, after the switch that all went away and almost everything started coming in pre-bagged and the quality went down quickly. After the switch the only cook really needed anymore was Chef Mike aka the microwave.
@@stephenm8725 I liked it a lot at first, then like a disfunctional relationship I stayed there because of how great it use to be and always hoped it would change, however it never did.
@@mpeezy358 their rice was great before the switch. I'm not surprised with the bagged food, that's what that pasta tasted like.
Nothing is more iconic than the abandoned Ruby Tuesday in a dead mall. Keep it up Jake!
I know that there's an abandoned standalone location in my home town (Not sure if it's still abandoned. But it was for a while)
Ours in town was a standalone that just went out earlier this year. They knocked it down and built a Texas Roudhouse
The stand alone by me strangely became a dentist office.
@@brianmfournier - In all the places i've been in the USA i've never seen a Texas Roadhouse that wasn't completely packed. Doesn't matter what day of the week or time of the year.
It's nuts.
Its absurd you let companies run their employees pension/reirement funds "OOOPS SORRY we spent your money!"
One of the few bright spots in 15 years of hard times is that non-franchise mom and Pop restaurants have made a comeback. At least in my part of the country.
real
Only some coney islands here
It has been about 15 years of hard times. 2008 or so. People never really recovered.
they have in my area as well. Unfortunately most of them suck
What part of the country?
My mom was a store manager for years. Corporate greed helped ruined franchises. They controlled pretty much everything. They did weird things with the food that my mom and other constantly tried to tell the upper ups that it wouldn’t work. When it would fail, they would basically blame it on the staff for not doing it right.
I managed a chain restaurant for a while, and corporate greed drove us out of business as well. Corporate basically wanted zero labor cost, and zero food cost. Of course that was impossible, but we were always understaffed and were giving guests less value for money. I tried to tell them that we needed to pay GOOD employees more (but fire lousy ones), and that if we gave quality food in adequate amounts, we would get repeat business. They just wanted whoever would work for the least money, and bought food from the lowest bidder. Then I was to blame as manager, when in fact I had done as they had told me, since they would not listen to any suggestion from me for even one minute. BTW- the whole chain is now out of business, except a few independently owned stores under other names.
@@nedkelly2035 that’s just terrible !! I don’t understand why chain restaurants have a corporate
They make it worse because they are hired to run things but lack the experience.
Same here, my poor managers were fired about every week and wondered why it wasn't going well.
I remember when they "upscaled" ketchup service. Removed the bottles and instead gave you a dollop, because apparently it was "higher class" and not cheaping out. Ridiculous.
A small thing but when they eliminated turkey from their salad bar I no longer wanted to go.
I remember as a kid Ruby Tuesday was a top pick for my birthday dinner. Their rebrand was a terrible thing. I loved those lamps & the wall decor (which is one reason I think Applebees still hangs on).
HOW DOES CHILLIS AND FRIDAYS AND OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE HANG ON
@@44bthknuckles because chilis is fire lol
@@44bthknucklesThe one time I went to a TGI Fridays I was in the outskirts of Las Vegas (Sam’s Town Hotel/Casino) after a wedding with a group of family, purchased several pitchers of beer and a couple rounds of appetizers for the table, and my tab with 20% was less than $100 and I understood immediately why they’re so successful.
Applebee's and 54th Street Bar & Grill (depending on your location).
Everyone was doing that wall decor though including Friday's and Ground Round. It's a different era.
As someone that worked at Ruby Tuesdays during what I call the transition period. It truly was night and day. The salad bar shrank from 70 something items to 20 "high quality" items. The menu shrank from 30 something burgers to "high quality" selections. The uniforms changed from jeans to dress pants and the eclectic decorations and Tiffany lamps were stripped and replaced with bland nothingness. They wanted a high dining image and we went from a bursting wait list to nothing on Friday and Saturday nights. We were laughed at by customers to think a chain could be fine dining and also major complaints by what was done to the salad bar. This was my job to get me through college and was purely Sandy's major rebrand idea in 2005-2006 that killed the image of the restaurant and ostracized its passionate regulars.
This is a great summary of what happened. They took all of the fun energy out of the place and got rid of all the combos I used to love there in the 90s and replaced them with meals with tiny portions and higher prices. The colorful place with great atmosphere turned into a depressing old person with tan and brown everywhere. I say this as a 55 year old who ate at Ruby Tuesday at ton in my 20s and would still love it if that version of Ruby Tuesday (say, 1996) still existed.
Trying to move the brand's image from the thrifty, rustic aesthetic and diverse menu to this pretentious, bland snobby high-end wannabe while leveraging it as an excuse to jack-up their prices and neuter their menu was a fatal mistake. Should have just accepted that they reached their growth ceiling at that point and maintained the status quo.
I worked at Ruby Tuesday as a second job in 2006 and most of the customers were disappointed when they came in if it was their first time in since the renovations. About seven years later all of the RTs in my area have closed
@@chemergency Younger people liked them. There will always be more young people. If you try to change to cater to the same customers as they get old, you'll be like Shoney's, K Mart, and Sears. Ruby Tuesday did this.
@@3Cr15w311 The people running these types of restaurants don't really know what young people want or like though. The bland, sterile, generic coffee shop look and overpriced food ain't it.
Today I learned that Ruby Tuesday went bankrupt. I seriously hadn't even noticed that I hadn't seen one out in the wild for a while.
Same. Once they made their restaurants look like Perkins, only more expensive, I gave up on going there.
I used to have one in my local mall, but once it closed up, there was never one that reopened even remotely close to our area unfortunately.
There’s one still open in my town. It actually started getting more business because the Santa Fe just closed and there were already limited options here
Theres one right by my house and since lockdown I wondered why it was still operating… found out later that it’s because they’re running ghost kitchens (Mr. Beast Burger)
Yeah I hadn't thought about this place in years that I didn't even think whether they even went bankrupt. Though now that I think about it. I might have read about it but totally forgot about it since it wasn't in the news much
Ruby Tuesday, Applebees, and TGIF are what I call nondescript restaurants. They are where you go when you are with a group of people and you want to ensure everyone can find something to eat. If you want something specific, like BBQ or Italian, then you don't go there. Applebees is where my referee group went after our meeting. We went there for the very same reason I stated. Alternatively, you can go one step down and end up in Shoney's or Denny's.
Don’t forget Red Robin!
Or go an even lower step and wind up at a Waffle House
Canada here- sounds like a Kelsey's. Doesn't have a theme, where a Swiss Chalet does rotisserie chicken and Boston pizza has pasta / Italian. Montana's is another example. Way more branding, but a super something-for-everyone kind of generic menu.
Don't forget Bennigan's. They still have a few locations, but not many. I think that they have more locations OUTSIDE of the USA now.
At least the Waffle House staff is nice, and the food is fast and tastes good.
As a Knoxville native, the old school decor and salad bar was part of my childhood. The whole point of the chain to me was to go to a cozy, local chain that had the consistency of a national brand but with lower prices. It never felt like it was meant to be a destination for a “fancy night out”….it didn’t need to be. I wish they had remained as a regional brand because it lost its soul after the renovations and then the nail in the coffin… raising prices.
As a Knoxville native, I feel the same way! We used to go to Ruby Tuesday a lot! It was fun!
And best, super-sweet lemonade there was, AND bottomless.
@@MindOfGenius that strawberry lemondae was my fave as a kid. I never got boujee vibes from Ruby , the quality in the food was about the same as chilis but the ambiance of the restaurant is what felt better to me growing up
@@cheetopuff99_ Raspberry lemonade for me.
I can name the people who decided that they needed to change, and their idiotic corporate decisions. I work for them and went to Maryville dozens of times on Church Street. It's such a shame that a handful of people could destroy an entire company
I was a fan of Ruby Tuesdays because of their salad bar. I work on the road a lot, and being able to eat my veggies while staying in hotel after hotel is difficult.
I love myself a good salad bar. I was DEVASTATED when my local Sweet Tomatoes went under. 😢
You're not alone! Loved the place. Ours up and left maybe 5 years ago 😞
Their salad bar was the only reason I went. But I did really like that salad bar. I was bummed when my local RT closed.
same. those pumpernickel croutons were bomb
My mom n I loved ruby tuesday's salad bar too lol I remember the homemade croutons being popular
I used to work at Fry’s Electronics and there was a Ruby Tuesday across the street. The salad bar was actually super convenient to hit up on a lunch break. Now both of those places cease to exist. 😢
I miss Fry's
Dang I miss Fry's, cheap and always stocked up and white castles ❤ some days I do miss Indiana. 😢😅
Sucks how lame our society becomes when capitalism fails
Thanks Obama
I also worked at Fry's. I don't miss having to wear an uncomfortable uniform while a customer yells at me for not having any more wii lol
Old school Ruby Tuesday with the artifacts on the wall, the salad bar (the pumpernickel croutons alone), my favorite menu item EVER French Onion Soup, flavored iced teas and their amazing blondies was always a fun experience, I never enjoyed the rebranding.
The blondies were the thing that kept me coming back EVERY TIME. Even when the quality dropped I still went for the blondies. When they got rid of them completely, I said good riddance. Still miss them tho 😩
You can make the crutons at home, high temp deep fry the bread and just put Garlic, salt, and pepper on them. Want the outside crispy and the inside soft, high temp does it. Used to work there haha
Ironically, a still-open Ruby Tuesday location came in handy for me a year ago. It was in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, a couple of nights before Christmas of 2022. The temperature was 0 degrees F. I was just about to get dinner at Cracker Barrel before completing the last leg of the journey to visit my mom, which would've taken over an hour in good weather, let alone these icy conditions. However, much to our dismay, the Cracker Barrel was in the process of closing early without any notice. We drove to Texas Roadhouse just to find that it, too, had already closed. With our dinner options in this small city dwindling, we finally tried Ruby Tuesday, and we were thrilled to find that it was open. It was less than 60 degrees inside, and the food was just okay, but it was much appreciated. Thanks, Ruby Tuesday, for staying open despite all odds!
"Millennials killed casual dining" is a phrase I remember hearing back when this restaurant began to freefall.
but let's be honest.. Casual dining killed itself.
Wage stagnation killed it. No one can afford to dine out anymore.
@lexa_power wage stagnation and a huge jump in prices. Why would I shell out $20 for a burger and fries when the Greek place gives enough food for 2 meals for $25? Or Vietnamese and French cafes selling Banh Mi or Baguette sandwiches for under $8?
What corporate chains have to offer is a large sit down space, but they aren't the place for a culinary adventure and their large footprints hold them back in the modern takeout scene.
We would go more often but feel less inspired by a mere 36 pieces of flare.
Millennials were raised with values beyond "support shit chains no matter what" and choose to dine out based on reviews, word of mouth, and media attention. Being known to have bland food at high prices and abuse your workers regardless of how loyal they are, really isn't going to cut it anymore. Sadly a lot of USian chains suffered from refusing to realise that.
@colinklang the minimum is 13 peice's of flare.... 😅
Ruby Tuesday became like every restaurant that started in the 80s, they make exterior and interior changes, make it super modern and in the end the restaurant loses customers
McDonald’s is making that same mistake right now. That classic McDonald’s look has been replaced by the most bland, boring architecture any corporate stooge could dream up.
@@afridgetoofar1818 see the weird thing is, after McD started ditching their whole circus aesthetic into something more like starbucks, their business was booming for a while.
@@afridgetoofar1818except McDonald’s is too big to fail
@@gamerfan5381 so was Sears, right?
@@gamerfan5381McDonalds isn't a restaurant, it's a landlord that exploits other capitalists. The franchisees - many of whom are moderately wealthy immigrants socking money away in what was supposed to be a safe bet - will lose their shirts long before anyone in corporate starts feeling the pain.
One of their problems (as even supported by a lot of footage used in this video) was that at their height every Ruby Tuesday seemed to be located right near another casual dining restaurant. Whenever the next recession hit and places that previously could support multiple casual dining restaurants could only support one, there was no way they were going to win all those matchups.
That might be due to them franchising the business. Corporate will generally put in a lot of effort into picking the right location (traffic, competition, visibility, property values) but when it comes to a franchises they only care if they can pay the dues/fees monthly. Over expansion seems to be one of the main killers for these kind of businesses, remember Crispy Creams?
Yup. In my hometown, the local Ruby Tuesday was right next to IHOP. Even as a kid, I did not think it was feasible for them to compete right next to the breakfast behemoth.
The one I knew of in NJ was next to a TGI Friday's. That TGI Friday's just announced a couple of weeks ago it is closing. The era of casual chain restaurants is certainly changing.
I liked Ruby Tuesday when i lived in South Florida about 15 years ago. The food was good and the salad bar had very fresh items which were kept ice cold. I remember that because salad bars at competing restaurants seemed to be messy and kept at questionable temperatures. Anytime a restaurant chain gets sold to a private equity company, that is almost a sure sign that the restaurant chain will go under.
Private equity firms don’t know a fork from a knife or a toilet bowl from a salad bowl! That’s the problem with private equity firms!!
To anyone who ends up in a management business ever. If you turn your locations into beige boxes, that's not modern, that's cheap. It looks cheap, make you look desperate, makes you look boring, makes you look dead, and makes the locations less fun than a funeral home! I'd rather burn a beige box down than eat in one.
P.S. To Ruby Tuesday, the Tiffany lamps were gorgeous and timeless, the dorm room lamps you replaced them with are the kind that belong in the trash after you graduate, because you stole them from a hotel.
So true. Everything modern looks drab, boring, and commercial. It's not cozy or inviting. It says we bought everything wholesale from a big box hardware store and slapped this place together. It was built as cheaply and quickly as possible. It's the American way.
Agreed, I don't know why this incredibly boring, beige, corporate shill looking aesthetic is framed as "modern" because no one in their right mind thinks it actually looks modern.
Applebee's has kept the cozy sports bar aesthetic, and I don't think it's coincidence they're the only chain in this category that's been able to push back against the general decline of the sector domestically. (TGI Friday's seems to be much more successful internationally than inside the U.S., so I expect they'll continue to slide in terms of U.S. domestic locations.)
Yep. People were genuinely upset when they got rid of the Tiffany lamps.
Makes them look like every UA-cam Influencer's first apartment.
I think another reason chain restaurants are dying in favor of local hole-in-the-wall treasures is because online reviews have taken a lot of the guess work/risk out of trying unknown places. Sure, online reviews can be wildly incorrect, but the overall gist of any local place is going to be much less of a craps shoot than it was even 20 years ago now that we all have a mini computer in our pockets.
Along those same lines, I know some people (myself included) would go to certain chains like Ruby Tuesday and Cracker Barrel while on road trips because they were "safe" and pretty consistent no matter where you were. But now, again, with online reviews you can look up any particular place and not only see a menu but read reviews as well. Now when I'm traveling if I have the choice between Ruby/Cracker Barrel or a little local place with glowing reviews, I'm going to try the local place for the added adventure for my trip.
Even when I'm at home I've started looking for places around me that I haven't tried before instead of going to chains even though I grew up going to places like TGI Friday's. It's been a positive change, too, because I have found some absolute GEMS right in my backyard that are regular haunts for my family now!
It’s says u commented this 6 days ago how?
@@texsma769 early access to video
Yeah, had this kind of experience over the summer. Driving home from a family reunion and we were trying to find something to eat. One of us whipped out a smartphone and did some searching, ended up at a cozy little Chinese place that was barely even visible from the major highway driving past the strip mall it was in. The food was excellent and extremely good value as the lunch buffet, while a small part of the already small restaurant was closed off so the kids of the owners could have their own space while the parents were working.
I actually never thought about it. But yeah it feels like most of the people I know never even think about chain restaurants anymore and more stand alone local options are everywhere.
Interesting but yeah now that you say it I have been more likely to try local places that are highly rated.
I still remember the transition at the local Ruby Tuesdays. They brought in one of those pod things to the parking lot and all the decorations were taken out. It went from where we went to hang out with friends to some wannabe fancy restaurant. We had fine dining restaurants in town that were much better, no one wanted that fake version.
I worked for a major food company for 25 years . When the founder died in ‘93 the company started changing policies that were proven effective . So they brought in an outsider who had no business experience in the food industry and made him c.e.o. After a few short years of declination the “ directors “ sold the company to mid west company and gave the “ c.e.o. a $ 40,000,000 severance package . After the sell I was eligible for retirement through the Teamsters . A year after which the company was sold to an investment company in Florida .
It amazes me how a company which started during the Depression and survived all the heartaches that make a company successful can be destroyed by people who think they know better than . Brings to mind of the old saying “ if it ain’t broke don’t fix it “ .
As a long time food-service worker, with experience from many different restaurants, I can tell you with confidence, these companies are always their own worst enemies. Corporate is always made up of execs who have either never worked in the trenches, or who haven't worked in the trenches for so long, that they've forgotten what it's like. They have no clue how things really work, or what really goes on, at store level. They make decisions based on numbers, and/or what their out-of-touch selves think. But in reality, those decisions are often the exact opposite of what their customer base wants, and that often work against the efficiency, speed, and quality of their staff, stores, and product. And they just don't get it. When you have a system that works, you should stick with it. There's a reason why it works. But when you change things, you lose customers, because why go to a place when the whole reason you loved going in the first place is now gone?
"Goodbye Ruby Tuesday,
Who would hang a name on you?
And when you change with every new day,
Still I'm going to miss you." 😢
Someone had to comment that. :)
It's what I do.@@EddieGaster
My thoughts exactly
I was looking for this. lol
The Deana Carter cover brings back memories of the 90s for me.
@@EddieGaster I'm surprised there aren't more of the same comments since the lyrics are so fitting.
That Ruby Tuesday in Niagara Falls looks 100% exactly like it did when my parents and I ate there on vacation in summer 2007. I remember both of them being similarly shocked by our bill at the end, too.
Niagara Falls is just a tourist trap. Literally every restaurant and hotel is overpriced
I ate at the ruby Tuesdays in jasper In almost weekly. They had the best mushroom and Swiss burger I ever ate. Then out of nowhere they switched to frozen patties and canned mushrooms. They were gross. Never went back. Closed down not much later. Good restaurants commonly get ruined by penny pinching ceos
I worked for ruby's for 20 years. Cool place when I started. By the time I left, it was exactly what you heard in this video. A soulless husk of a restaurant with major identity issues. And yeah, they had a habit of letting employees show up for work to find the doors chained and locked. I never heard about any severance though.
They did that in Roseville, MN.
Everyone showed up to a note on the window saying closed. Literally locked and abandoned overnight
@@jordan_alle
The Apple Valley restaurants seem to fade away. All of em, that side of Cedar Ave.
Then even Barns & Chernobyl closed.
Who treats their hammer with respect?
@@jordan_alle Happened in Pocatello, Idaho, too.
@jhoughjr1 the sad part is, when I first started they were all about the employees. They put a drunk bartender into rehab and hired her back, gave overtime, and generally made sure you
were happy.
The only thing about these videos I ever find sad is that the executives never seem to fall along with the franchises they ram straight into the ground.
That's one of the many reasons why I'm a communist.
@@DarDarBinks1986Edgy.
What hits home even more is that @5:33, you see also bankrupt "The Ground Round" come into view, opposite the Ruby entrance. That was my favorite growing up.
Fates of my local Ruby Tuesdays:
Exton: Closed in 2015, Now an IHOP
Malvern: Closed in 2015, torn down in 2018, Aldi built in it's place in Mid-2019
Pottstown: Closed in 2017, replaced by an Addidas store.
Lancaster: Closed in 2017, Now a sushi restaurant called Sushi Heaven
TGIFridays really played a part in all this. They were always fighting for the same space. From weekdays in the name, logo design, menu, to décor, they were always blending together in the consumers minds. They both rebranded in the same direction too, Tuesdays had a hard time differentiating themselves.
Interesting point.
Tuesday’s had a salad bar. Of bad options, the salad bar was the choice maker for me.
In my opinion, not outside of the south-east. By the time RT tried expanding west of the Mississippi, TGI Fridays was almost entirely gone. You may have a point in the south east prior to 2000 or so though.
IMO Ruby Tuesday just wasn't good enough to differentiate itself from Chilis, Applebees, TGI Fridays, etc. the main difference was the decor. I didn't even know they lasted so long and had no idea they had got rid of their iconic decor.
Both places suck
You're a brave man eating at a Ruby Tuesdays in 2023. SUFFER FOR YOUR ART!! 😉👍
I live in Knoxville. I noticed when I was driving in Maryville, TN (where their corp office is located), their big corporate building has now been taken over by another company. And when you google their name it has moved to a small building with suites. So pretty much the company doesn’t even exist anymore in my eyes. Last time I went to one of their flagship restaurants, they had gotten rid of the salad bar and the food was terrible. This was probably in the mid 2000s. Never went back after that.
I used to love eating at the Ruby Tuesday at the Galleria at Crystal Run in Middletown, NY. The salad bar was amazing!
You should do Bennigan's. In the end, they were having to pay all purveyors in cash upon delivery. The way they closed was poorly executed because they literally just came in one morning and locked the doors without paying the employees. Some employees at certain locations are already inside when corporate called store management to lock up, and they threw huge parties. The employees looted the food, bar, and decor. One of the restaurants was actually burned to the ground. As of a few years ago, they still had a location at Dallas/Ft.Worth International Airport. An enterprising restaurateur tried to open a store in Plano, Texas, and failed miserably. It's a good story.
I loved bennigans back in the day. Worked there for a good amount of time too.
Turkey O’Toole!
@@MrCBG Monte Carlo and death by chocolate! Or dbc as the cool kids say.
@mralanlost great story. I have a humorous vision of the parties in the closed stores, one thing restaurant workers know how to do is party!
@stratcat4450 Yeah, I worked in restaurants for 20 years. From dishwasher to owner, I did it all. One of the reasons I gave it up was to stop the incessant partying. Also, to stop working 80-hour weeks!
The bankruptcy of the restaurant is the perfect opportunity to use the line from the song in which it got its name…”GOODBYE, Ruby Tuesday.”
Still I'm gonna miss you
When he says Ruby sounds like he adds a W at the start "Wluby Chooseday"
Who could hang a name on you? I mean, in the sense of what business is going to take over the abandoned building that used to be a Ruby Tuesday and hang up a sign with a new name.
@@wtfaiwpodcast I meant using the song in the video
Ruby Tuesday's, at its peak, was on the lower end of sit-down casual restaurants (probably below Chili's and above Applebee's). But when they raised prices and tried to go "higher scale", they didn't bring the food along, so it was just an expensive place to get the salad bar, which you can get at a nice Golden Corral. So it had no place in the market.
can i just say growing up playing a travel sport we always used to go to Rubys wherever we went and now there is still one left in my hometown. I root for its comeback constantly
*_"Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday._*
*_Who could hang a name on you,_*
*_when you change with every new day?_*
*_Still, I'm gonna miss you."_*
*The Rolling Stones*
As someone who has had experience with Ruby Tuesday, I could tell you that from the inside, the writing was on the wall for a while, and the locations I was familiar with may have had decent food, their major point of differentiation was a major killer - that salad bar. It was all too often that corporate put in so much time and energy into these new dishes, when all people wanted was the comparably lower priced salad bar, and because of where they were placed in these locations I am familiar with - many people would help themselves to the salad bar and sit themselves. Straining the servers on staff and leaving the restaurant at a loss when so many didn’t pay, especially when we were on a wait. I later went to work at an Olive Garden, and they too have the same problem, unlimited salad, but at least their portions can be controlled (as it isn’t self-served) and have less toppings. I do think the problem for Olive Garden long term will be the many risks inherent in the casual dining industry, but they at least have their parent company, Darden, who only specialize in restaurants, both casual and upscale, which I think will help mitigate any long term struggle in their industry segment. Although that does not mean they are above consumer trends.
The "unlimited salad and breadsticks" might be a great promotion, but as long as it is part of the cultural zeitgeist it will be a millstone around Olive Garden's neck profitability-wise. Same thing with Red Lobster's (another Darden restaurant chain) promotions.
I don't think it's coincidence that Applebee's, which has actively embraced the sports-bar aesthetic and pushed hard on the promotional deals (especially the "2 for $20" concept), is the only casual dining chain that seems to be making headway fighting the general decline of the sector. (TGI Friday's seems to be far more popular outside the U.S. than inside, so I think it'll continue the downward slide in the domestic American market.)
@@gordontaylor2815 Interestingly enough, Darden sold off Red Lobster a number of years ago in order to reinvest into their operations, mainly Olive Garden. A lot of the bloat and cost overruns that Ruby Tuesday felt after the 2008 recession were dealt with at Olive Garden because of an upper management shakeup, which also helped them weather the storm due to covid, but now, they’re focused on cutting costs and purchasing other brands to make them as lean as possible the more casual the resultant is. Which may put consumers off in the long run, no matter how much they save on costs.
Darden does terrible things to their restaurants and employees. Cheddar’s took a massive nosedive in quality after being bought, and their tip share was ridiculous (a percentage of the price of items sold, not of tips earned. My husband, more often than not, had to pay to work there. Afaik this is standard across many Darden restaurants now)
@@tisvana18 I will say as a server, I, too, find this kind of cost cutting horrendous, and it doesn't help that their main money-maker, Olive Garden, is continuously being stripped to maximize profits. There were some aspects that I thought were for the better, like removing incredibly time-specific specials and coupons. Although as time progressed, I do agree with you that quality is suffering due to cost cutting. I do feel they first attempted these movied at og, then during covid, turbocharged them and applied them to all of their casual chain brands, including Cheddar's.
@@gordontaylor2815
Darden dumped Red Monster years ago.
I'm guessing to float capital to their new ventures.
Hey Jake - great video, as always.
I have one of the last remaining Ruby Tuesdays in my town - a small rural town that is in the extreme-extreme outreaches of Northeast Atlanta, GA (a town called Winder). I don't go often, mainly because I don't go out to eat often, but every once in a while I think about it and order something from there to pick up and bring home.
The last time I ate from them (23-Oct-2023), it was just sad. When I went for pickup, there were people at the bar (although not a ton), and very few at the tables. I had ordered a "new" dish they had (they keep revamping the menu) just to try something new, and wow - what a mistake it was. It was a seasoned boneless chicken breast (single) called their "French Quarter Chicken" with a skewer of five small shrimp and some mashed potatoes. I also got what they called a "Stuffed Ribeye Quesadilla" (which was on special) as an appetizer. Don't look for these dishes anymore - I just checked and the menu has already changed *yet AGAIN*!
Terrible - all terrible. When I arrived, it wasn't even ready for pickup (even though I had give 1 1/2 hours in advance on the timing) I still had to wait almost 15 minutes for it. I got it home (I live 1/2 mile away and it took only about 5 minutes) and the appetizer was absolutely cold and nothing but a few meager pieces of beef in a lot of cheese smashed between two tortillas. As far as the chicken - stone cold and so overcooked that in trying to cut it, it would only separate along the grain of the chicken and became threads because it was so so overcooked and dry it and essentially tasteless.
I paid almost $40.00 (US) for one of the *wrost* meals of my life (and I have had a lot of bad - was in the US Navy around the world for years!), *and* had to go and pick it up and bring it home and plate it. I have given up on the place. Their original CEO was smart to get out when he did, because this Ruby Tuesday sure as heck isn't the one he started. I can't wait until they come with the wrecking ball to take out the one in my town!
The closest ruby Tuesday that close a while a like 5-7 years ago still hasn’t been occupied and is sitting abandoned
I think Ruby Tuesdays actually *surviving* their bankruptcy process and having restaurants open still is honestly a stunning success from the team that managed it. Even being able to treat water and break even on the business would be a huge win given how rapidly they were collapsing
A very great recovery from the company
LMAO, US BK code is "legalized fraud"
@@TheRusschannelBK code?
@@jamesrosewell9081 ... bankruptcy
Context clues... i.e. the person saying bankruptcy in the post.
Google... "What is BK? Bankers and other business professionals sometimes use the abbreviation BK to mean bankruptcy. In the financial or business arena, BK is referring to a bankruptcy"
You don't have to be helpless and ignorant your whole life. Think.
@@jamesrosewell9081 What that idiot is trying to say is that the US Bankruptcy code is "legalized fraud". I would mark him down as just a disagreeable person trying to act edgy with no knowledge.
Ruby Tuesday will always have a special place in my heart for giving 2 sides with kids' meals. Never saw this at any other restaurant and I loved having this option as a kid.
Good article. Wish u could do a story of Texas chain called Lubys. Very popular, good food, priced right and closed up all locations.
I worked as a busser at Ruby’s at the very end of the 90s in high school. Not a single thing on the salad bar was fresh - it all came out of large plastic containers; I remember washing the rubber lettuce that was used as a decorative border for it. it was still pretty popular back, then, though.
I loved this place. The one in my town shut down years ago but luckily a local business owner bought it and it’s now a phenomenal diner that’s very cheap.
I worked at one for a little under a year, and surprisingly it’s still open. Had a lot of employee turnover and i experienced two regime changes.
39 years old here. In Phoenix area, I've only ever seen Ruby Tuesday's around/attatched to malls. I dont think I've ever seen a free standing one.
And all my life seeing them every time I'd go to the mall as a kid (yes, people used to go hang out and have fun before the internet existed), I've NEVER been there. Nothing about that place looked good to me... Anything they had, I could get much better anywhere else... And I believe most, if not all closed in the Phoenix/Arizona area long before the 'Vid hit.
I didn't know Ruby Tuesday were bankrupt, but I suppose that's why I haven't seen any ads for the place in years. When me and my family were attending a wedding in the state of New York, there was actually an open Ruby Tuesday right next to our hotel and we went there cuz it was the closest place to get some grub. And honestly, it was alright, had a salad, some nachos, and a burger which were good enough. Not fantastic, but appetizing enough, I was honestly somewhat surprised that I even enjoyed it at all cuz I hadn't eaten there since I was a kid.
The last Ruby Tuesday I ate at the steak was so bad I was literally surprised. Like you guys it was so tough than i figured it must have come from the oldest bull they could find. I can't imagine why they didn't at least attempt to tenderise it. It was totally unediable.
i went to a ruby tuesday’s last week. it looked abandoned from the outside because the parking lot had large cracks in it. we waited an hour for our food, even though the restaurant wasn’t even at half capacity. i ordered a large salad with salmon in it that ended up being the size of the salads you can get from the salad bar. i’m not surprised they aren’t doing well
The portions of these casual dining are always *so* enormous. I suspect the idea is that you go there with friends and you split the meal with them.
Niagara Falls is a horrifying tourist trap of schlock, but that Ruby Tuesday there really takes the cake. In 2005 for SOME reason my friends and I decided to go there for appetizers and drinks.
It was bad. BAD.... Very bad.... and expensive....
Jake never gets enough credit for his videos. Every new video he makes is so interesting from topics that you wouldn't find interesting by looking at them. Keep up the good work, Jake!
That’s really kind of you, thank you so much
Than send him money!!!
Man, you have no idea how much i love these episodes. Please never stop making them.
I still remember my favorite meal from Ruby Tuesdays as a little kid, it was the spaghetti with tomato sauce. I use to go there with my parents when I was around 6-8. I remember distinctly the coloring books with a red cowboy/girl dog (not sure since its been almost a decade) and i always brought the Crayons home.Ruby Tuesday will always have a special place in my heart.
Corporations just never will understand. You have a brand, an iconic appeal that drive repeat customers. DONT CHANGE IT. This isnt rocket science. The marketing departments these day are out of touch, and market with their heads up their arses. People dont want change when something is good just as it is.
🎵goodbye ruby Tuesday🎵
All these dying chain restaurants seems have something in common. It was best enjoyed 30-40 years ago. I remember when going to T.G.I.F with my family was almost a routine pilgrimage at least once a month back in the 80s. That was a best time.
Companies need to realize that infinite growth isn't possible. It's a time as old as tale, and continues to happen over and over in the modern day.
Ever empire ever created had its day in the sun and has since fallen, modern ones are no different
Sadly, part of the problem is our idiotic taxation system. Can't just bank the money, you've got to spend it on the business or pay much higher taxes. Adding new locations is the go-to, but like you said, it isn't sustainable and becomes a logistical nightmare.
That's unfortunate, I had no idea they were struggling that bad. I had fond memories of Ruby Tuesday during the mid 00s to about 2013. I worked at a Best Buy mall anchor during that time, and Ruby's was the only real restaurant at that mall. I used to stop in after a closing shift for some dinner and a few beers, usually a buffalo chicken & Blue Moons. After a certain point I basically started a tradition with my coworkers where we would go there after a shift for stuff like promotions, or if someone was leaving, etc. We got the entire bar area fully packed several times over the years. I was also really good with the customer facing staff and they were all cool. I think I've gone there once since I left that job in 2013.
That mall is basically dead now, all the big name anchors are long gone and even the prominent smaller stores are basically all gone too, but a couple staples still remain like Gamestop, Hot Topic, Spencers, Zumiez, Journeys, and a couple others. Everything else is basically niche small privately owned businesses, like I remember seeing one of those painting places where everyone paints the same thing, stuff like that. I think the public library took over what used to be Old Navy's space, etc. I believe Ruby Tuesday was still there, I have half a mind to revisit it for old time's sake. Worst case scenario if they're gone I'll go to Charlies. I fuckin love Charlies' stuff, especially the buff chick philly.
Mannnnn that salad bar was life… I used to love it
"Goodbye Ruby Tuesday, closed all locations in my area." "Still I am going to miss you."
ruby tuesdays used to be a go to for my mom, and my sister when my mom was going through her divorce from my dad. us three girls would go to ruby tuesdays at least once a month for lunch. i loveddd their salad bar. i was so sad when our local ruby tuesday closed 😭 a raising canes now stands where our ruby tuesday was
Better a raising canes then a mcdonalds IMO
That Ruby Tuesday salad bar is a core childhood memory, I'm kinda sad to see it go.
A lot of restaurants and retail companies seem to have similar stories;
Company gets created based on good morals, unexpectedly becomes a hit, expands stores rapidly, goes on the stock exchange, big corpo come in because they see dollar signs, morals go out the window, greed takes over, customers start hating it, corpo changes stores, customers hate it even more, stores start closing, company declares bankruptcy. The End.
Back in the 80s and 90s eating at a Ruby Tuesday was a treat. By the 2000s it just wasn't worth the price. The quality just wasn't worth the price. My local one here in Somerset Ky just couldn't compete with Texas Roadhouse and Chili's a couple of blocks away and closed March 2020. The location just reopened as a Longhorn.
In 2005, my family moved to a small rural town, where the only casual dining spots were a Ruby Tuesday and a Longhorn. The salad bar alone drew us in to Ruby Tuesday, but it wasn't long before the rebranding and not only did variety on the menu go down, but so did quality. I ate there a grand total of twice since the late 00s- once in the summer of 2016, and once in 21 or 22 after they had reopened post covid. The price had significantly increased, but quality had just further slid into the ground both times.
I am so glad my local Ruby Tuesday is still in operation.
We enjoy your channel and your voice.
Blessings to all.
This reminds me of Steak and Ale, a restaurant that began with humble origins, had an iconic salad bar, rustic interior decor, expanded regionally before global reach, and fell very hard. You might wanna have a video on Steak and Ale, although there are rumours of the restaurant's revival, but it would still make a interesting topic.
Steak & Ale...that was always a special place
is rhat a UK based restaurant.
Christ, I haven't thought about Steak & Ale in like 20 years.
Loved steak and ale was sad when they closed
In the 1970s in Alabama, they had to brand themselves as the Jolly Ox because the state wouldn't let them put the word "Ale" on a sign.
A mall close to me had a Ruby Tuesday and you better believe my parents were going there for that salad bar. Many fond memories of dining there in the 90s. Then as an adult I went to one while on a trip and it was a soulless corporate husk with bland food. RIP to a once great chain
we had a few locations in my home country, Kuwait ( a small country in the middle east). This video gave me good information of why the closure happened, Thanks Jake
I remember Ruby Tuesday having such awesome menu items come through from like 2010-2014 and every time they introduced something good, they took it off the menu! Everything good about it kept leaving.
Ruby Tuesday is still big here in East Tennessee. They also are the only full restaurant at Knoxville airport and are always packed. Did not know they were in trouble at all.
These days I only find them in rural and central Pennsylvania along the interstates. Unfortunately the ones local to me in Virginia all closed up within the span of five years. *sniff*
There's still one in Alcoa and like you said in the airport. I wondered if something was going wrong with the company because their headquarters was in Maryville and the building was recently sold to another company.
Growing up there was three Ruby Tuesday’s in my area including one right off the interstate. All three of them are gone now
There was one in Sevierville and another up the road in Pigeon Forge, until it caught fire
yeah, they tanked in Pennsylvania.
In my hometown during the 90s, Ruby Tuesday was one of the most popular spots to go to dinner since it was attached to the mall. By the late 2000s, it was the place that was considered the last resort when everything else was full
From a Jax, FL native thanks for the Bearded Pig shoutout! It seriously is the best bbq!
I worked at a Ruby Tuesday for five years during college. One of the few left was in Milledgeville Georgia and I was always shocked when we got any customers. Other than the salad bar which went from being an option of a free side, to an add on of I believe 3 to 4 more dollars, which trust me made a lot of customers angry, there was nothing unique about it. We had a longhorn directly beside Ruby Tuesday and I know they have better steaks, fish, and just overall meat than Ruby's. I am still shocked to this day there are some still operating and not only are they operating but two of them are in my hometown and my college town!
The old restaurant and logo look really nice and unique. Sad they decided to scream out to everyone that they wanted to be subpar Applebee's instead.
I feel as if RT is the definition of "dont fix what isnt broken"
Applebees is a Subpar Applebees
At the beginning of the pandemic, Ruby Tuesday near my house began selling their supplies in bulk and they were an absolute lifesaver. We couldn't find fresh produce anywhere except Ruby Tuesday and a single bulk item would be enough for 3 households so I was able to take care of my parents groceries too. Really glad this location has managed to hold on, I swear the big salad bar is part of it - we don't have a lot of options in this rural town and a fresh salad is hard to find.
God bless the old Ruby Tuesday's salad bar. I went to one in the late 2000s, and learned that they got rid of the salad bar. It was the last time I ever went to a Ruby Tuesdays, without it, they were nothing.
I worked part time at Ruby Tuesday as a server/bartender in 2009-2011ish while in college. It was such a poorly ran company..or maybe it was just our restaurant. Either way, we showed up to work one day and there was a “permanently closed” sign on the door. No one was told this was going to happen. Luckily, I was in college and got a new job pretty fast
The low quality really hit Ruby. In 2010 in college RT was a great date night place for someone on a budget. Good food, good drinks. Fast forward 10 years and the local RT had food that tasted like it was microwaved. Shocking to no one it ended up closing.
As a Canadian, it's always interesting seeing your videos about all the US restaurants.
Does Canada even have that many restaurants that are international besides Tim Hortons?
@@Labyrinth6000 I'm from the US but visited Vancouver BC a few years ago and from what I noticed they have tons of the same US-based fast food and casual sit down restaurant chains we do. I worked for Red Robin at the time and even spotted one of those while out exploring the city. Though it was notably still in the pre-rebrand style and later learned that it was because it was a franchise location, the only remaining one not under corporate control (at least at the time).
Tim Horton's is just the biggest and most successful Canadian chain.
We have a Ruby's on Clifton Hill, it's super overpriced but everything there is. Same with TGI Fridays, only one in Canada there
Well, I guess he could cover Nortel. Not a restaurant, but one hell of a disaster none the less.
@@gnext2 I used to work at that exact Ruby tuesdays, trust me, it was a mess behind the scene. The lack of safety measures alone... I still have the burn scar on my thumb from all the times I picked up a searing hot plate because of how Over-tuned the heating shelf is.
Excellent video as usual !!!.....the Ruby Tuesday in the town of Milford, Delaware is still set up themed with the Tiffany lamps and the old school decor .....it way cool ....and still gets very busy.
I remember seeing these everywhere when I was a kid, the name made me think it was a place that seniors would go to catch the early bird special.
Ruby Tuesday always had the best biscuits ever… it’s a shame they stopped serving them at our location. It’s the only reason why we went.
^SCONE
Subconsciously, I’ve always though this place as a spin-off of TGI Friday’s lol
All of casual dining chainery is. TGI Fridays created it.
Lol I can't forget how weird that intersection is in front of the location in Arvada, Colorado (seen at 17:57). Only allows left turns from the main roadway, and no pedestrian crossing to the other side of the main roadway. I noticed back when I checked out the location that there's a bit of a downtown pedestrian mall just behind of those multifamily complexes too, I wish I had time to go visit that part of town! Fantastic video as usual!
Oh man, this one hits close to home. They are headquartered not too far away from where I live. Funny, they closed the one down in my town well over a decade ago. They struggled for years.
There was a Ruby Tuesday near my house that, I kid you not, made me pay for the wrong order 3 times because "Just because you have the receipt doesn't mean you paid ahead of time." Got my money back only after calling my bank and waiting for a shift change.
haha, wow.
I've worked for Ruby Tuesday for around 10 years. I'm actually about to be promoted to a manager and currently in the transition. I've been a subscriber for about 4 years, and honestly cannot believe the timing of you releasing this video.
Run!!
I worked for the for 3 years. Kinda of a fun job
Maybe you can earn enough money for the time being before the permanent closing of all locations....
omg congrats ur so brave
These are awesome video Jake Love them so entertaining. If you don't mind I have downloaded your videos so I can watch them with my family.
Ruby Tuesday was always one of my favorite franchise restaurants. I loved their salad bar and menu food. Their prices went up and it became a place my young family only visited occasionally. At one point we had several locations in my town but they’re all gone now.
Rub Tuesday used to be like Friendly's up here in New England. It was something special most families did once in a while. Always a treat to go there for dinner. I went to Ruby Tuesday recently with some friends. To say the least it wasn't the same and the food felt like any other chain restaurant (Applebee's and The 99 Restaurant) with mediocre food.
I have been WAITING for this one. My mom used to take me there as a child so much and then it was my first job when I turned 18. Worked there for 4 years and is still the WORST cooking job I have ever had. The food (if made correctly) was fantastic and fresh but they couldn''t decide what food they wanted to stick with. We had mexican, chinese, soul foods, cajun, on top of our regular menu but nothing helped. The only thing that kept our resturant alive was the giant casino down the road. Then Covid hit, and it closed down permanently. When they revamped the salad bar in 2017, that really saved them for the time being, they were long down before Covid
I used to love their salad bar. I was bummed when the local RT closed six years ago.
That point you made about Jacksonville is spot on. Most people nowadays aren't eating at big chain resturants anymore, alot of people my age are out looking for new mom and pop places. Especially in a place like South FL where theres no end to great places to eat.