I fell in love with Ruby Tuesday’s the first time I went there. Great burgers, though very expensive ($9.95 each) and the Asian chicken dumplings with spicy ginger peanut sauce are out of site. The ribs with Jack Daniels sauce were excellent, fell off the bone. Service was friendly, warm, and professionally quick and attentive.

I felt so pleased, we would return there quite often, drawn in by happy, attentive faces and consistent, great food, and the savory delight of huge chicken bites in dumpling wrappers covered to perfection with peanut sauce that lit up my mouth and senses with fresh, bright, delight. Burgers, thick and juicy, cooked to your personal preference with crispy fries are the pinnacle of the big burger anywhere in the country. They are almost emotionally moving when they come out of the kitchen properly. Pick your meat; Bison, beef, turkey, crab, etc; pick your cut; rib eye, sirloin, etc; pick your cheese, you can pick almost anything you want on your burger here. That’s enough about picking. (and just a note here, don’t believe the hype about Red Robin; they can’t touch a well presented and properly cooked Ruby’s burger and are not much bigger than a Big Mac for about the same price as Ruby’s, way less value, not as good and not worth it!) Now here’s the change. Consistency is next to Godliness in the restaurant business.
The last three times I was at Ruby Tuesday’s in Springfield, I would say the service was abysmal and the food fell below average diner standards, and management seemed to be okay with this.
Spicy shrimp breaded so thick and grease filled, you can’t taste the shrimp; they are a definite item to run away from. Steak like beef jerky, cooked to the wrong temperature. Service is inattentive, if not non-existent. Each trip, things got progressively worse. Until the last trip, we ordered Asian dumplings and the triple play, which had ribs, doughnut shrimp, and BBQ chicken tenders with veggies and a starter cup of broccoli-cheddar soup. Four of the seven items were served cold. No one asked us how things were, different people dropped things off, but no one checked on us. The soup, veggies, and dumplings were cold. The dumplings were actually half frozen.
When my server came back, we were almost completely full, but I asked to speak to the manager. She showed up about 10 to 15 minutes later well after we were done eating. I told her I thought she might like to know how many things were cold so she could adjust it, but she kept missing the point and repeatedly offering me hot broccoli and mashed potatoes even though we had finished long before she arrived. I have learned this same manager has had people quit their jobs at other restaurants by telling them she is giving them one at Ruby Tuesday’s. Then she never shows up for two weeks and multiple appointments when they are supposed to meet her to start. These people are left screwed and on the streets without work after they gave notice and left their old jobs, and Ruby Tuesday’s needs good servers! This overall uncaring attitude is reflective towards people (i.e. customers) in service and quality at Ruby Tuesday’s in Springfield and sometimes Granite Run.

So, expect this…
Ruby Tuesday’s will soon go the way of Bennigan’s and specifically steer clear of the Springfield unit. Goodbye Ruby Tuesday’s! Go there for great burgers when cooked right at big prices, but eight, nine, and ten bucks for bad cooking isn’t worth the gamble, chicken dumplings are excellent when heated, ribs are very good. Stay away from breaded items and tough, chewy, small steaks. Forget the soups; there is just no excuse for cold soup, why bother?
Do not expect attentive, well-trained service, even in slack times. Bathrooms are always littered with towels all over the floor, unkempt and unchecked.

Ruby Tuesday’s is open 7 days for lunch and dinner and can be reached at 610-543-7509.