Watertown Ruby Tuesday

A brief review of the new Watertown Ruby Tuesday restaurant:


My wife and I and another couple decided to try out the new Ruby Tuesday for dinner tonight and I have to give it a mixed review. We expected a wait, and were not surprised to be told there would be a thirty-five to forty minute wait after we arrived. We were a little surprised when, a half an hour later, a young female employee came out and told everybody waiting that we would have an additional ten to fifteen minute wait due to problems in the kitchen. With already over a half hour invested we decided to wait it out, figuring that it would take us at least that long to get seating any place else. After waiting a total of fifty minutes my wife went in to check and see where we were on the list. Much to her surprise she was told we weren't on the list. Surprise Surprise! In the meantime, though, another employee came out and called us. There was a little confusion, but in the end we ended up waiting just about exactly how long they told us, given the delay due to the kitchen. Oh well, no harm no foul.

As we were being seated we noticed that only about 2/3 of the tables/booths were being used, so they did seem to be telling the truth about having some problems. It seems obvious that for some reason the kitchen couldn't keep up with a full restaurant tonight. That's all right, stuff happens. Our waitress was very cheerful upon greeting us and ensured us that the food would be worth the wait. Perhaps she was using a bit of hyperbole, because the food was decent, but not great. As many of you know, Ruby Tuesday specializes in burgers, so that's what my buddy and I ordered, while our wives ordered a seafood dish and a chicken dish respectively. Their dinners were fine, but while my friend and I both ordered our burgers cooked medium, his came out rare to medium-rare, while mine was medium-well to well-done. The taste was fine, but it's a bit aggravating to not have it cooked properly. The burgers were large, however, with lots of nice toppings, and the fries were quite good, although the portion was quite small. Definitely not in keeping with the size of the sandwich.

The waitress was quite pleasant throughout our stay, but not particularly attentive. Certainly not bad enough to affect her tip (we tip fairly generously - at least 20-25%), but it would have been nice if she came around a little more often to keep our drinks refreshed. Dessert was excellent, and reasonably priced. I don't remember what it was called, but it was more than big enough for two. Overall, the prices were good - My wife and I split an appetizer, I had soda and my wife had coffee, we had our entrees and dessert, and it came to less than $45. That is certainly less than we typically spend at Applebee's.

It wasn't a totally bad experience, altogether, but I think we'll wait a little while before we go back, just to give them time to get the kinks out.