This Classic Restaurant Chain From The '70s Went Through A Dreary Logo Change
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There's such a subtle difference between fast food and fast casual dining that many people can't discern it, but "casual" restaurant Ruby Tuesday has a tumultuous history that's been anything but chill. Ruby Tuesday started in 1972 with one location in Knoxville, Tennessee as a Boomer-friendly concept created by Sandy Beall. Beall took the restaurant's name from a Rolling Stones song, though it didn't hurt matters that the name had a weekday in it, just like top competitor TGI Friday's. With a popular salad bar, juicy burgers, and all-American sports décor, Ruby Tuesday's first 30 years or so couldn't have gone better.
At the top of its game in 2009, Ruby Tuesday boasted 945 locations. That was the same year that, in a proactive bid to safeguard his business against an onslaught of more upscale competitors like Cheesecake Factory (which is home to some seriously unhealthy menu items) and Seasons 52, Beall decided to give Ruby Tuesday a tony makeover. Open-plan restaurants with leather booths were staffed with waiters dressed in black and trained to suggest wine pairings. The salad bar got axed.
Perhaps more egregiously, the logo changed. Gone was the whimsical old script announcing the name of the restaurant, with its swooping curves on the "R" and "S." In its place was a stark, tidy red-and-black nameplate in Clarendon typeface. It looked more professional for sure, but it came across as soulless. And it was just one indicator that Beall's changes, combined with the Great Recession, were disastrous: Ruby Tuesday closed hundreds of stores, and declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020, although it emerged a year later.
Where is Ruby Tuesday today?
Today, Ruby Tuesday still sports its lifeless, changed logo, but there are indications that things are looking up for the chain. After the doldrums of Chapter 11 bankruptcy and a quick succession of owners and seven CEOs in just a few years, it seems like brighter days are ahead. Today, there are just over 200 Ruby Tuesday restaurants in America. You can even buy the Ruby Tuesday-themed cookbook, "Simply Fresh: Casual Dining at Home," penned by one of the restaurant's gourmet chefs. And, if you sit down for dinner there, you will notice some welcome changes, even if the logo displayed over the restaurant is still disappointingly corporate and unexciting.
No more potentially pretentious touches exist at Ruby Tuesday, as it has gone back to its roots. The salad bar is back, along with hand-breaded chicken tenders. To compete with brands like Chili's, offering its ultra-cheap "3 For Me" deal, and Applebee's late-night half-price appetizers, Ruby Tuesday is pushing a "Ruby Rich" menu sporting some impressive deals for $9.99, including burgers and fries, Cajun chicken pasta, and even a small ribeye and baked potato! Or, for $49.99, you can partake of a Garden Bar Pass that allows you unlimited trips to the salad bar for 30 days. It's clear that Ruby Tuesday is swinging for the fences in today's casual dining economy, where value is king. It's a shame about that lousy logo, however!