An $11 ribeye might sound too good to be true, but Ruby Tuesday sure knows
how to strike a bargain. It just might come at the expense of their employees…
Getting your veggie intake is easy-peasy thanks to Ruby Tuesday's salad bar. But
if you wish to nourish yourself with clean greens, then the sit-down chain is going to
disappoint. While Ruby Tuesday supplies its Garden Bar with farm fresh produce,
none of it can be considered organic. The franchise doesn't hide this fact;
if anything, it's been more than transparent. Former CEO J.J. Buettgen remarked in 2015:
Although a study by the USDA Economic Research Service suggests that the
price premium on organic products has mellowed out in recent years,
it still costs a lot out of pocket. According to the USDA, vegetables that are organic can't
be grown or manufactured using synthetics or procedures that cause ecological harm. The
process is more specialized and requires more work to fulfill the demand, and the bounty accumulated
at the end is far smaller than the industry norm, thus resulting in an increased sticker price.
The former CEO didn't rule out the possibility of Ruby Tuesday ever going green. Rather,
he noted that the chain would keep the potential in mind and wait to see if the trend would stick
around. Since organic food doesn't appear to be going anywhere, we can safely assume Ruby
Tuesday has chosen to prioritize frugality over procuring spinach grown without GMOs.
Much of Ruby Tuesday's menu can stay relatively affordable because the sides are just plain
cheap. Just looking at its menu online, you'll notice that none of them require extravagant
seasonings or complicated cooking techniques, and the ingredients themselves are frugal to
obtain. For example, zucchini costs one to two dollars by the pound on average, according to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Rice for the chain's rice pilaf side is a whopping 82
cents per pound. And it's convenient that mashed spuds compliment a steak dinner so swimmingly,
because potatoes are also easy to buy in bulk, averaging at 78 cents a pound.
If you remain skeptical of the economical properties found in a Ruby Tuesday accompaniment,
heed the words of this anonymous employee who once provided Daily Press with the recipe
for the chain's potato salad. Essentially, the ingredients consisted of cheap kitchen staples:
russet potatoes, green pepper, bacon, and chopped onion. Same thing for the dressing,
which allegedly mixes humble components including celery salt, mustard, pepper, and classic mayo.
By maintaining a low-maintenance approach to the garnishes, Ruby Tuesday can focus its dollars on
the entrees that compose the main attraction of any sit-down meal. The meat, so to speak, is what
people come for, so keeping the side dishes affordable allows for excess in other places.
What draws customers to dine at a Ruby Tuesday over similarly priced establishments? The salad
bar. It's the reason why 80% of its clientele visit the restaurant in the first place, according
to former interim CEO Lane Cardwell. Aiming to turn its slumping sales around in 2017, the chain
decided to give its signature offering a refresh with dozens of fresh new fruits and veggies,
creative toppings, cheese, and dressings — nearly doubling the size of its show-stopping salad bar.
The new and improved Garden Bar sought to attract a younger crowd by modernizing the build-your-own
concept to reflect current tastes . In addition to featuring a higher number of toppings,
the upgraded salad bar showcased artisanal ingredients and dressings made from scratch daily.
On the surface, the decision to refine the salad bar is pretty simple. Ruby
Tuesday decided to make changes to what the brand is already known for — that is,
the customizable salad bar – as opposed to the riskier alternative of hopping aboard
a new trend the restaurant has no prior experience dealing with. Additionally,
it's a smart investment in terms of its competitive value. Cardwell described the
Garden Bar to analysts as, quote, "not something that can be easily replicated" at other eateries.
While the salad bar is Ruby Tuesday's moneymaker, there's two categories
the restaurant leans on to increase sales: drinks and desserts. Former CEO J.J. Buettgen
commented on the efforts taken to expand the restaurant's selection back in 2015, saying:
According to Ruby Tuesday's website, happy hour discounts are offered daily along with $5 cocktail
specials, seasonal selections, and cheap upgrades for a bigger beverage. The bar serves major beer
brands, both domestic and imported, and also caters to health-conscious diners with low-calorie
versions of popular cocktails. As for dessert, the main menu features standard fare like ice
cream sundaes and cookie skillets, yet it also embraces seasonal flavors from time to time.
As guaranteed crowd-pleasers, the lure of baked goods and booze will ensure Ruby Tuesday makes a
killing night after night. And unlike some of the main entrees, they're easier to serve in
large quantities. Since many patrons are already in the mood to cap off their gorge fest with a
pint of Guinness or chocolate lava cake, Ruby Tuesday might as well give them what they want.
The next time you hit up Ruby Tuesday for dinner, take note of your surroundings.
Chances are high that you are feasting at a mall location. Operating in shared lots was a strategy
Ruby Tuesday implemented in the 1990s to offset the real estate costs that come with standalone
facilities. And this remains true even in the face of fewer locations standing today. There
are over a dozen active restaurants at shopping plazas in New Jersey, Florida, Georgia, and more.
The rationale of gathering a variety of eateries within close range is fairly
straightforward — less money will be spent. Because financial upkeep of the complex is split
between multiple franchises, the cost of running a restaurant, including kitchen equipment, heating,
utilities, etc., can be slightly lowered just by sharing the bill. Restaurant Owner reports that
the average brick-and-mortar eatery spends $5,000 a month on rent alone, so every penny does count.
Fear of competition could sway some restaurants from going the communal route. But the upside
of sharing space with other businesses? It levels the playing field. Customers benefit
by having more dining options to choose from, and the restaurants who participate benefit
from not having to spend as much money on necessary, although costly, expenditures.
It's a win-win for everyone involved, and nothing wins more than a Ruby Tuesday customer's wallet.
Working in the service industry can be a rewarding experience for many. But anybody
who's been hired by a bustling chain restaurant knows how underwhelming the paycheck can be. Low
wages seem to be a frequent explanation lurking behind any restaurant discount — because it
usually is. And Ruby Tuesday is far from an outlier in compensating its workers with the
bare minimum. Zippia found that a typical employee will only make $13.20 an hour,
with workers at the bottom taking home around $17,000 annually, if that.
It's true that Ruby Tuesday employees across the board aren't paid much, but no one gets
the shaft quite like tipped workers. A former Ruby Tuesday bartender explained on Reddit how
workers who subsisted off of gratuities had to participate in tip pooling — a practice
where tips are summarily split between workers during a whole shift as opposed to each worker
pocketing all of their own tips. Breaking down the hours worked and tips accumulated,
they found that a shift could result in less $2 per hour in tips. As they explained:
While Ruby Tuesday was revamping its Garden Bar, it was also doing away with 30% of its menu. As
The Florida Times-Union reports, reducing the number of entrees was much more than a simple
cost-cutting maneuver. The decision was made to help the restaurant chug along faster in
serving customers, which also carries the advantage of reducing messed up orders,
and altogether improves the chances that happy diners will come back.
Ruby Tuesday has always thrived off variety,
but serving a wide array of choices doesn't necessarily mean that customers
will feel compelled to order them. Cooks are expected to prepare a variety of meals,
with waitstaff shouldering the labor of serving those dishes to customers in a prompt manner. A
barrage of different entrees can drastically slow down the pace of a high-traffic eatery,
particularly during peak hours, so having fewer options makes the job much easier
for the workers involved. The food will also be much fresher and less at risk of going to waste.
Although it's tempting to believe phone book-sized menus will inspire enthusiasm among diners,
it's not feasible for Ruby Tuesday if it wants to keep its budget in order.
Trimming down the menu is the only way diners can enjoy bargain prices.
Ruby Tuesday unveiled a spinoff concept in 2021 called Libby's BBQ, with a focus on smoked meats
and picnic sides. The kicker? Libby's BBQ has no standalone locations — and it's
only available through delivery apps. Virtual brands have been a big focus for Ruby Tuesday
following its financial struggles, and for good reason, too. How so? They're cost effective.
To create a virtual brand requires no additional investments in a physical space. So long as
there's a kitchen, equipment, and workers to assemble orders, the need for a storefront
is basically moot. Ruby Tuesday already has the real estate at its disposal, plus over
32,000 employees in its orb to make items off both the Libby's BBQ and Ruby Tuesday lineup.
Additionally, menus tend to be more limited in scope than full-scale eateries, which means fewer
ingredients — and workers — are called for to prepare them. And at the end of the day, virtual
concepts mean more offerings for customers, which only serves to drive profits if done right.
Gone are the days of having to shell out thousands for TV advertisements. Thanks to the internet,
Ruby Tuesday has been able to shift its marketing strategy focus to promoting its brand on Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram instead. And it's been a success. According to Chief
Marketing Officer Dave Skena, establishing an online presence made advertising much
easier because of the direct, yet accessible nature of social media.
What exactly inspired Ruby Tuesday's shift towards social media marketing? Certainly,
it would be foolish for companies not to take advantage of the medium as smart phones
practically run our lives. But for Ruby Tuesday, it wasn't just to keep up with the Joneses.
Digiday reports that its top demographic — young mothers with kids — were opting to consume content
on social media over more traditional forms, such as TV. Besides that, utilizing social
media sites made more sense for the brand's size, as unlike McDonald's and Starbucks,
Ruby Tuesday's appeal is regionally-grounded, specifically on the East Coast.
A well-timed tweet or Facebook graphic can spread faster and with more efficiency than a TV
commercial, and compared to the cost of making commercials, a social media post
is downright minimal. With less to spend on advertising, it's reasonable to assume the
company can focus on delivering extra savings to its customers. And at the end of the day,
more people will find out about Ruby Tuesday's jaw-dropping discounts and it will have cost
barely anything to accomplish. It's something Ruby Tuesday does well.