civicmon,

I agree five guys makes a very tasty burger, and the fries are great also.

Someone else mentioned that the protein is thawed and then cooked (grilled). They also indicated that sometimes there is not enough thawed protein leading to inconsistent preperation. This probably means a microwave to thaw.

Ruby Tuesday's is awful, awful, awful! The food was only fair to begin with and has gone downhill. Service went from poor to atrocious. The final straw was when Mrs. MileKing's ribs were delivered to our table black. I don't mean blackened....I mean black as in charred beyond recognition....black as in shoe leather, which is exactly what their consistency was. How the cook or the waitress could not have seen this before they brought them out is beyond me. And then the waitress disappeared and we had to flag down another server to speak with the manager. This episode was in our local Ruby Tuesday's, although we've had service issues in other locations. From what I've seen, they hire high school students and give them zero training. Really not a recipe for success.

When I'm on the road in smaller cities where RT, Chilli's, etc make up what the locals call the "nice place to eat," I always go with RT. While there is always the chance that service might not be the best, I've found them to be better than the others. I also like their food selections over the other chains. From the crab cakes to the Ruby Turkey Minis to the white chicken chilli, I can usually find something tasty.

And besides, I like the way food looks on white, square plates.

I've only been to Ruby Tuesday's once, but it was pretty good. My wife ordered a turkey burger. Now, I'm not a big fan of ground turkey, but even that was pretty good. I'd eat there again.

We had a bad experience at our local Ruby Tuesday's, where we waited for over half an hour to receive our food. People who'd been seated after us had received their food and left before we saw our food. We then had to flag down another server to ask for a manager. The "manager" was about the same age as the server, and apologized, checked on the food, then brought it out to us, cold by that point. I told the "manager" we weren't going to pay for the meal, and he agreed, then came back a few minutes later and said, "If I comp your visit, the server could get in trouble, and possibly fired. Do you really want me to do that?" How is that my problem? I said that I didn't care, he comped the meal, and before we left, we took note of a little sign on the tables. The GM had a little sign on each table with her name and a phone number, asking for comments.

I called the next day and told her what happened. She apologized profusely, and sent us coupons for free meals for both of us. She did ask why I didn't call while we were at the restaurant, and I explained that I figured it was the restaurant number. It was her cell phone, and she said that in the future, I should just call that from the restaurant, if there was a problem, and that she'd be happy to come up there at any time if a customer called.

We don't go much, since it's so similar to Fridays, Applebees, etc., and we have other local places we would prefer to go. But, the incident does stick in my mind as a manager who really was concerned with customer satisfaction.

I do like Earl's. I've eaten there several times. I haven't eaten at The Keg or East Side Mario's, but will be dining at the Keg in a week for a friend's birthday. East Side Mario's looks the closest to Chili's or Applebee's in terms of pricing. From what I remember, Earl's was more expensive (hence my comment about more upscale chains) and I'm quite sure the Keg will be also. I suppose I'll have to get adjusted though.

Kipper:
Need more good gms like the one you speak.

I ate at a RT for the first time a few weeks ago while MRing. I had the salad bar ($7.99) and a Jones soda, my dinner mate had a steak. No complaints at all.

I used to hit Ruby Tuesdays more in the 90s (a couple times a month for a good decade).

But nowadays, their prices have gone up beyond the level of quality and service they provide, in my opinion. Most times I go now (post-2000), service is usually inconsistent-to-poor and quality is also inconsistent. I do still go back every once in a while when I'm in the mood for salad. Their salad + soup option is reasonably priced and pretty good, IMHO.

Like I said earlier, I go for that crab burger when I get a chance.

Amen. Mrs BamaVol and I walked out of a restaurant last night when we grew tired of waiting; 5 minutes for a drink order, 10-15 minutes later and it still hadn't arrived. Saw the drinks sitting on the bar as we walked out. I hope the server had to pay for them.

Not a Ruby Tuesday, but a nasty little chain called "Garfields". Ours is in the local mall. I'd call the GM, but I've already sworn never to return. Of course I did that 12 months ago too. The place is too darn convenient.

We haven't had great success at Garfields either. We've had issues where we've waited for a server to acknowledge us for 10 or 15 minutes.

We stopped going previously due to the food - salmon raw in the center and charred on the outside, a burger covered in crunchy bits of unscraped grill. The service has been ok in the past, but only certain servers (that we learned to ask for by name).

We just avoid there completely!