Ruby Tuesday's new menu

Benito's Wine Reviews just posted about a trip down memory lane involving some Yuengling and a turkey sandwich. The sandwich sounds good, but it was the Yuengling that got me going. I had Yuengling Lager for the first time over the Thanksgiving holiday. On a trip from Knoxville to Nashville (I was home in Tennessee for the week), we stopped at a Ruby Tuesday for lunch.

If you haven't been to Ruby Tuesday in a while you are missing out. There is a class of restaurant just above fast food, but not quite fancy. The restaurants that fall into that category include Friday's, Chilli's, Applebee's, and so on. I've always lumped Ruby Tuesday into the same category. I must say though that my last few trips there have been fabulous. In an effort to differentiate themselves from the aforementioned pack, Ruby Tuesday's has created what seems like a new category of dining. They are attempting to offer an original menu, exquisitely made food, and a price that doesn't go too much above their competitors. Its working.

They have wonderful crab cakes, the best burger I've ever had in any restaurant anywhere, and a set of signature drinks to match. So far every visit I've made since the new menu has been stellar, with the exception of one.

At a Ruby Tuesday in Central Illinois I stopped for lunch after a backpacking trip. Usually after a backpacking trip, I am starving, and as such don't really care what goes down the gullet. This particular trip though I was delighted to find a well put together menu of carefully chosen craft beers. Not only was I going to feed myself, I was going to get to do it in style. Mmm mmm. So imagine my surprise as I went down the list, the list on the menu mind you, and rattled off one wonderful sounding ale after another, only to be told by the server that "we don't carry that beer", and "that's on the 'corporate' menu. Ruined. My. Day. I settled for a lemonade, hoping that it wasn't just on the corporate menu.

My letter to the folks at Ruby Tuesday is still forthcoming, and Benito's post on Yeungling has reminded me that its time to write it up. Maybe my time in Iowa over Christmas will afford me the opportunity to write it.