Pictured above is a salad of baby spinach, edamame, red onions, bacon, and shredded beets covered in a nice avocado ranch dressing. Bellow we find a chicken pot pie made from puff pastry, carrots, broccoli, peas, and peppers with chunks of chicken and a nice sauce.

I would never expect such fare at a bar-and-grill type restaurant. This is the type of cuisine I’d expect to find at a fancy bistro with waiters clad in all black who serve you exotic mixed drinks that cost a fortune. I certainly wouldn’t expect to find such food or such elegant presentation in the 7th Street Ruby Tuesday in Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown.

It’s been years since I visited a Ruby Tuesday so I thought I got sucked into some fraking Eye of Jupiter when I walked in. Instead of the pervasive smell of fried death and ear splitting jock rock, I was treated to no smell at all with easy listening playing at a sensible volume. The hell kind of Cylon death camp did I just walk in to? Modern art on the walls, waiters without flair, elegant plating, ebony finished tables, muted colors, nice mood lighting, single-page bistro style menu? Definitely Cylon death camp.

The salad bar surprised the hell out of me. It was like the salad bar suddenly entered college! High school Ruby couldn’t pronounce edamame. Now there was a bowl of the stuff waiting to for my salad. There were four types of greenery to choose from. The Parmesan cheese was the fancy shredded kind you find in Whole Foods. There was a big bottle of balsamic vinegar right at the end of the bar. I could hear “Pomp and Circumstance” play as I filled my plate.

My entrée (never thought I’d be saying that at Ruby Tuesday) was very tasty. The puff pastry (again, never thought I’d eat that at Ruby Tuesday) was light and flaky and perfectly matched with the chicken and veggies. I was expecting chicken flavored grease fried death, but this was very palatable. Hell, it was downright delicious!

On atmosphere, presentation, and taste, this new Ruby Tuesday rebrand gets high marks. I dare say you wouldn’t be embarrassed to take your sweetie to a nice dinner at the notch kicking RT. However, expect to pay. No entrée was under $10. Appetizers clocked in at $7 plus. And gone are the fried sandwiches of doom you’re used to. In their place you’ll find gourmet hamburgers made from ground prime steak meat. I would say that this prices them a little high for family friendly dining, but two or three families walked in while I was marveling at my food. Maybe RT knows what they’re doing.

Marty tells me that this RT rebrand is part of a three-way battle between them, Fridays, and Applebee’s (a College Park staple when I was going to college). I foresee future tasty investigations.

[Via 7th Street Ruby Tuesdays]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Food Pr0n. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.