Ruby Tuesday — Restaurant in Alcoa

I wanted to share my recent experience with your Ruby Tuesday location near the Knoxville Airport. I placed a to-go order using the app, which told me it would be ready in 12 minutes — specifically by 6:42 p.m. I’m staying at the Tru hotel nearby, so I walked over around that time.

When I arrived, the host seemed confused when I said I was picking up an order. There didn’t appear to be any clear system in place for to-go orders, but I figured that’s something I could overlook. Eventually, someone acknowledged me and let me know it wasn’t quite ready yet, which I understood — restaurants get busy and things run behind, that’s not a big deal.

While I waited, I took a seat at the bar. At that point, someone I assume was a manager was on the phone near me, apologizing profusely to someone, saying things like “We’re better than this” and “It should never have happened.” That didn’t exactly boost my confidence.

I also noticed a section of the dining room was being used as what looked like a break area and storage space. There was food sitting out, employees appeared to be eating there, and they were rolling silverware in that same area. It just looked sloppy and unprofessional.

When I finally got my food, I brought it back to my hotel room. I had ordered a 12oz ribeye (medium rare), a loaded baked potato, and onion rings. Unfortunately, it was a total letdown.

The steak looked more like a pork chop — pale and extremely overcooked. It was well beyond well-done and incredibly tough. I couldn’t even cut it properly, and worst of all, it had no flavor whatsoever. If it had tasted good, I might’ve forgiven how it was cooked, but it was bland and dry. I also wasn’t given any steak sauce, which might’ve helped a little, but I was in my hotel room at that point, so I had no way to fix it.

The baked potato was barely warm. It wouldn’t even melt the cheese or butter that came with it. And the onion rings? Severely overcooked to the point they were almost burnt — not black, but extremely crispy and hard. No dipping sauce was included, so they were dry and unpleasant.

To top it all off, we were under a severe thunderstorm warning, so walking back over to the restaurant to try to get this fixed wasn’t an option. That’s why I’m reaching out this way.

I spent $37 on this meal, and honestly, I couldn’t even eat most of it. The only reason I chose Ruby Tuesday was because it was convenient — I could walk there without getting back on that nightmare of a road — but now I really regret that decision. I’m sitting here in my hotel room still hungry and disappointed.

This experience doesn’t reflect what I expect from Ruby Tuesday, and I hope this feedback is taken seriously. Something’s clearly not right at...

I hadn't been to Ruby Tuesdays in a long time because my last experience there was less than a good one. However, I thought I would give them another try . To start, I had to wait in my truck for a few minutes before going in because their was a man standing at the entrance smoking, and I didn't want to walk through a cloud of second hand smoke to enter. They had the ashtray right next to the door. My guest arrived as I was walking to the entrance, and we walked in together it was around 4:20 pm. when we sat down their were only a handful of people in the restaurant, and most of them were sitting at the bar . We waited for about 10 minutes for our waitress to come to our table she took our order for our drinks, and I had mixed berry tea, and my guest ordered water. When I asked for a few more minutes to look over the menu, our waitress did not seem happy that we didn't put in our food order at that time. She returned 20 minutes later with our drinks. We decided on the 2 for $25 special that was an appetizer and 2 entrees. we ordered the spinach and artichoke dip as the appetizer, and my guest ordered the salad bar, and I chose the bourbon chicken with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli We waited approximately 10 minutes for the appetizer before my guest decided to go ahead and get a plate from the salad bar. My guest was finished with their second plate from the salad bar before the appetizer arrived at our table. My guest asked why the appetizer had taken so long, and the waitress snapped and said that the cooks were preparing other food ( their were only two other tables dining and they had been there before we arrived) the appetizer was luke warm. I waited another 20 minutes for my entree. One end of the plate was very hot. The other end was just warm. The chicken breast was very small, and a chicken breast portion at Chick FIL A is much larger. The steamed broccoli was room temperature, and the mashed potatoes were almost cold. I had already waited so long for my meal I didn't tell the waitress. My guest asked for some extra napkins, and our waitress returned with ones that already had food on them. My guest asked for clean ones, and our waitress returned with an attitude. We had thought about dessert however we chose to leave instead. I will not return to Ruby Tuesday again, and I do not recommend the location on Alcoa...

After driving 9 hours, we checked into our hotel, which was only 0.1 miles from this Ruby Tuesday. After looking at the different food options in the area, my husband and I settled on RT. We wanted to have it delivered and were willing to pay extra for it, but because I ordered the Thursday special Guacamole smashburger, our order didn't qualify. It was close enough, so I placed the order at 7:08 for curbside pick-up, and the confirmation said it would be ready at 7:21. There was a 15% tip automatically added to the total with the option to add more. I figured since they would be running my food out to me, I would be ok with the 15%. Promptly at 7:21, I was parked in spot #1 and called the number on the sign. I was told they didn't have a to-go person, so I would have to come inside to pick up my food. I went inside and was instructed to go to the bar. I gave my name for my order and waited almost another 20 minutes for my food. When I was handed my order, I asked the waitress about having the tip removed since I had to come inside and wait for my food to be handed to me. She said that was up to the manager. She left, and a couple of minutes later, the manager arrived. I explained wanting to have the tip removed. She repeated that there wasn't anyone available to take out curbside orders. I said then it shouldn't be an option, and it was literally 15 steps from the door. She again asked why I wanted the tip taken off and I explained if I have to walk inside and stand at a counter to have a bag of food handed to me then I shouldn't have to pay a tip. At that point, it is no different than McDonalds. She commented that she doesn't tip at McDonalds, and I said exactly. She then went on to say she couldn't refund a tip, and I assured her she could do a refund to my credit card. She said that it could only come from corporate on online orders, which didn't even make sense. I've had refunds to my credit card at restaurants when there were mistakes in the charge. She did offer a $5 coupon, which I accepted because it was better than nothing but still didn't cover the tip and i would have to visit a RT to get any benefit from it. There were 8 tables with customers and 3 at the bar, so there was no reason an order couldn't have been brought out for curbside. There was...