Rubin's Restaurant / Arabica — Restaurant in Elyria

Rubin's was recommended to my In-laws by a chance encounter 500 miles away. When we visited they said they had to take us to their new favorite place. My dining preferences don't always align with the in-laws, but I'm good at playing along.

From what I understand, Rubin's has been here for quite some time. After visiting, I can see why.

Despite the recommendation, I was a bit nervous when we pulled up; the stripmall storefront is very unassuming, proudly boasting "free wi-fi". The interior was clean but also well worn and somewhat dated, with quite a few 'temporary' fixes that eventually became permanent. IE placing a piece of paper over the vinyl sticker store hours in the window issuing a correction, or modifications to the menu on the coffee bar. The bathroom was clean on the surface, but showed many signs of lacking regular DEEP cleaning (grime in the corners, etc). I won't go on any further, but I want my complete description of the restaurant to be accurate.

On to more positive things. Our server was friendly, and greeted us as soon as we sat down. She checked on us frequently and we wanted for nothing. I think 3 of the 4 of us had a variation on the Ruben, and they were all FANTASTIC. Despite them being large sandwiches overflowing with corned beef, they were still light and delicious. We also had the sauerkraut balls which were also light and fluffy and quite tasty. The thousand island for the Rubens were good, but the cocktail sauce served with the balls was somewhat bland and not really appropriate. We all found ourselves using the thousand island instead.

If you can look past the cosmetic issues with the location, the food will make it...

I've been in the service industry for 10 years so I've always been one to give the benefit of the doubt. I understand that it was Monday and it was definitely a large lunch crowd which was probably unexpected so they were understaffed. However, had we been even slightly acknowledged I would feel totally different. We ordered an appetizer (that was fantastic) and 20 seconds later comes our meal. Fine. We were never brought any side plates, napkins or refills. Literally 30 minutes after me telling her they forgot the mushrooms on my sandwich I still did not get them. Or a refill. Also my gravy that I asked for did not come as well as the au jus sauce for the sandwich. As im slurping the melted ice and my friend wiped his hands on his pants due to no napkins I had no choice but to ask the hostess for boxes and the rest of the meal that was missing. As soon as we packaged up was the first time we saw our server.... Literally 10 seconds of boxing our uneaten food she dropped off the check! What?! She brought it to our table without acknowledging us for the hour we were there. Not even 1 refill! That's what really got me right there! I was appalled! Had the service been decent and the food was just ok I would have been happy. Worst experience I've ever gotten hands down. If you're not cut out for the job you should find another. It's a fast pace business at times and it needs to be somewhat under control. Everything about the service was bad. The food was great once I got home and ate it so I will return in hopes that the service will...

Although a bit on the pricey side, the service was just as good as the food and both were above-average. When I walked in the door the pastry display cooler caught my attention immediately. I ordered a piece of their strawberry cheesecake and what I was told was caramel cheesecake. The strawberry was very well done although seemed a bit old from the consistency of the topping. The caramel cheesecake didn't taste very caramel-y at all, and when the bill came, I discovered it was supposed to have been caramel apple cheesecake! To my taste, there was no apple involved whatsoever. It, too seemed as though it may have been sitting for a while because of the consistency of the what was ostensibly a whipped cream topping. My companion had the BLT with a side of cottage cheese both of which she enjoyed very much. To go I got a chef's salad. When I got home, I discovered it was absolutely loaded with anything you could possibly expect to find on a chef's salad!...