Ruby Tuesday Moanalua — Restaurant in Honolulu

So we decided to give this location a try as I wanted something “healthy” and didn’t want to drive all the way back to Ewa before eating dinner. It was a Monday night, and when we signed in there were a few people waiting outside. They told us the wait was about 15 mins but it went quick and soon we were sitting inside ordering our drinks.

For whatever reason, it was kids eat free night. SCORE! My son and husband got a burger and fries, and me trying to be healthy, got the hickory bourbon chicken with spaghetti squash and onion rings (ok not totally healthy) and a salad bar.

I really like their dark rye bread crutons and the fact that they have egg as one of their toppings. I don’t really care for the pasta salad or potato salad there, but the broccoli slaw is okay. Some of the items on the bar was empty, but they were promptly refilled when it was brought to their attention.

The wait for our main meal was a little long, good thing we got the salad bar. When our food finally came, my husband inhaled his burger. He said it was good, but I am not completely sure if he actually tasted anything when he barely even chewed his food. My onion rings were kind of stale, like they were cooked but were left out for a little bit. I was pretty stoked about the spaghetti squash since I eat it regularly at home, but theirs was very bitter and bland. My chicken was small and BURNT. They had a glaze on it that kind of covered the burnt parts of the chicken but it was evident in the taste. The chicken was very dry and burnt tasting. The glaze was sweet but VERY SPICY, which I was not prepared for. I like spicy foods, but that’s not what I was expecting out of a hickory bourbon flavor.

I ended up sending it back and asked if I would have to endure another long wait for my food, the waitress assured me that she would have her manager make sure that it was quick. She brought out a plain cheeseburger. It was so fresh that the cheese was still bubbly but unfortunately I could not eat it as my son got sick and threw up all over his plate. At least it was kids eat free night. :/

I ate a portion of the burger patty later, and from what I could tell it was cooked right and was a good All-American burger.

Our waitress was sweet and understanding and the overall surroundings were clean .

I don’t think I would go back there again though if given the opportunity. The wait was too long for food even though it wasn’t that crowded in the restaurant. My chicken was horrible and I didn’t think that it was a good value for the quality and amount of food. For 2 adult meals and a salad bar it was $45 before tip. I expect that when I spend that much money for 2 people to not be serve burnt small...

Dark and Dated.

Stopped here before my husband dropped me off for my late night flight. We did it on the whim of "let's try it, we haven't been to one in like a decade" and after this visit it'll probably be another one.

There were few people in which should have alerted us, but with reduced capacity for COVID it didn't click.

The atmosphere is dark and dated and most definitely seen better days. As with everyone the menus are all on your phone, but these were exceptionality difficult to navigate, I'm a fast reader but we were having difficulties expanding, collapsing and scrolling through the menu. And it scrolls on it's own, so if you don't read fast enough (my husband) you have to keep swiping back after it moves on on its own. It would be much easier if it were just a static menu.

Food: I had Chicken Caesar Salad, pretty average, dressing a bit more than I like and would prefer it on the side so I can control it, some croutons were great others a bit soft and chewy.

Husband got the triple plate with shrimp, chicken tenders, dry rub ribs. The best thing on his plate was the broccoli. The shrimp and chicken tenders were good standard fried foods. The ribs.... were an atrocity. They were grey, dry, the fat cap had slid off the meat, down the plate and left a greasy grey splotch. He picked a small portion off with a fork and shook his head. Always the optimist I tried it, that was a mistake.

Two stars are for having pretty good sweet tea that's hard to find around the island and the waitress...

Let me preface by saying, my husband and I usually love our experience here between the service and food. Last night, we took a friend of ours out to eat here. We were sat at a ripped up booth in a corner, only 3 adults btw and a tot. Seat was mainly exposed foam; just imagine the germs due to it probably not getting wiped down…. Moving on, the service was absolutely terrible. Started off mediocre, then a larger party came in and we were completely neglected to where our server would only serve us when the larger table needed something. My husband and friend got their drinks, but my drink order wasn’t even put in until after the appetizer arrived when all drinks were ordered at the beginning so mine didn’t show up until after all the food was on the table. Waited nearly an hour to get our check, and had to flag down the waiter to actually get it. Mind you, we were served our food when this larger table was sat, yet didn’t get the check back until after they did after he disappeared with my card for 15 minutes. My husband ordered a medium steak, received a VERY RED rare. I ordered the sliders, also super red pink compared to usual so I was very disappointed with my food as well but due to the bad service we were receiving did not feel like waiting an hour to get it fixed. Overall, beyond disappointed by this experience between the neglectful service and the undercooked food. Not sure we will be returning for a while. We spend way too much here to have that...