Ruby Tuesday — Restaurant in Kinston

Will not be back. I'm starting to realize that this has become the norm for several local restaurants. Then they wonder why they go out of business. You can't keep having rude staff, bad food, and a manager that is rolling her eyes at displeased customers because she's literally had to wait for a pickup order an additional 15 plus minutes. I literally hurt my mouth on my burger. What even is the point of this deal? It's supposed to be a smash burger or double smash burger for about 11 dollars. Comes with salad bar and fries. Salad was OK. But most of the salad bar looked like it needed to be freshened up. The croutons were soft from sitting out so long, and most of the premium items were not stocked (almost empty). Now we've been here on nights. This deal wasn't on, and we have gotten decent burgers. Juicy and definitely a good-sized burger. Nope, not this night. It was like they took one patty and made that into 2 patties. The burgers were so small that the bun, which isn't even a regular bun, was about an inch larger. Now the menu makes it look like you get 2 decent patties. That is not the case. Again, we have repeatedly been back after subpar service or food. But we're done now. It's a waste of money. We would have gone to Highway 55 and gotten a better meal. It's a shame. The manager and staff need training. Especially the waitress that served us. She was rude. An elderly man came in to try and sit in the booth because no one was seating them. He had a cane, said he was gonna take a seat, but she told him no, you need to wait over there to be seated. He explained that he couldn't stand long, so he would just take a seat till the hostess came. She said, "I'd rather you not," rolled her eyes and came over. Again, this isn't how you address people or act in a service roll. Customers pay your salary, and the staff seem to have issues when people come in to be served. The manager seemed to be more friendly with certain bar customers. Oh, and we were seated near the bar where 2 people were having a discussion. The man was cussing as if he were a teen trying to be cool. It wouldn't have been an issue, but he was loud about it. Again, it was a lot of missteps through the evening. I don't normally complain at locations as I get that everyone can have a bad day. It just gets old paying for upscale dining, mandatory tips, etc, to be treated worse than ANY fast food...

I placed my order online, which unknowingly confused me. I thought it was allowing me to select 2 sides with my ribs, so I picked a baked potato and steamed broccoli. I placed the order and drove from King Street to the restaurant.

When I arrived, the staff greeted me when I entered the restaurant and informed me that the food was almost ready. It came out within a few minutes, and I left the area. I checked my bag once I got inside my car and there was no baked potato, so I returned to the inside.

As soon as I got inside, the staff asked me if everything was alright, and I told them I was missing my potato. One lady looked puzzled and looked at the receipt attached to the bag. Then she explained to me that the ribs only come with one side. I told her that I still wanted a potato, and she said, "Sure, I'll get it for you." As she went to the kitchen, I recalled I had selected the potato first, then the broccoli. If only one side was included, then the potato was replaced on the order when I selected the broccoli.

The lady returned with the potato, put it in my bag, handed it to me, and told me to have a good day. I asked her how much more I owed her, and she said, "Don't worry about it, It's on her." I asked her if she was sure and she said yes. I thanked her and left.

Now the only reason I went to this restaurant was because a friend requested some ribs and the first restaurant of choice was closed. However, due to the friendliness of the staff, the cleanliness of the restroom, the orderliness of the salad bar as I walked by and most importantly, the service this lady gave me, I will be back with my family!

She could have acted nasty with me and definitely could have charged me. Yet, when she noticed my confusion, she took the high road and helped me, although it was not required. I don't find customer service like this often, and I really...

I haven’t seen a Ruby Tuesday’s since 2020 when the one near where I used to live closed down. So, I was elated to find one here.

I was there early in the evening. About 6pm. The salad bar was fresh and everything was great. The food was as good as I remember.

However… I deducted 2 stars because on a Saturday evening there were 2 servers working. 2! They made us wait a half hour to be seated. I figured no big deal, they are busy. In the half hour I waited I watched 3 other couples refuse the wait and leave.

When we were finally seated I was absolutely gobsmacked to see an almost EMPTY restaurant! There was like 5 tables actually seated! The servers let business leave instead of telling people up front they are short staffed, and seating them, and at least getting people drinks and an appetizer to get them started with the understanding that there would be a wait.

It makes no logical business sense to let business walk out the door and leave because your servers, there wasn’t even a host/hostess, we’re too lazy to seat people and at least bring them drinks and get them in the door. They would rather just let business leave and go somewhere else.

If you are that short staffed, hire more staff! If you are having trouble hiring staff, make it a better place to work and offer a hiring bonus after 3 months, or even 6 months.

I read other reviews that mentioned a horrible manager with no customer service skills. Not sure who those reviews are referencing, because we never actually saw a manager. But, if you can’t keep staff, maybe look into that as a reason.

Make your business a place where people like to work and they will.

ETA: the servers that were working were super sweet and they were awesome the whole time. They did their best, and always smiled, even through...