Thai Ruby At Lake Sumter — Restaurant in The Villages

We like Asian food and searched for a local restaurant that wouldn't break the bank. The closest Thai restaurant, Thai Ruby, was located in Lake Sumter Landing in The Villages, an easy drive for us. Their extensive menu has a variety of menu options certain to please any diner looking for generous portions at a reasonable price. We got five satisfying dinners from these two dishes for under $40.00.

We looked at the posted outdoor menu and decided on the Pad Thai Chicken and Sweet & Sour Chicken dinners for takeout. Kayla welcomed us, took our orders as we sat down to wait. A few people were seated at 3:00 that afternoon so our wait was not long at all.

The restaurant has several booths on one side and tables on the other. Natural light fills the table side; the booth side is darker with no natural light but lit with wall lamps. Thai wall hangings complete the decor.

Our dinners were packaged in a large sturdy paper bag with handles and a piece of cardboard in the bottom to stabilize the containers. We drove 30 minutes home to find the food still hot. The portions were huge and we were impressed with the generous amount of chicken in both dishes. No scrimping on meat here. Since we are not fans of spicy food, we were happy with the mild flavors. However, the menu indicates three available spice levels: Medium, Hot and Thai Hot.

The menu also indicates gluten free dishes and the number of individual pieces included in each dish where appropriate: "Thai Spring Rolls (4)." All entrees are served with jasmine rice. Some dishes such as Roast Duckling and Snapper Ginger are "Market Price." The menu requests: "No substitutions, please. No MSG is used in our dishes and only mild spices."

Six desserts are offered including three Thai offerings: ice cream, lychee (exotic fruits on top of homemade coconut ice cream), and fried donuts. Soft drinks, teas, Thai iced tea and iced coffee complete the menu.

If you are looking for a positive dining experience with generous portions at a reasonable price in "Florida's Friendliest Hometown," Thai Ruby Restaurant is for you. If you go: 1064 Canal St, The Villages, FL 32162. Sunday-Thursday: 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. Friday - Saturday: 11:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. They can also be found...

First it was an hour wait to get seated. My thought on that is the village people must b starved for really good restaurants after having my meal. Normally an hour wait youd think that this restaurant must be really good,NOT! After we were finally seated i looked down at my silverware to see a clump of rice clinging to my supposedly clean silverware(see picture). Our waitress looked at me when i brought this to her attention like i was committing some kind of blasphemy! My wife and i ordered spring rolls and when they came we had four little rolls about the thickness of my pointing finger. They tasted ok but there wasnt much to them when they are that small! Now when your at a thai restaurant with an hour wait youd think some sort of pad thai and youd think it would be there specialty and be delicious,NOT! Well both my wife's and my noodles were mushy and sticking together in globs. I had mine with pork and the pork was a grayish color and cut in wide strips and looked steamed not cooked with a nice crispness to them. Plus, i had to use my knife to cut these thin strips of pork which i received back clean about half way through my meal. My wife also said that her pad thai was basically flavorless. I will say this the pad thai portions were huge! Way more then one person would eat so splitting one would of ben perfect. Im used to having waiters/waitresses tell us when we are ordering that the portions are large and can b easily split but not here. Also they do not serve alcohol and have a very,very limited selection of beer & wine! When a restaurant can have an hour wait which i have no problem with youd figure it must have really really good food which makes the hour wait worth it! To sum this all up i stick by my initial observation that the village people are starved for really first class restaurants. Having to wait an hour for this will only just perpetuate the lack of good choices for villagers and it will not get any better for us! I guess when youve got locked in business with no other choices around you can get away...

First, I gave this restaurant five stars because I believe it deserves better than a 4.3 (where it currently stands).

We were seated immediately, while most of the other restaurants had long waits (not necessarily a good sign). We weren't expecting much, but the meal was excellent.

The Crab Rangoon had a flavor I found a bit unique but welcome. My wife is a fan but I usually find it bland. This was not the case with theirs. I enjoyed their Pad Thai with Chicken, which is how I usually gauge any Thai place. The flavor was exactly as expected if not better than most. My wife enjoyed her Beef with Vegetables. Serving sizes were generous, food was hot, the service was prompt, and the price was fine.

Only three minor details would've improved our meal. We were not asked about the spiciness of our meals, which I normally expect. Our dinners were served with no spice, maybe that isn't surprising given the vast majority of their patrons. I prefer mild to medium spice, my wife had no complaint. I asked for extra peanuts with my meal and they came whole on the side and not chopped like the peanuts on the dish. I should have been clearer with my order, I suppose. The beer selection is thin, not that I expect a wide selection in a Thai restaurant, but the beers they did offer seemed redundant. It appears they we're trying to be sure to have popular domestic brands rather than offer a broader taste selection.

None of those issues were significant enough to ruin the meal and most were easily rectified. We did not have high expectations going in, we were pleasantly surprised, and will definitely consider eating here again when visiting in...