Ruby Tuesday — Restaurant in Walterboro

I'm bieng kind with 4 stars. Looks like most recent reviews were all about outstanding service. Our server was very nice and helpful, but overall the service was slow and not super attentive. It was clear they were understaffed this night...as we were leaving I overheard an arriving guest repeating the 30 minute wait to be seated she was just told, and she said, "there are plenty of open tables"...and she was right, just looking through the front window as we were leaving there were several empty tables.

That's ridiculous. Give the people a seat and just tell them the service will be slow as they are understaffed, dont make them stand there waiting 30 minutes. Clearly they didn't want all the business showing up at that moment because the staff they had didn't want to hustle and make up for the fact that they didn't have enough people working this night. There was very little urgency among the staff at all. Nice enough, just in no hurry.

We asked for our check the minute our food finally came because we could see that we would be waiting a very long time to get out of there otherwise.

The food was hit and miss. My wife liked the scallop and shrimp combo but said the broccoli was nearly raw and the rice pilaf had zero flavor.

I had the so-called "creole blackened tilapia". There was nothing "creole" or "blackened" about it, it was flavorless. I had to cover it in salt and pepper to have some flavor. The roasted corn side I had was also flavorless and had a weird texture...I didn't eat much of it. You cant mess up the baked potato I ordered, but I was asked if I wanted butter and sour cream which I did and they put a tiny amount of both on it instead of giving you ramekins of each, so there was not nearly enough for the whole potato. Asking for more could have taken a very long time to get, I just wanted out of there by then.

The place is very dated and in need of reno. Having worked on kitchen equipment in the past, I would not want to see behind the scenes in this kitchen...better to not know. There arent many food choices at this stop. My wife and I dont care for Cracker Barrel or McDonald's, if we were to stay here again we would try the Italian place or go in to Waltersboro to see if anything there is better.

I give 4 stars in sympathy for the staff. In a way I dont blame them for not hustling. There is clearly no incentive here for them to do so or they would. I've been around, and I know what a motivated staff looks like, and there is an unseen reason these folks are...

Where do I start…

Let me start by telling you about the best part of my experience. Kudos to the two ladies who were serving other customers to stop and check in with me and to make sure I was taken care of. You all get 5 stars! Only reason I gave an extra star on the service.

I walked in, and well no one greeted me, if there was a sign on where to go to pick up an order I would have went. Usually the bar, but hey you never know. Waited for a while for the First Lady to ask me, was passed by two other waitresses. No host, so it seemed.

Thing is, it didn’t really look busy, maybe 60-70% at capacity, if that. There were at least 4 servers. Staff didn’t really seem friendly.

FOOD Food was ordered 30 mins in advance, still had to wait another 15-20 mins on top of that. Didn’t include the apple juice we paid for in the order. Partially on me for not double checking the order. The food itself, tasted fine. Nothing to write home about.

CLEANLINESS Needs a lot of love and care. Doesn’t look like the place is well maintained. Very greasy and grimy inside. I would avoid eating there again if the culture of this workplace neglects cleanliness of the front of house, I can’t imagine what the back of house looks like.

ATMOSPHERE Music was at a decent volume. Enough room and lighting, typical restaurant vibes. Felt the tension between the waitresses and the expeditor who I believe might be the manager? There were two other waitresses who did not seem to want to be there, and completely ignored the expeditor asking for help. Too busy to even acknowledge me or the expeditor because they were checking out their customers or maybe entering an order? Took them a very long time to complete their task.

RECOMMENDATION FOR CUSTOMER AVOID! Probably best to get your grub from the gas station next door or the Cookout that I believe is nearby. This is especially true if you are on a road trip, just go somewhere else.

RECOMMENDATION FOR OWNER You really need a better manager, one who can set the culture of the restaurant. That might mean lots and lots of training for the current manager or finding someone else to champion the goal of improving the culture of this place and foster the environment for a well...

Really disappointed in this ruby Tuesdays.. when we first walked in, there was a bunch of wait staff just hanging out and talking to each other. A few walked up to the podium (as we were still standing there waiting to be seated) and told us to wait, that someone else would help us. ( that happened 3xs) while we were waiting to be seated I walked over to the salad bar to show my daughter how great ruby tuesdays salad bar is.. wrong! There was maybe a piece of wilted lettuce, barely and toppings, and it was a disgusting mess. Finally, we were seated.(the place was empty, maybe 5 tables were in use) Our waitress was sweet and got our drink and appetizer order. Our menus were sticky/ dirty and were missing pages. The table was gross and the salt shaker had food in it. We ordered our main course as our appetizer was brought to the table. Our waitress had extremely long nails that were in & on our appetizer. Of course, the same thing happened with our entrees. It was disgusting. We also watched all these other customers stand at the podium ( there was actually a line) for no reason other then your staff didn’t want to do their jobs. Your customers were not happy and were making comments. Finally our dinner came to the table. Not only did we have finger nails in our food, but the food was cold and disgusting. I have been in the restaurant business for a long time(management positions). Those long finger nails should not be allowed . This restaurant needs a revamp including new staff. We will not be returning. If you talk to anyone in the area, they will tell you not to eat here. Sad. We love ruby tuesdays, but, not this one.

UPDATE: we decided to give Ruby Tuesdays a second chance last week… I felt like I was at a completely different restaurant. We were greeted with a smile, and sat immediately. The tables,seats, and menu’s were clean. Our server was the best waitress we’ve ever had in this town. Ms. Talina was friendly, helpful, attentive, and quick! Our food came out hot and delicious! Please give this restaurant a second chance, they have completely changed! We will most...