Needs

Restaurants' purpose is to fulfill our needs.

The remarkable restaurants understand this concept. They deliver memorable, revolutionary experiences that make you want to go back again and again.

I need a burger from Five Guys. I need coffee from Dunkin Donuts. I need a bowl from Chipotle. I need teriyaki chicken from Pei Wei.

I don't need Ruby Tuesday's.

The last time I was at Ruby Tuesday's was probably 10 years ago. Since my last visit, they have gone through an extreme re-branding campaign, changing everything about the inside and outside of the restaurant including a complete makeover of the menu.

The inside of the restaurant is gorgeous. They have huge comfortable chairs, cool lighting and servers that look hip and modern. The food on the menu looks spectacular and they offer a guarantee on their hamburgers: if you don't like it they'll replace it. Not to mention all of their burgers come with endless fries. (Very sweet).

Our server was good...he was friendly, attentive and when it took too long for our food to come out he comped all of our drinks.

The food was....ok. We tried a variety of the menu including: the sampler appetizer, spinach and artichoke dip, fried spicy shrimp appetizer, prime cheeseburger and three mini burgers (turkey, crab and hamburger) and the Blondie dessert and chocolate tall cake. Yes, we ate a lot.

From the taste of it I'm going to guess that most of the food was frozen before it was cooked. However, the burger was very juicy and delicious. Although it was juicy it didn't have much flavor or unique taste. The mini turkey burger was awkward and the mini crab cake burger might have still been a little raw.

Generally speaking you could sum up the food with one word: decent. (My wife would probably disagree with me and just tell you it was disgusting seeing how she was violently ill late last night after dinner.)

So what's wrong with decent? Nothing really. Clearly people don't have a problem with mediocre food as Ruby Tuesday was on a wait when we got there.

Maybe I'm the one who's messed up here. We were in a brand new restaurant with good service, a menu that offers a guarantee and endless fries all at a fairly reasonable price, yet I was still unsatisfied.

What's my problem then?

I don't need it. It just wasn't amazing enough. It was just a normal restaurant. I could have gotten the food I had almost anywhere else and it probably would have tasted better. There is nothing special or spectacular about Ruby Tuesday's.

Today when dollars are stretched and "nights out" are limited, every single experience has to be remarkable...it has to fulfill our needs.

So tell me, does Ruby Tuesday do anything for you?