Ruby Tuesday
http://www.rubytuesday.com
Lately, I find myself walking a tightrope when thinking about this blog. At times, this is a totally anonymous food blog that knocks out reviews and gives the middle finger to chains and free promos. However, the blog takes up a ton of time and since I am anonymous, I am a superstar on the net, but also a lonely foodie recluse in real life. Trust me, when I get disrespectful service or a bad meal, part of me wants to say “Do you know who I am?! The great WIBIA, you better recognize!”
Rambling, but the point being, I tend to participate in giveaways for the readers and a few treats for yours truly. Ruby Tuesday asked me to stop by and try some summer cocktails and I thought, “Free alcohol?! Hell YES!!!!!”
Ruby Tuesday has six new summer cocktails including VeeV. If you don’t know about VeeV, check it out. Long story short, it is supposed to be made with all kinds of natural goodness that will not cause you to get a hangover. Plus, they give away a certain percentage of revenue to rain forest in Brazil.
Let’s get ready to rumble. First up:
Acai Mojitio: VeeV, pomegranate, mint, club soda and agave nectar.
I didn’t like this at all. It was kind of tart and lacked any type of flavor. I like a good Mojitio from time to time, but the pomegranate with the mint didn’t do anything for me at all. I was thinking, what did I get myself into here…
Would I Buy It Again? Nope.
Superfruit Cooler: VeeV, cucumber, Absolute Vodka, St-Germain liqueur, Agave Nectur and Lemon Sour.
This was off the hook good! It reminded me of a cucumber gimlet that I had in San Francisco and still remains to be my favorite drink that has ever graced these lips. A great summer drink that could go with a lot of the menu items. Also, look at the quality here: Absolute, Agave Nectur, St-Germaine and Muddled cucumbers; I was surprised…I don’t see any other chain doing this.
Would I Buy It Again? Yes. The best of the tasting and a mighty fine drink.
Skinny Pink Lemonade: 127 calories here. VeeV, Agave Nectur, Pomegranate juice and Minute Maid Light lemonade.
I thought that this was a good drink, but it didn’t really talk to me. It was a little too sweet for my taste, but I could see where this would be popular. They succeeded at what they are trying to do with this drink, but I wasn’t a big fan.
Would I Buy It Again? Eh, it wasn’t bad, but I liked others better.
Watermelon Martini: VeeV, Grey Goose, Cranberry Juice and Watermelon Concentrate.
I enjoyed this one more than I thought that I would. It had a strong watermelon taste and the cranberry juice added a little sweetness. This was an easy drinker, as it was not too sweet and had a little enough alcohol in it to make it interesting.
Would I Buy It Again? Yeah, this was pretty tasty.
Pomegranate Margarita: VeeV, Cuervo Gold, Agave Nectur, Lemon Sour and Pomegranate.
Fist, I am a big margarita fan. So much so that they are my favorite drink. I know that they have a certain image that associated them with fat guys in Hawaiian shirts listening to Jimmy Buffet, but I don’t care. I love them. Also, I HATE frozen margaritas. Just for the record…
When I heard, Pomegranate Margarita, I was worried. However, it was solid. You really didn’t taste a lot of the pomegranate and it wasn’t overly sweet. A really good margarita made with quality ingredients.
Would I Buy It Again? Yeah, surprisingly good.
Shrimp Fondue:
I enjoyed this a lot. Looks like your standard chips and cheese, but there were twelve cut-up shrimp in here and it had a little heat. I liked the tri-colored chips. Good for noshing with a few cocktails.
Would I Buy It Again? Yes.
WIBIA Summary: I almost decided to pass on this promo and I am glad that I didn’t. I have been pretty harsh on Ruby Tuesday in the past, but I was really impressed by these drinks. I think the quality is far above the competition with things like agave nectar, St-Germain and all top shelf liquors and they didn’t have scary well liquors. Jim Beam, Absolute and Cuervo Gold are the well drinks. Plus, all of the drinks mentioned above sell for only $5. Considering the ingredients, I would think that most of them would be closer to $7-$8. I tend to identify myself with the type of guy that would pass the High Life test and I rarely have a sweet drink, but I was digging a few of these for sure.
Question: The manager that was my host asked me why I don’t drink at Ruby Tuesday and I am not sure if I had a great answer. When I want a cocktail, I don’t think the bar at a chain restaurant. That is just me.
So, what could bring you into the bar more at Ruby Tuesday?
-wibia
Tags: cocktails, drinks, Food, lemonade, margarita, martini, mojito, pomegranate, Ruby Tuesday, Shrimp, VeeV, watermelon
Interesting. They contacted me about this promotion as well, but I didn’t take them up on it for a variety of reasons. In retrospect maybe I should have. As far as why I dont go to a place like RT when I want to go to a bar? I guess I usually think of their bar areas being small and also frequented by people who are mostly older than me by quite a bit. When I go out I prefer to go to a place with live music, lots of space and good drink specials.
When I’m at a bar with friends, I want something other than bar food (RT: tacos, mini-burgers and chip-dips … that’s all you offer?). I really like what Houlihan’s is doing with their small plates menu, plus their website is way cooler and makes the chain feel more fun.
$5 does seem quite reasonable for those drinks. But you know, they all scream “Friend of Dorothy” to me…
I don’t go to chain restaurant bars unless I know the bartender. Other than that, the reason more people don’t go to them is because the crowd demographics are so random. Ages, genders, etc. are all different on different nights. If you choose your local watering hole that isn’t a chain, you are going to probalby know the type of crowd and will naturally gravitate toward what you are most comfortable with.
I just don’t hang much at bars, unless the mister has a gig or there’s a live band I want to see; my deck is nicer, safer, and I don’t have to ward off unwanted advances, except sometimes maybe the mister or my kitty….
Why are they putting flour into a cocktail drink, is what I want to know……
St-Germain is an elderflower liqueur, not flour. Not sure where flour came from – maybe going for the French “fleur”?
This is what happens when you have 6 drinks and then write a post! Thanks for the editing folks…
pffft your credibility is nunca! naw, I’d also take them up on it too… and am scheming a blog of my own now. the superfruit cooler is probably enough to lure me in. the others are a bit too far into girlie drink territory, IMO.
I think you should destroy someone for bad service sometime and say you’re WIBIA. Would make for an awesome story.
Oh, and the overwhelming majority of people who “drink” frozen margaritas are morons. I can’t tell you how often I’d have to make one as a bartender and the woman would invariably say it was “weak.” Well, that’s because the ice that should be in the glass was blended in with the rest of the drink.
Meh, chains never ever use enough alcohol in my opinion, the less you can actually taste the burn the more likely you are to overdrink. However, if it’s free that’s amazing so I don’t blame you. The watermelon one especially looks good as most places just use watermelon vodka.