Ruby Tuesday (restaurant)

Ruby Tuesday Inc. is an American multinational foodservice retailer that owns, operates, and franchises Ruby Tuesday restaurants. The concept was started in 1972 by Samuel E. (Sandy) Beall III.

The corporation was formed in 1996 as a reincorporation of Morrison Restaurants Inc. It is headquartered in Maryville, Tennessee, and has 209 locations worldwide, with some temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Its flagship brand is an American cuisine casual dining restaurant chain with locations throughout the United States aside from the Pacific Coast states. Its greatest density of sites is along the eastern coast of the United States (aside from Boston) as it closed several locations in the Great Basin and Great Plains regions, including Chicago, in recent years. In 2016, Ruby Tuesday sold the Lime Fresh Mexican Grill rights to an undisclosed buyer to refocus on the main Ruby Tuesday brand. The company has closed all locations of Wok Hay and Marlin, and Ray's. Additionally, it holds development rights to Truffles Grill.

On June 6, 2012, founder and CEO Sandy Beall announced he would leave the company. In October 2017, it announced that NRD Capital Management (owners of Frisch's Big Boy and Fuzzy's Taco Shop at the time) would be taking the company private through a $146 million deal in early 2018.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 7, 2020, stating it will permanently close 185 restaurants that had been shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic. After the closures, the company would have 236 company-owned and operated locations and an undisclosed number of sites run by ten franchisee groups. Ruby Tuesday emerged from bankruptcy on February 24, 2021, with 209 restaurants, having closed more restaurants than initially planned.