Ruby’s Diner

While shopping with all the other last-​minute Christmas shoppers, the hubby and I were ready to eat lunch at the Alderwood Mall. We were pleasantly surprised to find Ruby’s Diner in the back corner of the food court. Instead of sitting out in the loud food court at a small table and elbows away from other people, we chose Ruby’s and got a seat immediately.
The menu is mainly burgers, fries, and milkshakes but the quality is better than a typical food court meal. I had the Portobello burger and the hubby had the Hickory burger. We both were happy with our burger’s toppings and enjoyed our meals. The best part is that they have options for substituting the burgers for a chicken breast or a Gardenburger (which I opted for).
The service is not as quick as eating out in the food court. We kept looking at our watches and the food took 25 minutes to get to our table. If you are finished shopping or really need a nice comfy booth to relax in and plan the rest of your shopping trip, this would be the place to do exactly that.

One of my Favorite places in and around the Alderwood Mall.
GREAT Milk Shakes!!!
Good Food!
Good Onion Rings!
Fun atmosphere!
Kid Friendly!
Recommended!

I have consistantly good experiences at Ruby’s.
I prefer this location to the one at Redmond Towne Center as it’s just less fussy somehow and the waitstaff are always friendly and competent at bringing us everything we need with little fuss.
Prices are a bit high, but nothing higher than other similar attached mall restaurants, it just seems higher with all the 50’s swag around, I think.
I got a cheeseburger, swap for chicken breast and the low fat American cheese with fries. It was all perfectly good and while the fries are bottomless, I won’t be if I eat more than my share.
My little one got the Kraft Mac & Cheese, it was reheated but it was still good, her side of apple slices were fresh and gone in a few minutes.
I love their malts, but this time was trying to restrain myself and opted for lemonade, which was cheerfully refilled.
Overall, I like it and will be back when we’re in the area, I love those GIANT booths!

Some of my Unilocal fans may know by now how much I loathe chains.
Unfortunately I have an uncanny developed palate and a lot of my friends do not have this uncanniness (is that even a word!!!) for decent food.
But, my BFF said the two magic words: «FREE DINNER», and off we went to the mall.
For some previous oversight, my girlfriend had been awarded a certificate for two free entrees here at Ruby’s. We were both broke as could be, so this was a welcome treat.
She had the Kobe burger, I had the Kobe version of Salisbury Steak… Complete with loaded mashed potatoes and steamed veggies.
The food was a tad salty as it tends to be but it wasn’t inedible by any means… The veggies were fresh and perfectly steamed, if you can believe that!
Best of all, we not only got our dinner for free, but the Manager decided not to charge us for our sodas either.
The waitress was cheery and seemed totally overwhelmed when we told her we would just make up the difference for our drinks in the tip.
Definitely 5 star customer service there!!!
This would be a really fun place to bring the kids or even Grandma or Grandpa– it is kitschy and retro and immaculately clean.

I fell in love with Ruby’s on the pier at Malibu, and on a recent shopping trip hit this Ruby’s for another plate of their chili… which I love. My friend had the blue cheese burger and chili fries.
It was HUGE, tasty, really really unhealthy, and so worth the sin.
I think the whole red leatherette diner theme with the cutie poo waitresses is fun.
I wouldn’t be a regular here, but it was a nice lunch with a friend.

After told there is a 1 hr wait at claim jumpers, pf changs and macaroni grill we decided to go to the foo court. After realizing we didnt want food court food we decided to go here and there was no wait. The waitress was very nice and the burgers and fries we got were pretty decent too. The prices were a little steep but anything more than value meal menu seems that way to my cheap a$$ This place seems very similar to red robin in my experiences. Not great, but not bad either. We may be back someday.

Great food, but the prices are a bit high. I had the corned beef hash breakfast and a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ orange milkshake and they were both excellent. I love eating breakfast for dinner.
The service was a bit slow, but it was unusually crowded for a Monday due to a fund raising event.

I ordered the Kobe beef burger and it was the worst burger I’ve ever eaten. The meat was overcooked and tasted like crap. I know, I was dumb to think fake Kobe beef at a chain diner would be good. I don’t really like the fries here either. They’re really thin, thinner than Mcdonalds fries. I rather eat at the Alderwood Mall food court than here.

Ooof. I generally to ignore places that aren’t that great, but Ruby’s bugs me too much not to post a weak review.
OK, it’s cheap, and fairly quick, which is somewhat handy since it’s across the parking lot from a movie theater. And, despite my progressive politics, I understand the appeal of a cute, fun, young staff of waitresses.
But, oy, the food. Everything here came in a bag that was in a box that was on at least two trucks and in at least two other warehouses before getting tossed in the freezer here. Dry, preservative-​laden, tasteless, odorless food. It’s fast food at twice the price. Blecch.

Are they serious with those outfits?! WOW.
I thought this place was aiiiight, nothing fantastic. Not worth the $ 34.+ price tag for a couple of mediocre burgers & fries, especially in a «food court» type setting. And beware, the shake that you think you’re getting for $ 2.50 is only offered during a 3 hour time frame… we missed that window and ended up paying $ 4.49 or so.
I would much rather drive an extra 15 minutes north to Bob’s Burgers and Brew.

This place is amazing! My husband and I have been in love with Ruby’s diners for five years; we even seek them out if we’re going on vacation (we’ve eaten at several of them across the west coast!). The food is good, the service is always fast and the waitstaff are always very nice. I’m addicted to their chocolate peanut butter shakes and, while I don’t eat meat anymore, I used to be addicted to their turkey burgers. They have okay vegetarian options, and their fries are really tasty.

If you’d rather sit down and have a meal at the Alderwood Mall and you don’t want to sit out in the food court, this is an option.
It’s mall food in the shape of a burger and fries.

Great Location, Fun Staff, All-​American Food
Thank God they have one in Lynnwood, grew up going to Ruby’s on the Huntington Pier and was really happy to find one within walking distance of my new apartment.
Best place to go with a group of friends.

Great, old-​fashioned diner/​burger joint. When I say old-​fashioned it even goes down to the uniforms the employees wear here.
Came here unexpectedly and I am sure glad that we did. I got the hickory burger with cajun fries, and a strawberry mixed with pineapple milkshake.
It was all DELICIOUS. And let’s just say our server was extremely friendly and helpful. I will definitely recommend this place to any crowd. Very well priced too!

Fun for young and olden folks. Their fish and chips were actually really good.

I remain a fan of Ruby’s, but I’m gonna have to knock ‘em down a star because things seem to be going downhill lately. Last couple times I went, I asked for oil and vinegar for my salad, and was informed they had run out. What kind of restaurant doesn’t have oil and vinegar on hand for a salad?
And, the last time I went, when I ordered my favorite, the Cobb salad, it came with mushrooms and tomatoes even though I asked for those to be omitted. No big whoop, misktakes happen… but when it came back later, it was obvious that the kitchen crew had just picked off the offending ingredients and sent it back out, because there were still a few pieces of mushroom and tomato left in the salad.
What if I requested the omission of those items because I was severely allergic to them? Not good, people, not good at all.

We’ll make this short and sweet.
Positives:
–Awesomely fantastic shakes/​malts in every flavor imaginable. So, so, so good.
–Quite a few vegetarian options, including veggie burgers.
–Stupidly quirky décor, it’s lame, but it’s still kinda fun.
–Overall, the food is decent. Everyone got what they ordered, hot, and fresh. Could be better, could be worse.
Negatives:
–Service is kinda spotty, ranging from decent to just. bad. We asked the waitress to split the bill and she didn’t know how. Yeah.
–It’s attached to the mall, so you have to deal with mall parking, mall traffic, etc. Not to mention about a million kids. The last time we went, there were THREE birthday parties happening. Within the span of 35 minutes.
–Way, way, WAY too expensive for ‘diner’ food. For two burgers and two shakes we paid $ 40, not including a tip.
In summary: if you’re at the mall or doing a dinner and movie night, it’s not a bad choice, just be prepared to spend an arm and a leg for what you could get at Denny’s for $ 5.95. I think next time we’re there I’ll just get a shake. Mmm. shake.
And BTW, I have no idea why there are two Unilocal reviews for the same place. Weird.

Gah! I want to be horrorfied that I find myself eating here every 5 – 6 months, but truth be told I enjoy this place. Once seated, which is the big problem with this place, the server is usually perky and easy-​going. They’ve got a lot of substitute options and they’re low fat shoestring fries are pretty awesome. Turkey patties instead of beef, good fish tacos, and just recently I had their BLTA and it was spot on, not too heavy at all but filling for sure.
I“m always distracted by the proximity of the mall and tend to people watch a bit too intensely so I forget to order milkshakes most times. My point (and I do have one) is I need to stop with the people watching and order a damn milkshake!

No Drew, this isn’t Ruby Tuesdays, thank God…
A retro-​burger joint, and me likes a good fried burger from time to time. Here they do it well. A bit pricey for «add ons» but the place is clean, the food is better than decent and they don’t serve you with a bunch of «tude»…
I like the milk shake selections here, from soup to nuts in flavor choices and heck you can even get it «malted!»
A few Veg-​head selections, well at least they try!

I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich from here. When I got it, I cut it in half to make it easier to eat. What a surprise to find bloody, red, raw chicken staring back at me, dripping nasty germ-​filled juices all over my basket.
I like being salmonella free, thank you very much. You can keep you’re cutesy 1950s innocent America theme – I prefer my chicken cooked.