LRP Redux* installment 3: Ruby Ru’s Street Eatery

Ruby Ru’s is Chris Rubeck’s place, and for a long time it was a food truck that was very well known in the area. Last year, it settled in a storefront location at 1280 Centaur Village Drive, Unit 1. The truck still keeps a roving schedule, but at the moment, it just has a couple of dates posted in February. I’m sure there will be more!

Coincidentally, I was just chatting with Chris on FB about Ruby Ru’s last week, and then it was the next one to come out of the hat! So we ordered takeout on this snowy Tuesday evening. I wanted to try the bourbon chicken (chicken over rice with bourbon sauce) because it is the main house specialty. I expected it to be saucier, but in fact the sauce seems to be mostly absorbed and to caramelize on the lovely crispy edges of the chicken. Some of it does soak into the rice. I am not a big fan of bourbon on its own, but I do like it in things, and it is brilliant in this sauce. This was an amazing dish, possibly my favorite thing I’ve eaten recently. The bourbon chicken comes with a choice of two sides. I tried the mac and cheese and the coleslaw and thought they were both very good. The mac and cheese noodles (actually cavatappi) were a bit more al dente than I would make them, but the scratch-made cheese sauce was delicious. The coleslaw is mayo-based and more on the dry side, which I like. You can see in the photo that the main dish and sides all come in one container, and I am sometimes a bit picky about my food touching, but I was relieved to see that the container actually had separators between the sections. G tried the Philly sandwich (thin-sliced ribeye on a soft hoagie roll with cheese, peppers, and onions), and he said it was a good steaky, cheesy, peppery choice. We got an extra side of grilled zucchini, which was very good too. We were in the mood for dessert, and there were two choices: cookies or brownies. The cookies are baked in house, although the dough is not made there, but we can’t report on those because we didn’t try them. The brownies are not made in house, but they were excellent. There are plenty more options on the menu to try (tacos, banh mi bowl, jerk chicken bowl, sandwiches, etc.), so we’ll be back! I might have to stick with the bourbon chicken, but I can always try it in taco form.

* Lafayette Restaurant Project Redux: visiting all the new places that have opened since the ending of the previous round of the LRP.

Ruby Ru's on a snowy February night

Our takeout haul, clockwise from top left: Philly sandwich, bourbon chicken with sides of mac and cheese and coleslaw, brownies, and grilled zucchini

G's Philly sandwich (ribeye, cheese, peppers, onions)

Me with my bowl of bourbon chicken and sides (I do have leftovers for later)

G liked this rainbow decoration inside the restaurant

The counter at Ruby Ru's