Salad bars 2.0
A key component of Ruby Tuesday’s strategy to invigorate sales and traffic is a reinvention of its Garden Bar, a strong draw for the chain before it undertook a disastrous push into pricier market territory. Today, the venerable casual brand lifted the curtain on the revamp: a buffet-like spread sporting 70 items, more than double the 34 selections that were previously offered.
Included in the array are fruits, hummus and dips, along with more raw and marinated vegetables. Each is freshly prepared, and the ingredients can be topped with one of 10 new dressings made in-house.
The expanded spread is currently available only in Ruby Tuesdays in Atlanta. It’s priced at $9.99 for unlimited visits, or $3.99 as an add-on to an entree. Kids can load their plates at the salad bar on Tuesday nights for free.
Ruby isn’t the only operation that’s giving the salad bar a refreshing. This week Chicago multi-concept operator Brendan Sodikoff opened a new restaurant called 3 Greens Market, where hot and cold salad bars are the stars.
Eater.com called the spread “epic,” and noted that it extends to such in-vogue items as meatballs. Users pay $9.95 a pound for what they mound on their plates.