SeeCalifornia.com

Photo: Sunset over Seal Beach Pier with Ruby’s neon sign slightly in view.

Whether visiting a California beach this summer or living near one, if there’s a pier with a restaurant at the end, there’s a chance it’s called “Ruby’s”. Named after Ruby Cavanaugh, the founder’s mom (who we’ve seen in places such as the Long Beach Greek Festival where Ruby’s often sponsors a booth,) there are around 30 Ruby’s 40s-style diners in California, and Ruby’s is located in elsewhere in the U.S.

The first Ruby’s opened on the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach on December 7, 1982, right around the time of the annual Newport Beach Boat Parade which is just across Main Street in the Newport Harbor. The restaurant continues to look out over the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island (as does the Seal Beach and Huntington Beach pier Ruby diners.)

While there are many surrounding restaurants serving everything from sushi and Mexican to Italian and Greek, the mainstay for American comfort foods for tourists and locals is often Ruby’s.  The menu offers a large variety of breakfast favorites,  Veggie Delight, a 40%  lighter in fat  Lite Fries,  salads, sandwiches, lunch and dinner specials, and fountain treats.  For those who don’t count calories, there’s a mean BBQ bacon cheese hamburger, the you can top off with a triple chocolate malt! See: rubys.com