Ruby Cafe

Yesterday we went back to Ruby Café to celebrate our friends Birthday. I had brought a friend who had not yet dined here and we were very excited to enjoy a great lunch of Kabob and rice. Unfortunately our meal was just so so and not anything close to the quality of our previous visits. We arrived around 1pm and they must have just gotten over a rush. There was still a large part of about 10 seated and they had ramsacked the buffet. Almost every table in the dining room was dirty and the staff was just standing around and not cleaning tables. They said we could sit anywhere but every table basically was dirty. I had to specifically ask them to clean a table before we would sit down. I asked if they were bringing out more food for the buffet and they said «yes of course» unfortunately this really wasn’t the case though.
There were quite a few empty pans on the buffet including a couple of the main entrée’s. I asked if they were bringing out more of the chicken and she basically said «No and if we run out we run out». They did make us more Kebab but it was in such small portions that we each were only getting 1 or 2 small chunks at a time while we waited for them to cook more. The male in our group actually said to them «This is enough for me but what about the other 2» in a somewhat joking manner, just to let them know that we would need more meat. Also 2 of the other dishes were barely luke warm because the sterno had gone out and they didn’t replace it. They also had a weird tuna salad on the cold part of the buffet that had absolutely nothing to do with Persian food. They also did not refill the Baklava and that simply was just putting out some more from a box or bringing us each a piece. Our waters were also left empty a lot and overall it just wasn’t a good lunch. As things stand now I’m not even sure if we’ll go back which really sucks because on our previous visits we really liked this place :(

Kabob! Kabob! Kabob! Let Ruby Café and their Kabob take you on a journey of the persian delight. This small tucked away place, is a haven for lovers of Kabob and numerous other authentic dishes, made to order. Ruby delivers on its promise of «great and authentic Persian food made by Persians for all guests».
Start with their Hummus — their serving is a extremely well balanced of taste and consistency without any overwhelming taste of tahini or tartness. Move to the E-​Shirazi a very unique salad of Onion, Cucumber, Tomato, and Mint. Yes mint. The marinade of sort keeps the mint well balanced to the overall taste and adds a great finish to this light yet delicious salad. For the Kabob lover — the Soltani is a MUST MUST have. the marinated mesquite broiled skewered beef tenderloin is finger-​licking moist with the most perfect balance of persian aroma. Pair this with Baghali Polo (rice with lima beans) or Plain rice or Pita, and you will find yourself ordering a second serving. The Lamb Shank is another heavenly dish at Ruby. The perfectly tender and aromatic mean falls off the bone with your fork paired with rice is an explosion of taste for your mouth. The Ghormeh Sabzi (Slowly cooked cubes of beef, greens, red beans, and dried persian lemon) although very tasty may not be for the first timer of persian food. The taste and aromas are a tab bit strong — authentic to its persian preparation. Definitely a share and try item for new comers to this cuisine.
Ruby Café doesn’t have any high class ambiance, with an open layout of small number of tables and open kitchen, Ruby doen’t cater to the crowd hunting for romantic ambiance. Ruby does surpass in its serving of superb persian food that leaves you wanting more each time.

It’s my understanding that this place has new owner. Not sure when the switch happened. I am a BIG HUGE lover of Persian food, and I have had excellent Persian food in my life. This is not the best Persian food I have had. However, it is the best I have had in Tampa Bay. The place is family owned and you can tell they are very very nice people. The restaurant is impeccably clean, so is the restroom. If you go here, either get takeout, or eat-​in, but just know that service can be a little slow. I ordered the ground beef kebab and rice, and the chicken kebab and rice. The ground beef kebab was OK; it was lacking the right mix of seasonings. However, the chicken kebab was excellent. So go here, order the chicken kebab with rice (which is TO DIE FOR good). Maybe get some hummus (pretty good). And go home and have your Persian with some wine in front of the 52 inch LED. Or go here for lunch, when they have a buffet (I have not tried it, but I will) or dinner. Certainly one of the most delicious, authentic restaurants in Tampa.

This is a nicely sized restaurant that could feed a lot of people with good and fresh food. The waitress was super nice and cheerful.
When I went there the place barely had any diners, there was at most 1 – 2 other people eating there besides us (around 2pm). It seems a bit slow, sadly. The food was good though. We got tons of food for such a good price, especially when we used an groupon. They have a great selection off their menu.
I ate everything I ordered and enjoyed it very much. It’s a little far from me, but this is a great place to grab some lunch. They also have amazing fresh baked bread and a few pastry to pick from for desert.

Had lunch here today: Yummy.
This place has been here 15 years or so, and could be easily overlooked. They are just open for breakfast and lunch M-​F. Guess dinner never worked out. I used to live around the corner and we did have dinner there a few times in those days — what I had today was far better than I remember the place being then.
So: Food — delish. I opted for the Persian Stew — beef, pesto, beans, gravy and such, with fresh tomato, green pepper and onion slices added for color and flavor. Big pile of basamati rice and perfectly toasted bread with garlic/​spice/​olive oil for dipping or as a meat condiment. I did both.
Problems: The food came out cold. The rice was perfect, but the stew was — less than tepid. Sent back, heated in the oven, epic hot plate on return — it kinda took away from the texture and over cooked the rice a tad, but still for 8.95 was a good dish.
Also: Heavy handed on the salt. PEOPLE! I can add salt, but I cannot subtract it. Stop with the over seasoning.
Seems they do a bang up breakfast biz, and lunch is second (If i understood the waitress right — she seemed to be having an off day)
Verdict: very good, could be great.
Aside: Two other patrons were served what looked like an amazing mixed chicken salad and a wonderful hamburger. Gotta try those next time.