Kid Rock and Jeff Ruby
If you didn’t know that Jeff Ruby is a real guy who launched an eponymous steakhouse, you might think that Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse is some sort of Disney creation. The fedora-wearing restaurateur travels between his various restaurant properties in a custom-wrapped luxury bus, a rolling billboard for his brand of high-end dining and excellent customer service. The details of the restaurants' decor seem impossibly over-the-top unless you’ve met Ruby himself and realize that he actually is larger than life. This is the man who gained national attention for banning O.J. Simpson from his Louisville steakhouse during Derby Week, landing himself and his brand on every network’s news and morning shows.
So that huge wooden fireplace mantel that looks like it came from a mobster’s mansion? It did, and not just any gangster. The piece belonged to Al Capone before Ruby bought it at an auction. The table in one of the restaurant’s private dining rooms is built out of a gothic Roman numeral clock face that looks like it came from the Tower of London. Well, actually it is from a tower in London.
The walls of the new Nashville outpost are decorated with plenty of musical memorabilia apropos of its Music City locale, but there are also scores of photographs of Ruby and members of his family posing with the rich and famous celebrities, politicians and athletes who frequent his other restaurant locations in Cincinnati and Louisville.
The restaurant is located in the old Regions Bank building downtown at 300 Fourth Ave. N., and they might as well have just left the money in the vault before moving for what the steakhouse has been racking in since opening. On my first visit, I expected it would be filled with folks who were much older and richer than I was, but to my surprise, the crowd was a lot younger than I imagined. (Although I have to admit that I’m now 14 years older than the U.S. median age.) The crowd might have been more wealthy than your basic freelance food-and-drink writer, but that doesn’t mean everyone was out for a formal night. I saw patrons done up for a fancy night out, but also plenty of folks wearing their typical daily garb or even some athletic jerseys (on what I assumed were tourists). Nobody seemed to be uncomfortable, and the staff offered their impeccable brand of customer service to everybody.
I did avail myself of the complimentary shoeshine service at the stand next to the restrooms since the dress shoes I wore in an effort to fancy up a little had passed a lot of time between shines. In a brief moment of moral dilemma, I noticed that the loaner pair they gave me to wear back to my table while I waited for the shine were actually nicer than the pair I owned. The temptation to “forget” to swap them out after dinner was powerful.
Now, don’t get me wrong, you definitely will pay for all these free services and rapt attention from the staff at Jeff Ruby’s. They have hired lifetime servers from other restaurants around town, a rarity in this period of food-service labor shortages. I imagine they are paying these folks well, and good on them.
The food is also pricey, so adjust your expectations to avoid sticker shock. Three huge shrimp in a cocktail will run you $21, the same rate as a single colossal Alaskan Red King Crab leg. The raw bar also shares a space in the middle of the entrance lounge area with a sushi bar manned by a talented chef who worked at Nobu in Las Vegas. Specialty rolls can run into the mid-$20s range, so order carefully or accept that this is a splurge meal. After all, where else can you enjoy sushi and drinks in a lounge with a live show band performing behind the bar in a converted bank lobby?
The entire decor of the restaurant reflects that sort of dramatic flair, from twinkling chandeliers to plenty of art deco touches and Vegas vibe. Seated in a booth in the back of the main dining room near the impressive glass walled wine cellar, you'll find the melange of styles and the delicate ballet of servers working the floor between tables and booths is almost as entertaining as the band.
The rest of the menu is classic steakhouse, featuring chops, USDA Prime steaks, seafood, salads and sides for sharing. The bone-in steak options are particularly impressive, dry-aged over a long period to emphasize the beefy and slightly funky flavors of great meat. The Cowboy Cut bone-in ribeye exhibited incredible marbling, and at 22 ounces, it was definitely big enough to take home for at least one more meal. (An aside: The doggie bags at Jeff Ruby's are huge and make the best reusable grocery bags I’ve ever found. So you can subtract that from the $66 cost of the ribeye.)
Other steaks top out at $80 for the “Hatchet” steak that weighs in at almost two pounds, and that’s before you add on some extra sauces and toppings like Cognac Peppercorn, Sweet Onion Bacon Jam or a Petite Lobster Tail. And you definitely should add those on.
Desserts are superfluous, but still worth considering, especially the Ricotta Doughnuts With Mocha Anglaise, Bourbon Anglaise and Mixed Berry Sauce. Those sure were great the next morning for breakfast. If you still want to extend your dining experience at Jeff Ruby’s, there’s a fire pit out front of the restaurant and a couple of cigar-friendly smoking porches. Order an after-dinner drink and a stogie from the bar to complete the full Daddy Warbucks experience.
Considering the number of classic and modern steakhouses that are already open in Nashville, and the sheer variety of new spots in various stages of planning and construction, Jeff Ruby’s had to do some special things to stand out from the crowd. The riot of decor, the attentive but not obtrusive service, and a menu that features all your old-school favorites plus some unexpected treats has already carved out a space for Jeff Ruby's in a crowded landscape. If you hit the Powerball and check it out before we can get back, let us know what you think in the comments.
Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse
300 Fourth Ave. N.Nashville, TN 37219
615-434-4300
Hours:
Bar/Sushi: Opens at 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday
Dinner: 5 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 5 to 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday
