Ruby Tuesday arrives in Romania

The Romanians’ appetite for traditional American foods such as hamburgers and fries shows in the development of the fast food chains, either foreign or Romanian. A company named after a rock song is now planning to bring another well-known dining style to Romania.
Described as a “casual dining restaurant” by the company, that is in-between fast-food and elegant restaurants, Ruby Tuesday (a company that takes its name from one of the best known Rolling Stones ballads) entices its clients with burgers and steaks, but also with a wide salad assortment. The first Ruby Tuesday restaurant in the entire Central and Eastern Europe will be dedicated in Bucharest, the Alba Iulia Square area today, following a one million dollar investment. The restaurant will be operated by Ruby Food Company Impex under a franchise contract, Karim Badaoui, chairman of the company holding exclusive franchise rights over the Ruby Tuesday brand in Romania told Ziarul Financiar.
There are about 600 Ruby Tuesdays in the world at the moment, with more than 175 of them franchised. As for Europe, Ruby Tuesday has two restaurants in Iceland and two in Moscow. The main client segment targeted by this type of restaurant is the middle class.
Badaoui says the company’s plans include opening 5 or 6 more restaurants over the next two years. The investments for the new restaurants will be smaller, though, because the one million-dollar amount includes the franchise costs, as well. “We had been planning to open Ruby Tuesdays for quite some time and started talks with the American company representatives three years ago,” Badaoui specified.
The prices at the 130-seat restaurant in Bucharest will range between 119,000-219,000 ROL for complete menus, while salads will be available at 59-79,000 ROL, toppings: 19 -29,000 ROL and burgers: 89 -99,000 ROL.