Ruby’s Diner

So much expectation, this place was highly recommended by my brother. Service was ok, our waitress took for everything to bring the complete order. My brother order Cajun fries, he got regular fries, I ordered chopped salad with the bacon on the side… Guess what? The bacon was mixed in my salad. Definitely not what expected

This Ruby’s Diner has a great location by the train station in Old Town Orange. The ambiance is very cool as being by the trains gives you that old-​timey feel and matches the theme of the restaurant perfectly.
They have great American classic food like burgers and fries, and simply dynamite shakes and malts. If you have little ones they have very creative child menus which can be folded into various models of classic cars.
The service here is simply terrible, however. I’ve been here several times over the past couple years and the service is always bad. It’s something endemic to this location. The first few times was willing to write it off to bad luck… but when it keeps happening, you know it’s not just chance.
You know the service is going to be bad when you are ignored for the first 10 minutes or so after you arrive. And why are you being ignored? Because your waitress is chatting with her co-​workers about things that are more important than you, the customer!
Even when they do finally take your order, someone else brings it out 20+ minutes later and your server will never check back to see if you need a refill or anything else. The server then acts surprised, and maybe a bit offended after 30 minutes when you get up to ask for the check yourself. She is even more surprised when you follow up about the to-​go box you asked for but she did not bring when the check finally does appear a few minutes later.
If i didn’t like the food, this review would have been two stars, easily. The thing is, this issue with poor service has occurred more than once. If you read the other reviews for this place, most mention that the service is bad, slow, or otherwise inadequate at this location.
So if you would like a unique experience and don’t mind terrible service at a sit-​down restaurant, go ahead and stop by here! Otherwise, there are much better choices in this area.

We had dinner here this evening. I’ve been dieting for awhile. We’ve been eating lots of fruits and veggies and for a break I felt like a Ruby’s Classic Burger and a Strawberry Shake.
We’ve been here before, but it tasted extra good tonight.
Ana, our waitress, was awesome! Friendly and fast.
Even after we lose the weight we’re trying to lose I’m sure we’ll be paying this place a visit from time to time.

We stopped here for a quick snack on the way back from shopping, and had a great time! Two of us had the cherry Coke, which was great; it came with a good amount of cherry flavoring, and a ton of cherries.
We ordered calamari, which was good; it was strips, rather than rings, and was very tender. We also ordered the «Frings» (a basket of fries and onion rings); the onion rings were good and the fries were just ok.
Service was friendly and prompt. I would definitely return!

This is my FAVORITE Ruby’s!
The food is always fresh and delicious. The employees are always friendly and ready to help.
My two girls love to watch the trains go by, as well as the magicians! When you go in the evening they have great live music in the streamline lounge.

Great View at this location. Food is good. Kids love it too. Best part is their shakes. Chocolate chip one is our favorite:)
Sweet potato fries are very yummy too. Great deal when you buy the card from Costco .
Definitely going back

Came here several days ago and I thought it was rather good. Service was on point and so was the food. I ordered the Cobb burger which was great and my girlfriend had the bacon avocado burger which she says was pretty good. Just a bit messy because she got a lettuce wrap.
Fries were swell and the free refill on those fries was hella great! Will be coming back and to try the booze hopefully

Awesome place and the burgers were great! Juicy. Love that the bun was toasted. Shakes were so good. Worth the wait. Service was excellent even though they were busy.
A good place, will definitely recommend

Awesome food, great drinks and wonderful atmosphere! Make sure you stop in and see Julie! She’s amazing :)

Listen, Ruby’s is pretty basic diner food — service is always pretty good. The reason this location gets high marks is the location is right in the metrolink/​Amtrak station. I live in San Diego and my siblings all live o the OC. On the weekends„ I can take the metrolink from Oceanside to orange and back for $ 10! So, this location scores high for, well, the location! If you want a spot to meet friends from LA or SD — this is perfect. They have breakfast, lunch, dinner and a bar. We’ll be back again

Really cool old timey restaurant right next to the metrolink train station in Old Town Orange.
Waited about 5 mins before anyone acknowledged us at the front door on a Saturday morning. Place was pretty empty. Waited about another 5 – 7 mins for a server and ordered our drinks and food at the same time. Food came out very fast. My friend had the juevos rancheros and I had the breakfast burrito. Both items were well portioned and tasted good but not great.
If you are in the area it is worth a stop for the old time décor and ambiance but expect just average food.

The food is ok. The service in the bar is absolutely awful. It’s not much better on the restaurant side either. We have been maybe 5 times and the service ALWAYS sucks. It’s just whether or not you want to ignore crappy service. Last time we were there, the gentleman in the booth next to us had the plastic closure for the hamburger bag in his burger patty.
It’s too bad, we would go more for a burger there but the service always has us choose Islands instead. We typically only visit here when a friend is playing in the bar as they do have live music on Fridays.
****back again and the server took our order and walked away without taking our drink order. Sat here 10 minutes before we were even acknowledged. Sad.

My friend and I came here for the $ 1.99 Ruby Burger and fries deal. We was worried about there being crazy long lines, but luckily I arrive 15 minutes before the big rush. I noticed that this location had two side to the restaurant: dining and bar area. We only waited 5 minutes and were seated in a cozy little booth for two in the dining area.
We were able to place our order 8 minutes after seating, since they were starting to get real busy. The shakes came out a 5 minutes later, and our food arrived about 7 minutes after that. We were happy to be able to have blue cheese on our burgers without an extra charge unlike most restaurants. The patty was juicy and the buns soft while not turning into mush from the patty’s juices. The fries were nice and fresh. Yummy.
It’s located right at the Orange Metrolink station, so you often can hear the trains running by and overhead. I personally liked it. It made the place really feel like a diner. Might not be for everyone, though.

This Ruby’s is awesome!
Such a cute location right next to the circle and on the train tracks. The food a Ruby’s varies from location to location, and this is the best I have been to. Breakfast and dinner/​lunch are great.
Must have: the cob turkey burger. SO GOOD.
Also the sweet potato fries are amazing.
Service here has always been great. Super nice and very quick.

I don’t even know why I bother going to this Ruby’s location anymore. Don’t expect any kind of acknowledgement or service here at this Ruby’s. I went for a to go order and stood in front of the register for anyone to help me. Right in front of me was Heather and she couldn’t even say hello or even let us know that it’s going to take a minute. The restaurant was SO dead and she looked so stressed out, not sure what for. I’ve had problems in the past with employees there. You can kill them with kindness and smile at them but they will not give you the time or day. Everyone is so miserable there, i would not be surprised if this location shut down. If you want crap service, go to this Ruby’s!
Update — Just gave this place another shot because my friend wanted to go and sure enough, it’s just garbage from the food, service to the dirty ass utensils. Oh and nothing has changed with the level of service here, still a zero. I’d rather starve that go to this dump.

Cool place. I really enjoyed the décor. Feels like you’re taken back to the glory days of travel by rail. The food was pretty decent. Standard burger fare done right. Service is garbage. The wait staff and bartender seemed to more concerned with their friends at the bar. They never asked us if we were doing ok, how the food was or if we needed anything. Rubys lost a star for that. Overall it was ok. I’d go back if I was in the area, but wouldn’t go out of my way.

I’ve been to this Ruby’s many many times and always leave satisfied. Their sandwiches are consistently delicious and the Parmesan bread is killer. My only gripe: I was there today and ordered a sandwich. I upgraded the French fries to onion rings ($ 2). I only got five onion rings. Literally five. My father-​in-​law also ordered a sandwich but stuck with the fries, and they covered half his plate. Thumbs down.
Besides Onion Ringgate, the food is always great and well-​priced for the quantity and quality. The décor at this location is beautiful and compliments OTO nicely. Service is always friendly. I’ll be back, of course, I just won’t order the onion rings.

I’ve eaten at Ruby’s Diners in the past and I do have fond memories. I haven’t been there for a while and wanted to try their new premium all-​natural burgers and their fish & chips.
I’ll start with the fish & chips — Very light beer batter and crispy, but just a little too greasy. Not the best I’ve had, but still really good. The tartar sauce cocktail sauce were both good too. The coleslaw was just OK. The fries were not that great — thin and not very crispy. Reminded me of Mc D’s.
The burger — I tried a pinch of the patty with nothing on it and it was good. I ordered the Cobb, but left off the bacon. The burger was very good overall. I did ask for extra mayo, but didn’t get it. It could have used a thin swipe of mayo on the other half of bun, but I’m a fatty and probably didn’t need it anyway. Maybe she was trying to do me a favor. I don’t know. I ordered onion rings with it, and while they were good, they just weren’t the best I’ve had.
Service was a tad slow, but over all great. My waitress checked back with me twice and made sure I had everything I needed.
Overall I had a good meal and good experience. I took off one star for the fries.

We go here at least once a week, and sometimes twice! The food is always fresh, well-​prepared and delicious! The servers are friendly, attentive and gracious. The managers are great too. We love Ruby’s. My husband likes the Ruby’s in Tustin, which is great, but my sister and I prefer the Depot. Great breakfasts, no matter what you order, and great salads and appetizers. Perfect for the whole family!

If I am in Orange again I would like to give Ruby’s another try. Located right on the metro/​train tracks the interior is full of train and transportation art. It feels like a 1930’s train station, which the building actually is. There is even a train that circles the ceiling.
The restaurant and bar were packed when Linda and I stopped for a cocktail and an appetizer. Service was very slow, understandable when the server told us that two trains were delayed. The bar area was full of people waiting to go home, and they had to close out all of the people who were hoping to get on the approaching trains.
The Manhattan I order was good when it finally arrived. We also ordered a grilled artichoke with garlic aïoli; this was more of a problem. I don’t think we looked like we had just gotten off work and had to rush off, so, it was a surprise that the artichoke was not cooked enough. We asked them to take it back and cook it some more and they did. We enjoyed it when it came back to the table.
Because it was so busy when we got there and empty when the metro stopped at the door, I think that the slow service and undercooked artichoke was a onetime occurrence.
I’ve been told that most of the Ruby’s are decorated differently, based on where they are located. I certainly would give this place another chance and try the others too.