Ruby's Diner

---

title: "Ruby's Diner" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1982-establishments-in-california", "companies-based-in-irvine,-california", "hamburger-restaurants-in-the-united-states", "restaurant-chains-in-the-united-states", "restaurant-franchises", "restaurants-established-in-1982", "companies-that-filed-for-chapter-7-bankruptcy-in-2018"] description: "Casual dining restaurant chain primarily in California, USA" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby's_Diner" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Casual dining restaurant chain primarily in California, USA ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	Ruby's Diner
logo	Ruby on Ruby 2.jpg
type	Private
genre	Casual dining
{{Infobox	decat
foundation
Newport Beach, California, U.S.
founders	Doug Cavanaugh
Ralph Kosmides
location	Irvine, California, U.S.
locations	13
area_served	California, Nevada, and New Jersey
key_people	Doug Cavanaugh, CEO
Ralph Kosmides, Chief administrative and development officer
industry	Restaurant
parent	Ruby's Hospitality Group IP, LLC
homepage
::

| name = Ruby's Diner | logo = Ruby on Ruby 2.jpg | logo_size = | type = Private | genre = Casual dining | fate = | predecessor = | successor = | foundation = Newport Beach, California, U.S. | founders = Doug Cavanaugh Ralph Kosmides | defunct = | location = Irvine, California, U.S. | locations = 13 | area_served = California, Nevada, and New Jersey | key_people = Doug Cavanaugh, CEO Ralph Kosmides, Chief administrative and development officer | industry = Restaurant | products = | parent = Ruby's Hospitality Group IP, LLC | divisions = | subsid = | homepage = Ruby's Diner is a California-based U.S. chain of casual dining restaurants founded in 1982. The original location was a converted bait shack at the end of the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach. The restaurants are designed with a 40s, 50s and 60s atmosphere. As of 2024, most locations are in Southern California, but there are also locations in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and in Harry Reid International Airport.

History

The first Ruby's Diner opened on December 7, 1982, in a converted bait shop at the end of the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach, California. On that day, founders Doug Cavanaugh and Ralph Kosmides worked the grill and the cashier station and earned a total of $63. The restaurant was named after Cavanaugh's mother, and her likeness appears in the logo and other advertising material; a copy of her high school graduation photo is placed next to the register in every location.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Rubys1.jpg" caption="The original Ruby's Diner on the [[Balboa Pier"] ::

The original Ruby's diner location still stands at the end of Balboa Pier. The restaurant formerly operated further pier locations in Huntington Beach, Malibu, Oceanside, and Seal Beach, but these locations have since been closed.

In the 2010s, Ruby's experimented with converting some locations, including Costa Mesa, to a fast casual 1960s Googie theme called "Ruby's Dinette", a change that included ordering at the counter rather than at the table. The experiment was dubbed a failure, and the locations were converted back to the original format.

Ruby's filed for bankruptcy in 2018, and a franchisee provided a cash infusion. Cavanaugh and Kosmides were sued in 2021 by a bankruptcy court trustee, who accused the pair of loaning themselves money from Ruby's and using Ruby's personnel while pursuing other business ventures.

References

References

1. "Locations".
2. . (October 31, 2002). ["The Hottest 25 People of Orange County: Doug Cavanaugh"](http://www.ocmetro.com/t-CoverStory_TheHottest25People_103102.aspx). *OC Metro*.
3. [http://www.ocregister.com/articles/ruby-697805-cavanaugh-doug.html "Ruby Cavanaugh, namesake of Ruby's Diner, dies at 93"] Orange County Register, December 29, 2015
4. Broughton , Suzanne. (April 7, 2010). "Ruby's Diner opens carhop in Anaheim".
5. Szabo, Matt. (February 26, 2021). "Ruby's Diner at end of Huntington Beach Pier serves its last shake".
6. Lindsay William-Ross, [http://laist.com/2009/07/05/rubys_shake_shack_opens_on_the_hist.php "Ruby's Shake Shack Opens on the Historic Malibu Pier"] {{webarchive. link. (August 31, 2009 , ''LAIST Food'', July 5, 2009)
7. Kragen, Pam. (March 3, 2021). "Ruby's Diner on Oceanside Pier announces permanent closure".
8. (January 4, 2013). "Iconic Ruby's Diner on Seal Beach Pier to Close".
9. Luna, Nancy. (March 15, 2015). "Ruby's Diner scraps fast-food style experiment in Costa Mesa".
10. Lansner, Jonathan. (September 6, 2018). "Ruby's Diner operator files for bankruptcy protection, seeks partnership with mall developer".
11. Romeo, Peter. (March 12, 2021). "Ruby's Diner founders are hit with a lawsuit over 2018 bankruptcy filing".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::