Restaurant review: Ruby’s Diner on the Square in Denton

by Dominique Beck of North Texas Daily , Jillian Daniels of North Texas Daily

"Over the hill" streamers hung on the wall next to our table at Ruby's Diner on the Square - leaving the impression that someone had recently celebrated a birthday there. This seemed likely as Ruby's gave off a homey, nostalgic feeling -- not in that '50s diner kind of way but in true eclectic Denton style.

The breakfast menu is served all day and held the regular variety, but it was the lunch menu that gave us a few surprises. Ruby's offers ostrich steak and quail dinners for customers looking for something a bit out of the ordinary. Appetizers also included chicken fried bacon, fried pickles and fried green tomatoes. Entrees ranged from $7 to $9 and sandwiches hovered around $6.

We arrived just in time for breakfast. Dominique opted for the $5.59 breakfast buffet while Jillian ordered the vegetable omelet. The waiter informed Dominique she had exactly 8 minutes to pile on as much food as she could before the breakfast buffet closed at 10:50 a.m. and the lunch buffet opened at 11a.m. She did as instructed. The buffet included pounds of scrambled eggs, stacks of pancakes, mountains of fried potatoes, two types of sausage, gooey cinnamon apple slices, strips of crispy bacon, and one lonely French toast slice sitting abandoned in the back.

The scrambled eggs and fried potatoes tasted standard as expected. The bacon was bit on the spicy side, but Dominique was not complaining. She then delighted in tasting the two types of sausages. She preferred the patty to the stick. The pancakes were hot and soft. Warm butter and syrup complemented the taste quite nicely. Overall Dominique enjoyed her buffet. Everything was hot and delicious.

Jillian's vegetable omelet came with two pieces of toast and hash browns, and the sweetness of the jelly on the toast balanced the saltiness of the eggs and hash browns well. The hash browns had a distinct bacon flavor to them, which didn't exactly bother Jillian, but may have overpowered the potato taste itself. However, there was a good combination of crispy and softer tastes and to her delight the dish was not overly greasy.

The omelet had a generous amount of tomato, bell pepper, and onion folded between the layers of egg to make the colorful creation. The omelet avoided any extraneous egg goo, which was much appreciated as Jillian does not handle egg goo well, but also managed to keep from being overcooked. All it needed was a little salt.