The end of an era came over the weekend. Ruby’s Diner, located at the end of the Seal Beach Pier, served its last hamburgers, fries and shakes Sunday, Jan. 6.
The Ruby Restaurant Group had notified the city on Dec. 10 that the restaurant was leaving Seal Beach. It is the only Ruby’s in the area that is closing. Assistant City Manager Sean Crumby said that the diner’s 10-year lease ran from October 2002 to October 2012.
District 1 Councilwoman Ellery Deaton, whose district includes Ruby’s Diner, said the city had sent a notice of breach of contract to the Ruby Restaurant group last week. (The Sun has submitted a California Public Records Act request for a copy of the notice.)
She said Ruby’s had a 10-year contract with the city that included an option to extend the contract. The chain did not extend the contract.
Deaton said the Seal Beach Ruby’s had requested and received a conditional use permit to build an outdoor dining area. She said Ruby’s requested an extension of the permit when it expired, which was granted by the Planning Commission. The outdoor dining area was not built.
Deaton said Ruby’s had committed to $400,000 in specific improvements to the site, including the restrooms, and those improvements were not made.
“We understand that the city has decided to put the lease for the Seal Beach Pier out for RFP (requests for proposals,” wrote Dough Cavanaugh, chairman and CEO of the Ruby Restaurant Group, in the Dec. 10 letter ending the relationship between Seal Beach and Ruby’s.
“At this point due to the RFP process, it appears that there may not be a desire to continue with a Ruby’s on the pier,” Cavanaugh wrote.
In November, the City Council approved a month-to-month rental agreement with Ruby’s while the city negotiated a new lease. The agreement included a 150 percent rent increase for the duration of the month-to-month arrangement, according to the staff report by Crumby.
The agreement allowed either party to terminate the lease with 30 days notice.
The city announced that the restaurant chain was leaving its iconic location at the end of the pier on Friday, Jan. 4.
On Saturday, Jan. 5, Art Haack, general manager of the Seal Beach Ruby’s confirmed that Sunday, Jan. 6 would be the last day the hospital-white restaurant would be open to the public. He referred all other inquiries to the home office.
As news of the restaurant’s closure spread thru print and electronic media, long-time patrons and former staff came back to have a good-bye meal at Ruby’s Diner.
The 1950s-themed restaurant fit perfectly with the city’s self-image as “Mayberry by the Sea.” Ruby’s was as much an icon of the city as the pier on which the building stands.
The family-friendly restaurant was a place to eat, talk with friends, celebrate anniversaries, new citizenships and birthdays.
Brooke Wenger of Costa Mesa came Sunday to celebrate her 10th birthday with her mother Elizabeth Wenger and her aunt Marianne Zamierowski. According to Zamierowski, it had become a tradition the last two or three years for them to come to Seal Beach Ruby’s to celebrate Brooke’s birthday.
“She’s been coming here her whole life,” said Elizabeth Wenger.
She said they didn’t know the restaurant was closing. The trio came in and while they were waiting to be seated, Wenger overheard customers talking. Wenger asked a food server if Sunday was the last day and the server confirmed the bad news.
A tradition had ended.
Undaunted, the family sat at the counter and had their celebration. Ruby’s staffers clapped and sang a royalty-free birthday song to Brooke as she blew out the single candle on her birthday sundae. She beamed brightly for a photo with a paper Ruby’s hat on her head.
Brooke and her family weren’t the only ones bidding Ruby’s a fond farewell that day.
The day before Ruby’s closed its doors, former staffers filled some of the tables in the dining room. One former Ruby’s girl was Jennifer Kuhlman of Yorba Linda, who came with her husband.
“I was here around 1992 or 3,” Kuhlman said.
Kuhlman, who was Miss Seal Beach 1993, said she worked at Ruby’s for three years, prior to her marriage.
“There’s a lot of great memories here,” Kuhlman said.
On Sunday, Jenny Platt of Los Alamitos, a 25-year patron, came with her friends and their children.
“We brought all our kids so we could experience it for one last time,” Platt said.
“It’s home, you know,” Platt said as she held her infant daughter Charlotte in her arms. “It has so many memories from birthday parties and going on first dates.”
Michael Hawkins of Fullerton brought a camera with him to capture images of a place where he had experienced important moments in his life.
He said the last “moment” at Ruby’s had been when his wife Roz became a citizen.
“I’ve been coming here for years and years and years,” he said.
“It has always been a compass point,” Hawkins said.
He said everyone he had spoken to about the restaurant’s closure was upset.
“I don’t know who’s going to take it over, but it’s never going to be the same,” Hawkins said.
Platt said she would like to see another family-friendly restaurant in Ruby’s place.
“There’s not enough,” she said.
Platt might get her wish.
“We’d like a family restaurant to go back in its place,” said Assistant City Manager Crumby.
He said the city has been contacted by “several” family restaurants.
He said staff was drafting a request for proposals.
While Ruby’s closed to the public on Sunday, the company will be moving out of the building on the pier on Jan. 10.
