TGI Fridays Vs. Ruby Tuesday: Which Is Better?

There certainly is no shortage of chain restaurants in America. When your appetite starts kicking into high gear and that palate is in need of something tasty, you usually have plenty of options to choose from. Depending on where you live, two massively popular chains that might compete for your attention are TGI Fridays and Ruby Tuesday. 

When it comes to days of the week, Friday is always preferable over Tuesday, but does that also translate to the chains? Likely not, but that's why we're here to take a closer look at both restaurants to compare and contrast so you don't have to. We considered the menu options — including appetizers, salad bars, entrées, dessert, daily specials, and the kids' menu — as well as drinks and the number of locations available. Which should you choose? In the end, we want you and your hunger to make the best choice possible.

Any parent knows that taking kids out to eat can sometimes be a real pain. Many kids are extremely picky eaters because their palates haven't developed enough yet, and that means menu items with a slew of ingredients they've never tried may be immediately dismissed. This is why it's so important to have a section of the menu that caters to those young appetites. Not only will it satisfy their little bellies, but it'll make the whole dining experience much smoother. If you plan on bringing the kiddies out with you, Ruby Tuesday will have more enticing options for them.

Both menus have some of the standard kid fare, like macaroni and cheese and breaded chicken tenders. These options are always a slam dunk with the little ones. Ruby Tuesday is a little more creative with their kids' section with the additions of crispy shrimp and quesadillas. Sure, to an adult that doesn't sound exotic, but to a child those are definitely more fun to explore. TGI Fridays, in the end, only has four choices for your kids, while Ruby Tuesday offers up seven.

After you spend some time treating yourself to all sorts of rich food throughout a meal, there are few things that hit quite like a blast of sugar afterward. This is what makes dessert the best part of any meal for a lot of people. If you're the kind of person who loves to treat themselves to a sugar-laden menu option once your entree is finished, know that Ruby Tuesday has more choices to pick from.

Now, keep in mind that some of the options at TGI Fridays are pretty awesome. They offer customers a dessert called Oreo Madness — which are huge Oreo cookies with cookies and cream ice cream and sprinkles — or a towering slice of vibrantly colored rainbow cake. However, Ruby Tuesday swoops in with a larger selection of treats to choose from, like Lemon Italian Cream Cake, cheesecake topped with fresh strawberries, a warm chocolate chip cookie skillet, or rich chocolate lava cake.

When the beast inside your gut really needs some serious subduing, pasta might be the perfect entrée to fill you up. A hot bowl of restaurant noodles with some great sauce will rarely let you down. If you don't mind having a carb-heavy meal and only a big plate of penne will do, Ruby Tuesday is a better option than TGI Fridays.

TGI Fridays only offers patrons three pasta options: Cajun Shrimp and Chicken, Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo Tortellini, or Chicken Parmesan Pasta. Those are each tasty; they're definitely not bad options. However, Ruby Tuesday throws five options your way, and they're all pretty awesome. They offer Chicken and Broccoli Penne in cream sauce, Blackened Shrimp and Sausage, Parmesan Shrimp, Chicken Carbonara, or Crispy Chicken Mac 'N Cheese. When a plate of pasta is on your mind, Ruby Tuesday is the best choice.

There's something about actually feeling the food in your hands before it hits your tongue that offers a kind of satisfaction a fork doesn't. If you want to go in barehanded to really make the experience raw and messy — and let's say that burgers and sandwiches are what you're after — Ruby Tuesday offers a slightly larger selection than TGI Fridays.

TGI Fridays offers customers the basic options like a bacon cheeseburger and a fried chicken sandwich, but it also cranks up the flavor with options like the Philly Cheesesteak Burger, the signature Whiskey-Glaze Burger, and a Loaded Cheese Fry Burger (yes, a burger actually topped with bacon-cheese French fries). Ruby Tuesday, however, packs a harder punch with choices like the Smokehouse Cheeseburger topped with massive crispy onion rings, a stuffed Meatball Hoagie, and a spicy Jalapeño Queso Bacon Burger.

Oftentimes when you go out to eat you don't want to just immediately jump into an entrée. You want to prepare your palate for the main course with a selection of small plates first (especially if you're with a group). If you're looking for appetizers, know that TGI Fridays has a longer list to pick from, and that means more flavors to tantalize your palate.

TGI Fridays serves up a whole bunch of pretty great meal starters. You and a group can enjoy common dishes like wings, loaded potato skins, and spinach-artichoke dip, but it also offers stuff you won't find many other places like fried green bean fries with cucumber-wasabi sauce, Philly cheesesteak egg rolls, plus a whiskey-glaze sampler with shrimp, ribs, and sesame chicken strips all smothered in a rich whiskey sauce. While Ruby Tuesday's appetizer selection isn't poor – customers can order things like sticky ribs and crab dip – there's just not as large a selection.

A great side dish helps complement the main course immensely to create a whole symphony of amazing flavors dancing together on one plate. Also, if you've ever seen a plate of food that didn't contain any sides, whatever is on the plate just looks lonely. A piece of chicken wasn't meant to simply sit all but itself in the middle of a desolate dinner plate. When it comes to sides, Ruby Tuesday offers more to customers than TGI Fridays.

The selection of sides at TGI Fridays isn't small, but it doesn't offer the variety that Ruby Tuesday does. Patrons can order up sides like seasoned fries, onion rings, cheddar macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, and jasmine rice. Not too shabby. However, if you find yourself sitting at a table inside Ruby Tuesday, you can treat yourself to items like loaded tater tots, rice pilaf, buttered corn, grilled zucchini, corn chowder soup, and roasted baby bella mushrooms.

Let's be honest: When you make the decision to go to either TGI Fridays or Ruby Tuesday, you're not heading there because both spots are known for slinging incredibly healthy cuisine. You're going because much of the food is chock-full of the stuff we crave, like fat and salt, and that's okay. Sometimes you have to treat yourself to the kinds of food doctors tell you to avoid. However, if you are heading out to one of these places with the intent to keep your calorie count down, Ruby Tuesday is where you want to end up.

TGI Fridays offers customers two salads, a Cobb with ranch dressing or a basic side salad. If you're looking for anything beyond that you're out of luck. Ruby Tuesday, on the other hand, not only serves up a honey-glazed salmon bowl and chicken Caesar salad, but it offers a large garden bar where you can build your own salad from scratch and add all kinds of great ingredients. This mix-and-match way of taking in greens is a great way to get a healthy variety of food into your diet without it ever getting boring.

While cracking a few brews or tossing back a handful of cocktails might be frowned upon during the workweek, when Friday rolls around it's a whole different ball game. The stress of your boss peering over your shoulder is gone, and it's time to unwind and let any overwhelming feelings from the week wash off you. TGI Fridays knows this all too well. The name does stand for "Thank God It's Friday," after all. If you're looking for a spot to meet up with friends and enjoy some truly great adult beverages, TGI Fridays takes the cake on this.

Now, let's be clear: Both Ruby Tuesday and TGI Fridays have bars that are more than happy to whip up whatever you like. However, TGI Fridays pulls way ahead with cocktails like the Ultimate Friday Margarita and the Ultimate Double Berry Mojito. Plus, Fridays offers a whole slew of to-go cocktails if you're unable to enjoy them inside the restaurant, so you can bring the party home with you in the tastiest way possible. Snagging a travel cup of Barbados Rum Punch is never a bad idea to help kick off the weekend properly.

People love deals, plain and simple. Food costs nowadays are rising, so any opportunity to enjoy a night out without breaking the bank is an appealing one. Ruby Tuesday really packs a punch when it comes to throwing daily deals out to their patrons, which is one reason why it reigns supreme over TGI Fridays.

Every day of the week Ruby Tuesday has a different special running, which means no matter what day you show up there's a chance to save some of that hard-earned moolah. For example, if you want to take the family out for a Monday lunch, you can serve yourself unlimited salad from the Garden Bar for ten bucks. Let's say you go out on Friday to celebrate the end of the work week. Well, not only do kids eat free all day with the purchase of one adult entrée, but you can also visit during a window of time and snag a Philly Cheesesteak Hoagie with fries or tots for under eight dollars.

Depending on where you live, you might not have access to all of the popular chain restaurants. Some places only have one or two that reign supreme. But, based on the number of locations that each restaurant chain operates, it's far more likely you'll come across a TGI Fridays than a Ruby Tuesday. That means if you're a TGI Fridays fanatic, you have a lot to jump for joy about.

The doors to the first TGI Fridays opened nearly 50 years ago, and since then the chain spread like wildfire. There are over 900 locations spread throughout 60 countries, and 551 of those locations are located here in America. Ruby Tuesday, however, currently only has 209 locations due in large part to filing for bankruptcy. Prior to filing, there were 451 locations at the end of 2019. Unfortunately, the bankruptcy more than halved that number.

As with anything in life, the word "better" is usually always subjective. You will run into people who live and die by the TGI Fridays experience, just like there are a bunch of people who absolutely love Ruby Tuesday. This makes it hard to say which one you'll find more appealing, but if you're using this list to help guide your decision, then Ruby Tuesday comes out on top for a number of reasons.

The menu at Ruby Tuesday is the driving force behind its dominance over TGI Fridays. The kids' menu is bigger, which means it's a more enticing spot to bring the little ones. There are also more choices when it comes to desserts, pasta dishes, burgers and sandwiches, and sides. The fact that every day of the week is some kind of special deal means it's a great spot to save money, and the Garden Bar option is appealing to anyone who wants to watch their waistline but still enjoy a meal out.