CATCHING UP WITH ... Ruby’s on the Balboa Pier

Amy R. Spurgeon

NEWPORT BEACH -- During Doug Cavanaugh’s 18 years as a Balboa Island

resident, he spent a lot of his time exploring the area. He frequented

the beach and took long runs along the shoreline.

Little did he know that his love affair with a dilapidated, abandoned

structure at the end of the Balboa Pier in 1980 would later house the

first diner in the Southland phenomenon known as Ruby’s Diner.At 26 years

old, Cavanaugh convinced longtime high school friend Ralph Kosmides to

venture into a new dining experience that focused on good food at low

prices in a 1940s setting.In 1982, Cavanaugh convinced the city of

Newport Beach to allow him to build a diner from the existing 1940s bait

shop. The terribly neglected facility had been vacant since 1977.

Costs associated with the building’s rehabilitation would leave Cavanaugh

and Kosmides penniless.

Prior to the diner’s grand opening, the two business partners nervously

wondered if they had made a mistake. The smiles from curious passersby

would later ease their minds.

“It was the first indication that we had a success on our hands,” said

Cavanaugh, now the president of Ruby’s. “People were looking for a

simpler time.”

And they found it in Ruby’s, Cavanaugh said.

Cavanaugh named the diner after his mom, Ruby Cavanaugh. Ruby, who lives

in Tustin, resisted when Cavanaugh first told her he would be naming the

diner after her. Ruby’s love of the 1940s era was the inspiration for the

restaurant. She gradually became comfortable with the idea.

“She really likes seeing her name in lights,” Cavanaugh said. He said his

mom never hesitates to sign a place mat in crayon for a child. The

black-haired woman adorning the menus is a carbon copy of a youthful

Ruby.

Today, there are more than 30 Ruby’s restaurants nationwide. Diners can

also find a RubyBurger in Terminal Six at Los Angeles International

Airport or Terminal D at the airport in Las Vegas. Changes coming in 2000

include new breakfast and dinner items.

Ruby’s will be temporarily closed for three weeks starting in November

while the city replaces some of the wood pilings holding up the pier.

Many of those pilings went up in 1940 after storms in the late 1930s

destroyed the original Balboa Pier.

When Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce president Richard Luehrs joined

the chamber in 1982, he said one of his first duties was to welcome the

new business team of Cavanaugh and Kosmides.

“I have watched them grow up over the years,” said Luehrs. “And I have

had more than my fair share of RubyBurgers.”

Luehrs said the management at Ruby’s has been very proactive and

supportive of the Newport Beach community.

Cavanaugh said the secret to success for Ruby’s is the food.

“Why do people go out to dinner?,” Cavanaugh said. “They go to get a good

meal.”

Cavanaugh said a lot of restaurants go out of business because they rely

too heavily on environment and entertainment. Both are important

qualities, Cavanaugh acknowledged, but if the restaurant is not focused

on food and service, it won’t make it.

The Newport Center-based company plans to open several more Ruby’s

locations nationwide in the future.

And what is Ruby’s favorite item at Ruby’s?

“Just a good old-fashioned RubyBurger,” Cavanaugh said.