Restaurant of the week 3/2 - 3/8

Ruby Chow’s

about

Last weekend, on Leap Day, Nizar and I headed to Ruby Chow’s with another couple to check out Guy Wong’s latest venture. If you’ve been in Atlanta long enough then you might remember Miso Izakaya (formerly located on Edgewood Avenue). It was one of our favorite spots for comforting Asian food. I was really sad to see it close, but can rejoice again with the opening of Ruby Chow’s. Ruby Chow’s is primarily Chinese-American food, but has a lot of other Asian influences as well.

The restaurant took over the space previously occupied by Gekko Sushi (across from Dancing Goats / Ponce City Market). It has a similar layout when you walk-in but the decor has been completely transformed by Elizabeth Ingram. For those of you who don’t know, Elizabeth Ingram has designed many restaurants in Atlanta including Muchacho, Golden Eagle, Beetlecat & more. Fun fact…Elizabeth and Alton Brown got married in 2018…talk about a power couple! Now back to the decor…walking in you are immediately drawn to the tall ceilings, bright red curtains and beautiful floral wallpaper. I also loved the updated take on typical Chinese restaurant seating with the red banquet booths and updated banquet chairs, very clever!

This is one popular spot. I should have known it would be busy, since we went only nine days after they opened. The wait time for a party of four was one hour at 6:30 pm on a Saturday. And there was still a wait when we left around 9:30 pm. So my advice would be to get there early. We luckily got seated ten minutes earlier and it honestly wasn’t that bad. They have a little waiting room behind the bar where you can order drinks and in return they pass out free, yes FREE appetizers. We had two rounds of the most delicious mini crab fried rangoon (not on the menu). As for service, there was one minor incident with not getting a drink, but they were really apologetic (multiple apologies, MULTIPLE) and took it off the bill. The rest of the service was excellent…our food came out very quickly!

Now for the food! My advice would be to order a bunch of small plates and share. You can scroll down to see what we ordered below, but you will notice that the portion sizes are on the small to medium size. I would recommend ordering 4 - 6 plates plus a dessert for a party of two. You honestly can’t go wrong with any of the dishes. My favorites are outlined below, but in general I enjoyed anything with crispy rice and the Pow Pow shrimp really packed some flavor. I didn’t know what to expect from the Kabocha Squash soup, but it was so flavorful - perfectly balanced with the pumpkin oil and scallions.

Ruby Chow’s Vibes

Great For

Dinner

Impressing your out-of-town friends

Small plates & sharing

When you’re in the mood for good but classy-ish Asian food

likelihood to go back

Extremely Likely

Location & Hours

Old 4th Ward - 620 Glen Iris Dr. NE Suite C-1, Atlanta, GA 30308

Closed Sunday || Monday - Thursday 5:30pm - 10:00pm || Friday - Saturday 5:30pm - 11pm - they will eventually have a late night menu.

parking

Valet parking (limited spots and we were told to park ourselves so didn’t have to pay anything)

price

Around $30 - $40 per person (including tax and tip)…although it could be less or more depending on what you order.

Reservations

Walk-ins only (wait time was around 50 minutes at 6:30pm)

Bar is first come - first serve

Vegetarian options

Yes, just enough items to make it worth it - around seven dishes (excluding dessert)!

What we Ordered

The items below were shared among four people (excluding two items from the list that I didn’t try - the miso soup & banh mi). Items marked with an asterisk (*) and bolded were my favorite dishes. But honestly, I liked every dish we ordered, so you really can’t go wrong.

We ordered almost half of the menu so there is still more to explore, although a good portion of the remaining items had pork in them (which I don’t eat), so wouldn’t be able to comment on anyways. I did notice that the menu online has a Cacio e Pepe, but ours didn’t. Very intrigued by the Asian take on this dish, so will definitely be back soon!

Basil Chicken - sautéed chicken, thai basil, garlic, onions, puff rice
Bone Marrow* - onion jam, gremolata, panko, radish salad, served with baguette
Kabocha Squash Soup* - roasted winter squash, crisp apple, pumpkin seed oil
Pow Pow Shrimp* - lemongrass, chili pepper, onions, egg floss
Lychee Zero-Proof Drink - custom drink upon request
Mango with Sticky Rice* - coconut sweet rice, fresh mango, ube ( I think it was mango though) ice cream, mochi, coconut cream
Short Rib Wrap* - kimchi, nori, rice, scallion oil
Shoyu Tamago* - soft-boiled soy sauce egg, crispy rice cake, sweet soy vinaigrette
Soft Shell Crab BLT (minus the bacon) - soft-shell crab, sambal aioli, lettuce, tomato
Szechuan Green Beans - sweet glaze, tofu, sesame seeds
Vegetarian General Tso’s Chicken - plant-based chicken, spicy sweet soy
- At first bite it tastes like chicken and as you keep going you realize it’s more like tofu. I didn’t hate it!