Ruby Tequila’s and the Drama That Ended it All for Amarillo

I loved going to Ruby Tequila's. I loved everything about it. I even worked at the one on Paramount for a little over a year. Do you remember that one? You could sit in the back room and watch them make the tortillas in the kitchen.

They had that big glass window looking right into the kitchen. They also had an upstairs seating area that was open on Friday and Saturday nights. They also opened the area for parties.

Then they moved. The Hastings on Georgia, the big one, the two-story got torn down and the Ruby Tequilas on Georgia was born. There was also a location on Soncy. It is still there with all of its overgrown weeds most of the time. It is sitting empty.

I loved Ruby's so much that I was a rewards card holder, of course. I was also a secret shopper. They asked me to eat and review the place. They had me review the service. They wanted to hear what I thought.

What finally happened? Because it is what I consider to be the sad demise of Ruby Tequilas. Even when they moved and were under new management we still went. They were our place to go when my family came into town. We loved their queso flameados and I loved their flautas wrapped in flour tortillas.

We had the same server every time we went in. He worked there back when I did in the nineties. He still worked there when they closed. They closed with absolutely no warning. They were sold to a new company. That new company was going to open another restaurant on I40 that never happened either because the guy ended up being arrested on a different charge.

Richard Foote ended up owning Ruby Tequila's and Twisted Spigot in other places. We were supposed to get a Twisted Spigot on I40 but then he stopped paying his employees. He disappeared. Then he ended up getting arrested and going to prison on charges of grand theft.

So this left a huge mess for the ex-employees to clean up. They had to come together and sue to get their final paychecks. They had to sue to try to get their retirement they worked so hard for all those years. They did end up seeing some money. Not all that they were owed but more than they expected.

I still miss Ruby Tequila's, especially at March Madness time. They always had great food and drink specials. I miss Ruby Tequila's. I just do. I am glad that in the end, the ex-employees got some of their money back. It's a shame that the sudden closing and the empty building on Soncy is all that stands of the legacy that was Ruby Tequila's.