Cincinnati-Based Jeff Ruby Restaurant Group Is Expanding to Nashville

Cincinnati's Jeff Ruby Culinary Entertainment, which owns and operates several popular and long-standing high-end steakhouses in Cincinnati and Louisville, is expanding to Nashville. Earlier this week the Cincinnati Business Courier posted a story about the group's personnel changes and increased profitability over the past several years, which included a mention of Nashville as a possible expansion target. Owner and founder Jeff Ruby's Twitter account showed that he was indeed in town this week scouting for a potential restaurant location, and now Eater has confirmed with Britney Ruby Miller, director of operations for the restaurant group and daughter of Jeff Ruby, that they are indeed planning to bring a restaurant to Music City.

Ruby Miller tells Eater that the idea to come to Nashville started about a month ago:

We brought our team down for some R&D, and just really fell in love with the town. The vibe is amazing, the people are so friendly. And we believe with our steakhouse concepts, we could definitely bring something unique to this area. What we do is one-of-a-kind in terms of the product offered and the service, what we call 'The Jeff Ruby Experience.'

Ruby Miller says that she then returned on her own to start looking at potential locations before making the latest trip with her father. Currently focusing their search on Germantown, the Gulch and downtown, it's not yet clear as to whether one of their existing concepts would be brought to Nashville or a new one developed, but she says that "if we go downtown it will most likely be a Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse. Wherever we go, it just has to fit that specific market. But we are open to it happening soon and in a position to make it happen soon."

Jeff Ruby Culinary Entertainment currently owns and operates Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse in Cincinnati and Louisville, as well as The Precinct and Carlo & Johnny in Cincinnati. Plans are underway to reopen is floating Waterfront restaurant in the Cincinnati area in the spring of 2015.
· How Jeff Ruby Boosted Profit by 60 Percent [Cincinnati Business Courier]
· Jeff Ruby Culinary Entertainment [Official Site]