Ruby Tuesday's "Triple Prime" burger?

[BJK]

Just saw a commercial in which they claim the burger is made of ground prime filet, prime ribeye, and prime sirloin. Frankly, I don't understand why they'd use those cuts for a burger, and I'm not a big chain eater, but I do travel a fair amount and find myself with limited options from time to time. Has anyone tried one?

BK

[mainechow]

I can say as a chain eatery, it does depend on the management & cooks who prepare this incredible burger. I frequent for lunch and have always found the triple prime burger to be phenomenal! Had a bad experience at another location though. I loved the burger so much I insisted to bring 6 family members to try it. I took one bite & said, no way, this is NOT a triple prime burger! After my complaint to the waitress, then the manager, he knocked off 3$ from each plate & brought out a huge brownie sunday on the house. If you are getting the "real" XXXprime burger & it is cooked to perfection, it is at least a 9 out of 10!

[PommeDeGuerre]

"XXXprime?" Ruby's has some kind of porn burger?

[myfirst123]

I tried it. You have to tell them what sauce you want for the burger. overal 3 out of 10 points. Don't give it a try

[cali2ia]

I've had one, and I can say without question that I've had worse. The meat was as thin as a Culver's butterburger, the lettuce was wilted, and the bottom bun was completely saturated with watery juices, rendering it impossible to eat with my hands. Had the slightest bit of care gone into its assembly, it would have been a good $5-6 burger. As a $9-10 burger, they couldn't be further from the mark unless their name was Red Robin (ick). I don't imagine you'd have a similar experience, but I've written off the chain for good.

If you want a good burger, go to a brewpub. I've never had a burger that I would grade less than "very good" at a brewpub.

[AppleSpam]

Had it yesterday and thought it was awesome...just not big enough. It wasn't dry and the garlic mayo and Tillamook cheddar had a lot of flavor as well.

[othervoice]

I've been to RB's several times now. I haven't eaten the triple but it looks wonderful. I've had several different things most memorable is the salad bar. Very fresh, very clean. Very good coffee. And most of all it's a very comfortable place. The seats are comfortable and the tables at the booths move. To some of us that matters. As far as chains go it's good, I like chains when keeping in mind why I'm there, decent food, decent prices. If I go to RT I know I can get a great salad, with several choices of lite dressings. If I go to 99 I know I can get decent sirloin tips, if I go to Chili's I can get good ribs. It's all in your mind and wallet. I can't afford to spend 30-50 dollars on a meal every time I want to dine out, I have 3 kids and my partner and I save the high end dining for special occasions.

[jwagnerdsm]

I just can't fall in love with chains. P.F. Chang doesn't do it for me, Cheesecake Factory doesn't do it for me. I HATE Joe's Crab Shack. I do think Boston's has pretty good food and would drive across Des Moines to eat at the one in the burbs. Only ate at Ruby Tuesday once -- Mall of America location -- and was not impressed.

[malibumike]

I used to work with a fellow who also had a second job as a meat cutter at Safeway stores, I guess he didn't like his boss' so he would grind up fillet mignon for me, wrap in in white paper and mark it at 69 cents a pound as ground round,(this was many years ago) It was unique but way to dry as a hamburger but at that price I couldnt stop buying it. Fillet Mignon does not have much fat whether it is prime or choice. I would like to take some Prime Rib Eye which does have a lot of fat and grind this up for hamburger some day, I bet this would be good. I dont think the RT burger is worth it, it is just another yuppie fad to extract more money from your wallet.

[tamerlanenj]

The Ruby Tuesday's burger does have ground prime ribeye in it. That alone should give it plenty of fat, along with the prime strip. The prime filet mignon is probably a waste, though.

[Turtle177]

Ok first of all, at least have a clue about your topic before you start chattering. A "prime" piece of meat is not some marketing ploy that RT made up to sell burgers. It refers to a portion of meat (whatever cut) that has been certified as "prime" by the USDA. Only about 1% of all beef qualifies as Prime, so you're not dealing with a cheap piece of meat here, it's expensive and hard to come by. And every ounce is 100% prime, so there are no portion issues. No crappy chuck! You cannot get this stuff at the Supermarket.

And apparently you few make up a vast minority since the feedback on this burger has been excellent. Most gave it a 9, actually. Including myself and nearly every one of my friends and family. Now I can't attest to how the cooks at your particular restaurant cook it, and obviously that can make a huge difference (such as drying it out). And I've never had anybody refuse my med-rare request, which always comes out dripping all over the plate and delicious. Better luck next time.

[amkirkland]

I don't think people (at least not me) were suggesting that the use of the term prime was an unsubstantiated marketing technique. I believe it's prime and I know it's hard to achieve that grade. The question is whether the use of prime meat in a hamburger is for the purpose of bettering the hamburger, or for the purpose of selling the hamburger.

The portion question wasn't about what percent is prime, but about what percent comes from each cut. For all we know the rib-eye percentage is very low and the sirloin percentage is very high. In general, I would rather have a prime steak, than have it ground up. I suppose what it comes down to is whether the burger is a good burger. If it is, like you say, then fantastic, I'm glad it works.

[Turtle177]

Well they have a Prime Ribeye now too. It's very good, but I still prefer the burger.

[Bobfrmia]

I can get Prime Ribeyes at my supermarket. I can't imagine grinding it up for burgers.

[firefytr]

Turtle177,

C'mon!

"Only about 1% of all beef qualifies as Prime, so you're not dealing with a cheap piece of meat here, it's expensive and hard to come by. And every ounce is 100% prime, so there are no portion issues. No crappy chuck! You cannot get this stuff at the Supermarket."

That's an uneducated by yourself!

I have TWO supermarkets within 10 minutes of my residence that DO sell prime grade beef.

Hard to come by? NO. Expensive? Yes.

I have a feeling you must have some kind of an interest in Ruby Tuesday or else you would not be making these uneducated statements.

[chris in illinois]

Some of us are not so lucky, the closest place that sells prime beef in my neck of the woods is in St. Louis 90 miles away.

I had the prime/prime/prime burger once and it was quite tasty, but it could easily be awful the next time. Chains like RTuesday's suffer greatly from inconsistancy.

[Turtle177]

You can read for yourself: "http://www.askthemeatman.com/usda_bee...". I wasn't implying that you can't go to a big grocery and find it. But if you're a restaurant trying to buy a million pounds... good luck!

[toolsmokebox10]

your right its not 1%....its 3% as compared to all the beef thats graded in the US that is a VERY small amount.

[Atlantis]

So bad, I wrote to them. Got back a very responsive and intelligent invitation to dine at Ruby Tuesday gratis, to give them another chance. So far, I haven't responded, since, honestly, it was so bad - ugh! - I don't think I'd want to eat anything there, even if it was free.

But, they handled it perfectly, I must say.

[Xericx]

I tried this burger today....I was curious since I never even saw a Ruby Tuesday's before...but went home for Christmas and voila...there was a Ruby Tuesday's by my house....not good really.....dry..they wouldn't even cook it medium rare! fries were good though........but the burger was pretty bad.....best part was the mayo..which tasted like it had some garlic...they also cut these HUGE lettuce leaves in it which totally adjusted the balance of the burger.....the burger itself was quite small....not a good burger.

For chains, Houstons and Cheesecake factory are levels above this...miles, if not light years.

[toolsmokebox10]

hmmm seems like you had a bad expirience sorry to hear that. I work at a rubys as a grill cook in VA, I make them from rare all the way up to well done and it is really hard to make it dry unless they smashed the hell outta it and let it sit under the heat lamp for too long. The huge lettuce is called leaf lettuce and its more nutritious than iceburge and actually has some taste to it. The mayo does have garlic in it but i use the ruby special sauce on my burgers, it tastes alot better imo. I have no idea why it was small its a normal 8oz burger patty just like all the other resteraunts.

[messyjessy]

Hubby tried this a couple weeks ago and I had a bite. I thought it was dry and seriously, who would want a burger made of tenderloin instead of just a piece of the tenderloin. I ordered the mini's which surprisingly were very good. Moist and a lot tastier then the prime. My hubby seemed to like the prime though.

Oh well.

[amkirkland]

They never mention the ratios. An important fact as at least some rib-eye, tenderloin and sirloin probably always get into the supermarket ground beef mix.

[HaagenDazs]

Exactly, I can guarantee they don't use equal proportions.

[Davwud]

When I saw the commecial, the "Triple Prime" title to the burger to me was a give away that it probably wasn't gonna be very good. I have not tried it but the name suggests they're selling sizzle, not steak.

DT

[amkirkland]

I once made a burger in my food processor with tenderloin scraps. While it was really more of a seared steak tartare, it was actually quite good, with appropriate seasoning. I can't imagine paying for a piece of tenderloin reserved for such a purpose though.

Here's my idea, a roast beef sandwich in three sections. One tenderloin roast w/ bleu, one ribeye roast dressed cheesesteak style, and one bias cut sirloin steak dressed like a fajita. Gimmicky enough to sell, but legit enough to be good?

[Floyd Pinkus]

I've had this Triple Prime Burger. It's very good but not as good as an on-the-home-BBQ burger made with 80/20 chuck. There's no need to use primer grade for a burger (try and find some in a store - it's rare and really expensive - and I've never seen it sold 'ground'). Best burger I've ever had was 80/20 hand-ground organic chuck done of a charcoal (not gas) grill. That was a 10. The Triple Prime is a 7. Best chain store burger I've had is at Fudruckers - which I'd rate as an 8. I agree with the other post that it's mostly a marketing thing. On the plus side, Ruby Tuesday's does have an impressive array of different burger-type sandwiches, if you like that sort of thing.

[newyorkerinoregon]

I tried it last month in Corvallis. My only complaint is I would have liked it bigger. It had lots of flavor but was really moist. And it was cooked to order, a rarity in this burn the burger to death or e-coli will get you world. I think the prime beef is the key here. Best burger I've had in a long time.

[phillyjazz]

I was thinking that Prime grade meat with give a decent fat amount (which is what usually make a chuck burger so tasty.)

That being said, you can grind any blend of fat to lean when you are making burgers. I've seen lots of grilling books recommend tenderloin for burgers (which I find strange, as it is usually pretty bland.)

It sounds like a marketing gimmick I guess, but I'll have to try one myself before I judge. Best burger I had recently was at a golf course (Jeffersonville in Norristown, PA.) They called it a Kobe, but I'm sure it was just American Wagyu.

[tamerlanenj]

Since when is Ribeye lean meat? Ribeye sounds like an interesting cut to make a burger out of, maybe cominbed with chuck.

BTW, I had a sirloin burger today at a local diner here: way too dry!

[JKulp42757]

Prime is the highest grade US meat, but it is also the fattiest grade. The marbled fat melts and helps to keep the meat moist.

Choice is the 2nd highest grade, and Select is third.

[ChinoWayne]

Its a marketing ploy to sucker the general public who would not know that the best burgers do not come from lean beef. It is not intended to be a stellar burger, just to sell more burgers.

[Covert Ops]

Right, that's what I was thinking. Those didn't sound like ideal cuts to make burgers out of. . .

[BJK]

Precisely my initial reaction. Tell me it's made from prime chuck (if there is such a thing) and then we'll talk. Oh well. What else should I expect from Ruby Tuesday's, eh.

:)
BK

[georgeb]

Had a triple prime burger today (don't throw rocks, please, someone gave me a gift card that I have to use up) to see what it was like.

Not very good. On a scale of 1-10, about a 5 (a Burger King Whopper is a 4; an In-N-Out double double is about an 8).

Not worth the effort, I should make my own on the grill at home with some home fries. I would be a much happier person.

[fascfoo]

I can't attest to the Ruby Tuesday burger, but I can say that the best burger I've had is made from ground sirloin (Shake Shack here in NYC) and the flavor difference is enormous.