{"id":11442,"date":"2024-03-14T12:44:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T12:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/?p=11442"},"modified":"2024-03-14T12:44:02","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T12:44:02","slug":"rubys-kitchen-was-not-just-a-business-but-a-labor-of-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.thetruthtoledo.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/14\/rubys-kitchen-was-not-just-a-business-but-a-labor-of-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruby\u2019s Kitchen Was Not Just a Business But a Labor of Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"By Dawn Scotland<\/strong><\/em>
\nThe Truth Reporter<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAll I knew is that I liked to cook. This was my childhood dream: to own a restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruby\u2019s Kitchen, a Toledo mainstay, serving fresh homemade soul food for two decades, closed its doors February 29, 2024. Owner Ruby Bulter reflected on the 20 years of her experience serving our community food that felt \u201cjust like grandma\u2019s kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruby\u2019s opened in 2004 and started in the kitchen of a sports bar that Butler rented for eight months before moving to the shopping plaza on Dorr St. where she served our community for 12 years. She moved to the Reynolds Road location in 2016.<\/p>\n

Ruby\u2019s Kitchen was not just a business but a labor of love, with Ms. Ruby making family of each customer who frequented her doors.<\/p>\n

\u201c[My biggest satisfaction] was just being able to have people that were so pleased that I was there and pleased to come and eat,\u201d reflected Ms. Ruby. \u201cThat and just making friends and knowing people by their name and just being there for my customers\u2013 I mean people that really enjoyed southern cooking and food that\u2019s hot \u2013 that\u2019s just been cooked while you\u2019re waiting for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an emotional farewell for Ms. Ruby. \u201cWhat I\u2019m going to miss the most is the customers and knowing people, good conversation, and cooking and I going to miss being there. \u201c<\/p>\n

Ms. Ruby could always be seen up front greeting customers, even in recent years battling COPD and wearing an oxygen tank. It was hard for her to maintain the restaurant as she would like, and she made the tough decision to close its doors permanently.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Famous musician John Legend dined at Ruby’s Kitchen (2012)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There were many highlights she experienced in 20 years. Nancy Pelosi and Marcy Kaptur spent the day at Ruby\u2019s when she was at the Dorr Street location. \u201cThey came on the bus and they had the Secret Service with them and the Secret Service was in the kitchen. That was such a fun day.\u201d<\/p>\n

John Legend, Michelle Obama\u2019s brother and many more entertainers and dignitaries than she can count have stopped by and sat for a plate at Ruby\u2019s Kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would have never dreamt that I would have had a restaurant and for it to have been as successful as it was for 20 years,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n

Ms. Butler was born and raised in east Toledo. \u201cMy mother taught me how to cook. I started cooking at 12 years old, wanting to have my own restaurant\u2026 I could remember at that time the neighbors were real close to each other, I could remember going to the neighbors and telling them \u2018I\u2019m cooking dinner today would you want to buy a dinner? \u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed like I was a good little cook at 12 years old. They started requesting dinners. Certain days of the week I would cook for the neighbors. That\u2019s where my dream started.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her mother was a big influence on her life and cooking. She always stressed \u201ca good cook always tastes her food\u201d said Ms. Ruby. Ruby\u2019s own favorite dish at Ruby\u2019s Kitchen was her famous dressing that was her mother\u2019s recipe.<\/p>\n

Ruby Bulter fed us from her heart and soul for two decades and leaving has been bittersweet. She graciously put her life into her business and the community and closing her doors has been a very emotional experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was such a happy journey that I\u2019ve had and, really, I\u2019ve had no complaints or remorse but I\u2019m so sorry I closed up. I wish I was still open.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Ruby plans now to travel and visit family.<\/p>\n

One lasting message Ms. Ruby has for her family of patrons: \u201cI thank them so much for patronizing me, being there for me and mostly loving me. I thank them from the bottom of my heart and I love them. I love them all so much. I\u2019m really missing them.\u201d<\/p>\n