Ruby Tuesday Franchise Announces Franchise Development Expansion in Hawaii

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MARYVILLE, Tenn. -(BUSINESS WIRE)- Ruby Tuesday, Inc., a leader in high-quality casual dining is increasing its franchised restaurant presence in Hawaii. RT Hawaii Restaurants, Inc. plans to open three new Ruby Tuesday restaurants within the next three years; the first restaurant is slated to open in June 2011. Principal investors in the company, Ted Davenport and Rick Nakashima, are proven leaders. They currently own and operate Ruby Tuesday restaurants in Honolulu, Mililani, and Kaneohe.

"Ruby Tuesday is a proven concept and we're confident these additional restaurants will be as successful as the others. We are very grateful for our loyal guests" ."We look forward to developing again in Hawaii," Nakashima said. "We opened our first restaurants between 2004 and 2006 and we're very excited to expand from our current four restaurants to seven," he added.

Ruby Tuesday is passionate about great food and gracious hospitality. Ruby Tuesday's menu offers a fresh garden bar, premium seafood entrées, including lobster, and quesadillas, as well as classic favorites like Ruby Minis, handcrafted burgers and ribs. In 2005, the company began a reimaging initiative that included a focus on food and service and concluded with the creation of a fresh new look for its restaurants. The updated look, feel, and menu offerings are all important factors of Ruby Tuesday's mission to consistently provide a high-quality, casual dining experience with compelling value that guests will enjoy and remember.

"Thanks to the outpouring of support from the local communities, military and tourists, we have enjoyed great success in the state of Hawaii," said Davenport. "Ruby Tuesday is a proven concept and we're confident these additional restaurants will be as successful as the others. We are very grateful for our loyal guests," added Davenport.

Max Piet, Vice-President of Franchise Operations, said, "The response in Hawaii has been phenomenal. We are very pleased to grow our brand with two passionate and successful businessmen like Ted and Rick."

In the 2011 fiscal year, Ruby Tuesday franchisees expect to open eight to 13 restaurants, up to 10 of which will be international.

About Ruby Tuesday

The first Ruby Tuesday opened more than 38 years ago in Knoxville, Tennessee and the company is still led by founder, Sandy Beall.

Ruby Tuesday, Inc. has company-owned and/or franchise Ruby Tuesday brand restaurants in 46 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and 14 foreign countries. As of June 1, 2010, the company owned and operated 656 Ruby Tuesday restaurants, while domestic and international franchisees (including Hawaii and Guam) operated 165 and 58 restaurants, respectively. Ruby Tuesday, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (Symbol: RT).

Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains various "forward-looking statements," which represent the Company's expectations or beliefs concerning future events, including one or more of the following: future financial performance and restaurant growth (both Company-owned and franchised), future capital expenditures, future borrowings and repayment of debt, payment of dividends, stock repurchase, and restaurant and franchise acquisitions. The Company cautions the reader that a number of important factors and uncertainties could, individually or in the aggregate, cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the following: changes in promotional, couponing and advertising strategies; guests' acceptance of changes in menu items; changes in our guests' disposable income; consumer spending trends and habits; mall-traffic trends; increased competition in the casual dining restaurant market; weather conditions in the regions in which Company-owned and franchised restaurants are operated; guests' acceptance of the Company's development prototypes; laws and regulations affecting labor and employee benefit costs; costs and availability of food and beverage inventory; the Company's ability to attract qualified managers, franchisees and team members; changes in the availability of capital; impact of adoption of new accounting standards; effects of actual or threatened future terrorist attacks in the United States; significant fluctuations in energy prices; and general economic conditions.

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