Little Ruby’s is an Australian-inspired all-day restaurant that brought some of Sydney’s laid-back coastal culture to New York City when it opened in 2002. Now with five locations in New York, Little Ruby’s has expanded outside the state for the first time. Its new Dallas store opened February 2 in Uptown.
“Dallas felt like the right city for the next chapter of Little Ruby’s,” said Nick Mathers, founder of Wish You Were Here Group. “There’s an openness and generosity here that immediately resonated with me — the warmth of the people and the city’s hospitality created a genuine sense of comfort that felt like home.”
Mathers also credits the natural connection between Texas and Australia, two places rooted in easygoing, authentic energy.
“I felt welcomed from my very first visit,” Mathers added about his time in Dallas, “and that’s exactly how we want guests to feel the moment they walk into Little Ruby’s.”
The restaurant seats about 100 guests indoors and another 56 on the patio.
The Dallas location is 1,790 square feet and accommodates about 100 guests indoors. The warm, residential-style design features travertine flooring, white oak millwork, a bronze mirrored bar, and a custom cowhide wall installation by Texas artist Kyle Bunting. There’s also an airy, 950-square-foot patio with 56 additional seats.
Little Ruby’s is open daily and serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There’s also a full coffee program with espressos, lattes, and matcha, and a full bar serving beer, wine, and cocktails.
Mornings here can begin with avocado toast, eggs, and ricotta hotcakes, while lunch and dinner favorites include a double cheeseburger, a fried chicken burger, spicy vodka pasta, roast salmon, and a crispy rice bowl featuring puffed wild rice, halloumi cheese, a sunny-side-up egg, fresh vegetables, and ginger-lemon dressing. A couple of the heartiest options are filed under a “to share” heading and include a New York strip steak and a full rack of glazed pork ribs.
The all-day café’s menu ranges from avocado toast and burgers to pastas and steaks.
Little Ruby’s wants to be a place that guests can visit multiple times per week, and during different parts of the day. So it feels bright and energetic in the mornings, when patrons might swing through for coffee and avocado toast. Evenings feature dimmed lighting and a cozier vibe, better for sipping a glass of wine alongside those pastas or a steak.
The bar serves several cocktails on tap, like an Aperol Spritz, Gin Mule, and Paloma, plus a full menu of made-to-order drinks, like an Espresso Martini, Mezcal Negroni, and Yuzu-Jalapeño Margarita. Guests can also choose from a selection of non-alcoholic drinks (such as a guava lemonade or passion fruit ginger spritz) and smoothies that are boosted with probiotics, collagen, colostrum, and protein.
Little Ruby’s was the founding concept of Wish You Were Here Group, a hospitality portfolio that includes additional concepts in New York as well as Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Scottsdale, Ariz. The group doesn’t have more Little Ruby’s locations planned at the moment, but they may open more in the future.
Its coastal Italian concept, Élephante, is currently under construction at the same 23Springs building in Dallas that houses Little Ruby’s. It should open later this year, joining existing locations in Los Angeles and Scottsdale.