# Ruth's Chris Steakhouse **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 3, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruths-chris-steakhouse/739334 "2015-12-03T18:33:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruths-chris-steakhouse/739334/21 "2015-12-04T23:13:26Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Can someone explain the name to me? I could never figure out what was going on in there. It’s like Chris just barged right into Ruth’s Steakhouse. > > Or did the sign maker put the apostrophe in the wrong place and they just never changed it or something? The original steakhouse was Chris Steak House. It was purchased by Ruth Fertel, who eventually changed the name to Ruth’s Chris Steak House when the original location burnt down and they built a new one and she wanted to keep [“continuity with the previous location.”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth%27s_Chris_Steak_House#Name_change_to_Ruth.27s_Chris_Steak_House.2C_1976) ---
**Author:** ![curious11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac91a4/32.png) [@curious11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curious11)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruths-chris-steakhouse/739334/22 "2015-12-04T23:38:09Z")
The gimmick is that the plate is hot to keep the steak hot. I’m not sure that 500 degree’s is the optimum temperature. In my house, I’ve started warming the ceramic plates to 200 Deg. F, to keep the eggs warm while I eat them. I hate cold eggs. Blech. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruths-chris-steakhouse/739334/23 "2015-12-04T23:50:08Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Whatever you do, don’t touch the plate after they warn you its hot. ITS FUCKING HOT! I didn’t listen… “I just wanted to know what your idea of ‘hot’ is.” /Elaine Benes ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruths-chris-steakhouse/739334/24 "2015-12-05T01:44:38Z")
I suspect [this is the Chris](http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=matulich&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=89928851&df=all&) of “Ruth’s Chris.” Info on him is rather thin post the 1965 sale to Ruth. Guess he just retired. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruths-chris-steakhouse/739334/25 "2015-12-05T01:46:11Z")
You should go in, order several hundred dollars worth of food and then try to pay with a barnes and noble gift card and a jar of change. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruths-chris-steakhouse/739334/26 "2015-12-05T06:44:04Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Why do I have a feeling the OP googled some type of similar question, maybe with Chicago in it, and clicked the SDMB link? Then though this was the way to get an answer? It sounds like she was trying to ask Siri a question and fell down the rabbit hole of the interwebs. ---
**Author:** ![Habeed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a587f6/32.png) [@Habeed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Habeed)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruths-chris-steakhouse/739334/27 "2015-12-05T08:03:01Z")
I think this is awesome that not only did the users here provide the answer, instead of “let me google that for you links” and insults, but they provided several personal experience details you wouldn’t get off google as easily. (“be prepared to drop some serious cash, don’t touch the plate if they say it is hot, it’s hot”) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruths-chris-steakhouse/739334/28 "2015-12-05T14:49:10Z")
> [@curious11](#): > > The gimmick is that the plate is hot to keep the steak hot. I’m not sure that 500 degree’s is the optimum temperature. > > In my house, I’ve started warming the ceramic plates to 200 Deg. F, to keep the eggs warm while I eat them. I hate cold eggs. Blech. I put two plates in the microwave and nuke them (it’s a modernish model, but I don’t know the wattage) for one minute. And you don’t even need a source of moisture. Why this works is worth, and I think has already received, another thread. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruths-chris-steakhouse/739334/29 "2015-12-07T01:34:37Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > . . . the original location burnt down . . . . . . from all the 500-degree plates. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruths-chris-steakhouse/739334/30 "2015-12-07T01:47:25Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Can someone explain the name to me? I could never figure out what was going on in there. It’s like Chris just barged right into Ruth’s Steakhouse. > > Or did the sign maker put the apostrophe in the wrong place and they just never changed it or something? I’ve wondered that too. It a pain in the ass to pronounce, it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruths-chris-steakhouse/739334/31 "2015-12-07T02:13:49Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > . . . from all the 500-degree plates. You should pull the tablecloth back and look at the tabletop at a Ruth’s. The one in Providence has plate-sized scorch marks at each place setting. Cheap table, too for such a pricey restaurant. Seeing the damage done I understand why, but it was still a really cheap table. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruths-chris-steakhouse/739334/32 "2015-12-07T02:55:42Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Can someone explain the name to me? I could never figure out what was going on in there. It’s like Chris just barged right into Ruth’s Steakhouse. > > Or did the sign maker put the apostrophe in the wrong place and they just never changed it or something? As I understand it, a man named Chris owned “Chris Steakhouse.” He sold it to Ruth Fertel, who continued operating it under the name “Chris Steakhouse.” One of the terms of the sale was that if the business moved for some reason, it could not continue under the original name. But the business needed to move (I believe a fire destroyed the original location). Ruth, wanting to continue to operate on the goodwill Chris Steakhouse enjoyed, but unable to use the name, simply changed the name of the new location to “Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse,” and the chain grew under that name. I asked once when I was at a Ruth’s Chris, and that’s the answer I got. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ruths-chris-steakhouse/739334.md?page=1)