A new fast-casual chicken spot is set to open today in Deer Park called Ruby’s Coop, a new enterprise from Justin Aronoff, the owner of gourmet butcher shops Center Cuts in Roslyn and Mattituck and Curated, a gourmet butcher and grocery store he recently opened in Wainscott.
This is a different direction for both meat choice and concept for Aronoff, who deals with a lot of beef in his other spots. The focus here is almost pure poultry and the menu is filled with chicken offerings from the classic to the unique.
The classic chicken sandwich is fried to crispy perfection and comes with their coop sauce and pickles ($9.99). Koreatown has soy honey garlic dipped with sesame ssamjang, pear kimchi, and bibb lettuce ($11.99) and the Viet-Nashville is made with their our own special blend of fiery hot dry seasoning, pickled carrots and daikon, cilantro, roasted peanuts and jalapeno mayo ($11.99).
They also offer smash burgers with cheese, caramelized onions, mac sauce and pickles ($6.99 for single, $9.99 for double). Want something vegetarian? They’ve also got the deep fried impossible burger with their country slaw, gravy and pickles ($11.99).
Ruby’s Coop is also serving up chicken family-style with large buckets that come with a choice of sides.
Ryan Weber, the 31-year-old manager of the restaurant who had previously been in charge at Michelin-style restaurants in New York City, said that coming up with a name the place emerged from a lot of trial and error. Ruby, it seems, is one of the pet dogs of the investor. And coop, of course, is a chicken house.
“The name was actually somewhat challenging as we inquired for numerous other names that were already taken due to trademark/IP as the brand was being created,” he said.
But they eventually settled on the name and a simple, bright style for their new chicken restaurant.
Weber says he and Aronoff met through a mutual friend.
While the restaurant hasn’t had its grand opening, they’ve only had a soft opening and family and friends to try it out, the idea to expand Ruby Coop is already on the mind of Weber.
“We want to get this place perfect and build amazing procedures,” he said. “The hope and the goal is to run with it.”
Ruby’s Coop is open Monday-Thursday from 11am to 9am, Friday and Saturday from 11am to 10pm and Sunday 1:30am to 8:30pm. Location: 528 Commack Road, Deer Park.