Ruby's Diner in Balboa, Orange County, United States | Restaurant

The idea for Ruby's Diner was born in 1980 after a run on the beach. Doug Cavanaugh had just returned to his native California after successfully restoring and running a restaurant and small inn on Nantucket Island off Cape Cod. One evening he was brainstorming about business opportunities with his father, and remembered that he had seen a dilapidated building on the end of the Balboa Pier while jogging along the beach. "Although the building's in pretty bad shape now, its architecture lends itself well to that of a 1940's diner. I wonder if I could get the place from the city and turn it into a diner that would bring back the fun and nostalgia of that era?" he said. With his father's encouragment, Cavanaugh statrted to make the restaurant a reality.