Jeff Ruby will tweak menu with Jameis in town

Jeff Ruby is an equal opportunity local cheerleader having recently attended the University of Kentucky's Big Blue Madness and, days later, hopping on Twitter to prod at Florida State's Heisman Trophy quarterback.

The owner of Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse in downtown Louisville (as well as other locations in Cincinnati) tweeted Wednesday evening that with Jameis Winston in town Oct. 30, crab legs won't be available that day at his restaurant.

That part, he said, was simply a tongue-in-cheek joke months after Winston was cited for stealing crab legs from a Tallahassee grocery store. But Ruby continued on Twitter, later offering half-priced crab legs and a special "Seminole Roll" after the game should the Cardinals pull off an upset.

"It went global, viral -- whatever you want to call it," Ruby said Thursday. "That was just a funny tweet. I sent a lot of funny tweets. That one took the cake. That one took the crab cake."

If U of L wins – and that's Ruby's prediction – he said fans can bring a ticket stub for the half-priced offers after the game.

"We'll keep the restaurant open," he said. "The bar will be open anyway.

"...That won't be an issue if we win. We'll come up with a nice recipe for the Seminole Roll. We have a week to prepare to get extra crab legs."

The restaurateur's social posts enough to get Ruby's Twitter handle -- @TheRealJeffRuby – trending in Louisville.

Attached to one of his tweets? A Photoshopped image of Winston, holding not the crystal football national championship trophy, but king crab legs.

Ruby's Twitter take on the game: "If an overrated team plays an underrated team at the latter team's stadium I luv the underdog. Louisville, you'll luv our King Crablegs."

Again, though, he was just at UK's basketball kickoff event.

"Well, I'm a fan of Cincinnati, Louisville and Lexington," said Ruby, who called himself a friend of Bearcats coach Tommy Tuberville, former Cards coach Charlie Strong and Cats coach Mark Stoops. He hasn't met Bobby Petrino yet but said, "I support where I live or my business is. I've got a lot of friends in Louisville. The city has been very kind to me -- supported me.

"So I'm not going to go when Louisville is playing Kentucky and cheer one or the other. That's the Hatfields and McCoy's. But I certainly cheer for both UK and Louisville. I'm opening a restaurant in Lexington, actually, next fall."

Ruby said he doesn't have a ticket to the Florida State game but is open to attending.

His steakhouse, at 325 West Main Street, has on its menu a Jumbo Lump Crab Cake for $19, Crab & Corn Fritters for $8, Blue Crab Bisque for $9, 4-ounce Alaskan King Crab for $21 apiece. That's in addition to crab in both a separate steak and seafood dish.