Ruby's Oyster Bar & Bistro, the seafood restaurant at 45 Purchase Street, marks 25 years in downtown Rye this October.
Jim Sullivan, president of the Pearl Restaurant Group, opened Ruby's in 2001, according to the group's official history.
It was the second Rye location for Sullivan and co-founder Jan Fabry, who had already transformed the former Mug Ale House into Rye Grill & Bar in 1992.
Sullivan, born and raised in Rye, built the Pearl Restaurant Group into a collection of restaurants across Westchester and Fairfield counties.
After launching Rye Grill & Bar, the partners opened Lexington Square Café in Mount Kisco in 1993, then Elm Street Oyster House in Greenwich in 1995 and Heathcote Tavern in Scarsdale in 1996.
Later additions included Morgans Fish House in Rye in 2007 and Ten Twenty Post in Darien, Connecticut, in 2008.
Lisa McKiernan, now a managing partner at Ruby's and Morgans Fish House, has been with the restaurant since it opened.
Rye Record columnist Karen Schulz, writing in an Oct. 27 column, described McKiernan as someone who "started out as a server and is now partner and key to its success."
The restaurant sits behind red awnings on Purchase Street. Inside, the dining room has a zinc bar, chandeliers and marble mosaic floors, according to the restaurant's website. Ruby's offers a raw bar, seafood entrees and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays.
A private upstairs room holds parties of 10 to 40.
Ruby's has also found a second life on screen. Sound Shore Dispatch reported in June that the restaurant was among several Purchase Street businesses appearing in Apple TV+'s "Your Friends & Neighbors," starring Jon Hamm, which has filmed in downtown Rye for three consecutive seasons.
Schulz credited Sullivan with helping shape Rye's identity as a dining destination. She described Ruby's as anchoring the downtown scene.
No anniversary specials have been announced. Reservations can be made by calling (914) 921-4166 or through OpenTable.
