HUNTINGTON BEACH : Restaurant on Pier May Be Near

By next summer, fishing and sunsets may not be the only attractions at the end of the city’s pier.

Ruby’s Surf City Diner could be open a year from now if the City Council awards a $1.4-million contract to a builder tonight to erect the restaurant at the pier’s end.

“It’s been a real long process,” said Doug Cavanaugh, president and co-founder of the Ruby’s Restaurant Group, which will operate the new eatery. “We’re happy to see it come to fruition. I think it’s going to be a nice amenity for the pier.”

City staff has been working since 1992 on plans to replace the End Cafe, which was wiped out in the January, 1988, winter storm. At one time, it was hoped the restaurant would be open for business by the summer of 1994.

The most recent delay was caused by the county’s bankruptcy declaration in December. City money to build the restaurant was frozen in what remained of the collapsed investment pool.

Now that the city has received its share of the pool distribution, Community Services Director Ron Hagan will recommend that the Ruby’s restaurant be included among the capital projects funded by the council this year. The council is expected to compile a priority list of capital projects to be completed this year, he said.

The city would lose $250,000 in grant money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency if Ruby’s is not built this year, Hagan said.

Cavanaugh said his restaurant group will pay for the estimated $500,000 in interior improvements to the two-story, 6,800-square-foot restaurant, whose second floor will offer a view of the ocean and surf line. The diner will boast a surf theme showcasing works of local surfboard makers.