UPDATE: Ruby's never made a return. It became the Malibu Farm Cafe.

It had been awhile since I ate at Ruby's Shake Shack on the Malibu Pier and as I walked down the pier toward the diner today it surprised me how uncrowded it was. Sure enough, the place was empty. At 5 p.m. on a perfect summer Saturday.

I asked the clerk across the way at the the Malibu Beach Supply Co. (which by the why has some pretty cool stuff for sale and rents fishing poles for just $5 an hour on weekends and has bait).

And she said Ruby's has been closed since last September. The Ruby's Diner website indicates "Closed for the Winter Season and under transition. Reopening date is currently unavailable."

Stay tuned...