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Ruby Tuesday continues to develop an international appetite.

The Maryville-base casual-dining chain has new franchise agreements for the development of its flagship brand in the Middle East and the United Kingdom, company officials said Monday.

Ruby Tuesday Inc. has also granted franchise rights for Wok Hay, an Asian-focused casual dining concept, in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and Chile.

Development rights for three new Ruby Tuesdays in the eastern territories of Saudi Arabia have been granted to an affiliate of Daliya Al-Wataniya for General Trading and Contracting W.L.L., the current franchisee for the countries of Bahrain, Oman, Jordan and Lebanon.

Six additional restaurants will be developed in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi by Bin Hendi Hospitality, the franchisee that now has the rights to open 18 Ruby Tuesday restaurants in all seven Emirate nations over the next five years.

And for the first time in the company's 37-year history, a Ruby Tuesday will open in the United Kingdom when development begins on the first phase of a franchise for Wales and Southwest England that will allow for five restaurant openings in four-and-a-half years.

This year also marks the beginning of international franchise development of Wok Hay, the company's pan-Asian concept. There are two Wok Hays currently open in the Knoxville area.

Wok Hays will be opened in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago by Derek and Roger Chin, current Ruby Tuesday franchisees in that country, and in Chile by Carlos Musiet, who is also a franchisee of Ruby Tuesday restaurants in South America.