Rusty Rudder

113 Dickinson St, Dewey Beach, DE 19971, USA

Address:	113 Dickinson St, Dewey Beach, DE 19971, USA
Phone:	+1 302-227-3888
Site:	rustyrudderdewey.com
Rating:	3.4
Working:	11AM–1AM 11AM–1AM 11AM–1AM 11AM–1AM 11AM–1AM 11AM–1AM 11AM–1AM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 6

anna pandelakis

Never in my life have I been so disrespected at a place of business, ever. Sure it was an off night, but my friends and I were ignored and basically bood out of the bar by the bartenders "friends that are more like family," which was his excuse for ignoring us for 10 minutes while pouring himself and his "friends" shots while we sat there twiddling our thumbs. We were just 4 friends on vacation, simply looking to have a few drinks, you know, spend money, and tip very well! It was unbelievably rude, you could tell the TWO bartenders were simply inconvenienced by our patronage. And the place was empty! Dead! This was around 10:45-11ish Tuesday night after Labor Day (9/5) so the lack of people was to be expected, so why were we ignored and treated so badly?? After finally speaking up and saying we were going to leave because obviously we werent wanted, the bartender talked back to us and my friend was made fun of for ordering a ridiculous drink. Then the group of friends chimed in and basically bullied us out. Ive been coming here for over two decades, my father used to play music here, its part of me, but unfortunately I dont know if I would be returning to spend MY HARD EARNED money. As an employer myself and someone who WORKS in the restaurant business, I would be ashamed of my bartenders. Just because its a non-corporate beach bar doesnt mean your staff has the right to treat people the way we were treated. Not looking for any sort of handout or anything, just needed to share this information, and frankly, management should know how their bartenders are acting.

Wayne Woodruff

I have eaten at the Rusty Rudder for over 25 years and the meal I had last night will be my last from this establishment. 1) There was a $10 fee to park for which you received a $10 voucher that you presented to your server when you ordered. When I got my bill, there was nothing noted on the bill about the $10 credit. When asked, the server indicated that we actually owed $10 less than the bill. When this was discussed with the manager, she claimed that if we had paid by credit card (we paid cash), the $10 would have been subtracted when we received the slip. I get that the tip should be based on the cost of the meal, but they need to figure out a better way to implement this. I almost forgot about the $10 until I was about to pay the bill. I wonder how many other people have forgotten and they made an extra $10? 2) There are fewer entrees to choose from but the menu space devoted to the buffet has expanded. 3) Their crab cakes used to be really good. This visit, they were a huge disappointment. 4) You used to get a salad bar with an entree, no more. The salad bar is reserved for the buffet. Lots of little extras they used to include, like drawn butter or au jus must be requested separately. 5) Their Prime Rib was another big disappointment. It was small and under cooked. Whoever took over this restaurant in the last 12 months has really taken it downhill.

Cyndy Herbert Pugh

I was there last night with my sister around 8pm. First the hostess kept trying to get us to sit outside we said no twice. Then she said well we will be taking down the buffet at 8:30. We said we didnt want the buffet anyway. Finally she sat us in a totally empty dining room, when we could see through the glass people in another room. Anyway I ordered the clam strips. My sister had the fried platter. I ate 5 strips and stopped. It was so bad. The grease was old and burnt that everything fried dark to black. The clams couldnt hold the coating it kept sliding off. When it did you could tell they were more like sliced chowder clams, you could see the slices on both sides. My sisters platter was also dark burned oil. Waitress asked if I wanted it boxed up I said no I didnt like it at all and barely ate anything. Not even a oh Im sorry. Just ok heres the bill. Well I wont be stopping at the "Crusty Gutter" again. And this is the first bad review I ever had to leave! Best clams I had down here were from Fenwick Island! This morning I woke up needing the bathroom bad, if you know what I mean. I only ate there yesterday. Now I miss a day out because I cant go far from bathroom. Thanks for nothing!

Jason T

My family and I spent a weekend at Dewey Beach and were referred to the Rusty Rudder by the owner of the home we were staying at. From the outside, it looked great. An amazing deck that overlooks the water with live music and what we thought was nice dining. When we were sat (at a great table on the deck), and began to order, we were told that main entrees were not ordered for deck seating. Basically could only order sandwiches or appetizers. I inquired to the manager, and when I asked "why is that", the only response was, "well, we just prefer not and to keep it more casual." What?! I cant order a nice fish for dinner b/c you choose not to have your wait staff bring it out to the table? So, since we were hungry we reluctantly decided to move to the inside of the restaurant, BIG MISTAKE! The inside is very sterile looking with silver metal tables, not atmosphere, and like eating in a cafeteria. We order our food, and it was very sub-par at best. Way over priced for the quality that we recd. Bottomline - if you are looking to take your family out to a nice restaurant - avoid this place. If you are single and looking to have a few drinks, then maybe youll enjoy it.

Heather Slemmer

Our family of four enjoyed a nice dinner on a Tuesday evening. We all made our way through the buffet. There was a good variety of food to enjoy. My kids really liked the ribs and fried chicken. My husband and I had our share of snow crab legs, crab balls, steamed shrimp and fried oysters. The steamed clams and mussels were dried out. They had carved beef roast, which the carvers havent been trained properly in carving. The beef was good but it would have been more enjoyable if it was carved thin instead of thick cut chunks. There was an ok variety of desserts but they had no ice cream machine going. Needless to say my kids were disappointed. Our server was pretty good considering we were serving ourselves. Make note : parking is $10 (cash), but they take the $10 off your restaurant bill. We were not aware and didnt have cash on us so I had to take money out of an atm machine ($2.75 surcharge). Overall we did have a good dinner and left stuffed. We would come back again.

Katelyn

The nice atmosphere will definitely fool you into thinking the food is better than it is. My family (there were 6 of us) ordered 2 appetizers: the tree hugger and the potato skins. The potato skins was horrible both times we sent it back. The treehugger was pretty good... but who can mess up hummas? It was the biggest let down of all when our food came: two of us ordered the fried seafood platter, which was pretty much a pound of french fries with a few fried pieces of shrimp. I got the grilled tuna sandwich, which was so bland that I couldnt even bring myself to finish it. Overall, this place is not a good place for a family dinner. The food is honestly a joke. Its as if they think frying everything will make it edibe. I will give it this though... the atmopshere makes it a good place to hangout, order drinks, and listen to the live entertainment....just as long as you dont plan on eating there.