My Dad and wife were visiting from Puyallup, WA last week (neat new to me Puyallup RE blog). We thought we’d take them to the quintessential Phoenix tourist eatery, Rustler’s Rooste. The restaurant is located in the Pointe South Mountain Resort – I think the divots I took out of that fairway six years ago are still visible — and has been around forever. I hadn’t been to Rustler's since a corporate shin-dig some 17 years prior. All I really remembered was they had a big ol’ longhorn steer (a live one) by the front door, served rattlesnake, and you could take a slide into the main dining area.
It’s “Western” by any definition of the word.
The views are spectacular. The wait staff wears goofy cowboy outfits, and the prime food attraction is meat.
It’s not exactly cheap. (Menu is here).
The fry bread and biscuits were delightful. I got the 16 ounce prime rib, and several of us had it in various sizes. It was fine. Nothing spectacular, but perfectly acceptable. My 16 year old son consumed a 32 ounce porterhouse (plus desert). The kid eats an enormous amount of food.
While we certainly enjoyed the company, and the view and ambiance were great, what really set Rustler’s Rooste apart from other dining establishments was the service.
Or more appropriately, the nearly complete lack of it.
We were seated swiftly (get there early, it was jam packed by the time we left), which was good, but the service steadily degraded from that moment on. Just about every example of bad service was present – drinks not filled, AWOL server, dirty plates left behind forever, couldn’t get a desert menu, late check, etc etc. It was right up there with the worst service I’ve ever had.
This reviewer gave it a 3.5 / 5 star rating despite noting:
The extra two services at the table were never removed the entire evening. Clearing of the table was not their forte, as an empty bean pot, and dirty plates and utensils were still around at dessert time.
There were other small annoyances that just kept piling up for us.
I'd hate to see what she ranks 0 - 3 stars…
Given the expense of the meal, I expected far more. This isn’t Jack-In-The-Box folks. With drinks, sides and desert, it’s a 30 buck a meal type of place. Come to think of it, I've had better service at Jack's. Plus I got a cool antenna ball!
Lousy service can ruin any dining experience. It’s been 17 years since I last went to Rustler’s Rooste, and it’ll probably be at least that long before I go back.
Technorati Tags: Rustler's Rooste, Pointe South Mountain, Puyallup, restaurant review
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Judy Hedding 08.03.07 at 8:33 am
Hello Jay,
At least our general impressions were consistent! As to your comment about the stars, I rarely include service in my star rating. I will, from time to time consider it if I feel that it was endemically poor (to everyone, every time) or it is extraordinarily good (to everyone, every time).
Since I am not a professional food critic, I don’t visit restaurants several times before offering my readers their opinions, so in this case, I couldn’t tell if it was an aberration or not. I mentioned it, however, for diners to take notice. You did. Maybe they will.
Stars are annoying critters and moving targets; sometimes I feel like abandoning them altogether! A restaurant, a diner’s mood, the service, the selections….I tend to stick with my first gut instinct, and, in this case, I gave them a better than average rating for the things they do well, and the reason people, imo, go.
Wanna see a 2.5 star review? Buca di Beppo is one of them….Of course, I know plenty of people that love the place.
I do check out your blog now and then. Thanks for all the good information!
Best regards,
Judy Hedding
About.com Guide to Phoenix, AZ
http://phoenix.about.com
http://www.About.com
About.com is part of The New York Times Company
Jay - The Phoenix Real Estate Guy 08.03.07 at 9:07 am
Thanks for stopping by Judy! To steal a quote from Fox News, I thought your review was “fair and balanced”. Sorry to give you a bit of a hard time about the rating, and your comment makes perfect sense. *I* weigh service a *LOT* in the dining experience. Perhaps too much, but at least 50% of the reason I even walk in the front door of a place is to be waited on. Many others of course just want good food, or atmosphere, or whatever…
Rustler’s is no doubt wildly successful. It was packed to the walls by 6:15 on a Thursday night. It *is* a neat dining experience. Unfortunatley for me, that experience was basically ruined by a lousy server. And the problem may have been just that — one lousy server. Two personal visits in 17 years hardly qualifies me as an expert on Rustler’s general service level — but I just call ‘em like I see ‘em at the time.
Funny you should mention Buca di Beppo… we took my Dad there too as it’s one of our favorites. Just goes to show…..
Thanks so much for reading here! (You should read more often
). I *really* enjoy the about.com Phoenix guide (though that banner thing at the top is annoying — not your fault of course!). Need any real estate writers? (kidding, sort of…)
Got any 5 star recommendations?
JT
Judy Hedding 08.03.07 at 9:50 am
You didn’t give me a hard time at all–I struggle with it (a little) daily. Sometimes I look back at a review that I gave 4 or 5 stars, and I say to myself, “huh?” Actually, I say that to myself often, but I digress.
Even though 2.5 stars is “average” I wouldn’t go to a place, of my own volition, that’s under 3.5 stars. Only a couple of times have I been to a place where I was angry to be there–read my review of 5 & Diner Phoenix. That rarely happens, though, since I try not to go somewhere that doesn’t already have some sort of decent reputation.Life’s too short to eat bad food. I can (and do) make that at home.
Because we are all unique humans, I enjoy receiving the mini-reviews that my visitors send in, often totally opposed to my own. That’s fine with me (as long as they don’t call me names). It gives my readers more information with which to make decisions for themselves! You’ll get a kick of the visitor reviews for Buca di Beppo.
5 stars? No doubt–Kai at Wildhorse Pass. Bring a bucket of money.
As for the world of real estate, I’ll contact you directly on that. No sense cutting mega million dollar deals in a blog.
Best,
Judy
Alan Bradford 08.06.07 at 10:16 am
Jay,
You should head over to maps.google.com and post a review for this place. If anything, it will make you feel better. Trust me.
Puyallup homes for sale 10.28.08 at 12:38 pm
Noticed the mention of Puyallup and just wanted to give a shout out to my hometown!