Rusty Water Brewery Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Victoria

I really didn’t want to post a negative review but the staff never gave us a chance to give feedback in person.

We have been here quite a few times and really loved it, service, food and drinks have been great and it’s a fantastic location.

We popped in for lunch on Saturday, it looked busy but we were seated very quickly. Our orders were taken 30 minutes after we arrived. When a server finally approached us for the first time, he advised that he thought our order had already been taken care of and that he’d asked someone else to take the order and told us it won’t be long and walked off to take an order from another table that had arrived after us - we patiently waited.

Upon ordering we asked for the toddlers food to be brought out ASAP and the waiter did a great job conveying that to the kitchen. The popcorn chicken was delicious and a real hit with the toddler, would 10/10 recommend.

After 30minutes of waiting we finally managed to get the waiters attention to ask the kitchen how much longer our food would be and we ordered an ice cream for our toddler as he was losing it at this stage.

The waiter came back a few minutes later to advise it would only be another 6 minutes and brought the ice cream with him. 15 minutes later we were finally served our food. Food was great and enjoyed by all.

By the wait staffs lack of apologies and no offers to put anything on the house, I can only assume that waiting 1hr and 15min to get food at this venue is a standard experience. We watched two tables that arrived before us have their order taken, food delivered and they had left the venue before our food even arrived. We even watched a table that was seated after us be served food and drinks before us.

We were never asked if we enjoyed our meal or the experience, we weren’t even farewelled by the wait staff that was standing at the door.

The staff were pleasant but very busy. So busy in fact that they seemed required to train a new staff member in the middle of a busy Saturday service.

All I can surmise by this experience is that there were either rostering issues or not enough staff that work at the venue.

I hope this feedback finds you well and you can make adjustments.

edit: adjusting my review because the owner responded promptly and gave a reasonable explanation of why “the ball was dropped’ on the day. Small businesses shouldn’t suffer bad ratings just because you attend on a bad day. My husband said the black cockie beer was awesome and I enjoyed the Arancini balls. If they can improve their service, this place is definitely still worth a...

Bit of hit and miss dining experience. First time booking this restaurant and based on reviews seemed reasonable. Our experience was not great however. Not sure if we just happen to dine on a bad night for the staff or whether the kitchen was understaffed but getting any food was glacial in speed. We were seated and ordered drinks soon after. For 20 minutes no one came up take our food order. That was until we flagged someone down. Order was taken for 2 entrees and 4 mains. Then we waited. And waited, and waited some more. 30 minutes later, still no entrees. After flagging another staff member to ask, she rushed off (unapologetically) and came back to tell us that "they're just starting to MAKE our entrees. 3 minutes later she comes back to tell us that the entrees had been taken to ANOTHER table by accident and we would need to wait longer for our entrees or get the mains instead which would be ready in "5" minutes. We opted to cancel the entrees and have our mains which did arrive 5 minutes later. The quality of the food was good, especially the lamb rack which was delicious. The barramundi was also great. Portion size was very good. Calamari was a little underwhelming with only 6 small pieces of calamari. Seems there was a lot of staff serving drinks but not that many dealing with food. There was zero communication unless prompted. Obviously, it was the 1st Jan but the place wasn't completely full. There was a lot of big groups and very noisy. If you want beer or other alcoholic drinks and you're happy to wait for food then give it a go. Don't expect any communication from the staff though. A neighbour went there the same night and told us they waited for 90 minutes for food. No matter how good the dishes are, the poor staffing and long waits certainly doesn't make...

From start to finish the experience can only be described as underwhelming at best; and overpriced mediocrity at worst.

Arriving shortly after 5pm with a party of 5 adults and 2 kids, we were greeted brusquely by the attending female server..

As the venue at the time only had a few other patrons, there can be no excuse for such poor service, especially at the start of service.

The meals ordered were split evenly between the steaks and fish and chips; with only the children having pizza and Parma.

At the price tag of $29 for the Fish & Chips and Steak at $40, I expected reasonable quality and servings. However to my disappointment, I was served up 3 very tiny pieces of fish with what can be only described as maybe a medium Macca's worth of chips. So the quantity failed on first sighting but I thought the quality would make up for the quantity. I thought wrong, the chips were a little dry and the fish were of a quality you would expect from the corner local fish and chips store. Nowhere close to being worth it's $29 pricetag.

I sampled 2 steak dishes that my dining partners had ordered with differing sauces and cooking times and BOTH were dry and the quality of meat was very subpar. Now while I am by no means a meat connoisseur I know bad meat when I taste it. The meat was juicless and tenderness, with a chewy texture that seems at odds to its description of grass fed local produce.

I have been served better steaks in suburban Melbourne pokies and than what was delivered in the restaurant that night. I could excuse it if one dish was not cooked to a reasonable standard but when 4 dishes come out, and all are of low quality, then there must be something seriously wrong.

Cannot understand the 5 stars reviews and...