Rusty Cannon Pub — Restaurant in Austin

Honestly, I’ve come here for years and the last few times it’s just gone downhill. We work the service industry at busy bars all weekend (dealing with REALLY annoying drunk tourist) so the fact that you guys are going to be as rude as you were just because it’s busy on a wing night…. On a MONDAY…. Seriously grow up and learn to work harder. Most of the people that are trying to get wings work in the service industry, and I’ve had a really hard weekend already. Made the wrong drink from the get go (not hard…ordered a vodka sprite) and was met with a rude attitude when I asked for a sprite on the side (because they didn’t even offer to correct it) and they were pretty okay with letting everyone in the bar know that EVERYONE working was having a bad day….. I get it. We all have bad days. The only reason we were even here was because it was our day off and none of the apt washers were working so instead of relaxing we had to wash clothes at the place next door to here and get some drinks/wings. Ordered wings around 8:20, and we wait and wait and wait, we see other people who showed up after us get wings before we do. I’m literally trying to give it the benefit of a doubt because it’s wing night and I know they get busy but by the time we start questioning things it’s been almost an hour. I also noticed that there has been a group outside with a panting old dog and it’s 90° out and he doesn’t have a water bowl. So I go inside to inquire about missing food get a couple of shots and ask if there is a water bowl that I can get this old dog that is suffering outside. Bartender was a little bit nicer than the girls working but was still pretty rude. I get it you deal with drunk people all day, but if this is what you want to do for the money that you make then that’s On you. There are people that are literally tipping you and being nothing but nice, but y’all act like it is such an inconvenience to do your job that you’re getting paid for. So after I inquire about our food that hasn’t come out yet, the kitchen guy comes out who is the only nice person that works here in the whole building, saying that he’s going to box our food up and apologizes because they lost our ticket order. Completely lost it. As he is heading back inside, the bartender comes out, gives the food and when I ask about it being boxed up, he basically acted like they didn’t mess up the order at all, literally pretended like they hadn’t forgotten our food. And even asked who the cook was that offered to do this for us, as if he wasn’t allowed to do this. At this point, we were ready to leave because our clothes were done and we had already waited longer than we should have because they lost our order. I really don’t care when people mess up, but don’t be so rude about it. Don’t pretend like y’all didn’t mess up, and then treat us crappy when the cook had literally just came and told us that they messed up. Seriously I wouldn’t touch this place again with a 10 foot pole. Also, I’m pretty sure the other bartender was on meth. And I’m not even joking. I used to actually like this place....

Despite its somewhat risque and vaguely piratey name, the Rusty Cannon Pub is more of a Texas-themed dive bar. With classic pool tables, dart boards, table top shuffleboard, and a jukebox curated by a few devoted barflies, it has the potential to be a great neighborhood watering hole for blue-collar types. It's definitely not a hipster-Austin style bar though. There are no draft beers, craft cocktails, or live shows (although they do have trivia on Tuesdays) and the food is good, solid bar fare (burgers, fries, nachos, and pie by the slice), but you're not going to get anything with aioli, caramelized onions, or fresh basil.

The prices here are decent. You'll pay $8 for a burger ($9 if you want to add a slice of cheese) but the burgers are good. The coleslaw is nothing special, the house fries are pretty good, and the pies are good, but aren't made in-house. The beer selection consists mostly of macros and a few of the bigger local beers. Service is good here, pets are not welcome inside, but there is a covered smoking patio out front with bar and food service if you want to bring Fido.

So if you want a quiet place to drink bottled/canned beer outside of the house, shoot some pool, and get some decent food, the Rusty Cannon Pub...

Overall, good specials, fun bar, but could use some simple improvements.

Specials here on wings and burgers, etc, if you go on the correct night.

They are constantly running low on tables, so if you're going to eat, it may be a struggle.

Decent beer selection and you can get $11 pitchers on Lonestar/PBR.

They really should clear out more space for tables and perhaps put away the ping pong, etc, during heavy traffic timelines so people have room to eat and don't have to fight for tables.

Restrooms are terrible. The men's is shared with men and women and always has a line. Women's is women only. Annoying when all you need to do is wash the chicken fingers off your hands and you have to wait on 5 guys.

The wings: I'm a bit of a wing connoisseur. The wings here are good. On the right night, they're super cheap. That said, the wings are a little fatty. I would prefer them get source chicken with a little less fat, sunfat on chicken is good, but too much is too much. And I like fat on my chicken. They're buffalo sauce is good, but it is a little oily and should be more buttery and less oily, perhaps get a different source or make the batch better. Overall they're good, but they could be really great using the above...