Rudy Royale — Restaurant in Charleston

TL;DR - Food was atrocious, somewhere between high school cafeteria and smoldering camp fire remnants; drink tasted like discount Tussin; service isn't even a far cry from enough to compensate. Hope I didn't write this all in vain...

The menu sounded intriguing. The place looks nice. Figured my friends and I were in for a real treat with prices a little on the higher side. Not exorbitant, but not cheap by any means. The kicker with entree prices, though - no sides included, so dinner is pricier than the menu might let on at first glance. You order a sandwich, you get a plate with the sandwich and nothing else. So FYI.

Boy was I wrong (about being in for a treat).

We tried the cast iron corn bread, crispy fried shrimp, fried pickles and pimento cheese appetizers. All of them - bland. The frickles were... ok...? I guess...? But how do you really screw up fried pickles and basically Cajun ranch...? Any bar will have as-good or better frickles for 1/2-2/3 the cost. The crispy fried shrimp... ugh... if you ever had chicken parm in high school... the flavor and texture of the shrimp was that, but a little tougher. I wish I could say something good about the pimento cheese but I literally had better stuff in a plastic container from the store, far cheaper.

Tried to hold out hopes for entrees - got burned again (semi literally; more in a moment). I got a Nashville hot chicken sandwich, the purported star of the show, as did 2 of my friends. Wife got the "pot pie" and... well let's just leave it at saying that the actual quotes around "pot pie" ON THEIR OWN MENUS should have warned us. The Nashville hot chicken... let me preface this by being abundantly, painstakingly clear that I'm not in any way being exaggerative, metaphorical or anything less than 100% literal when I say it tasted like I bit into a charcoal briquette with an impressively tasteless hot oil. It tasted like I took a piece of charred wood out of the smoldering remnants of a camp fire, put pure straight capsaicin oil on it and took a bite. No doubt it was hot, but I'm stumped how they made it that spicy... while giving it absolutely, positively no discernable taste (except for charcoal, of course). Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about the heat... I may be a northerner but I like heat. Heat was far from the issue. Most hot peppers have SOME kind of flavor and you usually don't need much to taste it yet, somehow... they avoi ded any semblance of even a whisper of flavor. Entirely. Wish I could say it was only mine, but my 2 friends that got it had the same experience. I NEVER EVER EVER send food back EVER. I'm easy when it comes to judging restaurant food. I occasionally cook for flavor for myself, but I'm a very utilitarian cook/eater (dietary purposes). But at that point... I sent it back and asked for no replacement. I'd already wasted enough money and disappointment. If I'm paying that kind of money you better at least be able to make food better than I can drunkenly throw together at 2am.

I was driving that night, not drinking, but I love an Old Fashioned. I was ecstatic when my wife pointed out the NA Old Fashioned. Lord in heaven, what a let down. The up-front flavor was tolerable, I guess...? I don't remember because of just how crushing my disappointment was when the after-taste was discount corner store Tussin knockoff.

I will say... our server was pleasant. Maybe a hair on the aloof, disorganized side, but nice. If the "food" was halfway decent I wouldn't have given it a second thought. Service was fine, though not extraordinary - my meal return was accepted with grace and wasn't made too awkward, so... ok, fine. Not remotely good enough to compensate for the "food." I only sent back my entree but when I say we should have sent back every single thing - I mean it.

Look... there are a TON of restaurants in the area serving actual food for the same or less money. Go there instead. Roll some dice, throw a dart, ask the guy sleeping on the street corner... whatever, it'll be better than this and potentially...

My friends group went out for Mother's Day brunch at Rudy Royale. This was a first visit for our party of 7. We made reservations prior to our visit and we were sat immediately earlier than our reservation even with some of party not yet present. The service was amazing! The server and runner were always ensuring we were good to go. Drinks were never empty and drink orders came quickly. The interior was well done and the sitting was comfortable. The location is ah-mazing!

Now for the food review:

We started our meal with 3 starters/shareable plates:

Cinnamon buns $7 - 1 out 5 ⭐ - Dry, and tasted like day old bread. The icing was fresh and homemade and delicious but didn't hide the old stale taste of the roll. Do not recommend. Cornbread $10 - 4 out 5 ⭐ - The best shareable plate we ordered. It was light and fluffy and delicious. The cast iron plate was a nice touch. Came with a delicious strawberry jam. The little cup was no enough. Highly recommend. Deviled eggs $4 - 2 out 5 ⭐ - Was not impressed, paying a $1 for half an egg with a pork rind. Too much pickle juice used in the mix. I would not recommend.

Entrees ordered: Smoked Salmon BLT - 5 ⭐ Chicken and Waffles - 5 ⭐ Breakfast Plate - 1 ⭐ Shrimp and Grits - 3 ⭐ Biscuits and Gravy - 4 ⭐

Breakfast Platter was pathetic. Home fries were dry and bland. Do not recommend at all.

All other dishes were good and plates were cleared. Only dishes that had leftovers was Chicken and Waffles and that's because they give so much chicken. The chicken was done perfectly. I would recommend any chicken plate based on the seasoning and crispy fried chicken.

Smoked Salmon BLT was the winner of all the dishes. Highly recommend!

Overall I would not recommend this as a great bunch location. I will return to try again for another meal other...

Upon arrival at 4:05pm, we were seated and given menus. This was our first time eating here so of course didn't know any difference. But, all four menus said "Lunch", so we ordered from the Lunch menu they gave us. The service was fine from our waitress, Brodie and the food was good. But, once we received our check, all our entrees were 5 to 8 dollars more than what the menu stated. Brodie said she would take care of the issue since we were given a lunch menu and it was now dinner time and they served us dinner instead of lunch. When she returned with the manager, Marianne, she said they done the best they could by taking off the appetizer but still charged the dinner price for all the entrees. I even asked for a military discount and of course they didn't want to honor veterans in that way.

Responding to "Makers Mark" review. You stated you were in "tonight". We were there during the late afternoon. We were seated in the area to the right where you walk through a doorway. No one was seated in that room when we got there. No one was seated while we were there. So, I think you are mistaken. Maybe it was too much Makers Mark or just a fake review. If you heard the entire conversation, then you must be Brodie or Maryann. That was the only people in that room other than us. I was not trying to get "free" food at all. I just wanted to pay the advertised price from the menu we were given. I felt like it was bait and switch. Had I been giving a different menu with different pricing, this review would probably be more...