Rusty Rudder — Restaurant in Dewey Beach

The only good thing about our experience with the Rusty Rudder was the quality of the food! First off, you need to pay to park there to buy their overpriced food! We were a party of 8, and we needed 3 separate checks. The waitress informed us that they only do one. So that left us to figure out who pays what. We were quite annoyed. I assume that is because then they can force you to pay 18% gratuity, regardless of the quality of service. Our "table" was actually 2 tables put together, and 1 of them had a sign that said it will be moved at 9 pm. We didn't order until about 8 pm! When I asked our waitress if the table will be moved, she seemed to have an attitude about it, and said "no, because you didn't even get your food yet." My husband and I each ordered the fish and chips, and we each received a pile of fries with a tiny piece of fish--for $23 EACH! Although there was no description as to how much fish you get, the picture showed multiple pieces. Additionally, when the waitress brought food or drinks to us, she would only hand them to one of us at the one corner of the table to pass to each other, even though there were plenty of other places where she could have served the food or drinks to the appropriate person. It took a long time for us to get our food, and I can't help but wonder if that's intentional so that you need to pay more for parking. After the meal and spending time figuring out who pays what, we asked the waitress if they will take more than one payment. She said they will accept 2 cards and the rest can be cash. But they cannot split up the bill?! We ended up asking to speak to the manager who said that it was stated on the menu, but who looks at the menu for something like that? The manager also unsympathetically said that is the policy and that we were to expect that because this is a resort town. This is...

NYE party experience. I don’t typically go to the Rusty Rudder since I’m still in my twenties, but we knew one of the bands playing on NYE. Tickets were $110 per person with $9 processing fee. Event description was “upscale food, open bar, and fireworks.” Apparently the Rudder thinks the word upscale means deep fried. Lots of spring rolls, egg rolls, chicken wings, chicken tenders. I will say the chicken wings were delicious and the catering staff did a great job keeping everything stocked. The bar experience was somehow more disappointing than the “upscale” chicken tenders. The bars were heinously understaffed which really seemed like a great business tactic to save money on “open bar” night if people have to wait 1hr+ for drinks. Some of the bartenders were killing it, attentive, efficient, professional, but few and far between. Others were your typical beach bartenders with their weird god complexes who do a shot every time a customer orders one and hits their weed pens with their homies while you’re waiting for a drink. The easiest place to order a drink was the back deck bar behind the band. But only if you were a lady and enjoyed your order being made wrong. Twice. Don’t worry though! If you can’t stand the wait at the bar and you’re thirsty, they had buckets of drinks sitting out. You could choose from water, brands of seltzer you’ve never heard of in the reject flavors no one drinks, or left over shandy that was so gross they couldn’t sell it all before summer ended. Overall, poor event planning, mediocre bartenders, good chicken wings, good bands. We left by 11 and went to the Dewey Beach Country Club, stayed until close, and had a great night! By the way, starboard has a pasta bar for $40 that night and they make a better...

I used to visit Rusty Rudder 20-25 years ago when I was younger and hanging out with my single friends. I decided—since school's back in session and our son is away at college, we'd drive down to our local beach towns and hang out. I was reminiscing about a couple of places that used to be the old stomping ground, so to speak. My husband wanted to try checking out some live music, so I suggested we go to Rusty Rudder.

We happened to catch two different artists back to back who were performing on a Sunday evening. This gave me a chance to look at Rusty Rudder from a new perspective since I have different things going on in my life now. I felt there was a good vibe for off-season and on a Sunday, when I wasn't looking for anything too excitable. We both wanted to kick back with drinks and music after being on the beach all day.

First, accessibility: there is a ramp leading you to the outdoor seating or their general bar area, and thank goodness for it. I noticed a few individuals who had to use it coming in or leaving. Their bathrooms were behind what would be considered the stage or performance area where there's a secondary bar. It's a bit of a narrow space to get into. I don't know how someone would navigate it if they had a walker or wheelchair. I will say they were clean, though!

They'll allow you to bring your dog out to the outside deck there as long as they do well in public. That's a plus! When you're sitting there, it's a great view of the water and the boats going by. It started to rain after we showed up, but we were seated under the covered deck. The young ladies—who were the hostesses, and the gentleman who was our waiter, were both friendly and accommodating. It's still a good spot for drinks and...