Rusty Bucket Restaurant and Tavern

Spinach con queso, salmon salad and fish & chips. All were quite good. A place to which one should return.

The tuna wrap is awesome… tuna tastes fresh and the dipping sauce is delicious. It’s almost like a sushi burrito. The sweet potato fries are also a great choice. The mixed drinks are a little pricey. You can’t taste much of the alcohol in the mixed drinks which can be good or bad depending on what you like. My favorite is the nonalcoholic root beer on tap. It’s a solid choice for both adults and kids.

This was a ho-​hum menu with nothing outstanding to report. Prime location with below prime expensive food. The wait staff was marginal. We thought we would try this over Harper’s. That was a mistake!

My girlfriend and I went to this restaurant for dinner around 5pm to ensure the place wouldn’t be busy. We were sat outside by the hostess and were never greeted by a server. I had to get up and go to the host stand to ask for a server after TEN minutes of just sitting there. A server came to greet us and get our drink order and said he was sorry for the wait but was not our server for the night. We waited another ten minutes to get our beers from our ACTUAL server who then dropped off our drinks and started walking away without asking to take our order so I waived him down to place our order. I ordered the beer cheese burger cooked medium and my girl got a double stack quesadilla. It took TWENTY minutes to get our food and guess what, it wasn’t our server who brought it out to us. At this point we got up, I went to the bartender and got two boxes and we paid our bill. DONT GO HERE.

Rusty Bucket is a gem of a watering hold found in the heart of uppity SouthPark. The Dude and I frequent here because it’s the best of what it is. A sports bar with tasty bevs, comfort pub food and tvs out the wazoo. If you want upscale dining don’t expect it to come from here because that isn’t what it is. It’s a place to have fun! We always go for the fish n chips or the philly, and the fried pickles are the best I’ve had anywhere. It’s cozy, welcoming and there is always great service.

The beer cheese burger with bacon and onion straws are is one of the best burgers in the city.
The bucket of shrimp is a big winner also my kids love it and pretty healthy — balances out the burger!
Finish it off with one of their home made milkshakes!

I’ve eaten lunch here twice now and in short, if I don’t like a place the first time, I rarely go back. Both of my visits yielded excellent service and really good food. On my first visit we sat inside in one of the comfortable booths. I had the open faced Philly Cheesesteak with fries. It was so darn good I was going to order it again yesterday (3 weeks after my first visit) but decided to change it up at the last minute and got the rueben with fries instead. We got a table outside this time. The rueben was excellent! The fries were good, but they were a little wilted this time. I still ate them all. Fresh cut fries are the rage now it seems and I don’t think these are fresh cut, but they are still good. The prices are very reasonable too. Both our meals (we only had water this time) came to $ 21. I feel thats good for a restaurant of this caliber. I look forward to my next visit.

Very good. I had the mahi mahi tacos. The spice is just right — little kick but not overpowering.
My friend built his own pizza. I’m not a huge fan of pizza in general but this was good.

The service was awesome! Thank you Parker! I had the nightly special which was shrimp scampi, and it did not disappoint. It was great! I will return next time I’m in South Park!

Horrible service experience. Drinks took a ridiculous amount of time to come out. Finished our meals, our water, our drinks before we even got a chance to ask for another drink. Manager more interested in the TV then working. It wasn’t like they were busy.
I can excuse this if you were brand new, but at this point these things are easy.
No energy, zombies walking around.
Pro: They didn’t switch off the audio after the sporting event and got to listen to the opening story on 60 minutes. Always a hit in a Sports Bar.
I submitted a complaint via their online form and after 4 days zero response. Not really surprised after the experience.

In town on business; Sunday night and staying nearby. Great atmosphere, lots of tv’s and good variety on menu. Service was very good. Anthony was server. Couldn’t decide what to eat based on reviews. Really wanted wings but no reviews on them so was leery to order them. Started with spinach dip due to good reviews. Thumbs down. Didn’t like. I think it was the cheese sauce. Just wasn’t working for me.
Ordered wings «crispy and plain», with a side of sweet chili. Delicious!!! Loved them! Just the right amount of sweet with a little kick. Asked to try sriracha sauce for a little more heat but didn’t love it. Didn’t seem any hotter than sweet chili.
Anthony asked if I liked spin dip and since I didn’t, he removed it from my bill. I said he didn’t have to, but he insisted. That was very cool of him.
Wanted to give this place a 3 star so bad due to the OBNOXIOUS child sitting at the table next to me, but that’s not the restaurant’s fault. It nearly ruined my dinner. Luckily had earbuds (dined alone) to help drown the kid out. May have left if I had been dining with other people. Pretty confident you’d hear that kid anywhere you were sitting.
Overall, a good experience and certainly worth the 4 stars I gave it. Would have been much better without the whiny child. I sat in bar area so the family with young children was not expected. Wish they’d invested in a babysitter instead of the Ralph Lauren Polo shirts the children were wearing. Will come back again.

Great new spot. I’ve tried just about everything on the menu without any disappointments. The Thai Steak Salad is one of my favorites!

Bar tender was amazing — nice location — nice bar selection of brews! Prices were fair for the quality! We also had their queso spinach dip and I highly recommend it! Nice spot

A decent sports bar in the heart of South Park, with a solid selection of craft brews, good burgers, and TVs on every wall. But the food and service could use some work. My Beer Cheese Burger arrived underdone (at least our waiter was gracious enough to take it off the bill), and it took more than 20 minutes for our drinks to arrive on a night when the restaurant was only half full.
With its great location, convenient parking (in an adjacent deck), and great selection of tap beers, Rusty Bucket has the potential to become one of Charlotte’s top sports bars. But it needs to make a better effort if it’s going to get there.

Ok, so here is the skinny… in a quick review. I’ve been twice. This place is my back up when all the other Southpark restaurants are on 1.5 and 2 hour wait times.
It’s a step up from a sports bar as far as the décor goes. Plenty of TVs to entertain you while your friends are on their phones doing the FB and Instagram thing.
Food is hit or miss. The 2 times I’ve been: Meatloaf was decent and the dinner salad was decent. The Spinach Queso was really really good. The Bacon Cheeseburger was just alright. I wasn’t crazy about having relish on my burger… but I tolerated it. My friend got the Macaroni and Cheese Entrée… it was more like Macaroni Soup. He said it wasn’t all that great but he could deal with it.
Service has always been nice, friendly, and prompt.
I question if this place will be here very long. It’s not that great but it’s not awful either.
Give it a whirl. It’s either hit or miss really. Hope you hit it.

We’ve visited the Rusty Bucket twice so far. The first time was in December for a date night. The food was fantastic. I debated between a sandwich or the mac and cheese made with beer cheese. Then I found a burger (actually two!) that had beer cheese on top of them. I went with the Green Chili burger, which actually has a beer cheese on it, along with spicy jalapenos. It was delicious, as were the accompanying seasoned fries. It was a Friday night, which was martini night, so I tried the grapefruity one that our server recommended that had fruit-​infused vodka. Yum at a great deal. The only downside about that visit was that it was the first real cold spell of the season (like 20-​something degrees out), and we were seated underneath a vent that every 10 minutes or so would blast freezing cold air on us. We kept our jackets on the entire night, which you really shouldn’t have to do. Plus, it just cooled down our hot food. Dear restaurants: turn off the A/​C in the winter. Thank you.
Our 2^nd visit was a couple weeks ago. My parents were in town visiting, so six of us went to the Rusty Bucket on a Saturday night. When we arrived, we were informed it would be a 20 – 35 minute wait. Ok. That wasn’t too bad, considering it was a Saturday night and the fact that they don’t take reservations. That 20 – 35 minute wait turned into a 60 minute wait. Granted, it’s not the restaurant’s fault if people were watching sports on the big TVs around the restaurant and wouldn’t leave their tables. Well, maybe it partially is. Around the 30-​minute mark and beyond, we were told intermittently that our table would be ready very soon. At around the 45 minute mark, they told us it would be just one more minute, and even had menus in hand. I’m not sure what happened, but that dragged out until 60 minutes from the time we arrived, we were finally seated. Everyone else who had been waiting for a table had long been seated, even parties bigger than us. The manager told us that we’d be well taken care of and he’d buy us apps. That was nice, of course, and the action that he should have done (although drinks may have been appropriate as well in this case). Unfortunately, once we were finally seated, the follow up on those promises wasn’t that great. After our initial contact with our server who was all bright and bubbly, we rarely saw her again. She never came by for drink refills, she never came by to check on our meals, and it took forever to get our check. When we finally DID get the check, it had the price of the «free» apps on it! Worse, the manager NEVER came by to check on us. Seriously? If I was the MOD on duty that night, I would have been kissing our asses to make sure we had a fantastic time. I don’t think a little attention after that fiasco is asking too much. IT’S YOUR JOB. I guess we were too nice and should have been total assholes instead.
Anyway, the food was good again and at least we weren’t seated in the A/​C zone on another brisk night, but the service and follow through was quite shitty. Owning a dining establishment isn’t just about the food and atmosphere, it’s about providing quality customer service if you want repeat visitors. I think some people need a refresher course or to find another field of work.

I think The Rusty Bucket is still getting its footing, but it’s pretty good right now. A girlfriend and I went on a Tuesday after work, and when we got there at 5:45, the bar area was already half full. (As another reviewer noted, I almost went in the wrong door. Oops.) It took awhile for the bartender to acknowledge me even though there seemed to be a few staff people hanging out at the bar not doing anything, but that was the only blip in good service.
The bar was pretty cozy and had multiple TVs (there was even a TV in the bathroom!) so you could watch the game. I think there may have even been USB outlets for phone charging at each bar seat, but we didn’t bend over far enough to completely confirm.
The wine, draft, and tap lists were solid, and there is a different drink special every night. For dinner, I got a salad and my girlfriend got chicken fingers and fries; hers came wayyyy before mine, which was odd, and the bartender finally offered to check on it. My salad was fine, and my friend’s chicken fingers looked like real chicken fingers.
Overall, this appears to be a solid addition to the neighborhood, and I’m looking forward to trying it again after they’ve gotten into a groove.

Coming from a girl who’s dating a man from Ohio, he was extremely excited and looking forward to the day that Rusty Bucket finally opened here so he can have a good «go to» place down here. We came into this location for the first time tonight and have no complaints. We were promptly greeted and seated at our table and our waitress was just the sweetest young lady. She is already knowledgable about the menu and drinks and remained extremely attentive during the entire meal. I ordered the gluten free mahi mahi tacos (absolutely a + that they have a gluten free menu to choose from) and my boyfriend had the rusty bucket burger which he enjoyed and he’s a picky burger guy. We even splurged on the fried pickles (I know, I know, not gluten free) Which were… Amazing. «You don’t get fried pickles like this down here»: these are the words that I have heard from my boyfriend every time he’s talked about this place. And he’s right! They are chunky spears fried in a crunchy and delicious breading that leaves the pickle still crisp after being fried, not soggy. Definitely will remain my guilty pleasure for a long time to come. All of the food was fresh, well cooked, and presented acceptably. Of course you have a ton of beer selections but with an unfortunate lack of lagers or lighter beers, but they do have creative cocktails. I had the gin drink on special tonight (they have cocktail specials daily) and it was tasty. All of the waiters took turns walking the dining room refilling waters, etc. at all tables, not just theirs. Everyone had a smile on their face, never rushed you, and were very respectful but still have that look of «this is all new» in their eyes, but that’s okay, it is new! Overall enjoyed it.
Good place to have in town and it will be our regular go to. It is a tavern, so expect people and TV’s and crowds, but it is far better than any other chain tavern around. This isn’t a top of the line $$$$ dining experience so it shouldn’t be judged as one. Plus, well, I support all things Ohio these days and I’m happy it’s brought a piece of home to my boyfriend! Give it a try!

Last night I braved the Charlotte cold and decided to try the Rusty Bucket. It had friendly service and very good food. I had the meatloaf that compares to Wolfgang Puck at a better price.

not sure how I feel yet. Will have to come back to try again — I visited on Day 2 of their opening week. Too many IPAs. Bar area already seems cramped with too many tables and chairs … didn’t try food. No one offered a menu either.
OH! And don’t confused by the overly tinted doors like I did (and a friend who also experienced same thing on his own separate visit). There’s no sign that tells you the exit is actually to the patio :/​Once I got through the real exit I ran into a wall of smoke as the customers AND employees were chillin smoking a few feet from the door. Bleh