Rusty Bucket Restaurant and Tavern

I got the Pan Seared Salmon. The flavor was super good and the rice was good too. But the salmon was super dry and hard. Not tender at all or ‘the classic break away’ salmon usually has. Just way overcooked. Also the vegetables were super cold, almost as if they made them first and waited for the rest. All the flavor was there and the concept is great, just got to work on the cooking process. Also we went around 4pm, and our service was super slow. Not sure why considering that the place was pretty empty.

Eh. The food is good, but the service is awful. My co-​worker and I always split the bbq chicken chopped salad — amazing, and the bucket bites. It’s awesome they literally spilt it on to two plates for each of us. However, every time we go, which is usually around 1, somewhat past the lunch crowd, we sit at our table for a good twenty minutes before a server gets to our table. Sometimes we have to ask another waiter who our waiter is because we’ve been sitting for twenty minutes wanting our lunch beers asap. Finally out server always come and says «oh sorry there was a mix up on whose table this was» fine. whatever. So we always hurry up and order because we know it will take another twenty minutes before they even come back with out drinks. Mind you, we only have an hour for lunch. So we throw in our orders once they come back with drinks and then, it takes another twenty minutes to get our split salad and sliders. I didn’t know it took it took that long to slap together some lettuce and mini burger buns. Today, our salad came. But not our sliders. We pretty much age our salads then our two sliders each came out lol. He said «sorry there was a mix up in the kitchen» or whatever excuse it is that day. Every time this happens. So anyway it sucks we love the food but have to wait forty minutes to even get the ball rolling in that joint. When we come here everyone can expect we will be late coming back from lunch.

A group of us occasionally comes to Rusty Bucket for lunch because the restaurant is in a very convenient location for all of us. Also, they have a beautiful patio to enjoy the sunshine. The menu has a good variety of choices, and the food has been consistently pretty good. However, the service lacks and lunch always takes a lot longer than an hour. For example, today we ordered two salads and grilled chicken with steamed broccoli, and it took more than 40 min for the food to arrive from the time we sat down. The restaurant did not even seem to be extremely busy. Kudos to our waitress though, as she noticed that we were getting very impatient and offered to take one of the meals off the bill. We will be back again hoping that we will be able to finish our lunch in under an hour.

I have to be honest, I used to work at the Bucket, and my recent few experiences have been nothing less than disappointing. Since when has it changed that yes is the answer, what is the question? I am currently at the Rusty Bucket Bloomfield, MI and just asked for Dr Pepper and a strong NO was delivered by Daniel, the bartender. The last time I had onions on my chili dogs and philly when I distinctively asked for no onions and not only was the French fry portion half of what it should have been, they were extremely soggy. The past 3 times I’ve ordered the BBQ ranch chicken salad it hasn’t had chicken on it, and when I call to tell them I get a sour apology and that is it. When I enter the host either ignores me or greets me with no smile and a half ass greeting. I’m so disappointed and to the point where I’m giving up on this place. To top it all off, I’ve now been waiting 40 minutes for a take out order of 3 cheeseburgers.

Poor service. Food was only ok and the waitress forgot to ring in one of our orders.

Lovely food. Lovely service. I had the pork ribs to annoy my father in law as I’d refused an earlier BBQ invitation.
I’m only knocking one star off because the tomato ketchup was far too full and exploded all over my step daughter’s face.
Highly recommended.
EDIT: I just upgraded to 5 stars after deciding the ketchup incident was my step daughter’s fault.

I have upgraded my review. I’ve had better food and service several times in a row. Salad greens are fresh. Patti melt is delicious.

I went last night hoping to get my favorite Caesar salad… go to look on the menu and they took it off! One of the most basic salads every restaurant has. So we ended up leaving and we probably won’t be back. Which is unfortunate since I honestly loved their Chicken Caesar salad :(

Cheap ingredients, bad service = disappointment
I came in here with a group of friends to watch a game and we waited a while to get a table. I’m guessing the area really needs a place like this.
When we sat down we ordered apps. Being a sports bar I was surprised that they don’t have a ton of apps. The ones we did have were not great
Wings were way too small. We asked for them well done and half the order was and the other half was not.
Chicken strips were decent I can’t say anything bad about them except it felt like the orders were way too small.
The peel and eat shrimp wasn’t bad either but the shrimp itself was very tiny.
Main course was a huge let down. Burgers need lots of work. The bun was mediocre at best and the meat felt cheap.
The ribs were terrible! Not very meaty and the rub didn’t taste good at all. This was our biggest let down.
The pizza felt cheap and didn’t taste good. We ordered a pizza and it came to our table looking like a flat bread pizza that they cooked in the microwave.
I ordered limes for my cocktail and they came to the table mostly brown in color. Disgusting!
Overall a huge let down.

This place was a breath of fresh air starting with the host at the door. They were very pleasant and helpful when I came in and mentioned that I was meeting a group that may already be there. We sat at a table by the bar and the server was very nice as well. He didn’t know anything about beer, which is always a turn off for me (write them down…) but they had a large menu by the front door that I walked back up to and took a pic of.
I’d recommend it!

I was so excited to try this place. Came in on a Friday night, they were busy. My friend and I sat at the bar. We were greeted after a few minutes, ordered our drinks, then forgotten.
I had to flag down the bartender to get another drink and to order an appetizer. Once we received our app, she never offered us napkins, silverware, another drink, never even asked if the food was good, nothing!
The hummus was very good, but it was tainted by the lack of service. My friend and I planned on staying for dinner, but ended up leaving. I had to wave my credit card to get my bill, and at this point half the bar had cleared out.
I was a bartender and waitress for many years, it is not hard to give good service, especially at the bar.
If I’m in the area, I may give it another try, but I won’t be sitting at the bar!

«Meh» sums it up just about perfectly. Even the beer selection was so average. If you want to compete these days and your food is sub-​par, at least have a high quality beer menu. Won’t be back.
The flatbread pizza was decent — if you HAVE to go here (don’t), have the pizza. Everything else just feels like it was microwaved, etc. Applebees 2.0

I think the name kind of sums it up. Service was good, food reminded me a little bit of Applebee’s 10 years ago. Nothing too groundbreaking or inventive. Ordered the BBQ Chicken Salad which was listed as «pulled» chicken, more like chunked. Also had black beans and corn in it, but the corn tasted like it was canned or flash frozen instead of being blackened or grilled corn.
Service wasn’t too bad, not the friendliest of people but she was prompt and attentive.
Fit the bill to sit out on the patio, sip a Bell’s Two-​Hearted and enjoy one of the few remaining days of summer.

I had never eaten at a Rusty Bucket, but my first experience was eh.
I sat at the bar. Service was somewhat lack luster. Had to grab my own menu from the end of the bar and flag down the bartender to order instead of being asked by them. The bartenders seemed more intent on stocking beers and cleaning than paying attention to the customers at the bar; another patron waited quite awhile for help while the two bartenders discussed work crouched in front of an open fridge.
I ordered the pesto chicken pasta. I thought this would be a more typical pesto dish, but instead, only the chicken had a pesto like glaze on it, it looked as if it had sat for awhile in the kitchen. The pesto was generic. The texture of pinenuts was absent, and that pop of fresh basil and garlic recently blended was missing. The wine sauce was watery and the pasta was very overcooked to the point of being mushy.

We decided to dine here on Father’s Day as we were in town for my husband’s work. We expected it to be busy, but it was not. We were seated right away. My son’s root beer was fantastic, he ordered a cheeseburger kids meal with only pickles on it. It came with no pickles and it was several minutes before receiving them. We ordered a plain hamburger for our daughter and she was a big fan. Husband ordered the chicken fingers with skillet beans. There were only four relatively small chicken fingers – he said they were very greasy and fairly tasteless. I had the lemon chicken piccata and I was very happy with mine. We had met some business associates there for dinner and while we were chatting after dinner, the waiter offered to bring the kids a small dish of ice cream which was a nice touch.
We would definitely return, however hubby said he wouldn’t order the chicken again.

The food was good and hot!!! The fried pickles were amazing!!! My so loved the kids veggie pizza. My nephew said his fries and buffalo chicken sandwich was amazing also. My wings weren’t cooked to perfection but overall, it was a great time. We would totally go back. Our waitress Kate, quick, fast, and efficient!

Our family loves the Rusty Bucket. Their staff is wonderful and works together to insure a great dining experience.
They have just redid their menu and we are excited to try the new daily specials. My husband tried the Chicken Picatta today and said it was fabulous. We really enjoy the atmosphere and look forward to coming in again soon.
Returned today Thursday to try the daily special spaghetti and meatballs. Outstanding! The meatballs are a combination of veal and beef and fork tender. The sauce was a fantastic compliment. One definitely to try.

I’m beyond shocked I’d be a fan but based on my one visit I am one.
We popped in for lunch today. It was somewhat empty which made me think that it isn’t a place we should stay but we did. Once we were seated, the server (Liz) came over and was great. She explained the drink specials (didn’t mention prices), her favorite food items, and I asked for the not so favorite items. She was diplomatic and insisted everything is good and pointed out food items that are not ordered as much to appease me. She was the highlight — great service.
We ordered a few beers, chicken strips, and a loaded burger
Beer prices are in line with similar bars, and they have a nice selection. The chicken strips might be the star of the show. They are cooked with fish batter and we couldn’t figure out why but they are really good — nice crispy coating. The burger was good, nothing special but good. It’s hard to hate burgers with fried eggs, so… to recap — it was good.
Few things which are nominal, the drink special menu doesn’t have prices which made me avoid ordering a Bloody Mary. Simple fix. I wouldn’t make it a regular spot but would happy stop in from time to time.

Sitting at the table I’m writing a review, it’s good food is good wait staff seems like they give a dam. The place is clean, nice space around the bar, plus more seating. The menu is petty good all your typical bar choices. But the food and service was good. Will I be back, bet on it.

Let’s face it, there aren’t a whole ton of bars in the Bloomfield Hills area. There aren’t a lot of craft beer bars in the area period unless you want to venture to nearby Royal Oak or Ferndale. So I’m impressed with Rusty Bucket, regardless of it being a chain, for that. They also have drink specials pretty much every night of the week: Martini Night, Mule Monday, Daiquiri Tuesday, Whiskey Wednesday, Throwback Thursday, Gary’s Famous Margarita Night, and Bloody Sunday. UM, if I still lived in Michigan I would be here EVERY night. Huge draft list. My Dad told me that I had to try their Mount Pleasant Train Wreck Ale and I’m glad I did. It was hoppy but subtle and packed a punch.
The food I guess is where we start to lose stars. I probably didn’t order the best thing on the menu, which I hear is their large variety of burgers. I was torn between getting fish and chips so I went with the codwich sandwich. It was a little too heavily breaded and adding cheese onto a piece of fried fish seems redundant to me. But the fries are great. I had sweet potato and tried my sister’s side of regular that were cooked over-​done so that they were nice and crispy. She went with the blackened salmon salad and my niece had the kid’s chicken fingers meal. Again, just decent food and probably a notch above a Bennigans. I like the atmosphere though because its laid back and super Detroit proud (banners everywhere). I’ll definitely be back when I’m in town.