Rusty’s Surf Ranch

Food is mediocre at best. Service is horrible. Waited over an hour to get our food. Do not eat there!

Great place and location… Was there tonight with our kids while on Holiday from Sydney. Great service, great food and great live music. Excellent service from Jason to. Great place

I am using the last juice in my phone to post this. My phone was dying and I was feeling really nauseous so I came in here and asked if I could sit at a table or bar to charge my phone a couple of minutes. There were many tables open. They were rude immediately and treated me in an unkind manner. They asked if I just wandered in from the beach. I felt sick and asked again if I could please charge my phone. They said «are you gonna order food.» 2 people were questioning me. They were rude and had no empathy for my situation. I feel sick so no I’m not getting food. Looking for somewhere else with better hospitality to charge my phone. I am turned off and will not eat there now. The way they treated me made me leave in tears. Because I felt helpless.

This is my go-​to on the pier to grab a bite and a drink. I love their old school nachos and the BF loves the Po’ boy — although they recently changed the menu and the nachos now contain meat, so I have to pay $ 4 more for something I want taken off, instead of those that want it adding it on. And the po’ boy was changed to a chipotle version, which the BF said was good, just not as great as the original. And the NE clam chowder was removed, which is puzzling. I’ve been to other piers where their chowders are competing and they give you samples… it’s sort of a staple of restaurants on piers IMO. So my rating went from 5 to 3, as it was my go-​to and I think we will check out some other places next time.

Went to Malibu for Surfers Healing for Autism awareness for my boys today. Had food everywhere and ice chests with food galore but we saved our appetites for the best place to eat at. The fish n Chips are the best of the best to eat here in Santa Monica ! Im sure all there food is delicious but we live in Fontana and we will drive all the way up here to eat here at Rusty’s for there fish n chips. I promise people this is the best place !!!

The food was ok, the chips where a bit stale and the chicken tenders where without flavor but I will admit that the ranch was awesome.
The service was ok it was a bit buzzy.

Ok so its a tourist bar and grill at the beginning of the Pier — Honestly Skip it. Food was mediocre and small portions — 14 bucks for a shrimp appetizer and it had 5 shrimp — What? Dinner was good again small portions, spent 80 bucks and came away hungry.
Service was good, waitress, host very nice and checked in on us

The food was good, service was fast and friendly bar staff! We made it in time for happy hour and watched the basketball while we ate, the meals were huge!

Really great place for a casual family seafood dinner or a fun night out. We took our teenage kids there for dinner on our first trip to Santa Monica. It was a Friday night and we were a little overwhelmed by just getting there from West Hollywood. I was unprepared for how crowded the pier was. We had to park a long way away. We had planned to go to another seafood place. However, when we went to The Albright, we realized that you order at the counter and they bring your food to you at picnic tables. We were looking for something with table service.
Rusty’s was just what we needed after the traffic nightmare! The atmosphere is very casual and beachy. The service was excellent! Our waitress was very friendly and fun. She was great with the kids. It really turned us around from being tired and set us up for a great evening!
The food is your usual beachy seafood fare. Pretty good selection of shrimp, fish, crab… The kids had fried shrimp. I had a really good salad and my husband had fish and chips. Everyone really enjoyed their meals. Thanks!

Omg the food omg! Not only was the waitress and staff so sweet the food was just amazing. Crab cakes are to die for, lobster & crab bisque so delicious, and those are just the appetizers!
The Ahi tuna out of this world, my boyfriend said the coconut shrimp is the bomb and it’s not tiny ass shrimp either they’re actually a good size and amount. You get the bang for your buck at this adorable place!

Everything was just okay. Fish and chips (what they are known for) was fine. I liked the coleslaw but only because it didn’t taste like coleslaw (more like salad), so I don’t know if that’s a good thing. Our seats were in the front portion and there was a heater, so it was actually pretty nice for people watching. The person who sat us was great. Our waitress was alright, but she seemed to be rushing us out towards the end (we hadn’t even finished eating yet when she asked if we wanted anything else and then proceeded to leave our check on the table). There was a live band coming on at 9:30, but it wasn’t even quite 9 yet when she dropped the check. I wish we could’ve watched the band, which was our original plan, but they were charging a $ 7 cover charge, and I didn’t want to have to pay after just eating. Perhaps if we had sat a tad later, or not scoffed down our food, we could’ve avoided the fee. For being on the pier, it was decent food and a good atmosphere. I wouldn’t come here again simply for the food and service, but perhaps I would come later for the live band experience.

Came here for the Independent Spirit Awards viewing party and the experience was solidly meh. We did get there kind of late, so the only seats available were out on the patio, where it was extremely hard to hear the TV. Soon after, the video started to break up as well so we really only half-​watched the show, which kind of negated the whole point of us coming to this place, but oh well, we decided to stick around. They had a couple of specials for the event: $ 8 crab cake appetizers and a peach vodka martini cocktail. The crab cakes were pretty good, and the martini was good as well – when they remembered to put vodka and not tequila in it! The first one was fine, but when the bf got the second one, he shook his head and was like, this has tequila in it. I took a sip and sure enough, it was tequila! We told our server and promptly received a proper one. And then it happened AGAIN, which was just crazy. There were multiple servers for all the different tables so the other server we told about the problem didn’t seem like he believed us, and just shook his head while he took it away. We felt kind of bad were wondering if he thought we were just being dicks, but the fact remained that it had tequila! We got a replacement and the server did apologize, because apparently he’d checked with the bartender and the guy was getting confused about what liquor to put in a vodka martini. Uh… ok. I’m sure they were understaffed and stressed and had some guy at the bar who wasn’t as experienced or whatever, but sigh. All told, we spent a good three hours there, and while we appreciated the (mostly) friendly service and decent food (we also got nachos and mozzarella sticks) I doubt I’d ever go back unless I had to.
STEPH JUDGEMENT: Kind of a tourist trap that’s probably decent most times but couldn’t handle event crowds.

While visiting Santa Monica, we wandered into Rusty’s late into the night. We were planning to get drinks and maybe a late night snack. When we got to the bar, they told us the kitchen was already closed. I guess they could tell we were disappointed. They returned and told us we could still order food. Everyone there was very nice. We had a wonderful interaction with our bartender. We shared stories about where we were from and why we were visiting California. In the end we did not order any food. But the menu had plenty of wonderful options to choose from. I really wanted to try the seafood ceviche. The menu describes it as having shrimp, calamari, white fish, avocado, cucumber, onion and lemon. There’s always next time. The location could not be better. It is right on the Santa Monica Pier. The outdoor dining options were great. If it hadn’t been so chilly, we would have sat outside.

The 2016 Unilocal 500, Review #014
Pleased with everything. California Girls Burger (substitute chicken breast for beef patty) was delicious. Fries were perfect. Blackened Ahi was amazing and the homemade mozzarella sticks were the best I have ever had. real crunch!
Restrooms were clean.
Staff was non-​intrusive and well dressed.
Service was prompt
Prices were about what you would pay elsewhere.
Now I am off to Pacific Park (Groupon’d [My own word] unlimited rides for 15 bucks instead of 29. LOOK FOR MY DINNER ON THE PIER!!!

Horrible service… Been waiting to be seated which they have seats open but didn’t want to give it to us. And when you call them out on it they say it’s reserved but they end up giving it to the people who came after us!
I normally don’t write anything bad but when I see something that can be improved then why not mention it on Unilocal and have the people in charge of this restaurant see it and see what they can do to change it.
Yes get a new manager and new employees and step it up! Step up or step out!

The word that comes to mind when I think of my experience here is simply ‘average’. My group enjoyed dining outside on the boardwalk at sunset (amazing views) but that was really the highlight of the experience. And their amazing heaters.
The décor inside was wannabe Margaritaville. The food was all over the place– they didnt want to stick to one theme, so you could order a martini with crab cakes and then a mexican enchilada or dessert. I think that makes them miss out on having a niche food group that the excel at. We all had crab cakes that were just so so. The blue margarita was yummy and on some sort of happy hour, so I would go back for that.
It wasnt overpriced which may also be a plus but I really feel like there is just nothing special about this place.

Rusty’s seemed to be a bit disorganized when I last visited. It could be that I had arrived when a band was performing on this particular evening. When I got to Rusty’s, I was already pretty hungry, so after all the greetings, I asked for a menu.
I ordered a penne with chicken and shrimp, while my friend ordered the chicken tenders with BBQ sauce and ranch. Honestly, there was nothing tender about it. It was a little dry, but my penne came out just fine. The atmosphere of the restaurant is pretty lively when the bands start playing and the views of the ocean will give you that calm vibe that you’re looking for on the Santa Monica Pier.
I don’t know if I would go back for dinner, but it is a good place to meet up with friends and enjoy some live music if you’re in the Santa Monica area.

A casual restaurant with a selection of tacos, burgers and some other casual plates.
It is in the Santa Monica pier, so sitting outside or by the windows will give you a great view of the ocean and mountains.
Their seafood tacos are great and filling, yet you will still feel healthy without guilt.
Large inside seating area with a large screen TV.

I was craving some Fish and Chips! I thought this place had a reasonable price, great location, and seemed very popular. This restaurant is in between two other restaurants. It looks like the same restaurant from afar, but you will see three different names on the building. There are two entrances to this place. If you enter from the back, you must walk-​through the restaurant to the front in order to be seated. We were seated in a few seconds on the outside patio. It was hot, but they had fans on. It was comfortable for me.
Our waitress was super nice, attentive, and efficient on the refills. I ordered the Fish and Chips with a mozzarella marinara app to share. I thought the portion was great with 3 cod fish strips that was made with beer batter. Everything was great and tasty in opinion. Reasonable prices too. Must make a stop here if you are hungry.

The fambam and I went here last night since we were passing by Santa Monica Pier. Btw parking at the pier is $ 12…ugh.
Anyway they had a live band play here when we ate and good thing all the tables inside were all taken and they sat us outside under the heater.
Our waitress was really nice as well and even though we couldn’t communicate with each other that much because of the band she was still able to help us
I ordered the «Big Kahuna» which is a ½ pound of beef patty along side with beer basted onion rings, tomatoes, picked, lettuce and cheese and also a side of fries. I was really hungry and though of ordering something else to feed my appetite but this was good enough. The burger was big. And it was really good and yummy. I love the onion rings at how crispy and yet chewy they were. They were my favorite. The fries were delicious too. They were also crispy. Loved my burger.
My parents ordered some salad and shrimp/​lobster pasta and I had a taste of their pasta. The pasta was okay. But they loved it
My little brother ordered shrimp penne pasta and wow… don’t order that. The taste was not sticking onto the noodles and when I ate some of his, it was almost like eating the noodles by itself without any taste.
Basically anything different that has something to do with pasta besides spaghetti and fettuccine Alfredo I stay away from because of their tasteless taste.
We also ordered some chips and salsa as appetizers and their chips were really soft and crunchy and yummy. Their salsa also was good.
Overall I rate this place a four star. Would come back.
Btw, their «big kahuna» is a must try.

Já venho a este restaurante há um tempo e sempre a comida, ambiente e atendimento são perfeitos!
Ambiente descontraído pra Happy hour durante a semana, com ótimos drinks.
A comida e deliciosa e nada cara, sempre como algum peixe.
Vale a pena provar!