Rusty Nail Bar & Grille

Wish I could give a zero. No food. Horrible live bands. I’m a ski bum and one of the worst bars you can pick in season or off season. Great potential, but get it together.

We held our rehearsal dinner here, then hosted an open bar for the rest of our guests. The Rusty Nail could not have been more accommodating and our guests LOVED the food. Ani and Sam were incredibly helpful and responsive throughout the planning process, even reaching out to a local band, that we mentioned we liked, to see if they were available to play that night. The band was unavailable, but we were included in conversations about what entertainment to hire, even though the bar would be open to the public while our open bar was taking place. Sam was very organized in making sure our guests had identifying bracelets and that the food kept coming and several people mentioned how friendly the staff was. We and our guests had an incredibly fun night: great food, great drinks, a great DJ, and a great dance party. It was a great kick-​off and set the tone for our wedding weekend, which was a destination wedding, so there are folks scattered around the country that will always remember the Rusty Nail!

Ive been wanting to try this place for years, its located on the main road to the mountain in Stowe and I have always wanted to stop in as the patio looked great from the road. The opportunity presented itself as we were biking on the Stowe bike path which conveniently passes several bars and restaurants. The waitress could of given two hoots that we were there. She didn’t bring us water, didn’t clean the table from previous guests and really made us feel as though we were inconveniencing her. We ordered two pizzas which were really good. Honestly if it wasn’t for the «Large lazy employee» I’d probably be leaving a 4 or 5 just for the pizza, cudos to the cook, and shame to mgt for not having a more mindful server staff at 5pm July 11^th. Won’t be back unless ordering pizza to go.

Mainly we visit here for music events. We wish it drew a younger, more high energy crowd. There is usually one event we like per month. Crowd usually wears a lot of earth tones, scarves, and in general their wardrobe cost more than my car. If you want to dance be prepared for it to be very bright and very everyone is watching you. On the plus side, tons of space to dance due to less people dancing. Acoustics are actually really bad in here, lots of echo vibration, making music really loud, but not really clear. We do like the games provided, pool, darts, and basket ball machine. Place looks nice and clean. Never had to wait long for drinks or french fries. Makes you pay for coat check, seriously??? After I pay to get in anyways?

I can’t say too much great about this place. We sat outside by the bar. we had just come off the bike trail (Kudos for the ample cycle parking!) and were confused at first… we couldn’t seem to find the «in» door. Well, we had gone into it, i guess… the bartender inside definitely noticed we were a bit confused and directed us to go sit where ever outside. It was kind of a chaotic mess. Since the only seating was at the bar, that’s where we went. We went at kind of an off hour so it was kind of nice to see the place was hopping. gave us high hopes.
The bartender outside was nice enough but a bit flaky. She wasn’t seemed to be doing double duty, tending tables outside and bartending despite there was another one or two waitresses that were out tending tables too (it’s NOT a big place, really…). She didn’t spend a whole lot of time behind the bar, and when she did she wasn’t very attentive.
We had an order of loaded hot-​dogs and a chicken pita. It took nearly 45 minutes from order to food arriving on the plate.
The hotdogs wer pretty good, the chicken pita was «meh». It was bland and tasted like tzatziki sauce and nothing else. I like to think of the sauce as a condiment, not the main flavor. The chicken was sort of dry and bland, not «herbed» as declared on the menu. Because the store the ketchup right side up on a hot day, it promptly exploded when I went to use it, and I couldn’t get anyones attention to get me another napkin.
The one saving grace of the waitstaff was that she apparently ran our card on a much higher bill than ours, and she literally ran after us to tell us and fix her mistake… which we did really appreciate a lot.
Still.I’m not sure I’d go back.

Decent beer selection and location on the rec path. Left our bikes outside and went in for quick lunch. Except it wasn’t quick. We each finished a pint and a 16oz PBR even before the food came out. Food was great, it was just super slow service on a day that wasn’t busy at all. I’ll give them a shot next time I visit.

The princess and I had a makeshift dinner here and it was a great experience. We initially started outside and then made a last minute decision to get brews, pub grub, and play pool. It was a Monday, so wasn’t overwhelmingly busy, and service was spot on. Chorizo and clams, nachos, a big salad, and some local beers made it a great night.
Our server made sure we were set and always hydrated. Bill wasn’t bad, especially given some of the pricing in the area.
Great Barn-​ish décor.

The Rusty Nail was gracious enough to host our large group of 30+ people, but that’s where the hospitality stopped. After pre-​paying, with an included 20% gratuity I might add, there was no service other than putting out our buffet food. When water or plates were needed, not a single server was to be found. When our group leader asked for plates a second time he was responded to quite rudely.
Good job Rusty Nail. Not only did you lose 30+ customers, but now all those people will spread the word. I hope the quick buck was worth it.

Summary: awful, awful service (from everyone there) and mediocre bar food at best.
I’m guessing this place can hold about 500 people, and that there were about 200 people when we arrived on Friday 7pm (3÷2÷2012). The hostess seemed perplexed and upset that we arrived. (I don’t think this had anything to do with our party of five, but instead, she just seemed like she couldn’t figure out how to handle people walking into their restaurant.)
She then told us we had to wait for a table, even though she on the phone five minutes earlier told us no wait, and even though we could see half of the tables were empty. She warned us that the kitchen would be slow tonight.
The waitress showed up to our table 10 minutes later.
Appetizers (including something as simple as popcorn) took almost exactly 30 minutes from the time we ordered it, and the rest of our food (burgers, and a chicken BLT which came sans T) took exactly one hour.

The nail is often a solid choice. Paying cover when I’m a local does make me a little crazy, but the bands on big nights bring in a good crowd. Bartenders are friendly and the prices are pretty much on par for Stowe.
The Nail has the best bones in Stowe, when it comes to bar, big space, nice big clean bathrooms, etc. The problem lays in that on a quieter night it just has to feel a bit empty, when that same crowd elsewhere would feel a bit more energized.
They’ve been getting a ton of attention for the food lately and I really need to get in for a real meal soon, but I had some AWESOME duck fat fries recently!

This place was terrible. The bartender couldn’t have given a rat’s behind about us and was bashing Boston with 2 other patrons who lived in MA. Hellllooooo, I live near Boston, dumbass… watch your mouth!
The beer selection is good, but the service was SLOW. We had about 2 drinks each in the span of 2 hours (I really wanted to leave, but the fiancée didn’t want to).
They have live entertainment and the night we went, the guy who sang «St. Elmo’s Fire» way back in the 80’s was there. After he was finished with his first set, apparently the manager told him not to bother to come back. Was that rude or am I missing something?
I’m giving it 1 star only because it had air hockey upstairs, otherwise I would have given it 0 stars if possible.

I think I was lucky, when I went there it wasn’t «night club» time, rather 5 or so. Sat at the bar and tried out the local beers and had a light meal. The atmosphere was just like any other dive bar I call home meets chain restaurant. I’m pretty sure its the only Rusty Nail around, yet it felt like I was at one of those Ground Round/​Ruby Tuesday places.
As others have complained it did take a while to get the food, a little long I think since the place was empty and mostly just locals drinking. I believe I was the only person there eating at the time. When it came to more alcohol, they were very attentive to getting us more beer before the current one was completly finished.
The manager? was very friendly talking to me and my lady which was nice since it was our first time in Stowe. I can see why Men’s Journal gave this place the best ski bar, they pretty much only hire ski bunnies to work the bar, think of it like Hooters but you don’t have matching uniforms.
I didn’t go upstairs to the game room/​club, so I can’t review that but its not my style anyway. I’d go back for beers since they are open late when the town likes to close down around 6pm, but its not my first choice.