The Rusty Anchor

food is just wraps, salads and burgers
ladies room was disgusting — 3 stalls, 1 out of service, toilet paper sitting on top of the dispenser, dollar store dish liquid on the 2 sinks, for soap
great location, beautiful weather, but only average food and disappointing amenities
I would recommend the Riverfront Bar and Grill; if you like barges — Corning Preserve

Each year we go thinking maybe the food will improve. Every year we are disappointed. What draws us is the location. Right on the water, there are not many other places like this in the city of Troy/​Watervliet. Staff is friendly and attentive.
Sadly, that’s where the compliments stop. When you arrive watch where you walk. The grounds are loaded with goose droppings. The geese are really disgusting. Having to navigate the mounds of crap doesn’t exactly wet your appetite. As we walked the plank we noticed how empty the restaurant was. We were told to sit wherever we wanted so we chose a spot by the water. Almost immediately we knew we made a mistake. The constant noise of the gulls made conversation difficult. I wondered why the gulls kept flying so close to the restaurant and then I saw a staff member throwing food out into the river. Let me just say that the gulls (or any animals) do not add enhance my experience of eating. It was disgusting and distracting. Tables and chairs feel very wobbly. They feel like a set that was purchased at Walmart. I wouldn’t bring a senior citizen to sit there for fear they would fall.
As mentioned previously, staff was attentive. Waitress took our drink order quickly. Then asked if we wanted to get any appetizer orders in while we chose our dinner. Soda choice was sad, RC Cola. I didn’t know that soda still exists. It brought back memories from childhood and I ordered a diet cola. One sip confirmed why you don’t see that brand around here often, it was terrible.
The menu is typical pub fare — club sandwiches, salads, burgers. We’ve stayed away from the fish options. Just because they are located on the water doesn’t mean they know how to prepare seafood.
For an appetizer we chose muffuletta sandwich. Huge disappointment. This was garbage bread, probably day old and burnt while they reheated it. I think there was one piece of ham in the bread and I saw no pepperoni. The sauce served on the side had a bad flavor and was too thick for dipping.
Husband chose turkey club sandwich. Poor quality turkey. It was nicely assembled and a good size. Huge basket of chips was served on the side. What you would expect from a pub.
I chose buffalo chicken salad (mild version) with blue cheese dressing on the side. Salad was a good size, lettuce was good. Plenty of chicken, but it was saturated in HOT sauce, not mild. There was too much buffalo sauce, usually chicken is just covered not the entire salad. Crumbled blue cheese was good. Sliced tomatoes shows they just grabbed from the sandwich pile. Four cucumbers were placed on the plate in between sliced tomatoes.
For all of the above it came to $ 50 including tip. As we walked past all the goose land mines on our way back to our car, the only positive comment we shared was «good weather.» I’m sure we’ll try again next year after forgetting the poor meal this year. It’s almost tradition to go and experience it each year. If the food was better (and the birds were gone) we would be there regularly. Best thing about the place the friendly staff.

Wow, what can I say. Not what it use to be, for starters the menu is horrible now. Not much to chose from, and food still comes out slow, overcooked and bland. Will not be returning to this for food again. The atmosphere however is pretty relaxing, just buy drinks if you ever decide to visit this place. Or make your way to the one in albany.

Was going out for a night on the town and my friend and I decided to have dinner there. The waitress was very attentive and the food was delicious. I had the Greek Salad with Shrimp, it was delicious. Lots of olives, red peppers, this big bowl of mixed greens, 4 shrimp (could have maybe used 1 or 2 more as it bought the salad up to $ 13.99 which I feel is just a wee bit pricey for a salad). What it lacked in shrimp it more than made up for in anchovies which I love. It didn’t come with any bread but the salad was filling and delicious on its own. The band was wonderful and all in all I’d still give it 5 stars (although I’d still recommend another shrimp or two).

Can’t really leave a review of the food because after we were sat we never heard from anyone again. We sat there for 25 minutes and waited for a waitress to at least acknowledge us. Needless to say we left and went elsewhere. Will not be back.

Stopped here for an early lunch on the Hudson. Service was excellent, the house Chardonnay was cold, and the sandwiches were inventive and not overly expensive. I had the turkey/​bacon/​cheddar panini with ranch. The setting was pretty and serene, and the bathroom was clean. I will go back again!

Not a bad place, great view, plenty of outdoor and sheltered seating, two bars. Good, quick service.
They did happen to be out of a few of their beers and didn’t have too large a selection. Pretty standard restaurant prices for beer ($ 5 for Sam Adams draft), although, Tuesday nights have trivia 7 – 9 with specials, which for us was $ 3 Sam Adams draft, which is pretty inexpensive.
Food was fairly standard, a little on the expensive side for what you get. We ordered the bruschetta, which was good, although a few more pieces of bread would have been nice. And reading two reviews about the burger being overcooked, I had to try it. I ordered rare (usually go for medium or medium-​rare) and it came out with just a little bit of pink in the middle, which was what I was looking for, so I guess order a step rarer than what you want. The biggest disappointment was their fries, which weren’t crispy and seemed rather saturated in oil. This being said, I am a snob about my fries.
Patronage was on the older side, mostly middle-​older age groups. This place could be great if it was revitalized a bit I think.
Overall, it’s an fun experience being on the barge and I would go again.

Why ask me the temp of my burger if it’s going to just be charred to death? When I tell you I have a severe allergy and you try to feed me something I can’t eat we loose trust. Not once, twice but three times! You are lucky I knew better then to eat it or you would be out of a job to say the least. On a high note the servers were good.

I’ve been coming here for years, and yesterday was my first dinner of the season. It’s not summer until I’ve had cocktails and a meal at the Rusty Anchor. Menu is great this year, and the food was noticeably better. Kinda bummed me they had run out of Guinness (how does that happen??), but the barkeep made me a vodka margo that was quite tasty. This is a very casual, fun place to watch a sunset and be outside with friends. They also have live music. Service not always great, but that’s not why you go there. You have to walk a gangplank to get to the tables — that alone earns three stars.

Took the waitress a good 5 – 10 minutes after we were seated to take our drink order on a night that wasn’t busy at all. When she finally came back with the drinks she brought me a can of beer instead of the vodka tonic I ordered. The food was ok, but overpriced. Their beer list is limited to mediocre domestics. We will probably never go back just based on how awful our waitress was, and it’s a shame because this place could be so much better than it is.

First thing, I need to say is that any review of this place not written this year is out of date. In other words not valid. The Rusty Anchor has a whole new menu this year with a much bigger selection than before. This is a seasonal restaurant only open in the warm weather months which is roughly from May through September. So if you haven’t been this year, then you need to revisit.
I can’t recite all the new items but what stands out are lobster rolls hot or cold version, fried oysters and rib eye steak. I have had the lobster roll and it’s the best around. On a subsequent visit, I tried the fried oysters. That was a good choice. They tasted fresh with just the right breading. On another visit the fried calamari was a disapointment. It was the commercial variety, too heavy on the breading. The beer selection has improved a bit.
This wait staff really hustles. The kitchen turns out orders at a fast rate. So the service is excellent.
And you know the layout. A barge on the water with open areas and covered areas. What’s not to like? Live music plays some nights but if that’s not your thing you can see the schedule on their web site. (If you’re eating dinner, they will waive the cover/​music charge.)
One busy night recently there was a fireworks display and I needed to sit at the front bar which has only bottled beer. But they cheerfully allowed me to bring up draft beer from the back bar. That’s putting the customer first.
I can’t find any fault after two visits so I am going to give this place five stars.

NOPE.
I was looking forward to checking this place out, but after having done so, I’m not sure what the hell I was thinking.
I went here with my girlfriend on a nice and sunny Saturday evening. First observation: There are lots of old people here, who are desperately trying to look like they’re young. They’re failing miserably.
We were seated at a table outside, along the rail on the river side of the barge. It was a nice view of beautiful, crime-​free Troy. The Captain J.P. cruise line is basically directly across from this place.
The service wasn’t bad. A woman who I assume is either the owner or manager was very visible and would occasionally check to see if everything was OK. The waitress we had was decent, but she did disappear for extended times, as in she could be found nowhere in the restaurant. One thing that was not exactly cool was the ketchup bottle that we were given: it had a big, dead insect stuck to it. Apparently the staff of the Rusty Anchor don’t care about that, but we kind of minded. The water that they brought my girlfriend also had a pretty noticeable object floating around in it, and we needed to ask to get another one.
The food is where it fell apart. The white pizza really wasn’t much of a pizza, and it tasted pretty poor, like something was off with the ingredients they used. The burger was ordered medium rare, but came out like a nuclear blast victim. It was dry and super-​ultra-​completely-​well-​done.
Neither of us were very impressed, and we’re not particularly inclined to return. This place is probably a lot better if all you’re looking to do is get some drinks.

I’ll be honest, I’ve never gotten food here. I’ve always always been with people ordering food who have never complained about what they have gotten. It’s what I consider ideal for the summer though. Its on a boat, its all fresh air seating (some under a cover, some not), its got booze. So I’m obviously sold.
I just went here a few days ago, and was excited that they have sam summer on TAP, they also have Sam Summer Specials on a day that I forget… so now I’m going to have to come back AGAIN… oops.
Both of the friends that I was with were pleased with their food. The selection looked really good I’m just never hungry when I go, I’ll update this again if I can figure out how to make it to troy before eating.

right off the top, it’s way overpriced.
The service was no bargain either. the staff seem very harried.
i ate here with a friend & our 3 young boys, and only b/​c we promised them we could eat on the big boat. This place is for the birds.
I ordered the crabcake with some kind of mango salsa. sounds good, right? this was clearly a frozen cake of some fishy kind. i’m not saying it wasn’t crab — i just don’t know. the salsa too was clearly just dumped out of some bulk salsa bottle.
The boys liked their chicken nuggets/​fries. They wanted to eat there, we did, & now we won’t make that mistake again.
If you are a FOODIE, you will be very disappointed. the menu implies the food is fresh, when that is not the case. there’s TONS of great food right over the bridge in downtown Troy.
Better to take a delicious picnic to Hudson Shores Park & enjoy the same exact view of the Troy skyline. They have a pavillion with picnic tables. You pass it en route to the barge.

Went here last night for a quick dinner and a drink. Overall, it wasn’t as horrible as some of the reviews below would lead you to believe, but it wasn’t spectacular. I kept thinking «if this place didn’t have a view of the water, would it be remarkable at all?» and the answer is no. That being said, I did enjoy the view, and I appreciated that I could get some decent swordfish at a reasonable price. My fiancé got the pulled pork sandwich and didn’t have much to say about it, good or bad.
Mediocre is the best way to describe this place. I would definitely come back just for drinks and skip dinner.

This is my favorite spot to eat in Troy when its nice out. You can sit outside on the Hudson River and enjoy the view while eating some interesting seafood dishes. I’ve never had anything but excellent food & service the 6 or 7 times I’ve been this year and I recently brought my team from work there and everyone enjoyed it! I will warn you, there’s a similar barge in Albany that I’ve never enjoyed.

I was very very hesitant to go to this place after i read the reviews. When i got there, i was pleasantly surprised. It is an old barge set up like an outdoor restaurant/​bar. Went there with about 10 people and had a great time. Definitely a place you can go and drink and pretend your Jimmy Buffet. We had Bruchetta, and loaded fries both were good, I got the fish and chips and it also was very good. Had no complaints from 10 people on the food.
Its not a formal ritzy place, but if you are looking for that in that area, you need your head examined. The view which is ragged on by others, which i find unnecessary, isn’t terrible, i thought it was cool to see all the boats come by. People complained about the prices, they seemed pretty normal/cheap…maybe i make a little more then them though, we are in a recession :)
I would definitely go back, i had a great time, and next time I am up that way i will probably go back.

Wow! I’m on a boat!
But it’s an old barge anchored along the shores of the Hudson River at Hudson Shores Park in Watervliet during the warmer months. So, climb aboard because we got a partay, woo-​hoo! Okay, I’m exaggerating, but the Rusty Anchor is a restaurant and bar on a barge serving pub fare and American food.
The prices are a bit high, but you’re paying for the breathtaking views of City of Troy skyline and a nice closeup of one of Troy’s finest housing projects, Taylor Apartments and the arched Congress Street Bridge over the Hudson.
There’s open air seating with umbrellas and covered seating with bars at each end, mostly the typical patio tables with plastic chairs. Okay, I arrive here on a sunny afternoon and the hostess seats me at an open air table as I requested since the covered portion had no sunlight. A waitress comes over 5 minutes later and I’m all set to order.
I start out with a cup of ice water and a mug of Seafood Chowder ($ 3.99) which comes out quickly, which was served hot with clams, baby shrimp, scallops, fish, potatoes in a creamy broth, topped with real crisp bacon bits. My entrée takes about 16 minutes to come out after the initial order. I got the Fried Clams strips ($ 10.99) served with regular fries (the menu indicated waffle fries) and cole slaw. The clams and fries were fried golden brown and crispy and the cole slaw was the shredded light tasting kind.
I finished my food quickly, but it took a while to get the waitress’s attention and I had to ask another server to get my waitress so I could cash out and get back on land.
Overall, this establishment can actually be a fun and relaxed place to hang especially for my buddy’s folks who are in their 60s. They’ve eaten here quite a bit during the summer. For myself, it’s okay to me and I’ve seen enough of Troy for most of my lifetime.

Ugh, did I actually spend money here? Sadly yes! It would be hard to actually detail the number of things that are wrong with this restaurant but I will describe the things that I thought were the worst.
First our waitress brought one of my friends a glass of water. My friend noticed that the glass had a bug in it as the waitress was setting it down and the waitress, as she was setting down the glass said, «this happens all the time, I’ll bring you a new one.» It only took twenty minutes to get a new glass of water. NOT acceptable!
I could tell that this wasn’t going to be a very good restaurant, so I ordered something safe from the menu — something no one can mess up — a chicken cesar salad wrap. My two friends also ordered wraps. As our waitress took our order she said, «oh that should be nice and quick because there’s not much cooking involved.» Forty-​five minutes later there was no food and our waitress came to tell us that our order had been lost and they were going to bring it out «on the fly» whatever that means. NOT acceptable.
The one redeeming quality about this place is that it’s on a boat on the river so there’s a nice view. But frankly, it’s way not worth it. I would avoid this place at all costs!

Wow, a seven mile drive from Albany to Watervliet tosses you into an entirely different gene pool.
The Rusty Anchor is owned by the same people who own the Riverfront Bar and Grill, so if you’ve been there, you know what you’re in for. Located in a barge moored right on the river and offering a skyline view of Troy’s housing projects, this place is much more spacious and holds significantly weirder clientele. The food has all the subtlety of the animated gifs on their website, and there’s a bit of a bait and switch: a third of the ingredients listed on the menu were not in the dish I’d ordered.
On the plus side, it’s a really fun place to wander around under the influence of painkillers and schmooze with 45 year-​olds squeezed into H&M clothes.