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| - Ok. So. There are lots of poor reviews and a few outstanding reviews. I've been Elite for a couple years. Been to a few 5* restaurants and a few minus* restaurants. I frankly rate this place a 3*.
When you consider the history of the place (on their literature) it used to be a den of robbers, literally. The place is there for the fun & novelty factor. Def not for its culinary delights.
The parking lot is large. The place seats almost 500. They have a live steer right next to the outside front door and he does what bovines do. But hes a novelty and lets face it people, most people have never seen a real, live cow/steer. I'm sure he doesnt have the most exciting life and I'm sure if the Arizona humane society thought it was inhumane they would make the place rehome "Horney". Yes, thats his name!
When you walk in you'll be greeted by loud, live country music and some nice Hostesses. The place looks all 2x4 exposed wood beams and beer signs. The stories you've read about are true. There is a metal slide that you can ride down instead of taking the stairs to the lower level main dining area. Ride at your own risk especially if you're wearing shorts! Its a fast short ride with a carpeted landing. The Hostess waited patiently while my whole crew went down. I thought better of it and took the stairs.
We were shown to our table down next to the windows. The area has a delightful view of the city and was a nice backdrop. Btw, we made reservations and were seated promptly. There seemed to be a large adult birthday party going on and the "Happy Birthday to You" was sung with gusto and a loud dinner triangle.
The kids menus are standard and written on the back of a cute set of horns that you can put on your kids head. Mac & cheese, chicken fingers, etc for $5-8 dollars. Our Waiter Josh gave us good service. He explained the specials and was attentive to our requests. I ordered the Prime Rib Special $24 which was about a 8-10oz cut with a half corn, long grain rice and 3 shrimp. There was au juice and horseradish on the side. Josh also brought out bread with butter & cinnamon butter, a large bowl of mixed green salad and a small pot of Busch's baked beans. My friends ordered the beef ribs. So here's my critique. We didnt go to Morton's or Ruth Cris Steakhouse. We went to the Rustlers Rooste. Lets consider & keep that in mind people. The buns were decent but the butters were tasty. The salad did indeed have a generous helping of ranch dressing applied but I would not say it was doused and limp. The iceberg lettuce was crunchy and there were a decent amount of cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices & croutons on it. We received our meals fairly quickly even with how full the place appeared. My Prime Rib was very rare and barely hot. The corn looked like standard costco boiled and my long grain rice was chewy. The horseradish was very full bodied and the au juice tasted like an oxo cube dissolved in warm water. The beef ribs looked decent. There seemed to be an ample amount of meat on each rib. It came with the half corn cob and boiled carrots. The carrots tasted bland and kinda chewy. My friends reported the ribs tasted decent. Afterwards they were given a nice warm washcloth with lemon squeezed overtop to wash their BBQ sauce fingers. Nice touch. Better than a dry shredded napkin. The kids ordered mac & cheese which came with garlic bread and the chicken strips which came with french fries. The portions were surprisingly large and we took home a large doggy bag. There was nothing special about the kids meals at all. But thats not necessarily bad.
At the end of the meal Josh came back with a cotton candy in a coffee tin can for the table to share. We politely declined cuz of the hour of night. Also, we chose not to order their deserts either. So I cant speak to that. I didnt use the restroom so I cant speak to that. Sorry about that.
They have a little Rustlers Rooste gift shop downstairs tucked away by the restrooms and they had t-shirts with Horney the Steer and another with a reference to eating their rattlesnake entree. They had kids small figurine horsies, shooter glasses shaped like a boot, hats and you could buy the button-up American flag shirts that the wait staff were wearing. I purchased a t-shirt and it was about $17.
So, all in all, our experience was pleasant, Josh gave us good service, the food was not overly impressive but we figured "what the heck, we'll go there for the fun".
That, friends, is how you need to broach this place. Simply for its entertainment value. Period.
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