Invited out of town guests to Rustler's Rooste for dinner last night. I selected the location primarily for the view and a solid menu. The website indicated that the restaurant takes reservations but when I called, I was informed that there is a "call ahead" list rather than an actual reservation option. The purpose of the call ahead list is to shorten your wait time.
I arrived and the restaurant was extremely busy. I was given a buzzer to notify me when our table was ready and told the wait would be 20-30 minutes. I think our wait was around the 30 minute mark.
When we were seated, we had a decent view but the restaurant was so amazingly loud, we had to practically scream at each other to be heard during the entire meal. We were competing with what felt/sounded like thousands of other diners who were all doing the same. There were a number of birthdays being celebrated while we were there and for each one the staff would come through with an insanely loud dinner triangle, accompanied by a shouted announcement and singing. It was impossible to have a conversation when this happened.
Our waiter was clearly run ragged. He did what he could to keep up with the drink refils but that's about it. Ordering was a chore because he wasn't able to hear us over the din. The food was pretty basic. I had the salmon, which was good. My husband had the ribs, which were good and our guests each had steak. Neither of the steaks were cooked as ordered.
Along with being loud, the restaurant was very dark and our table lantern was out. We inquired about getting it lit and that took our overworked waiter almost the entire duration of the meal to manage. Once we got it lit, it was still very dark.
My husband and I had been to Rustler's Rooste once before for Easter Brunch and we were pleased with the service and food. Last night, however, was a less than enjoyable experience.