The Rusty Onion

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  Good beer selection. Grabbed food from here the other day. Need to go back and try their pizza. Had the wings which were pretty good.

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  Posted on 07.21.13 Christian R.

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  So, I really want to LOVE this place.  Unfortunately, I don't.  My husband and I have been here twice.  Once for drinks, another time dinner and beers.
      Let's start with the positives (and why I will be going back and giving it another try):  
  1.  The beer selection is great.  They have so many local craft brews on tap, it's wonderful!  With that said, there are a few places in the area with an equally great, or better, beer selection (Duckworth's, Mellow Mushroom) and better food.  
  2.  The decor inside is awesome.  They have these really cool lampshades that are painted with the local Charlotte Brewery's logos.  They are very cool.  
  3.  The staff is very friendly, maybe a little too friendly.  While nice is great, my husband, our friend and I must have been interrupted no less than 15 times during our dinner by various people asking us if everything was OK.  That said, it was their second week open and I understand being overstaffed and it's your new job.  If the manager tells you to go around and check on tables, that's what you do, but it was overkill.
  4.  The onion rings were yummy.
  
  Now the not so great:
  1.  As mentioned above: Too many people interrupting our meal.
  2.  Single bathroom.  I know this may be out of the owner's control, but I hate when a bar/restaurant has just one bathroom.  This means you are always, more often than not, waiting outside.  Waiting outside at this place means waiting in a narrow hallway where servers are coming in and out of the kitchen, it's just awkward.
  3.  Our food was not good.  They are a pizzeria, we had two separate servers tell us that the cheeseburger pizza tastes, "Just like a Big Mac".  It didn't.  It was flavorless and the crust was not fantastic.  For me, the crust makes the pizza...this was blah.
  
  With all of that said, my husband and I will go back.  I will try something other than their pizza.  Our friend said their pasta was good.  I hope to give a more positive update after our next trip!

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  Posted on 07.17.13 Jennifer T.

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  I have seen the sign for the Rusty Onion up for several months and was very excited to see that it finally opened. After reading several reviews we were a little hesitant to try it but chalked those poor reviews up to grand opening jitters.
  I'm glad we tried it out. I'm pretty sure the owner of the restaurant held the door open for us and welcomed us in. We were promptly seated and greeted but our super sweet waitress. We ordered a large pizza half mac & cheese and the other half Philly Cheesesteak. I really enjoyed my half of the mac & cheese. It was very flavorful and delicious. My husband enjoyed his Philly but suggested adding some A1 sauce.  The music was fun, the restaurant was clean and looked really nice, and service was great. I will definitely return!

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  Posted on 07.15.13 Liz M.

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  We liked the look of this new pizza place! The Rusty Onion appetizer was very good but overpriced for what it was. We ordered the Eye-talian Stallion pizza. The toppings were very good and plentiful but my family thought the crust was a bit dry and flavorless. The staff was very friendly. We'll give this new restaurant another try soon!

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  Posted on 07.13.13 Rico R.

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  I've been twice in one week. The first time was a Monday night & it was delicious! I got the philly cheese steak with sweet potato fries & cannoli to go. It was the best meal ever!
  
  I returned later that week, on Friday, to try the rusty onion app & get another philly. I was EXTREMELY disappointed second time around. Chips for app were burnt as were my fries & sub. I asked for no peppers but they still put red peppers - even seemed to notice the mistake before I left but still gave me the wrong sandwich. I'll give them another shot because the first time was so great but I was disappointed the second visit.
  
  The staff are friendly but seem lost at times. I realize it's a new business but I feel like they need more experienced staff that want to help, not staff that keep trying to pass the buck. I sincerely hope they read & implement the reviews they receive because they could be GREAT! Perhaps they need my expertise... ;-)

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  Posted on 07.12.13 Jennifer C.

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  Do you giggle like a 16 year old boy every time you see/hear The Rusty Onion?  I know I do.  I am not sure why it sounds like it belongs in a dirty joke, but whatever.   I had seen varying reviews on Yelp, knew it was a new place to try and I needed to get fuel at the Exxon near it, so I figured I might as well try it out.
  
  Located in the pretty recently renovated Carmel Commons shopping center, on the Carmel Rd side near Great Wall of China South, the signage makes it pretty easy to spot.  At 5:30 on a Wednesday night, the eating crowd was light, but the bar was about half-full.  Several large TV's were in various places.  The restaurant has wooden tables chairs, high top tables with wooden chairs and seating at the bar.  They also had several iron tables and chairs on the patio, but July in Charlotte isn't always prime outdoor seating.  I also noticed that there is a big roll up door at the front of the restaurant - maybe for some fresh air when it gets cooler and doesn't rain every stinking day.  It was a nice looking place (I have never been to this location in any of it's previous iterations), but as with every new restaurant I have been to recently, it has finished concrete floors and an open ceiling which makes it LOUD - I mean deafening loud (which could be a sign I am getting old).  There were 3 tables seated and maybe a dozen people at the bar and I couldn't hear myself think.  I could only imagine on a night full of drunks and/or kids - eesh.  
  
  I had looked at the menu online prior to going and knew I wasn't going to pay $7 for 6 wings.  From another review, the app The Rusty Onion didn't seem to be worth the price either (though their apps were priced for what the going rate of most are around town).  Salads and sandwiches seemed to be reasonably priced.  Specialty pizzas are $13.50 for a 10" or $22.50 for a 16" (which made me cringe, that is higher than I have seen at Hawthorne's, Libretto's, etc.).  I wasn't terribly hungry, so I just went with a build-your-own pizza which starts at $9.50 and then sky-rockets per topping from there.  I just got a plain old white/garlic & EVOO sauce with mozzarella on it.
  
  The pizza crust was fantastic!  The last two pizzas I have had from other places (white pizzas, I like white pizzas, less indigestion...) seemed to be the new standard of a crust that tastes burned.  I don't like that.  This crust was substantial, just slightly thicker than thin, with a good bite/crunch to it that held up well to the very last bite with no flop at all.  I was a big fan of the pizza and would gladly go back to try more.
  
  For a basic build-your-own cheese pizza (no toppings) and water to drink, my tab was just over $10.  The service was fine, I had no issue with waiting an inordinate amount of time for my pizza at 5:30 - it actually got to the table pretty darn fast and it was smoking hot.  My water was kept filled and my waitress was pleasant.  Aside from it being very loud with some items a little on the pricy side, I would definitely return for the pizza.

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  Posted on 07.11.13 Amy C.

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  Great Service.  Excellent local beer selection.  The food is really good

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  Posted on 07.10.13 Philip H.

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  Gotta say- they nailed it. 5-star draft beer list, great atmosphere, strong offering for a menu. Weston was our bartender. Knowledgeable about the menu-and recommended a couple of appetizers.  For a Sunday night this place was perfect.  They closed at 10, but didn't rush us out.  Finally found a place that Carmel Road needed.  Looking forward to going back with the gents and exploring the beer menu a little further

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  Posted on 07.07.13 K B.

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  Finally a real Italian menu....best cheese steak this side of Pat's or Gino's......they got Wiz!  
  
  And the local beer selection washes it all down in style..... a new CLT landmark is born

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  Posted on 07.03.13 Joe G.

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  I was really impressed when we walked into the Rusty Onion. They must have put a lot of money into renovating the space - it looks great (no idea how it used to look tho).
  
  We sat at the bar for a couple drafts and to share a pizza. They have a good selection of Charlotte & NC beers at a great price, score! We started with the Greek Salad - it was really big and the dressing and ingredients were A-OK (except for the dried cranberries, that threw me off). For our pizza, we shared the Great Balls of Fire - a meatball pizza with tomatoes and red peppers. We ordered ours with banana peppers instead. All-in-all the ingredients were fresh, but everything about it was just bland. Almost like the dough needed some salt or something?
  
  The bartenders were fairly "green" but they did check on us, we just got the vibe that the restaurant hired a lot of inexperienced people.
  
  Overall, we liked the Rusty Onion, but I doubt we'll be back. Definitely not my favorite pizza in Charlotte.

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  Posted on 07.02.13 Amanda F.

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  I've been here twice within days of opening.    The pizzas were great....We love the creative menu.  They Rusty Onion app is delicious, although it would be nice to have more toppings with the chips. Their version of the Philly cheese steak is excellent (have not tried it with the cheese whiz yet).  The tempura mushroom batter appetizer is delicious too. We also devoured the Canolis...mmmm. And oh yeah...The craft beer selection alone is worth coming out for by itself. The beer comes out at the perfect temperature for enjoying this kind of quality.  I have read some of the other reviews....In my experience, you cannot expect glitch free experiences the first week or so of a newly opened establishment,especially one pulling off a menu like this.....Not a franchise, but locally home grown restaurant.  Be patient people!    Fresh food, great beer and a very cool atmosphere make this a great destination.

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  Posted on 07.01.13 Dave C.

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  Ate there last Friday, sort of a taste test to see what they offer, my first time. Had The Rusty Onion appetizer, fried/baked flatbread pieces, with a thick dipping mixture and marinated onions, both in very small containers hooked to the basket of bread. Not very good, bread overdone, difficult to get both sides on it, and neither side all that good. Also got the Buffalo Wings, which only come in HOT, although they do offer other types of wings aside from Buffalo style. They were very hot, but did have some flavor. Unfortunately, the wings right around the corner in the same plaza, at Flip N Chicken, are much better, and less money. I then ordered a main course, the Meatball Ravioli. 30 minutes later, without anyone ever serving me the ravioli, I got up, left a $20 to cover what I had eaten, and left. Very disappointing and I won't be back, nor will the people who were depending on my advance scouting to see if they wanted to try it. Not impressed with the menu variety at all. Carmela's Pizza, the restaurant that used to occupy that space, had great pizza and wings. Too bad they are no longer there.

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  Posted on 07.01.13 Gary S.

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  I'm sure I will need to update this review in a few weeks when we visit the restaurant again.  We went on one of their first nights open, and I believe that you have to be patient with a restaurant that just opened!   We live close by and have been watching the space anticipating the opening.
  
  Great little pizza place with tons of TVs and local beers on draft.  The pizza options were awesome....there are a bunch on their menu I can't wait to try.  I ordered the cheeseburger pizza this time - it was good.  
  
  Our main problem was the appetizer we ordered was nothing like how it was described on the menu.....it was missing the spinach and pesto, plus they added salsa to the bread instead of bruschetta, yuck!   But after bringing it to the manager's attention, they fixed this and brought us a new one.  I would think that they would have removed this item from our bill, but it was still on there.

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  Posted on 07.01.13 Heather J.

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  I had a great time. I hate that Ashley A. had a bad first experience, and truly hope that she will give this place a second chance. They might have had a rough start, but they definitely had their stuff together for the dinner rush.
  
  We got there and saw a couple of chairs open at the bar and decided to head over there. As soon as we sat down the bartender came over, introduced herself and asked what we would like to drink and if we needed menus.
  
  We ordered our appetizer while we sipped on our first beer - they have a nice selection to choose from by the way. When we got The Rusty Onion, we dug right in. It was a GREAT start to our meal. The caramelized onions, pita chips and sauce are a perfect combination, with just the right amount of spice. Shortly after getting our appetizer, we decided to go ahead and put in our dinner order.
  
  We couldn't choose just one pie, so we got two personal sized (10") pies - The Eye-talian Stallion and the Cheeseburger Dy-no-mite. I have been thinking of coming up with my own Italian sub-style pizza, before I really had the chance to do it on my own, BOOM! I find it at The Rusty Onion. The Eye-talian Stallion is exactly what I had in mind, plus some. The Kalamata olives and artichokes really make this pizza pop. The Cheeseburger Dy-no-mite is the perfect compromise if you can't decide whether you want a pizza or a burger, and it even comes complete with their special sauce drizzled over freshly-shredded lettuce. We couldn't have been happier with the choices we made.
  
  The food all came out hot and timely. Our bartender was very attentive, without being intrusive to our evening, and we ended up staying for a few more rounds than we had planned.  This place is a must to put on your list of places to try. I am looking forward to trying out more items from their menu.

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  Posted on 06.29.13 Joe B.

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  Worst experience I've had at a restaurant in quite awhile. I understand that it was their first day open, but it was a disaster to say the least. I had high hopes of going to this restaurant because they had gluten free pizza & because I have celiac disease, I rarely get to indulge in such luxury items. I walked into The Rusty Onion with very high hopes. My mom finally had a day where she could meet me for lunch, so not only was I excited to try something new, I was excited to spend some quality time with her. Needless to say, our time was spent bickering and complaining about the lack of service we received at this restaurant. When we sat down our waitress came to greet us and she was 'less than pleasant'. She never brought us our drinks and we had to ask nearly 4 other servers if we could get a simple tea & water. After this 'fiasco', we had to ask a few other servers for straws. 30 minutes go by and we still had yet to receive our food. Like most average people of the area, we do not have 2-3 hour lunch breaks, so timing is everything. As time began to slip away, my mother and I had to ask to see a manager. The manager told us that they were very 'backed up' despite the fact that the restaurant wasn't even a forth of the way full. Everyone around us was either angry or getting up & leaving at this point. As you could probably guess, my mom and I had to leave when I had 15 minutes left of my lunch break. So not only did I leave angry, I left very hungry. The manger did however ask if we wanted 'to go' drinks. Apparently a 'to go' water was supposed to appease the situation. I assure you, it did not.

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  Posted on 06.28.13 Ashley A.

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