My love for West Coast Florida seafood has been well-known amongst the constant readers (the three of you) and the family (the three of you). But, some of you may notice that there is a total lack of visits to the east coast for seafood. With the exception of Miami (which barely qualifies as East Coast, its more like Gulf Keys), this blog has yet to garnish a visit to the Atlantic coast for seafood. This changes now. Rusty’s is on the edge of Port Canaveral with 60+ years of experience from the owners under its belt. With rave reviews and strong feedback from the locals in the Cocoa/Cape area, this is the select location for my maiden voyage for Atlantic seafood.
The location of this restaurant is right dab in the middle of a busy street full of locally run restaurants and shops. Plenty of potential visits in the near future can occur here. Unlike most of the others however, the business was booming inside Rusty’s. The activity however was a lot of old-schoolers, and folks of the older age range. So single men, this is not the prime location for picking up women. The waitresses and hostesses were very nice and friendly though; they made up for the lack of subtle energy coming from the customers.
The menu like most of the seafood joints I’ve visited in Florida is quite diverse in items and types of seafood. Special note though: they have an early bird special, but it runs in the latter hours of the afternoon—3:00 until 6:00. I was too early for the early bird special. Hmmm. Anyway, back to the review, the menu is diverse, and the price rage is extensive too. You can get a nice fish sandwich at less than 8 bucks, but their most popular item, the encrusted mahi-mahi, decks in at a highish $18. This honestly isn’t bad for seafood, as it comes with a salad and a side. I wanted to try their gator bits, but when I went they were out of them. So I went with the coconut shrimp and then went with the mahi-mahi.
The salad arrived first, which was a small plate with some fresh greens and good blend of cheese and dressing. The coconut shrimp was fantastic though, as it wasn’t stuffed with too much batter and provided plenty of shrimp. It ranks up there with Margaritaville in Orlando as among the better coconut shrimp I’ve ever had. After a little bit more of a wait the main course arrived. My brother ordered the same thing as me, but we got different sides. He got potatoes, and I got the pasta. I am pretty sure I was an Italian pirate in the past, since I am in love with pasta, so that was the obvious sides choice. Other choices include fries and rice.
The mahi-mahi was unbelievable, I was very impressed. The only mahi-mahi that defeats it is Crabby Bills in the Clearwater area, but it wasn’t off by far. This mahi-mahi was much bigger and much thicker than that of Crabby Bills, but the outer crust wasn’t as much of an enhancer as the honey mustard on the west coast. But don’t let that deter you, as the mahi here is impressive to the core. Thick, juicy, and very delicious indeed. This was the prime food of my visit. Michael loved his fish as well, and he’s not even much of a seafood guy.
Then came the sides. Oh no. Most unfortunately, the sides were not as good as they could have been. The potatoes were fresh and came out hot, but there was not much added to it. I work for Disney and I know how their fantastic mashed potatoes are made: with a secret mix of milk, butter, salt, and other ingredients. There was no evidence that they added any of this to out potatoes. My pasta was interesting, because the sauce was underneath the pasta. Now, it takes a lot of effort to make me hate pasta, but like the potatoes there was not much added to the side dish of pasta. A little extra sauce could have saved this. And this is all a shame because they had to compliment an amazing fish. Very seldom does a dish not fully deliver because of the sides rather than the main item.
Dessert mildly saved the experience. I ordered their popular orange cake, which tasted like a tasty and flavorful creamsickle. That being said, Crabby Bills is up to its old tricks by one-upping this dessert with their variation of an orange cake. Crabby’s was a bit bigger and richer. Michael’s white chocolate cake was good, but I didn’t get much white chocolate flavor, which has a very distinctive taste. Nonetheless, it was creamy and full of good sugary fun. Trish, our waitress, was more than helpful and caring during a busy afternoon, so none of the mild negativity I have placed in this review will be placed on her. She made my visit there a bit more enjoyable.
Bottom Line: The potential is definitely there, as evidenced with their appetizer, dessert, and wonderful fish. But the little things, from the awkward timing of their specials to the lack of certain foods to the disappointing sides prevent it from being a truly great restaurant that ranks up there with those from the West Coast. I’ve had some fantastic seafood in the past year, all in the Tampa Bay area, so its going to be hard for any seafood place to impress me from here on out (especially with wild items like the epic seafood pizza I've had before). But Rusty’s is no mild pushover—they have great service, decent prices, and a nice view. Their success I am sure can be justified; it was just hard to justify with my visit. Maybe next time, I’ll get luckier. In the meantime, I highly recommend you try their mahi-mahi, even if their sides needs some help.
Verdict: Mildly Recommend
Rusty's
628 Glen Cheek Drive
Cape Canaveral, FL 32920
(321) 783-2033
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