Enjoying Rustler's Rooste on my Bday last year.

So if you’re a frequent reader of iTourAZ.com you saw our “Eat More Rattlesnake” posting a couple months back. If you didn’t, let me give you a quick synopsis: we heart Rustler’s Rooste. That’s right a few months ago we professed our love for Rustler’s Rooste. I think we told you that we had been long time fans of this great restaurant. Well just to prove it I wanted to share with you a paper I wrote in my freshman year of college at ASU. I think the assignment was to “show through words” as opposed to “telling”… well I don’t claim that I did a fantastic job of that, but as you can see it definitely proves that we’ve loved the Rooste for a while now! So here it is in its entirety, enjoy!

From the moment you enter the Marriott resort center, you know you’re in for something special. As you slowly wind up the mountain towards Rustler’s Rooste you are constantly getting a better view of Phoenix. Rustler’s Rooste is a very unique restaurant. It combines both a fine dining experience and a fun dining experience. People of all sorts come from all around to eat there. There are cowboys, rich people, white trash, and common people alike. After you either park the car or ask the Valet to do for you, you enter the restaurant through the side of the mountain. Next to the entrance there’s a giant bull named Horny (because of the fact that he is a longhorn steer). As you enter the restaurant the smell of food cooking overcomes you, and it sets your taste buds alive.
Rustler’s Rooste was built almost 35 years ago by two people from Tempe. These people built the restaurant from scratch. They poured the concrete and built the tables in the morning, while they ran the restaurant and bar at night. In 1981 the Rooste became the main attraction of the point on South Mountain resort. However, on May 3, 1985 there was an electrical fire. This fire came very close to completely destroying the restaurant. The people who worked there loved the place so much that the very next morning at 6 AM they started cleaning up the place and had the kitchen in working order by the end of the day. Since Rustler’s Rooste opened back up for business it has served 89 tons of red meat, 27,600 pounds of ribs, 17,000 chicken wings, and 3 tons of rattlesnake. There are lots of other statistics but I won’t go into them, and if you are still interested they have them at the Rooste.
Rustler’s Rooste is located on the side of South Mountain in Phoenix. After entering the front door, you walk up a slightly inclined old hardwood floor. On both sides of you are the sheer rock walls of the mountain. A feeling comes over you as you walk up the ramp to the dining area. It is almost as if you have been transported back to the 19th century. As you walk up to the spot where the host stands you can see down to the main dining floor and out the big windows. The view out of the window is absolutely gorgeous. You can see the whole valley and all the lights with the mountains in the background fading slowly away. The hostess behind the counter is wearing a button up collared shirt, black jeans, and cowboy boots. On her head she wears a headset which she can talk to the other hosts or hostesses with, and this sets her apart from the waiters. Once you have told the hostess the name that the reservation is under she leads you off to where you are seated. To get to your seat you have to cross over a wooden bridge. The wooden bridge takes you over the sheer rock side of the mountain, where they have a waterfall running down the side of it. Once over the bridge, you come to a giant slide that goes from the second floor to the first floor, where the main dining areas is at. You can choose to take the slide down or you can take the stairs down. Your hostess then leads you across the dance floor, which is scattered with sawdust, in front of the band and to your table.
After you sit down the waiter arrives and ask you if there’s anything that you would like to drink. He then takes your drink order and tells you that he will be right back with your drinks and complimentary bread, and to see if you are ready to order. He then leaves. The menu itself adds to the whole atmosphere of the place. It is printed on an old yellowish white paper, and it tells the whole story behind Rustler’s Rooste. Everything is named in cowboy lingo. For instance, there is the “Rustler’s cut”, the “Trail Boss”, the “Cattlemen’s”, the “Bronco Burger”, and rattlesnake. They also have areas for people who don’t like steak. For instance they have “The Fishin Hole” for people who want fish, and they also have a section titled “Hey Grazers! (Vegetarians)”, which simply says that they “will have cookie (the chef) whip up something vegetarian (without any meat in it).” The meals range anywhere from $8.95 to $21.95. Our waiter comes back with complementary bread (biscuits and Indian fry bread), which I must say is quite exquisite, and takes your order. He is very polite and takes care to make sure he has everything correct before taking the orders to the cook.
Outside the sun is setting providing a very romantic picturesque view. There is a big group of people outside eating corn on the cob which is being grilled next to a bonfire that the people are sitting around. The waiter returns moments later to refill our drinks and bread basket. I asked him if it would be all right if I asked him some questions about his job. He says that he would be more than happy to answer any questions that I have. “So how long have you been working here?” I ask. “About four years,” he replies. Then I asked how he got into the job and how he actually got the job, to which he replied that he was going to school at ASU and needed the money, and that he actually got the job through a friend. “How much do you get paid,” I asked. “I get a base pay of $2.35 an hour plus tips, but it works out to somewhere around $20 an hour.” Then I asked him what kind of clientele usually comes through the Rooste. He said that in the summer it was mostly locals, with businesses and corporate executives. When I asked him if he had many famous people (which there are lots of that come through the Rooste) he said that he had met Herschel Walker and Ricky Henderson. He also said that there was a list by the guest book that had all the other famous people that had never been there. Some of these names include: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mr. T., Kirk Douglas, Wilt Chamberlain, Mike Ditka, Richard Dreyfuss, Don Shula, Michael Jackson, Magic Johnson, Steve Martin, Madonna, Dan Marino, Robin Williams, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan, John Travolta, Bo Schembechler, and Dick Van Dyke. He said that the best part of the job is working only nights and that the pay was great.
The people sitting next to us overhear me asking the waiter questions and start remarking about how much they love the place. They also include how much more often they would come it wasn’t so expensive.
After finishing my meal, which was the “Bronco Burger”, and included the Burger, a salad, fries, and cowboy beans all of which was served on a big metal plate/bowl’s and was absolutely divine, we paid the bill and got up to leave. On your way out you pass by a display case that is filled with T-shirts, jewelry, Rattlesnake key chains, hat tacks, belts, paperweights, knives, and antique guns. As you exit you notice a giant guestbook filled with names and addresses from all over the world, and written in several different languages. I then go home with my belly full and my pockets empty and a big smile on my face because even though my stomach hurts from eating so much and my wallet is now a lot lighter it was well worth it because it is such a great restaurant.

So, there you have it in all its glory! Not too shabby for a freshman year English paper by a guy from little old Dryden, Michigan. What grade did I get you ask? Well I got a “B” on this paper the professor said the following:

“Josh, this is good — it makes me want to go. You tend to go a little overboard in the step-by-step details (we can assume the waiter leaves) you also may have wanted to interview someone else — the Cook or the hostess or even the waiter. This may have required more visits at a profile of a good place should be based on more than one visit.”

So that’s the skinny, like I said we LOVE Rustler’s Rooste! Now head on over and enjoy yourselves a rattlesnake!

Tags: Dining, Phoenix, Restaurants, Rustler's Rooste, South Mountain, Tempe, Things to do in Phoenix