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Rusty's Backwater Saloon

4.3 (35 reviews)
InexpensiveBeer Bar
Open • 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

Rusty's Backwater Saloon Photos

Business Info

RUSTY'S BACKWATER SALOON ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Outdoor seating
Good for groups

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Bloody Mary with beef stick, mozzarella strings, pepperonis, lemon slice and banana pepper rings. Zippy pickle and garlic flavor.

Bloody Mary was delicious! We bought a variety of food and everything was hot and delicious. A wonderful surprise in the middle of nowhere.

Rusty & me! Cheers!
Joyce W.

Back again and there is more "stuff" to look at! Lots of Rusty Drinks to choose from. Of course lots of beers and lots to choose from their bottle selection. A relaxed and fun place to make new friends. Fun local and friendly local watering hole. Be aware of the sharp right turn depending how you enter the parking lot.

Famous Bloody Mary with local cheese and beef stick.

Great dive bar, and not the hipster type. This place is unassuming and little cluttered, but it serves great food and drinks. We sat at the bar and had exceptional service by both the owner and bartender. We arrived at lunchtime to find one other patron at the bar. Their famous Bloody Mary was made proficiently with all the garnishes. One of the best I've had, you can even buy a gallon of the mix to go. A solid pour of bourbon was for my husband. My husband had the special for the day, the gyro. It was a huge portion and delicious. Lots of sauce and fresh red onion. I had the loaded pulled pork with a side of coleslaw. The pork was smothered in lots of barbecue sauce, on a perfectly toasted fresh bun, with cheese and onion rings. We split a small order of their hand cut fries. The fries honestly stole the show. Fresh cut, perfectly cooked. For a small order it was a huge amount. Unexpected and worth ordering again for sure. Everything was delicious! During our visit a liquor rep was visiting and presenting some new products. The owner happily included us in the tasting and evaluation. This place is not for the pretentious, rather for those looking for a great local spot that will make you feel at home. Lastly, don't be startled by the bar cat. The friendly creature seemed like a fixture and fit well with the dive bar motif. (5 stars for the food, drinks, and service, small deduction for the clutter)

Wendy W.

We drove the boat here today. We found it by accident on a river map. It's a little tricky to get there by boat but it was worth it. Rusty himself calls it a dive bar but I thought it was much nicer then that. My husband had the burger he said it was delicious. I had the Wally it was flaky and delicious. It came with Rusty Fry's which are hand cut Fry's very good, it also came with Cole slaw, good. But the bread was something else not wheat bread not white very hardy. The wait staff was excellent and Rusty was very friendly. We will definitely go again.

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3 months ago

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1 year ago

Food and service are both good. Outstanding! Bloody Marys! Fun casual atmosphere! Friendly staff.

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2 years ago

Food especially the cheese burgers are legendary. Add a Bloody Mary and you have the makings of a fun and fine afternoon or evening.

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Review Highlights - Rusty's Backwater Saloon

“As another reviewer said, these will be the bloody marys upon which you judge all others.”

Mentioned in 17 reviews

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Club Forest

Club Forest

3.5(11 reviews)
1.6 mi

It's with a heavy heart that I have to downgrade a restaurant/bar that we truly loved frequenting…read more Today we stopped in for lunch, I ordered the three piece breaded cod fish fry and my wife ordered a mushroom burger, both came with fries. I requested the tartar sauce be substituted with cocktail sauce and my wife requested mayo on her burger. The burger and fish were good as was the service. However we were surprised to see a charge of $2.00 for the cocktail sauce and $1.00 for the mayo for the burger. We went on line and found other people sharing there experiences with up charges they too found on their bill. Some shared surprise at being up charges for butter for baked fish, sour cream for a baked potato, cocktail sauce and tartar sauce too. I found it both sad and humorous that the charge for cocktail sauce and tartar sauce both were $2.00. So, doing the math my request for the substitute should have come out even. While I do understand there can be additional charges, not letting the customer know ahead of time seems to be deceptive. So while the food at Club Forest was still good, the undisclosed additional charges left a bad taste in our mouths.

A bit of a rare, unexpected place in an area not real populated with great restaurants. My parents…read morebrought us here after two good experiences they had. Mom described it as really good food, not gourmet or best you've had, but really solid. And that's exactly what it was. Our whole table loved each of the dishes we got - broiled version of Friday fish fry with really good potato salad, and awesome salads (both the Ahi Tuna and chicken raspberry walnut). All the ingredients were fresh and presented well too. Be prepared for picnic style paper plates...definitely unique but certainly didn't take away from how good the food is or quantities of food. We think it was the owner who seated us, took our orders, and helped me navigate my gluten free needs. He checked on us a few times and seemed genuinely thankful to have us as customers. The place was packed, and he was working just as hard if not harder than any one of his employees. Wow, what a great display of leadership. We will be back for sure. The cozy north woods vibes and beautiful patio (which sadly we didn't enjoy this time due to cold temps) also drew us in. Great experience overall!

Photos
Club Forest - Next to Golden Sands Speedway

Next to Golden Sands Speedway

Club Forest - Pavilion for rent

Pavilion for rent

Club Forest - 12 beers on tap

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12 beers on tap

Rusty's Backwater Saloon - beerbar - Updated November 2026

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