Review Rusty Pelican - Red Deer

Ordered take out and feel ripped off. I ordered the steak medium and it came blue rare and tough not tender. So disappointed I can’t even eat my lunch. Soup was good

It is a great place for some food. I took my girlfriend here for a date, and the food was excellent. I had their sirloin burger and it was great! Their barcelona stir fry is pretty tasty too! The staff is friendly and overall it is a great place to visit. Whether you want to celebrate a promotion, have a get together, or go on a date etc. This place gives has a nice vibe. 😁

My fiancè and I had gone to Rusty Pelican for our anniversary and it was a wonderful experience. The atmosphere and staff was welcoming and sophisticated! Not to mention the best cocktails and seafood I've ever had! Definitely our new favorite spot, you must check out this restaurant!

Hidden gem. So bougie for Red Deer, I'd expect something like this more in a large city, which is a huge compliment for this restaurant! Haven't had escargot since I was last in Paris, France. They were great! Fish was a little dry but the oysters were good!

Oil-free Vegans have a challenge ordering anything beyond a glass of water in most North American restaurants these years - so it was particularly impressive to have a caring service staff willing to engage on the details of how to get an acceptable meal into position. The kind server subsequently brought the cook to our table to ensure that they were able to produce an adequate and tasty outcome - including an off-menu optional suggestion, which was accepted. One of the better and most enjoyable meals out this year. Highly recommended.

We were seated and waited for our server for at least 15 minutes. The other server had customers after us and had taken their order. She approached our server to come take our order. The server apologized but really didn’t apologize for being so long. Then she was quite rude and snippy with us. It was a quiet afternoon so we were surprised at how long it took to get served. The food was great thank goodness so that made up for such poor service.

Sat down at 530pm Saturday. Four adults. Took one hour and 15 minutes to get to our main meal after the appetizer mussels that were a 6 out of 10. Great tasting sauce but a lot of empty shells. Mains seemed like they were sitting under a heat lamp for a bit. Last but not least 4$ for extra limes. Won't be returning or recommending this what use to be a great place for a good all round meal.

Terrific, friendly service and great food and atmosphere. Want to say a bit pricey but then I remember that the pandemic has raised prices all around, on everything. Well worth the money and will have to go back again soon.

Absolutely loved my meal. The seafood was amazing. A place that definitely knows how to properly cook scallops. Highly recommend the Thai linguine. Coconut prawns were also a great appetizer. Atmosphere was amazing and the service was outstanding. I highly recommend this place for good quality seafood at a reasonable price :). I will definitely be going back!!

I was here on October 28 for a lovely surprise birthday and had the best service and meal. Everyone at the table loved their food and our waitress was A+ . Highly recommend and will definitely be back. Thank you so much Rusty Pelican! 🖒�🖒

I love this place - just kind of feels like home. The food is great and I love the cleanliness here-attention to detail

Ordered medium rare beef tenderloin. More like rawhide-loin. I asked the waitress to make me a new steak, but then the manager came out to argue with me that it really was medium rare. This steak was barely pink, mostly Brown. The challenge from the staff was worse than the steak. Avoid the beef. Other diners in my group were happy with their seafood.

After dining here before ( great the first time), I decided to come again for Mother’s Day, today with my family. Very disappointed this time, after waiting 30 minutes for our appetizer, out server came and told us there had been a “ mix up” in the kitchen, finally it came. However we waited another 30 minutes again for our meal, with no explanation this time. My meal was lukewarm, my son and Mom, who had ordered burgers, were quite taken back to discover frozen patties and processed cheese for $16! My daughter in law had sushi which was ok she said, and my husband had the prime rib, which was good he said. However he did order a wedge salad which came chopped! I will say that our server was EXCELLENT and got the tip she deserved. Not sure what happened here tonight, perhaps new kitchen staff, or some other problem unbeknownst to us. All of this for $200. We will not be back.

Rating this with one star is being generous. The hostess was slightly rude when we asked to be seated at a booth instead of a table and things did not get better from there. The taco shell for the Taco Salad was stale, cold and tasted like the inside of a fridge smells. , we eat taco salad often at other places in town and NEVER has the shell been served COLD, this would mean that it is pre-made and not fresh. The Chicken Cordon Blu had a very strange breading that did not taste right. When we spoke with the manager she was very VERY rude to us saying that "The chef is always right." We will not be back to this establishment and I would suggest that unless you have no tastes buds and no issue with rude staff, stay away from this place.

The food was fantastic-you could cut the steak with a fork! Waitress was fast and full of great recommendations!

Check out their $10 lunch specials. Absolutely one of the best bargains in town. Great food.

Fabulous food and not a Franchise!!!! Great combination of flavors all presented wonderfully! Service is top-notch!! Best Caesar Salad EVER!!!! Now I am hungry!!!!

No place I would rather spend my Friday evening then at The Rusty Pelican. Great relaxing dinner with great friends, Great service and Great Meals. Best Fine dining in Red Deer!

Food was fantastic! Fast and Friendly Service! Will definitely be back!

Food and Service alway excellent. Lunch was awesome �

Fantastic Margarita flatbread at Rusty Pelican today. Spot on service and warm and inviting ambience. Recommend reservations for evening because this place gets busy. Would recommend to others.

How much do I love Rusty Pelican let me count the ways! The extensive wine list for sure. Best place in Red Deer to meet up with friends for a bottle of wine and just enjoy the ambiance. I personally recommend the Prime rib and slow roasted BBQ ribs. One of the few places in town where you order your steak exactly how you like it and actually get it that way. Service is always great and portion sizes are very good. Did I mention Chocolate Utopia cake? I have never left that restaurant without a slice to go. I highly recommend Rusty Pelican.

Came to have lunch with my mother in law around 1245 on a Tuesday. Our server was wearing sandals with no nylons or anything. Her fake nails were so long! That's not right for the food industry!!! We waited at least 25 minutes for our food. 2 other tables that ordered after us got their food first. I ordered the chicken quesadilla for lunch, asked for no peppers. Instead I got lettuce and 1 tomato in it. No onions or anything. Pretty sure she punched in chicken wrap and then realized afterwards what she had done. I had to ask another server to check on our food. For being a Tuesday and not busy, this was really not acceptable.

The ambience and service from the wait staff was average but the food and service from management was terrible. I ordered the prime rib and it tasted and appeared as though it had been boiled. Not only that but the management would not take it back nor would they take it off the bill.

I don't understand how this place isn't busier or full all the time. Every time I have been here the food has been excellent and the service has been superb. Aesthetically the restaurant is beautiful. It's not dated or cheesy. Everything just kinda works......it's has a great atmosphere. It's quiet and quaint. Maybe that's why it's seems to attract an older demographic. And that's not a bad thing...it's just that a place like this should be visited by all people. Families, couples, first dates, etc. <br/>Of all the things thou, the Lime Tequila chicken must be tried at least once. It's a fantastic dish. It's unique and one of my personal favourites. <br/>The Rusty Pelican is simply a great hidden gem that deserves so much more.

My parents live in Calgary, and I live in Edmonton. Semi-regularly we meet for lunch in Red Deer (to save either one of us driving the whole way), and decided to check out The Rusty Pelican, as we had driven by it before.<br/><br/>We drove in and parked, but never went inside. Unfortunately, plastered on the front door was an advertisement for the movie 'Vaxxed'. For those unaware, 'Vaxxed' is a fraudulent film produced by the anti-vaccine movement. It features debunked 'studies', a doctor who was charged with fraud and had his license pulled, and outright lies - absolutely nothing that is supported by medical science or physicians around the world.<br/><br/>I refuse to support an establishment that gives credit and advertising space to such a movie. I don't know if the owners support the anti-vax movement or if they didn't know what they were putting up, but ether way I will never be returning. It is unfortunate that The Rusty Pelican doesn't show more care and concern about our children and society in general.

On the weekend I travelled to Red Deer to meet some friends for dinner and enjoy one of the city's restaurant offerings.  My research revealed the Rusty Pelican as a seafood restaurant in Alberta with ridiculously cheap prices so that's what we tried.I have to say I really wanted to love this place.  The prices are ridiculously cheap.  And they specialize in seafood - in Alberta - how bad can it be?  Well, it wasn't bad but it was just okay.  Granted, when I arrived I was a little flustered.  The drive from Edmonton consisted of constant strong pouring rain and lightening - not a relaxing drive to say the least (the drive home was in beautiful sunshine though so made up for it).  Then when I arrived in Red Deer I had a very hard time finding the restaurant (my GPS told me I was 26.6 km away when I was actually driving in front of the restaurant and missing it's somewhat hard to see sign).  So I arrived late and not at all relaxed.  Our server immediately attended our table looking to take my drink order.  While normally a would appreciate that, I needed a few minutes to say hello to my friends and check out the wine list and she was wearing a lot of perfume (who does that these days?)  I'm allergic so I got sick which I admit likely impacted my overall experience.  The ambiance was just okay.  The restaurant encompasses a large room with somewhat odd decorations that don't quite fit and odd seating.  We were seated at a very small round table.  For three of us it was really tight.  Four would have been very uncomfortable.  The do have a nice brick oven though.  As for the food, again it was just okay. My friend's starter salad looked very nice and the blue cheese dressing was nice and chunky with blue cheese chunks.The seafood chowder was highly recommended so I had to try a cup.  It was chocked full of great seafood.  It was a little salty (and I love salt) and spicy (chili flakes I believe) but overall was good. I also tried a couple of Oysters Rockefeller.  You can buy them individually so I got two.  They were just okay.They have an interesting menu with lots of variety and unique dishes.  This is a chicken dish with a great sauce - maybe chipotle, maybe tequila, can't quite remember but something Mexican-ish. My girlfriend ordered the trout with honey and nuts.  It looked dry to me but my girlfriend said she enjoyed it.I had the duck and was a little scared when our server said that they prepare it well done.  I asked if it could be prepared medium rare and she said she would check with the Chef.  She returned to say that the Chef said that if they cook it any less than medium it will be too tough??  I said I would try it but I was worried.  It actually was quite tasty with a nice orange brandy sauce and a nice crispy skin.  Not bad for $24. My girlfriend then ordered the Chocolate Utopia for dessert, not expecting it to be a cake.  It was good but she was disappointed because it was not exactly what she wanted.  I tried the generous Bavarian Cream that was served with it which was good.  Buck Oysters on Mondays!And for a funny story - cuz Cathy wanted to make the blog (she is the Cathy of Mazatlan blog fame!!  Below is a picture of Cathy's necklace which I commented on as being very nice.  Both her and her husband started laughing.  Turns out that Cathy had forgotten to bring any jewelry for their weekend trip.  So they went to the Dollar Store to find something for her to wear.  She found the necklace below and bought it but when she went to put it on she realized that the centre piece was actually missing a white stone like the ones on the side.  She actually had to pick off the extra glue left on the centre piece before she could wear it.  I think it looks really nice and looks like she paid more than the $3 she did!

Great atmosphere, good service, need better chefs. I like everything about this restaurant except the inconsistency of the food. I think they must have one good chef and one terrible one. The menu is great if you actually get fresh food that's cooked properly. Advice to Rusty: do a chef/cook evaluation! This place could be great again.

Inconsistant. Been there four times and each time it gets worse - too bad because the first time was excellent and good service always - food is expensive which is fine if it is good but you never know what you are going to get

Professional service I think not should have done the Calgary Tower. So after many years of celebrating special anniversaries & occasions at the RustynPelican. This last one finished it off not going back. Husband called to book our reservations got to the restraunt they said we didn't have any. Sat us right by the kitchen in a booth. We asked to be moved. We were celebrating our anniversary. The waitress who took us to our table made a comment about " how could u be with someone that long!! Wow now how unprofessional can I get we come to celebrate only to have some tacky should be working in a bar with her big mouth seats us. It is defn not what it used to be. Had a lot more class. And it wasn't cheap .. Came out dropping a $100.00 .. Should have gone to the Calgary Tower. Great Food, professional service!

It was nice, sat on the patio, kids had mac&cheese. Only problem was kids food came out cold, not just cool, but fridge cold! Waitress seemed surprised, and ordered fresh ones for them. But it's getting so frustrating to find a nicer family restaurant that can never screw up something so simple!

I like it!. Perhaps others have had bad experiences, but I haven't. <br/><br/>I've gone several times and every time I go, the service is great. The food is great. Portion size is fair. Your drink is always looked after and the servers always make sure you have what you need. <br/><br/>I usually get the steak sandwich or fish and chips. Even the prime rib is great. <br/><br/>Honestly, give this place a try.

Postmodern nightmare decor. The interior decor of this place is a total Postmodern nightmare. I just cant stand it. Is it an art gallery? Beachside dining? Italian? Shudder.

User reviews. Went there last night great service, huge portions, had the prime rib it was excellent, my hushand had the chef's combo and enjoyed everry bit. our friend also enjoyed their meals. we will definitely go again.

Awesome food and service. I have never had a bad meal in this restaurant....Food is awesome, looks pretty on the plate and the service was top notch....Love the unique look to the restaurant :)

Everything was amazing and our waitress was awesome love her

Never tried the food. Sat down and left. Bad atmosphere bad service. Menu seemed plain poor choices. This restaurant just felt wrong

This is a great restaurant. It one of my favourite places in Red Deer. The food is always good and so is the service.

They get my order wrong about 50 percent of the time. Also the food is bland or else gross. I won't be going back. For the one time 5 years ago that I had a delicious meal it is so not worth

The servece there was aweful, the waitress reached across the table and forgot we were sitting in the restaurant. I ordered the penne pesto with a side of prawns ( as it came with chicken and I wished for an add on), I ended up with over cooked prawns cold pasta and no chicken. I wouldn't eat here again.

Pink Steak. Alfredo french fries were delicious, but the steak my girlfriends father and I were both really underdone (we asked for well done!) Chicken fajita was tasty, it does have a nice atmosphere tho (tropical christmas? I'll take it!)

The worst. Used to go there,<br/>until my steak came with chic peas as a side <br/>is there a cheaper vegetable?? wifes stir<br/>fry was probably from superstore, bland,<br/>never going back

It was sad. I ordered the Chef combo....Roasted potatoes in Rosemary, tasted good but I didn't even get a whole potato. It was 4 pieces of potatoes cut in strips. SOOOOO that means 4 french fries. The shrimp tasted good but only got 3 of them. The shrimp was the size you use for a stir fry not the kabob size. The sirloin steak was very small tough and no seasoning not even salt. The chicken breast tasted good but was also just a thin slice off a chicken breast. The one thing that was big was the plate. The food looked so small on the big plate. I left the restaurant hungry and I am NOT a big eater. I wont be back

Will not be returning. We will no longer eat at Rusty Pelican having patronized this restaurant for years, after last night. Besides the fact that my meal arrived after my appetizer, just bites into it, the owner worked the kitchen on behalf of a sick employee. Our server was too afaid to return my meal to keep it warm, and she was too aftraid to tell him, for us, to stop yelling and swearing at his staff, because he would yell at her. We spoke to the owner this morning on the phone, but he made up too many excuses, so we gave up speaking to him.

Worst date night ever. We have been going to Rusty Pelican for several years and watched as it went down hill but last night was the final straw, after being seated at a nice table and having our candle lit the waitress brought our menus my wife ordered a salad and we ordered our meals at the same time. She got her salad and then the F bombs started flying out of the kitchen and then before my wife was half way through her salad our plates showed up and was shoved onto our table as the language and yelling continued to get worse from the kitchen. When we expressed disatisfaction about the fact our food came out so quick we were told we were lucky because the supper rush was going to start. We then asked for a manager because the yelling from the kitchen was getting worse, she told us that that was the owner and if she said anything he would yell at her.we were also told it gets worse than that. Not a place i want to support.

Not fabulous at all. I have been to this place a few times and every time i am in the restaurant i have terrible service. The food is OK but not for the price you have to pay.<br/>Great wine.....good place to have a couple drinks....not a good place to eat,

Lounge Only. Ive eaten here quite a few times and have found that the restaurant side has declined over the years. However, the last few times I have been there, I have eaten in the lounge and found the service amazing. The server actually cared, which I havent recieved on the other side in quite a while, and she was happy and knowledgeable. The last time I was there, it was quite and later at night. Usually I dont like to see the staff that seem to be having constant conversation with each other, but the bartender and server had an amazing repore that I think helped the service on both sides of the restaurant, and they invloved my husband and I, which had us laughing so hard and overall making the dinner memorable. I will be back to the bar side!

How is this place still open? I read some reviews about delicious seafood and steaks lol. These people must also enjoy the Ranch House and eat frozen dinners at home on the regular. In the top 5 for worst food and service in Red Deer for sure.

Waste of Money. Three of us ate lunch there two weeks ago - had blackened fish, two quesadillas. Shouldn't have been a stretch for the kitchen, but all dishes were completely overcooked and dry. Very poor value for the money. <br/><br/>Service was adequate.

For 90 bucks I got a skinny over cooked steak and like 4 pieces of cold broccoli. I order a side order of shrimp and they were tiny, to top it all off my gf got a cold pasta dish. I will never go back .......

Fantastic Food & Superb Service. Rusty Pelican has talented chefs and enthusiastic servers! The new menu has exquisite seafood dishes, prime rib and steaks, delicious pastas and the best wine menu of Red Deer! My boyfriend ordered the Seafood Platter and absolutely loved it and I enjoyed every last bite of my Tequila Lime Chicken. We started with their house breaded calamari, crab cakes and portabella & prawns-all absolutely amazing! We shared the Crepes Romanoff which is awesome. We are very impressed! The Christmas lights, ambiance, great music and makes for a very elegant and welcoming dining experience. The time wait for our food was quick and our server was delightful and completely made our evening that more special. Thank-you so much, hands down Rusty Pelican is one of my most favourite restaurants in Red Deer!

HORRIBLE- HIGHLY DON'T RECOMMEND. First time there, I ordered the scallop linguine. The scallops were still frozen in the middle when I received my dish. I was disgusted. I sent it back, and the scallops came back so overcooked they were like rubber. My fiances food was luke warm at best.<br/><br/>Second time there , ordered a chicken dish it was extremely bland and mediocre. My family did not enjoy their dishes either. My mom's pasta was cold, and because she's a nice person she didn;t send it back and I had to watch her struggle through it. The waitress seemed to not know the menu and had no wine knowledge whatsoever. <br/>The decor is dusty, oudated, and looks like a circus as there is such a mish-mash of decorations.<br/>They call themselves a "seafood restaraunt" but they have everything. Steaks, pasta, pizza, salad, etc etc. They try and please everyone yet they end up not doing anything right. <br/>I have been to seafood restaraunts all over the world and them calling themselves seafood restaraunt is emberassing. <br/>Will never go there again.

I love this restaurant. Any time I'm traveling by Red Deer I stop in for a meal. The menu is varied and I can honestly say that in the dozens of times I've been there, I've never had a bad meal. The staff is always friendly. I also enjoy the lounge.

Food Reheated. My husband, son and I thought we'd give this place a try. I have had to lower my expectations whenever trying a new restaurant in Red Deer, sad to say. I ordered a steak salad. The iceberg lettuce was chopped fine and my steak was defiately cooked earlier and reheated in hot italian dressing with sauteed green peppers and onions. The steak was still cold and tough. Too bad, because I've had some great steak salads before. They all usually start with making a nice steak and cut it up on top. My son ordered the cajun style halibut or some kind of fish. It too was reheated from earlier. At least that's what I'm suspecting as it was a bit shriveled and dry and still a bit cold in the middle. My husband had pasta. I am not trying to put out a terrible review to be a negative nelly. We paid $75 for out meal and it was a complete waste. I just really didn't want someone else to make the same mistake. Our server was very friendly and parking was good. Just take care when you choose this restaurant to eat at.

Good seafood!. I'm really surprised this place has bad reviews.. I didn't even look here to see if it was good or not before I went but I'm glad I didn't. I actually really liked this place. If you enjoy seafood, and lots of it, you probably would love it here. We had a large group so we ordered a lot to share. The service was good, we didn't have any problems with them. But I definitely loved the food we got. We had fresh oysters, crabs legs, even chicken and steaks, as well as nachos. I really liked the seafood tower(?) or the one that provides a bucket of seafood. If I ever come down to Red Deer again, I would definitely come to try it again.

Great service (mostly), great food, and great environment.. The Rusty Pelican is a great restaurant, and I am very surprised to read how bad the service was to some people. One of the waitresses there was nominated for Red Deer's best waitress. I know there are a few people there too have some "issues", shall we say, but they are still willing to serve everyone at their best.<br/><br/>The food is the best overall in Red Deer. hands down. And the servers are always willing to customize the menu in any way possible. I mean come on! That makes for a great selection in itself.<br/><br/>Before you enter into the main vestibule (which by the way, is very small), you pass under ceiling-high glass wall, and led into the foyer (honestly, it really isn't a vestibule at all). There, you are greeted by a waitress who will be glad to seat you in the restaurant to your right, the patio outside, or the bar on your left. And the indoor décor add to what is already a romantic/entertaining/family approved (by me) environment.

Sad to say, menu has been rewritten to produce bar food, red deer drove her down, from portobello and 8 shrimp, to mushrooms and 6 to chopped shrooms and 6 small shrimp, from yummy pot stickers with Asian sauces to gooey undercooked dumplings with squeeze bottle dips, a sad day

Waitress forgot about us... Food was average, nothing special. My boyfriend and I went for our anniversary dinner and the waitress forgot about us. She brought our meals to our table, and did not check up on us. She finally noticed us 40 minutes later, and asked if we wanted our bill. Took another 15 minutes for her to come back and let us pay

Decent service, good food. 3 of us ate at the Pelican recently and all 3 of our meals were great. We didn't leave a thing on our plates. The menu is varied, with lots to choose from. We all had seafood and the cedar planked salmon was a standout. Our server was young and inexperienced, but she was getting some tutoring from a more experienced lady and overall, we had a great experience.

Horrible waiting and horrible wait time on food... Too crowed feels like my table is right next to the others. Food alright but not worth the price not the customer service.

Quite nice

The service is HORRIBLE. We used to go there almost twice a month because the food and service was great, but one night we waited 55 minutes for a steak that was rare, but ordered well-done. We asked to see a manager, and the manager kept arguing and interrupting us. We are the "easy" guests wherever we go and we are heavy tippets. Here's a tip: don't eat here