Absolutely the best BBQ in the area! The beef brisket and pulled pork are delicious, and all the sides are excellent as well! Wonderful service in a nice cozy dining area plus a good size bar. Highly recommend! read more

Rusty Hook Saloon and Smokehouse - Beef brisket dinner - Barbeque Near Me - Hayward, Wisconsin

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Decided to give it a try tonight and we were not disappointed. I had the brisket and my wife had the pulled pork. Both were really good and the smokey BBQ sauce was really good. I had onion rings and my wife did the baked potato as our side. Both were good and the dinners came with corn bread, baked beans, and coleslaw. Waitress was great and the food came fast. This place is definitely on our list for up north and wish we'd tried it sooner! read more

Came here based on the recommendation of Gerald from across the street. They had a nice selection of beer, beer bucket specials for the Packer game, and pretty good pork. We had the ribs and the brisket. The brisket was a little dry but the ribs were good. Awesome selection of bbq sauces! read more

Rusty Hook Saloon and Smokehouse - Ribs! - Barbeque Near Me - Hayward, Wisconsin

First time we tried this place. Pretty good BBQ! we had a fantastic waiter. They were soooo busy... covid etc , yet the wait staff were working super hard. We will come back. read more

Rusty Hook Saloon and Smokehouse - LOGO & BEER - Barbeque Near Me - Hayward, Wisconsin

Great wine choices, and had terrific conversation, which was good because I came in solo.

So happy to post this update! Went there this summer because my brother said he's had only great experiences. So we decide to join him and I am so glad we did and have this place another shot. The food was excellent and so was the service. My husband actually said he had the best prime rib he has ever had here!!! My brisket was excellent and so was my daughters pulled pork. Will defiantly make this a regular place each summer now! Excellent on all fronts!! 2 years ago I gave them 1 star, not for service but for food. I figured it was a cook/staffing issue and let me tell you I enjoyed this place so much this time I removed my old review as not to discourage anyone because wow the food was great!! read more

We have come here 3 times now in the last 6 months and have not been disappointed ever. The food is way above average and the service is stellar. Stop here and check them out. read more

One of the few BBQ style restaurants in this area. Good variety of sandwiches and smoked meat dishes. Great bbq choices to compliment your meals. Friendly atmosphere for the entire family. Plenty of beer and drink options- which is expected at any Wisconsin establishment! Excellent service by their staff especially Jackie read more

Rusty Hook Saloon and Smokehouse - a chicken sandwich and fries - Barbeque Near Me - Hayward, Wisconsin

Went there to have dinner. My wife ordered a brisket sandwich. 19.00 for a bun with a 1/4 cup of ground up meat on it and some potato chips. For 19 bucs you think they could have served it with fries anyway. My ribs were dried out and cold. Never go there again! read more

Awesome food and very friendly staff! Good Fish or shrimp but awesome smoked brisket.

We had a good experience here at the Rusty Hook. Read the other reviews and agree with some of the them. The menu is good but long descriptions of each item with the main ingredient being on the second or third line. A little pricey for this area and will struggle to get the locals to come here. The food was really good - had the brisket sandwich. Talked to several people about their experience here and it seems they are not consistent with their food preparation. We'd go back but not sure we want to pay the price. read more

Excellent brisket! Service was great! We came in with a large party and they were outstanding with all the commotion. Def recommend!!

We noticed that a new restaurant opened on the site of a couple of supper clubs of fond memory, and we were curious as to whether the Rusty Hook was going to go in that direction. In one word, nah. A look at their appetizer/sandwich menu, and we found that pretty much every menu item was named for a fishing lure or some other northwoodsy thing. The end result was that you had to read the descriptions closely to figure out whether you were getting beef, chicken, or pork. (No fish to be found on their menu, strangely enough for this area,) I ordered a Suick. (Yes, that's how it's spelled, as in the Suick musky lure.) Why it was named for that lure, I do not know, because it was your typical bacon cheeseburger with bleu cheese and cajun seasoning. My wife had a Dreamcatcher, which was some sort of pulled BBQ chicken. The food itself: my Suick was a pretty decent bacon cheeseburger; the bleu cheese crumbles were on the strong side but worked pretty well with the burger, but I think the cheese overpowered the blackened seasoning since I really couldn't taste any heat. My wife reported the chicken to be on the bland side, and the pineapple BBQ sauce they provided was so chunky it couldn't be squeezed through the plastic dispenser. Service: overall, good. We got our order in a reasonable amount of time but we had to go to the bar to get refills on our soft drinks. Finally, on the way out, I noticed that they had little menu takeaway flyers, one for the appetizer/sandwich menu we ordered from... and a separate "BBQ" menu for their BBQ entrees which they sort-of forgot to show us. Had we seen that first we would definitely have ordered from what should have been their signature menu. I had hoped for better, we wanted to like them, but they fell short of our expectations. You can go into town for much better BBQ, and you can walk not too far down the road for better sandwiches. Rusty Hook failed to catch us. By the way, keep an eye out for the signs where they tell you about the 3% surcharge when you pay with plastic. read more

Ordered a brisket sandwich with onion rings. It was dry and the onion rings were burnt

We went to this bbq place last week. We've been there 3 times and twice the smoker was not working. That seems a bit odd. Wisconsin law states that masks are required in restaurants and bars now. Not a single staff member at the Rusty Nail wore a mask, nor were the tables spaced as required. We found this upsetting, but decided to stay since it wasn't very crowded. The most upsetting event was yet to come. The waitress forgot my biscuit, and when I asked for it, she actually carried it from the kitchen in her hand.... no plate, no napkin, just her fingers. I was so shocked I could barely speak. I asked for one that she hadn't touched and she said "oh yeah." She returned with one in a cup but of course I assumed it was the same biscuit and couldn't eat it. What a disaster. Additionally, our brisket was dried out and seemed days old. We will never return there! read more

This place was suggested by a local. The pulled pork with bacon was out of this world. I wish I could stay in town longer so that I could try more stuff. read more

Stopped by the Rusty Hook for lunch last week, and pleasantly surprised overall. Great service, delicious sandwich (I had the Tally Wacker, with brisket and homemade slaw) and fun atmosphere. A group of vintage snowmobile riders arrived and we all had a great time! Highly recommend! read more

Walked in and was told to seat ourselves, then we were ignored for the next 5-10 minutes-no menus, no "I'll be right with you". Heard another patron trying to find her waitress so we walked out. Need some restaurant management skills in this place, we eat out all the time and are just not used to this level of poor service. Went to Treeland which had amazing service and food. read more

Disappointing. Never even got in the door. Advertised they are open on Tuesdays during snowmobile season. Well great snow on Tuesday 2/12 and not open! Won't be on my list of future stops. read more

Great BBQ. Worth the wait. Definitely worth the trip!!! We came with a party of 9 people and no one was disappointed with their food. Everyone got either the pulled pork or brisket. Sides were excellent and offered so much food that we took some home. read more