Rusty Dory Pub

It’s not very often that I write a bad review so listen up. I stopped into this place last night around 7 o’clock and I got excited that there was a small stage in the corner with the PA set up and a soundboard. So I went over to check out the soundboard and proceeded to sit at the bar and order a beer. I talked to a few people in the bar inquiring about whether they have live music because my band just finished recording an album and we’re looking to possibly gig in the area. To say that the people that I talk to were rude would be considerate, they wanted nothing to do with me and short of telling me to leave them alone they answered every question with one-​word answers and annoyed expressions. The lone bartender wasn’t very helpful either in fact only saw him once and that was for the drink. Ok He returned once before we left. I don’t know if regulars get treated differently but from my first impression I will never become one.

I give this place 4 stars not because it’s fantastic, but because it is honest. This is a dive bar and a good dive bar at that. Four stars for being the best at being the worst.
From my seat at the bar, I saw all of Pittsburgh: the Pirates on one TV, the Pens on the other. A Steelers cling hanging on the wall next to a Yuengling sign. If I allowed my gaze to wander, I could see an Italian banner hanging proudly nearby.
Food was greasy and reasonably priced. Beers were on tap and served cold. A DJ in jean shorts was setting up and started to play estranged country music. A new genre, perhaps?
The place welcomes you with a curtain of smoke that encourages you to leave any preconceived notions at the door. Get a Yuengling, jeer at the Pens and sit a while. This is Pittsburgh, yinz.

Maybe I just hit the place at the wrong time, every time.
My experiences here have been very consistent. The owner sitting at the end of the bar, drinking and chain smoking. She talks smack on employees to other employees. Talks of local gossip like who is the latest person she knows in jail for whatever reason. I had to roll my eyes when she started complaining about the amount of bugs and flies in her kitchen. A bartender advised her that they were attracted to the old potatoes she is keeping back there. So appetizing. I think I’ll skip the fries… And probably everything else on the menu considering.
The air conditioning couldn’t keep up, it was sticky hot at the bar.
I wouldn’t have been surprised if John Trafford walked in from «Bar Rescue» as I sat there.
The positives: it’s convenient. Seeing as Bellevue is dry, this place is the closest option for a beer stop on the way home.
It’s sizable. Band/​DJ area. Lots of parking.
Unless it’s a Saturday night when there are more than a handful of people there, this place makes you feel like something is crawling on you. Loud music, occasional fight, locals, and inexperienced bartenders and an owner that sits at the bar and smokes… You decide.

If the category were best dive bars, this place would be nominated for best overall. It’s simple, the beer is cold. I was very surprised that they had decent beers (never judge a bar by it’s cover…). Terrapin Hopsecutioner was on tap as well as two or three other crafts.
The food is at the top of the bar list. Wings are excellent as well as the cheese steak sandwich. If you’re looking for wine and a salad, you probably shouldn’t go here. Hell, you probably shouldn’t be in Bellevue… but for cold beers and good bar food at a reasonable price you can’t beat the olé Rusty Dory.

Fantastic beer at crazy-​low prices, great bar staff and the total ‘dive-bar’/corner bar vibe make this my favorite watering hole.

D is for delicious food!
I is for It has a great view of the river!
V is for very yummy fries!
E is for extra ranch dressing because it’s so good!
Definitely a dive, but in the best way possible. The bartender who was working on the Saturday afternoon my friend and I stopped by was a total sweetie. Had I consumed any alcohol, I would have probably told her everything that has happened in my life and had her analyze it and I feel she would have genuinely cared.
Also, the food was great and pretty cheap. I had the sandwich special: pulled pork with fries. It was delicious and the fries were some of the best I’ve had in recent memory.
My friend got a grilled chicken salad and it was also super tasty.
Just FYI though, you have to spend $ 15 to use your card, so bring cash if you’re eating/​drinking light!

I heart the Rusty Dory so hard!
This may send some serious shade my way but i’ll just say it: Bellevue sucks and if you’re there, you’ll need a drink and this is the best place to go get one!
It’s a dive bar, but divey in that quaint kind of way, not in the «I want to douse myself with hand sanitizer when this is over» kind of way.
The prices are reasonable, the food is good, and they have a lot of craft beers available, I was really surprised by the great selection! It’s easy to drive by the Dory but do stop in and give it a chance!

A pretty cool Pittsburgh dive that overlooks the river — smoky, dingy, and with a cast of regulars. I was impressed that they had Erie Railbender Ale, being from Erie myself. Service was friendly.

OK… so the Dory is a dive. The words «new», «modern», «made after 1970», or «sturdy» does not apply to anything inside. That’s OK with me.
What IS important is that the words «clean» and «friendly» do apply to the Rusty Dory. Clean tables. Very friendly service. Sure… the staff and clientele are a little rough around the edges, but hey, my friends and I probably seem a little rough around the edges sometimes too!
The food here is good bar food (don’t expect to follow any diet or get anything healthy, including the salads). Wings are spicy and fries are fresh cut.
Beer: Honestly, I would expect a place like this to only have Miller/​Coors/​Bud/​etc but they always have a few decent brews to choose from. Anything good probably won’t be on special, but at normal Pittsburgh prices.
They even have a tarot card reader on most Tuesday nights… so there’s that.
All in all an entertaining neighborhood joint that I can’t hate on.

Well, when I heard that someone was selling Hot Bacon flavored wings, I started making plans to try them immediately. So that’s why I was there at the Rusty Dory, with a non-​drinking friend, sitting at a corner table and alternating between being mildly impressed and driven to the brink of suicide, depending on who was singing karaōke at the time.
Rusty Dory is a pretty divey place. It’s not awful, but it’s sort of like… I dunno, it just looks run-​down… a little moreso than it needs to. A lot of the stools at the tables don’t have backs, which is just mad uncomfortable. Everything seemed to be clean, though.
The service wasn’t bad… it was quick and friendly enough. Not much more I was expecting out of it than that. Although when we first sat down, we had to get the bartender’s attention before we got anything, but maybe that’s just how they roll.
The special that night was big bottles of [name your favorite megabrewery] Light. Not really what I was looking for, but I got a Miller light bottle anyway because the price was right.
They have a little deck outside, which seems pretty cool, but we were the only two out there when we went outside, which was after our food. You can get a great view of the Ohio Valley industrial whatnot from it… if that’s your kind of thing. I never rated this side of town as awfully scenic. But outside deck seating is cool regardless of the scenery.
«But how were the hot bacon wings, Dave? That’s what you were there for, right?»
They were, well… They were built up to me a lot, and they probably were about as good as I expected. Not bad, and something new, but not something I’d make a special trip to get again. The bacon flavor just wasn’t prominent enough. Other wing flavors were pretty good, though. All together, the wings were pretty tasty.
I didn’t have a bad time here, but I don’t know if I’ll bother going back.

The Rusty Dory is the large green monstrosity where the River Road Inn used to be years ago. The décor is non-​existent – make no mistake that this is a dirty dive – which would be fine if the atmosphere or drinks could make up for that. But neither does. The drink prices are average for Pittsburgh, but the place is incredibly smoky and dingy. They seem to have a lot of karaōke, and the takers are comprised of girls slightly better dressed than the women-​of-​the-​night at the Avalon Motel and gentlemen confused about their glory days. If you must go to a bar in Avalon, try the Hide-A-Way…or better yet, skip Avalon and head to Sunny Jim’s instead on Camp Horne instead.

Ahhh The Rusty Dory! I started going there a year or so ago. I stop in once or twice a week. It’s a pretty big bar split across 2 rooms with a bar and tables in each. They have plenty of beers and quite a few on tap. It has a dive bar atmosphere. They have a kitchen, too. All I’ve had are the wings and tater skins and they are always good. I can’t think of an reason to take stars away.

For a neighborhood pub, the Dory rocks. Good food (nachos are amazing), great happy hour specials and reasonable alcohol prices. It’s a little smoky but I love the back deck looking over the river.
Thursday’s dollar taco night is pretty sweet.