The Rusty Rudder
Keeping Outdoor Dining Perfect for Customers, Not Pests
The Rusty Rudder prides itself on delicious food, great live music and a comfortable atmosphere. When Brian Johnston and Eric Paul decided to open The Rusty Rudder’s second location outside of Charleston, S.C., they settled on a two-acre tract of land that featured a large outdoor dining area.
Opened in June of 2014, The Rusty Rudder in Mount Pleasant offers a large outdoor deck and tiki bar that greets its Lowcountry patrons like a charming backyard. But the space could also be comfortable for the area’s pests, including cockroaches, flies and mosquitoes.
That’s why The Rusty Rudder partnered with Orkin: to make sure pests are left off the reservations list. We talked with Johnston about the relationship.
Why did you choose Orkin?
We had used another provider at our first restaurant location (on Lake Norman in North Carolina), and we were looking for a provider that was more responsive to our needs. The warm weather in the Lowcountry means that pests are an issue year-round. And with such a large outdoor deck, if we can’t have customers out there because of flies or bugs, that’s money out of our pocket.
What Orkin services are you using?
With our restaurant so close to the water, flies and mosquitoes are a challenge. Orkin presented us with a great small fly program, and it’s been very successful. But Orkin has helped in other areas, too. When we bought the property, we had a major problem with fire ants, and Orkin was able to take care of them. Really, for every challenge we’ve had along the way, Orkin has had a solution.
How has the service been?
Deborah, our account manager, and our Pro Chris have been easy to work with. What I like most is if we have an issue come up, we call them and they respond very quickly. They’re always ready to help at a moment’s notice. If they service our deck and it rains, which it does often here, they’re happy to come back and make sure everything is treated. We can’t wait for pest issues to be resolved because our customers will let us know – in that case, no news is good news. We’ve been very satisfied.
