Last night, Jeffrey and I had dinner at a place that made us both smile: The Rusty Bucket in Solon.

This casual eatery lives up to the idea of fun and friendly service and approachable food in a relaxed setting. Our server, Kelly, was certainly the embodiment of this. She was so sweet to Jeffrey and she and I chatted easily about everything from food to blogging.

Before I get to the food, let’s talk beverages. I started with an Old Fashioned, which was a bit strong for my still-making-friends-with bourbon taste. Matthew would have loved it, though!

But the Strawberry Lemonade, Blueberry Iced Tea, and Cold Brew were all winners in my book!

Now, let’s get to the food…I got to try a sampling of The Rusty Bucket’s featured new menu items in both appetizers and desserts.

The hefty star of the table was the “Cheese Blanket” Nachos, with seasoned ground beef, braised black beans, the “cheese blanket,” pico de gallo, jalapenos, sour cream, and scallions.

So cheesy! These are definitely for sharing…I could barely make a dent in all that cheesy goodness!

I also sampled the Rusty Bucket Wings in Joe’s Regular flavor. Crisp and with just a slight kick, these were good wings.

They are also available in Tamarind BBQ, Sweet Chili, Spicy Garlic, and Habanero.

To round out the appetizers, the Spinach Con Queso, with spinach, white wine, and cheeses served in a just-out-of-the-oven crock was creamy and delicious.

I also loved the chips…very light and crispy!

Jeffrey enjoyed the Kids Pepperoni Pizza (seriously, he ate the whole thing, as well as stealing all of one of the desserts).

And I enjoyed learning about Bucketeer Bookworm Program for kids. Remember BookIt? This is kind of the same concept.

For every 5 books that your child reads or has read to them, you receive a complimentary kids meal. When you reach 15 books, you receive $10 off admission to Legoland Discovery Centre in Columbus! What a fun way to encourage reading!

Now to the desserts…

The Sticky Bun Bread Pudding has croissants rolled in cinnamon sugar and baked with vanilla custard, topped with warm caramel, pecans, and Edy’s vanilla ice cream.

This was lighter than a lot of bread puddings and just delicious!

Jeffrey completely devoured the Death by Chocolate, a triple decker chocolate sheet cake with chocolate buttercream and chocolate ganache.

I love me nothing more than a fruit dessert, so I was thrilled with the Berry Cobbler,  served in a hot crock with Edy’s vanilla ice cream.

For a fun, easy meal that will keep the whole family satisfied, check out The Rusty Bucket!

***Disclosure: I was invited to attend a complimentary meal at The Rusty Bucket. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.***