Owner Russell Deutsch, who describes himself as an East Coast "exile," opened his first New England-style seafood restaurant in Redwood City in 2006. Several other locations followed in subsequent years, including in Napa, and two remain open today (one at the Ladera shopping center on Alpine Road, and another in San Jose).
Now, missing another East Coast culinary specialty -- thin crust pizza -- he's opening this month Rusty's Roadside Grill, which will serve pizza made in an Italian stone-fired conveyor oven (check it out in action on the restaurant's Facebook page). Rusty's will also serve burgers and milkshakes, because "I love milkshakes and burgers are good too, so what the heck," Deutsch said.
He kept mum on any menu particulars, but photos posted on the Rusty's Facebook page show a burger with tater tots on the side and a slice of pizza with potato, bacon and green onion.
Rusty's will open later this month, Deutsch said, a few doors down from the Old Port Lobster Shack location. Deutsch took over last year Suite 240, a 1,300-square-foot space formerly occupied by Round Table Pizza.
Rusty's will also deliver pizza to Portola Valley, Woodside and Los Altos Hills in a special van that Deutsch purchased at a pizza show in Las Vegas. The van has an oven in the back that is heated by the car engine and holds 62 pizzas to keep them warm on their way to customers' mouths.
Deutsch is also in the midst of expanding the Old Port Lobster Shack brand, with three new locations set to come online next year in Los Altos, Roseville and Portland, Maine. The original Redwood City location will be closing in 2016 to make way for a new apartment complex.
