17 River Grille — Restaurant in Chagrin Falls

Just wanted to share my experience. The main draw to coming to this restaurant was for the location next to the falls so I had wanted to save dining here for a special occasion. I decided to surprise my fiancé with dinner here to celebrate our engagement and his birthday. I noted this in the reservation that I had made over a week prior. When we arrived for our reservation the host congratulated us for celebrating tonight and we let the hostess know that we’d like a table outside, which she said was possible. We had to wait for what felt like almost 15 minutes in order to “let the servers catch up”. We then got led to a table that was at the front of the restaurant patio next to the parking lot, and upon seeing this our server let us know we could talk to the host about moving seats. When we asked the host if we could move because we were here to celebrate and the only reason we came was to sit outside by the falls, she said that if we wanted a different seat we’d be 5th in line for a table, assumably in the walk in line. I also was informed that getting back in line was required if we even just wanted to sit inside, not even just to sit on the deck by the falls. I understand it was busy but again we did have a reservation and informed them about that we wanted to sit outside when we arrived (and assumed our original wait for a table was because of that) so it was really disappointing to be told that we’d have had a better chance of getting our preferred seating area had we just walked in. Our table was next to the parking lot and a gate that people were constantly exiting and entering from, and also asking us in the middle of our meal if they could exit or enter from there. We also discovered that it was next to the area that people used to smoke, so we had people coming in and out while someone smoked next to our table. From the time we were seated, it took us an around an hour to get our entrees. I will say our sever was really attentive and apologized to us numerous times for the delay. It was a good meal. Overall it was a really disappointing experience because we had well in advance gone through the trouble to plan a special evening that really was not great and put a damper on our special night to celebrate these major milestones. I know I wouldn’t have been as upset had we just walked in or had not written in the reservation notes that we were coming here to celebrate. It was just disappointing to have surprised my fiancé with coming here and get him all excited, to then only have to apologize during dinner because of the elderly woman smoking next to us, or the drunk people shouting in the street on their way out. Had I known this was going to be our experience, I would not have come and I wish that had even been communicated with us at the time of making a reservation, that our only option was going to be that specific seating area.

Given that it came out to about $200 for 2, I believe that there are other restaurants that could provide a better value and overall experience for couples looking to celebrate a special occasion...

We dined here for our 6 year wedding anniversary (not acknowledged) and wanted to sit outside but had a window seat instead. Overall the experience was an 8 out of 10 here's why...

To start the ambiance is very pleasant. The entryway is welcoming and comfortable, not a tight squeeze. The bar is centered towards the front and very well lit with TVs. It is pretty separate from the dining area which is nice if you want to be more cozy with your guest. Seating is nice, depending on what you feel like. You can go outside get some air and take in the waterfall view. There are also large open windows (where we sat) that also allow for a nice view. Let's get started...I believe that your waiter is the number 1 factor in your experience being a 10. Our waiter was ok, she was prompt and polite but she lacked that extra umph of hospitality that comes with this type of dining experience. We received our water, looked over the menu then ordered some drinks and aps. We ordered deviled eggs w/smoked applewood bacon, cole slaw, honey biscuits and Calamari & shrimp. Drinks were ok, I think they forgot the alcohol lol. Drinks could have been better nothing fancy. The biscuits were great they definitely taste like an old family recipe, and the honey butter is a nice touch. If you're expecting the deviled eggs to have bacon mixed in the batter...sorry. The eggs were good with a dash of bacon on top and some bacon slices in the center of the plate. The Calamari & shrimp didn't have any shrimp but tons of Calamari. The sauce was sweet and spicy and very tasty. I would definitely order this again. We then ordered dinner (here is when your waiter matters) I was undecided and she wasn't any help, I could hear the other waiter telling her tables about the managers special so I thought we would get the same spill but NOPE, I had to ask. We ordered...for him NY strip with mash and asparagus, for me (managers special) halibut with lobster creme sauce, wild rice and asparagus. The steak meal was great, steak was cooked perfectly medium rare, mash was real potatoes and the asparagus was tender, overall10/10. Halibut was tasty but I did expected a few tiny pieces of lobster in the sauce, NOPE. The wild rice and asparagus were chilled which I wasn't aware of (waiter didn't mention) so I asked for mash and asparagus, the hot variety, overall 7/10. We were not charged for the change since the wild rice wasn't what I thought it was. We ordered another drink which was just as light as the first one. The waiter didn't suggest any dessert and there is no menu but she knew what they had. I ordered creme Brule and it was really good. Overall for $200.00 if you have good company your experience is 10/10 for this being our 1st time and for our special day this was a nice choice. There were a few personal issues but the overall...

It was a nice day out and we decided to have dinner outside and landed on 17 River Grille. I ordered the 17 roll and calamari and shrimp for my appetizers and they were Delish. This review is mainly serviced based, our server Lilly was the absolute worst. Very rude, not personable at all (or maybe it was just our table🤔). She started off with a very stale face while placing our appetizer and drink order. Dropped our order off and left for a while. To come back in our presence and literally be holding a 15-20 min conversation with the customers at the table next to us. Remind you our 2 appetizers had been gone like 15mins or more ago. I literally had to keep my composure from saying Loudly "Are You Serious right now". She finally came over still with a stank face as if we're bothering her and had the nerve to ask we're we ready to order 👀😳 Really 🤔. We finally placed our order. I always get the 17 burger and usually it's delicious, this time they cooked those 2 thin patties till they were dried out and my bun was crumbling 😬, everyone else food was good so I'll just chalk my burger up to just a bad burger for the chef that day.. But the service took the cake this day.. The other blonde waitress who was serving in our area her personality was awesome, even the young man who dropped our food off was Pleasant. I would've definitely opted for either of them over Lillys rude self. She dropped our bill off and took it upon herself to not ask how we wanted the bill, even took it a step further to split our appetizers with the other couple we were with. I ordered them I'm paying for them. Lilly proceeds to drop our bill off on the table DID NOT SAY ONE WORD and walked away. Stayed away for aleast 5-7 more minutes, my husband had enough time to go to the restroom, get our ticket validated walked outside and came back and she still hadn't returned. Once she returned I had to tell her the mistakes on the bill to be corrected, just so we can do this wait game with her all over again. Finally paid 🙌 even left the rude lady a very small tip (despite me wanting to leave her ZERO) but needless to say my experience was Tarnished with the likes of Lilly. I did report her to Christian the manager and hopefully they're able to gather Lillys attittude together or better yet just keep her in the back where no one has to experience her rudeness. Her attitude was Trash 🗑 to say the least. The thing about dining out and experiences, I had been there before and thought it was a good place to take other people who hadn't been there. Due to Lillys attitude and horrible lack thereof service, their experience was...