The River Tap & Grill — Restaurant in Hollis

My fiancé and I dine here quite often. I’d say almost once a week every time we go, we spend at least 150- $200. Yesterday we went for dinner and it was not very busy maybe 2 to 3 tables per server kind of busy. I can effectively rate how busy a restaurant is because I work at a nearby restaurant. It was about 10 minutes until we were even greeted. I had made eye contact with what appeared to be the dining room manager and then not long after someone came to greet us, but had I not made that gesture I’m really not sure how long it would’ve taken. If you cannot connect with your table right away, at least verbalize that you’ll be with them in a minute. Or at the very least get drinks in front of them and that will certainly help with the frustration of waiting. We ordered drinks and an appetizer and the appetizer came out incorrect. We had asked for Buffalo tenders and they gave us some sort of sweet and spicy sauce. Not a huge deal. It was corrected. Then we ordered steak tips, salmon, and meatballs for my stepdaughter. Food took about 30-40 minutes to land at our table? I asked for my salmon medium to well done, and boy was it well done lol. My fiancé asked for his steak tips, medium, and per usual they came out well done ( I’d say that’s probably the most common thing that’s frustrating about this restaurant is his steak tips never come out right and yet he still orders them every time kind of his fault but also yours too.. ) The meatballs smelled and tasted like a dirty rag like maybe they had been heated cooled and reheated several times over the past few days. Server was nice and attentive for the most part we have had her before and she brought new steak tips. And also apologized. I did tell her that this time was probably our least favorite experience because pretty much everything was not good and by far subpar for the course. No pun intended. Overall, I am frustrated that as much money as we spend here and as many times as we go back, not once when anything has been wrong, has a manager come to the table and asked about our experience or offered to compensate any of the bill . Typically, I wouldn’t ask for such a thing because I work in the industry, and I know that people can say things on purpose to achieve that result, but we are not those people. To put it simply I really would have appreciated a manager visiting the table and asking about our experience and listen to our feedback so I wouldn’t have to write this review. I’m confused as to why there is a manager on duty if they’re not going to make contact with the guests isn’t that the point of having a manager to be able to iron out situations and correct them with the kitchen? overall I am frustrated with this place consider considering the money we spend there. Do better. And have management more...

We have eaten here dozens of times and only had one bad experience. Unfortunately, we were entertaining guests at the time. The food is usually consistent and they always have a good selection of cocktails and beer. You can get a good view of the Saco river and golfers in season.

One of Hollis' little gems, close by and convenient, without driving toward the cluttered coastline for a meal.

We are thankful that they survived Covid-19 and that they are still keeping up on their game. You better make reservations a day or two ahead of time if you want to dine during busy times or weekends.

Like with every other place, prices have gone up with inflation, but they still are compatible given their menu selection. If you want to have a beer at a reasonable price, Happy Hours on Wednesdays and Thursdays are your best bet. They also have half off on munchies at that time.

The meals are delicious. but if there is the occasional glitch, they are happy to know about it, as they always give the impression that they are trying to stay on top of their game. The waitresses are continually receptive to recommendations and comments.

Speaking of waitstaff, in all the dozens and dozens of times we have been there, we have always been greeted with a smile and treated courteously.

We are flexible enough not to go at busy times, but with the bar seating, high tops, the dining room, and the nice outdoor deck in good weather, you have a lot of options. Spring, summer, and early fall offer the option of looking out the windows and watching folks hit the little white ball and then go search for it. River views are available year round.

There is one area for improvement and that is noise. When the bar area is 1/3 to 1/2 full the noise level starts to increase to the point folks start talking louder to their companions and the bar keeps to be heard, and it increases from there. Perhaps some sound absorbing panels are in the upgrade budge?. We deal with it, but one friend refuses to go back. However, the dining area and the deck in the in-season offer quieter alternatives.

Enjoy a nice meal and a cold beverage along the shores of the Saco River! We...

Trying to make reservations is a nightmare, I tried their on line reservations, which says they will be in touch within 24 hours, never did. I called and tried but was told the manager wasn't there and that they would take my name and phone number to call me back. Well they called me back the next day and I made reservations, we got there at 6:30, they seated us immediately. We had the mussels, very tasty and a good size portion. took a little while to get them. we waited an hour before we got our main meal. I had the steak tips and they served them very rare I would have called it raw. they took it back and I waited another 15 minutes, when I got the food again the steak was cooked medium like I asked, but the potatoes and vegetables were very cold, they didn't reheat them! needless to say extremely disappointed. I complained to the manager and she told me they were very under staffed because a lot of employees called out sick. They did agree for us to not pay for the meal, because we ate very little of it. My wife salmon risotto, the risotto was under cooked. While we sat there waiting for our food I notice people waiting to be seated while there was 2 open tables the entire 1 1/2 hours we were there. The manager said the people waiting were complaining, gee, I wonder why waiting to be seated when you can look and see empty tables. this restaurant was very disorganized and not efficient. the weird thing is the manager told us while we were leaving that she talked to the owners that were there. Why can't the owners see this cluster mess. Someone in a previous review called this a high end restaurant, I guess that person has never been in Portland to a see a real high...