Riverside — Restaurant in Hood River

I try this restaurant every time I stay at Best Western. This visit was for dinner. I think they’re still trying to iron out their menu/recipes. There’s still something not clicking palate wise but, they’re getting closer. I sat at the bar and was delighted by the professionalism by Matt, the bartender whose impressive wit, charm, memory, timing and client familiarity brought me back to a time where dining out was an exception and spot on service an art form. Thank you for that. And now for the meal: First was bread (which was presented as, “You want bread?) uh, yeah! It arrived quickly with olive oil and balsamic. I love that. Kudos for bread service at an Italian-inspired menu restaurant. Starter: Manila clam appetizer was written well, but did not deliver the flavor I expected from the addition of saffron. Not terrible, just not as advertised. Salad: mixed greens were mostly baby beet greens which have a tough stem (yes, even the baby greens) and should be used sparingly. Toasted walnuts and Gorgonzola were mixed together and quite indistinguishable. Would have tasted better with candied walnuts and a fruitier dressing. I didn’t really care for the overly-Earthy flavor profile here. Main: Arrabiatta ok, this is the one I’ll warn you about. It does list garlic as the 1st ingredient. Boy is it ever! Not as a part of the simmered sauce but, wok-fried hot as the base of the dish. Well, it exuded roasted garlic odor and was quite uncomfortable to eat. I was starving and I managed to pick out most of the visual cloves. Really overpowering. I would recommend the dish, it had potential. Just order it without garlic. I’m positive there was plenty in the sauce without the weird roasted addition. I took leftovers to room (honestly couldn’t keep pasta in room due to the garlic odour…..). 😂 Took a slice of olive oil cake to enjoy after a bit of digestion. Cake was pleasant and needed the balsamic-soaked strawberry sauce (wish there was more, like a strawberry shortcake. Chantilly cream would have knocked it out of the park). Wished the berries were sliced. They were visually and texturally unappealing macerated whole. Sigh. I will keep trying. Hoping. It’s a fantastic space right on the Columbia riverfront reminiscent of 5 star steakhouses of yore with dynamite views of the Columbia river and Hood River White Salmon interstate bridge with a glorious outdoor dining space. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served here. They will prepare your food to go and to enjoy in your room with attention to detail including all the paraphernalia you’ll need. This is soooooo close to being 5 stars. I’m confident...

Came here once a couple years ago or so for breakfast with my husband I can't remember what we got but remember not necessarily tasting bad but wasn't great either. Though I would give breakfast another chance 😊 Can't expect to like every dish at any restaurant. Thanks to those that shared photos, and reviews, I think I know what I want to try next.

Well we came back last night here for dinner with friends and was so good! The focaccia bread was fantastic though the vinaigrette was a bit strong for my liking made me cough the first bite but I found if mixing the oil and vinegar together very well before dipping the bread that really helped and then was fantastic. Oh yeah I forgot to note they do offer gluten free bread(i think dairy free too but would need to double check)

The Pork Belly Carbonara was something to really rave about! I am craving more, and I will be back hopefully will still be on the menu. The Sleeping Beauty Alfredo is quite tasty as well but a bit overpriced in my opinion since it doesn't have meat, of course you do have the option to add meat we added some chicken. I want to try other pastas. Was told they actually make their own noodles, I am impressed.

The cocktails were fatastic we got Margaritas, and Mojitos, one of our friends got a Bloody Mary which she enjoyed as well. One of our friends likes the skinny margaritas. Our waitress was fantastic!I will definitely come back again I want to try more things. I do think they need to update their menus the print is very small and this is hard for some people to read. I do suggest those that can't see well up close to bring their reading glasses my husband had trouble reading the menu but our friend let him borrow hers. Also I noticed on the cocktail menu everything was squished in to 1 paragraph so it was confusing we didn't know what was what. Though we knew what we wanted, and they had it so worked out. Also another suggestion would be to add some photos(though not a necessity would be cool to see what you...

Worst service in world history. Came here for a bachelorette party with my sister. Right from the start it was a mess. Refused to let us do anything in advanced. Which was ok. I understand being unable to take reservations. However, the attitude on the phone truly set the tone in advance for the entire night….. after getting in there with a very excited bride to simply eat shrimp linguini we were treated with nothing but eye rolls and sass. The manager started to seat us and all of the girls at the host stand began eye rolling at us and looking us up and down judging us. Right away felt uneasy. The night went on and we got introduced to Emmett our server who was nothing short of a delight. He was kind as can be and super attentive. Moving forward when the hosts went to seat another party we over heard then looking at our table and calling us a “ nightmare”. Right away we started feeling very anxious and that we were not wanted there. I got up to spoke to the manager who did absolutely nothing. She kept saying she could only do something if we knew exactly what host made the rude comments.having 3 hosts there who looked very similar made this very hard and we did not want to make a guess and possibly get the wrong person in trouble. The Manager completely wrote us off and ignored my issue. After going back to the table the manager did come up to us and offer us free dessert. As if we wanted to still be there another second longer after feeling like this. We paid our bill in full and left. We all made sure to let Emmett know how much we appreciated him though :) Other than Emmett it was a god awful experience. Will never go back. Please go get a better job at a better restaurant Emmett. They don’t...