Riverside Cafe — Restaurant in Medicine Park

I recently moved to Oklahoma and discovered this beautiful little café by the river. I fell in love with the outdoor patio—there are plenty of tables and single stools that overlook the water. The atmosphere is peaceful, and I really enjoyed the corn nuggets, burgers, and salads. I’ve been excited to share this spot with visiting friends and family.

When my parents came into town, my boyfriend and I rented a house in Medicine Park for the weekend with them. One of the things I looked forward to most was bringing them to this café with a breath taking view of the river. We walked over on a busy Saturday around 11:30 a.m. and waited just outside the entrance of the front door and patio to be seated. We stood calmly and out of the way, chatting quietly.

As soon as the hostess, Erin, noticed my dad, she spoke loudly and sharply: “Please walk all the way inside and speak to the hostess to be seated.” There was no greeting or friendliness. Just an irritated tone and an implication that he had done something wrong.

She then oddly brought him back outside through the same door where we all met for our table—making it clear this was more about correcting him than helping us. The tone felt unnecessarily condescending. We were all caught off guard but stayed polite.

She took us to a table in the middle of the patio, in full sun. We kindly asked if we could sit by the river to experience everything I had talked about. Erin replied (again sharply), “No, we can’t do that—it’s not fair to the servers. This section has to be seated next.” There was no attempt to be understanding or accommodating. It was made very clear that our comfort and experience was less important than their seating policy.

My mom gently asked if we could sit at a shaded table within the same section we were told we had to sit in. Erin rolled her eyes, scoffed, and muttered something under her breath. Then walked away without any eye contact. It was deeply embarrassing and uncomfortable. I couldnt believe how she just treated my mother. I nearly asked to speak to a manager right then, but we were trying to salvage the visit.

After we sat down, my mom noticed Erin and another employee behind the hostess stand staring directly at our table, speaking with visibly annoyed expressions. While we couldn’t hear them, the body language and expressions were unmistakable taking into consideration that we were one of 2 tables on opposite sides of the patio. It added a layer of anxiety that made my mom hesitant to even walk inside to use the restroom. I had to reassure her and offer to walk with her in case there were further issues. I felt heartbroken that something meant to be special had become so upsetting and made my mother that uncomfortable.

I have no idea why we were treated this way, but the entire experience felt dismissive and unwelcoming. Erin’s behavior set the tone for the visit and left a lasting negative impression. My parents are incredibly kind and understanding people, and none of us were rude or demanding. We made reasonable requests and were met with hostility every step of the way.

To the management and owner: I truly hope you see this and take it seriously. This employee’s conduct was not just unprofessional—it was unkind and immature. It reflects poorly on a business that otherwise has a beautiful atmosphere and good food. I regularly recommend local businesses to my clients, but I will not be recommending this one after...

Save your time and money and eat somewhere else. The only thing semi pleasant about this place was the chips and queso. We walked in and were told it would be a 15 to 20 minute wait. I looked around to see almost all the tables empty, but figured they were short staffed. I decided to just make my order to go and the young guy at the front desk said "we don't do to go orders". Another guy came up behind him and said "yes we do, I know that and I don't even work here anymore". The young kid said okay but it would still be 15-20. I said ok that's fine I just want the cheese fries and my sister got the chips and queso. The young kid then walked away and another cashier/waitress came out and told me my total, $8.70. I handed her a twenty dollar bill and she groaned and turned to the guy that doesn't work there and said "you do this I don't want to". Well the phone rings at that time so she picks up and says "riverside cafe", that's it, then hands the phone to the guy that doesn't work there. Talk about a bad attitude coming from this girl. Then a family comes in behind us and they say they will wait outside with their 2 kids. The young guy is back and writes down the name of the family and the guy who doesn't work there says "don't forget they are outside". Well 15 minutes later they call the families name and I say "they are sitting outside". The waitress says "well there's only one person there and this says party of 4". She turns to the young kid and asks if that's the family and he says "I don't know". I say "I was here when they came in, the dad is walking around with the kids" and the waitress says "well I don't know if that's true so I guess I'll have to go ask" and sighs. Then another waitress comes out with my sisters chips and queso and she's asking all the staff who's chips and queso this is and everyone says "I don't know", so my sister says "well I ordered chips and queso to go, maybe it's mone", and one of the waitresses snaps "well we know that" and hands her the chips and queso with the queso spilling all over the bag. 18 minutes has now gone by since I ordered my fries, I don't get why it takes 18 minutes, but I've been patient. I go ask the young boy if the fries are almost done and he says "I don't know", and doesn't look up or move, so I say "could you please see how much longer" and another waitress standing there rolls her eyes and sighs and goes back to get the fries and hands them to me and walks away. No "thank you have a nice day" from any of these people. Just a whole lot of sighing, groaning, eye rolling, rudeness, and bad attitudes at this place. And to top it off I open my fries and no ranch but I'm not about to ask because I just want to get out of there. I will never go back, unless the entire staff is changed. It's sad that a guy that doesn't even work there knows more, does more, and has a better attitude than everyone else...

Very disappointed with the experience there. My husband and I along with our 5 children and my parents ate out on the patio which was nice but the waitress was in no hurry to wait on us. Never told us about the changes on the menu until we gave her our order then she let us know that they didn't serve that anymore. We placed our order and she didn't inform us that what we ordered had changed so when our food came out and didn't have everything that the menu stated that it came with we asked her about it and she said well it doesn't come with that anymore. We had to ask for refills and she never came by to ask us if we needed anything. Then when we were ready to pay out she told me that my ticket was $97 and yes we had 5 kids and 2 adults but kids meals are only $5 each so I told her that seems a little high and she informed me that her gratuity is included because we had a large # in our party. (7) So we were charged $14 extra for her services which wasn't worth it at all. Then I also realized I was charged for all 7 drinks $15 when the menu stated that the kids meals come with their choice of drink. I could understand if my 5 kids were a problem or were a little messy but they were very polite and respectful toward her and waited very patiently for her to refill their drinks. They weren't a problem at all but she acted as if they weren't important enough to wait on. We definitely will NOT be returning...