Reese & Riley's Olive Oil & Bistro Bar — Restaurant in Moorhead

Reese & Riley's has another restaurant on the west side of Fargo. It shut down and opened a much smaller restaurant in Moorhead.

I stopped in with a party of six on Mother's Day. We expected a wait and called ahead for a reservation. We arrived a few minutes early and there was about a 15 minute wait. The restaurant is very small and is beautifully decorated. There isn't a waiting area so it becomes a little awkward hanging out waiting for a table.

The food. Today they featured a buffet style brunch. We arrived at 11:45 with reservations however the place was way understaffed and they ran out of almost every dish on the buffet. The small amount of food that we were able to basically snag was good, except for the lasagna which was cold. They also ran out of plates on the buffet line.

I considered just leaving but they explained they were getting ready to refill everything. I waited around 30 minutes waiting on a plate and the refill but it never materialized. I settled for a stale biscuit with cold gravy, some bread pudding, two pieces of sausage and coffee. The lasagna that was refreshed ended up not being cooked and was still cold so they had to remove it from the buffet and heat it up further.

While we were waiting, we had to flag the hostess down for a refresh on coffee and water. The restaurant is extremely terrible at organization, staffing and customer service. We received the bill and were a little shocked that it was $78 for my wife and I. $78 for a terrible buffet that ran out of food before we were seated and we waited on a promise of restock and they never happened. I'm not sure I would come back and I would be surprised if the establishment sticks around. Initially my bill was $48 without the tip, I signed the bill for $78 and then check my bank statement and was charged over $90. I haven't been able to reach anyone that can help at the restaurant and have since disputed the charge with my bank.

After several attempts to reach them at their very odd business hours I did some research and found several very disturbing trends with the owners in public records and online news articles. The business began in Champlin MN and has a dubious record consisting on not paying employees, felony theft etc...all can be found by a simple google search about the company...

Not all heroes wear capes! I came from Florida for Fargo Marathon weekend. I'm vegan and GF. Fargo/Moorhead is a dumpster fire for vegans. Luckily, I found Christine. She literally saved me! I was in an Airbnb with sketchy cooking options. I had to be super careful about what I ate when since I was racing Friday night and then again Saturday morning, which I had never done. I didn't want to be acquainting myself with Fargo's port-a-potties during races! I had a lovely conversation with Christine on the phone and her vibe, and energy and knowledge let me know that she was the answer to my vegan/GF culinary dilemma. I texted her what kinds of grab-and-go meals I needed, pretty specific to my dietary and racing needs. I was late to get the meals because I timed my drive and activities from the Twin Cities to Moorhead wrong. Christine made sure I still got my meals. They were delicious and so convenient to just heat and eat. Who needs butter when you have Christine's olive oils? Shout out to TJ for staying to make sure I got the meals. Her location was super cute too. She went out of her way to help a total stranger from Florida who really had no way to spread the word to people who could patronize her business and that speaks volumes about her as a person. Her oils and vinegars are delicious and healthy....

There's a lot to be said about the misleading nature of the menu and experience that was set out for a Mother's Day buffet. Not only where there missing items that were advertised on the menu, the strangest and most misleading thing was the drinks. At a self service station, after the waitress said to help ourselves, we were charged for multiple drinks. Not once did the waitress say these were additional charges or warn us. Only when paying they bill did we notice the drinks were charged. No big deal, maybe a misunderstanding? Only when we asked, the owner became incredibly defensive, saying that all buffets in town charge for drinks and that this buffet is under priced for what we were offered. No apology was given, only excuses. Again, no big deal if I was given a heads up that it was not an all inclusive dining option. It seemed sneaky and dishonest. I don't appreciate that kind of service, especially when it's a special occasion such as Mother's Day. It's enough for me to write a negative review to warn others about this dishonesty....