R J Riches — Restaurant in Mounds View

I had reviewed this establishment before but after a recent visit I needed to update it. After it re-opened apparently after a remodel I have this to say. STAY AWAY.... For now at least. First of all, adding a fresh coat of paint is a paltry minimalistic remodel step to have taken. Secondly, probably one of the bigger things is the menu. There's far and away to many dishes on the menu. The manager needs to cut the size of the menu in half. I witnessed several errors by the wait staff having to come back as something was forgotten and was not included in the food that was ordered. That should tell the manager they have to many items on the menu, right there. When your Kitchen staff is struggling to keep things straight like that, that should an indicator right then and there. REDUCE THE SIZE OF THE MENU!! Portions are far and away to large. It seems there are a lot of to-go containers leaving the place. People will typically throw most of it away after a couple of days in the fridge. Then they feel they've wasted money, which increases the likelihood they may not return. Third, if the owners took the time to remodel they should have also done a better job cleaning the kitchen area. One can tell how dirty it is when they are sitting and can see into the kitchen from the dining area of the restaurant. The stainless steel clearly needs to be cleaned much more frequently. Then food should only be on the serving counter for less than thirty seconds. Also wait staff should be asked to wear clothing in which one can not make out the undergarment that is being worn underneath. Finally and this is probably the most important overall. Who is in charge? I came in and was greeted by waitstaff only. Their appeared to be no Restaurant Manager here whatsoever, greeting people coming in to eat is big and no one person designated to seat guests as they come in or for them to pay their bill. If there is no clear person in charge everything suffers. Clean up the food quality, use cleaner bottles for syrup for your customers. Tops should not be dirty looking at all ever. Plastic syrup bottles were the worst choice as they need to be cleaned daily to prevent cross contamination and other potential food safety issues. I may not got back for awhile and then it may just be a quick stop to see if anything has changed. Which at this time I feel nothing will change and this establishment may be shuttered when I try to. They used to be a phenomenal breakfast "joint", but alas like so many places they are struggling to find out what they want to be. They have an opportunity to be that again considering they are right by a church. Capitalize on that crowd then, make them want to come there after church for breakfast/brunch. Also the hours of 8-3, that's a bad choice. 6AM-2PM is what they should be. This may seem like a lot to overcome but in a reality,...

Highlights: Excellent customer service, family friendly, large portions, delicious food, adequate seating for large parties

We got together for brunch on a Sunday around noon, and I was not sure what to expect when we pulled into this place that came highly recommended by a member of our party.

Walking in as a group of five, I was surprised to see how packed it was! There were at least three other large parties waiting as well, and we all stood shoulder to shoulder in the Front of House waiting to be seated. Initially, I was worried that the wait time would be ridiculous- but the turnover for tables was quicker than expected. We didn't wait longer than 10-15 minutes, with one family seated ahead of us.

Our service was awesome. We were greeted right away; she took our drink order and did a great job at giving us time to look through the menu and come to a final decision. With 2 kids, 1 baby and 2 adults, we needed a little time to settle in!

My 16-month-old son received so much love from the staff here. He was overwhelmed with joy due to the number of smiles, greetings and compliments they were giving him. He was enjoying their attention!

Our table order included, one chocolate chip pancake, one eggs benedict with hashbrowns and veggies, one kids breakfast that had sausage, eggs and toast and two (I can't remember the name) of the dish that had scrambled eggs, sausage over onions, peppers and breakfast potatoes.

The portions are very large! One pancake is the size of a large plate! You can order one dish for two people and be satisfied. We all went home with leftovers, as it was filling and delicious.

This is one of my new favorite places in Minnesota!

I love the energy in this restaurant! Everyone had great energy, from the staff to the patrons, and I am...

Went here for dinner for the second time yesterday. First time was great! Good service and good food. This was on Father's day. Yesterday, however, wasn't as great. We were seated at the same time as another party which was strange. We were seated at dirty tables which the waitress then needed to wipe down with an apology that they had a new host that is learning. No worries. She then got our drinks which went well. When she came to get our orders she was very short with us and didn't let us finish our sentence before asking the next question. Our food went in and we waited about 15 minutes, no big deal. When we got our food we realized the waitress had written down my boyfriend's order correctly, but it came out with the two things he didn't want on it. He said it was no big deal and we ate our food. Two other tables while we were eating complained about their orders being wrong. Not sure how the cooking staff messes up 3 orders in half an hour unless they weren't reading the tabs. Then we got our bill (and could see the waitress wrote our orders out correctly) but she never came back for payment. My boyfriend went up to the hostess stand to pay with the manager. All in all, a meh experience. I feel like they were swamped and too busy to care about the individual customer. Our food was incorrect, as was others, and we couldn't even pay through our waitress. I'll probably go back but might wait until they...