Riverview Cafe — Restaurant in North Topsail Beach

This is the best food and service by far. There is plenty of parking. They have a ramp for accessibility. Lots of covered seating outside to enjoy the view while waiting. There is always a welcoming environment (thank you so much for that). The food is always so amazing. The views are breath taking. The service is quick and on point. We come a couple times a year from Pennsylvania and it is a MUST to come. There is a man that is always jumping in and helping out where he can (I have never been able to catch a name for him but he is always busting his rear. The servers (even though we have a party of 9+ including a few kiddos) is always accommodating and nice(not always the case everywhere). They have the BEST crab dip around (it sells out quick). The ribeye and fried shrimp are to DIE for. And getting the fried squash is a must. My husband always changes it up when we go but is NEVER disappointed. The friends we drag always love it and when they come back it’s always the place they ask to go to eat at. My kids even love going there watching the boats on the river, the food never goes to waste either. The food is worth every penny. I almost forgot to mention the hush puppies (how dare I) they are so good and come to the table piping hot and they are by far the best hush puppies. This place is amazing and a huge part of our memories at the beach. It was our first restaurant coming to topsail and it was unforgettable then. Our kids, family and friends always love it here and ask to come back. Thank you to all the staff we have had through out the years and we look forward to seeing you all in the...

I can not say how disappointed I was in Riverview. Our family have been coming to this restaurant for over thirty years and have always been pleased, but I will NEVER go back. Don’t waste your $! First of all there was a lady that was extremely rude to us right off the bat. I asked if we could sit by a window and she became belligerent immediately saying there were no tables at the window when there clearly was. She ended up putting us there but then found out she was going to have our table. Suddenly she became sooo sweet. Food was absolutely horrible. Ordered clam chowder only to get some kind of soup with oysters in it. The scallops were obviously overcooked. When pressed they were like rubber and I’m even wondering if they were even scallops. Go to Ricks if you want amazing scallops that are real. We ordered fried squash and she came back with fried zucchini that was absolutely horrible and inedible! It was discusting. The onion rings were like jerky…my sister couldn’t hardly bite into them. The fried oysters were also terrible. We ate none of our food and when we expressed how aweful it was, we were met with “I’m sorry”… no offer to make it right. We spent over 200.00 on the crappiest food Ive ever had. My plate was still full and obviously not eaten. I hate it because I always loved this place but they obviously have changed. Portions are skimpy, food is horrible, and service is the worst! Don’t waste your time or money on a place that doesn’t serve quality food and doesn’t care about their customers! In my opinion they owe me 200.00! Makes me sick that I paid that for food we...

My wife and I were visiting from out of town for work. We got a strong recommendation to try this place from the folks who are hosting us. We popped over on a very rainy evening and found a solid mixture of locals and out of town folk. The menu you get is about half the story, the real fun is the white board. Be sure the read it before you take a seat as there is a lot on there that is not on the menu. The place is clean, but raw. It's not fancy or dressed up. The staff are all busting their butts and the kitchen never stopped. Our waitress was very nice, took great care of us, and kept up with everything else she was doing. The food is super fresh and was well cooked. The scallops had a good texture to them and weren't chewy and the shrimp weren't smothered in Old Bay. There were a good amount of options available and not everything has to be fried which is always nice to see.

Small note here, the following did not affect my star rating: as someone who grew up in the last outcropping of civilization and surrounded by rural Virginia, I'm no stranger to being stared at or folks giving me weird looks as an LGBTQ+ person, but dang did this restaurant have plenty of looky-loos who act like they have never seen two women hold hands. Just a heads up for others, that it may happen to you. No one said anything, did anything, or otherwise made us feel unwelcome, and the staff were kind and they can not control how others stare. Just a...