Riverwalk Pizzeria & Brew Pub - Blue Springs Brewing — Restaurant in Orange City

I'm giving Blue Springs Brewery a 3 star review.

Here's how I've broken it down:

Atmosphere: The brewery has a wide open space and lacks "identity". They have a fantastic space but haven't done much with it. I can definitely see where they want to stay away from the "box" restaurants and breweries, but again, their identity is "blue."

Service: Katie was our server and she was fantastic. Our drinks were always filled. She was up front with us about food and drink recommendations. She was friendly. Informative. Checked on us throughout our meal and provided excellent customer service. I brought friends from out of town that live in different parts of the country. They're all what I would describe as beer connoisseurs. Katie provided us with some excellent recommendations based on each of our tastes and at the end of our meal, one of diners was so impressed by the food and drinks that they ordered a large growler of "Physic Grandma"

Food: The food was fantastic. I was a bit confused on the menu as they offered "Steakhouse Salad" yet had no steak. And their signature dish was sold out. (Most of their food wasn't available) But the food we did order was fresh, hot and flavourful. We tried the fries with pork belly, egg and a lemon sauce (Apologies, I forget what it was called.) And I have to say, it was delicious. I highly recommend their food. I will also add, their menu is confusing though.

Drinks: If you love beer, you'll love this brewery. My personal favorite is "Physic Grandma" it has distinct notes of cinnamon with a gentle after taste. It pairs perfectly with dinner or dessert. They also have a coffee stout with deep notes of coffee and hops. It's flavorful, yet not over powering.

Entertainment: They have a games room that kids of all ages can enjoy. The games are affordable and fun. And it's not overwhelming in there. So while you're waiting for your meal, I'd recommend enjoying a game of pinball while you wait. (Note, it does feel like a 1980's pizza restaurant games room)

Ages: This restaurant accepts kids of all ages. However, they failed to provide a booster seat for my toddler. They did have a high chair, yet they sat the high chair at one end of the table and myself and my patrons at the other end of the table, out of reach of the high chair. In the end, my toddler sat on a chair and kept slipping off of it, onto the dirty floor below the table. (Refer to cleanliness rating) I was given a kids menu, but it would be good if they did more for their younger patrons such as had a coloring book available. (We found crayons on the floor, yet none were offered to us. I assume because they had been lost under the table.)

Restrooms: This is where I have to really lower my standards. The restrooms were dirty. The moment you walked inside, they smelled horrible. I went before and after dinner and the smell made me gag. I know a lot of people don't agree with me, but I have a saying "You're only as clean as your restrooms" when I walk into this restaurant, you don't get overwhelming smells of food. It doesn't really have a distinguishing scent. But the restrooms do. And it's horrible.

Cleanliness: I refer once again to my comments about the restrooms being substandard. But I'll add to this. The floors are dirty and they do not do a good job cleaning up after their patrons. We were seated in an area which had fries left over on the floor from the previous diners. There were also broken crayons. I brought a small child with me and was absolutely disgusted to see her finding old candy (fireballs from the quarter machine in the games room), old fries and broken crayons under our table.

To summarize: Food is good. Beer and spirits are great. Service is excellent. Menu needs to be re-named. Restaurant needs a thorough cleaning and needs to be redecorated. (The cleanliness of the restaurant makes me question the cleanliness of the kitchen. I will add, I did NOT get sick after eating there, but was afraid I might) Games room is fun, but reminds me of the old games rooms at pizza restaurants...

We had a group of 5 people plus one more who was about to join us. First off they wouldn’t seat us until the 6th person arrived. Not a huge biggie so we just waited. Finally when we ordered I ordered a 18” pepperoni pizza crispy and a basket of fries to come out with my meal and not as an appetizer. My friend also ordered a pepperoni pizza and a basket of fries. Only he ordered no salt and for his to come out as an appetizer. My friends food came and his fries were great, cooked perfectly and his pizza looked great. They brought my fries out first and they just have had a pound of salt on them. I don’t mind salty fries but this was so extreme I couldn’t believe it. Also my fries were nasty. I’m pretty sure they double dipped them in the fryer. I have a feel they cooked my fries and his at the same time but because I asked for mine with my meal they probably recooked them to heat them up. They were burned dry and super salty. I asked the waitress to please remove them from the bill and handed them back. Anyways my pizza came a moment later and they handed me a cheese pizza. The pizza was crispy like I asked but I ordered pepperoni. The waitress apologized and I told her I don’t want them to just throw pepperoni on this and toss it back into the oven. The pizza was already well done before and adding pepperoni and recooking it will make it cooked too long. The waitress assured me they will make a fresh one. She then told me I will have a new one in 5-7 min. Not sure how that could be possible if they are making a new one but anyways it came out in like 5-7 min like she said and the crust was really dark in color and super dry. The pepperoni wasn’t cooked and fell off the pizza. The cheese had dark spots under the pepperoni. I mentioned to the waitress again I didn’t want them to put pepperoni on my old pizza that was already crispy and cook it further that it was supposed to be a new one. She asked how I knew it was the old one and I showed her. She apologized and had them go back to fix it a 3rd time. By this time my group was already starting to leave and I was stuck there waiting in my food. Finally the pizza arrived and she asked how it was. The top looked good but the bottom was literally black. I told her I would just keep it as I needed to leave and go pick my mom up. I use to go to Riverwalk all the time when it was in Sanford and it was incredible. This was my second time at the orange city location and I will not be going back. I paid $32 for my pizza, drink and tip for something that took 3 tries to get right and ended up being burned...

We were so hopeful this place would be great and while the set up and menu has potential, we were sorely disappointed. We dined on a Friday evening and it wasn't very busy (not uncommon with all that's going on). We sat at a table that connected to a gaming system which was fun. Our server was excellent and very attentive.

Unfortunately, that's where the positive points end. The menu sounds amazing in theory but the execution seems to be the result of too many short cuts and reveals itself in lack luster food (at best).

To start, I tried a couple of beers but landed on a cocktail and it was fine. The beer I did sample was on the warm side and I decided not to pursue it further. I ordered the buffalo chicken sandwich and my husband ordered a couple of appetizers. Here's the thing: If I want a frozen patty warmed up and put on a plate I'll do it myself at home and save money. It's discouraging almost none of the food we ordered was actually homemade. I understand if you don't want to cut your own french fries but I don't value a meal simply reheated for me and charged $15 for it.

My husband ordered the bruschetta flatbread. I'd hope for a warm, soft pillow like bread with the amount of toppings placed upon it but instead we were given something like a wafer cracker. The ratio was so off. The tomato soup and grilled cheese was fine (that's a fool proof dish for most anyone).

The cherry on top of our discouragement was our shared dessert in the form of the cinnamon pretzel. You'd hope for something similar to one you'd find at a mall or carnival, right? On the contrary we were presented with a regular pretzel that had the most timid dusting of cinnamon and sugar one can imagine. It was almost like a garnish for appearances sake versus something that was supposed to actually add flavor. $10 for what we received might be the best rip off they have on their menu.

Finding quality food at restaurants that are locally owned is so rare in this area and we were hopeful this would be an exception. It wasn't and we...