Buck & Rider Scottsdale — Restaurant in Phoenix

Great food, generally good service, but a somehow disappointing dining experience.

I made a reservation for one for a Monday evening. When I arrived, the hostess was very pleasant, and I was looking forward to my meal. You can tell that the staff pays a lot of attention, they know where to look for you when you’re sitting and waiting to be seated.

The problem essentially was that I was a single diner, and I was in Phoenix for work. I took myself out for a nice dinner and wanted to be able to enjoy my meal. When I was seated, I told my server that I wanted the courses to be spaced out. I wanted time to enjoy each of the courses and not feel rushed. My server said she understood and she would make sure that this happened.

It did not. If anything, the courses seemed to have been sped up. Barely had I gotten my appetizers when the main came. Mind you, some of the appetizers are quite large, I had gotten the oysters and brussels sprouts. I wanted time to linger and enjoy the oysters while sampling the brussels sprouts… You see where this is going.

I asked my server to take the main back and keep it warm for me while I finished my appetizers. She did so, but it didn’t make for a good experience when I was eating my now semi-congealed main course after finally finishing the appetizers.

While I was eating the main, I did order dessert. But again it was brought out very quickly. The dessert was delicious, all of the food was delicious, but I had specifically asked to have the course spaced out, and that just did not happen.

I understand that there is an incentive to turn over single tables quickly to get more people in. But this is a fine dining establishment. Most of the tables I was seated near had been seated well before I arrived and were eating and talking well after I paid my check. There were tables of people who were lingering over drinks who had not ordered anything in the time that I had been there. So I just felt very much like I was being shoved out the door unceremoniously, and that my time was not respected or appreciated.

Finally, there was a lot of leftover food, and I asked for it to be boxed up. They brought me boxes for me to put the food into. I know it seems like a small thing, but at $120 for dinner before tip, I expect the restaurant to box my food for me. There were some saucy items that were very messy and I got some on my suit.

I want to emphasize that the employees were very nice, so I think that this is a training opportunity. I worked in fine dining, I worked in hospitality, and I have both empathy and understanding for the particulars of the restaurant business and what it’s like working in customer service. This was just a disappointing evening from a service perspective, based on the price point of the meal. At that cost level, I’m expecting a certain level of experience and I didn’t receive it.

Solo diners, just be aware this might happen.

P.S. The only reason I’m writing this review is because Buck & Rider keeps sending me automated emails asking me to make a reservation to dine...

This was our first time at this restaurant, we discovered this gem driving by it and decided to make a reservation for our Anniversary dinner. We had our reservation for a Saturday evening, it was not crowded but busy in the restaurant. We were greeted by the front desk lady who was polite. We waited for 4-5 minutes by the front desk, another server asked us if we wanted to order drinks while we were waiting to be seated. We ordered Kyoto Sour and my husband ordered 15 year old Whistlepig Whiskey. Our drinks were great and perfectly done. My husband's drink was pretty straightforward on a block of ice. We were seated shortly after receiving our drinks. For appetizers, we ordered Crispy Calamari and fresh Oysters- Madhouse and Rochambeau. Oysters were amazing specially Madhouse, my husband loved it so much that he ended up ordering extras. Calamari was okay, slightly more on the oily side, the sauces that it came with were great, called Thai sauce and Killer Louie (both equally flavorful). For the main course, we had Bone in Ribeye with sides of Broccolini and I chose Shrimp Scampi Risotto. Beef was amazingly tender and flavorful, nice size portion so was my dish. Shrimp tasted very fresh and lemon garlic sauce was to die for. The only negative was Polenta was not done properly and had hard grains to it. Both portions were good sized that we took some leftovers home and loved it as much the next day. I also tried the cocktail Yellow Jacket which was all right, Kyoto Sour was better in my opinion. Our server was wonderful, helped us in the menu and she was very knowledgeable. They have a neat board in the restaurant where guests names come up, the ones who are there for a special occasion whether Birthday or Anniversaries. We waited for our names to show but it did not, little disappointed not seeing our names but nonetheless, we had a great time at Buck & Rider and we loved the food, ambiance and customer service. We cannot wait to go there again and try their other delicious items. I have already recommended this restaurant to my foodie friends and would recommend this place to anyone who would enjoy some fresh seafood and this friendly...

In short, an oasis of seafood in the desert.

We'd sampled the calamari appetizer, which had a flavorful light batter, and was fried absolutely perfectly. And their Clam Chowder, which was a solid take on it, but otherwise was overshadowed by their mains.

For entrees we ended up with a mix of options and ended up with one extra for our table of 5. - We all wanted to try the scallops.

Their execution was absolutely on point for each of the dishes. The Fresh Blue Crab Cakes were flavorful and packed full of crab, not just filler. The Pan Crisp Yellowtail Snapper had excellent texture, and was a buttery delight. The Shrimp Scampi Risotto, was a fun treat, a little high on the acid, but the shrimp were absolutely delicious. We shared a plate of the Diver Scallops, which were some of the best cooked scallops I've had. We tried a pair of steaks which were cooked to order, simple, well seasoned, but didn't detract from the meat itself. - For a restaurant which focuses in seafood, their turf was above expectations. I also had an opportunity to try some of their Hamachi Nigiri, which were wonderfully fresh. All of the dishes were comfortably sized, but if you crave larger portions, I would recommend 1.5 dishes, or at least adding an appetizer.

My only complaint for the mains is: dishes served with a side only provided one, so if you're looking for more than meat and potatoes you'll need to get creative. That being said it would not be unreasonable to grab another main with a side your party might want to share, or one of their salads to fill in the same role.

We ended the evening with a single slice of their Lemon Meringue which was more than enough for the table. - A perfectly acceptable finish to the meal.

The restaurant itself is very sleek, open, and I imagine at rush can feel packed. - Not to say that you won't have room, but it might miss the mark for a "quiet romantic setting." One feature I did love was their split flap display. For most of the meal it rotated between menu options, and announcements, but as we were celebrating my mother's birthday, they added a little message just for us, which was extremely fun and much...