Sterling's Famous Steak Seafood & Salad Bar - On The River — Restaurant in Richland

Sterlings used to be my very favorite place.

But now, I know things.

I know what a farm fresh egg tastes like, so it’s difficult to enjoy a breakfast of subpar ingredients.

I picked Sterlings above IHOP because I wanted to support a local business. And the ambience they have created in the newly remodeled (or moved to a new building? I don’t remember.) restaurant is beautiful.

Make sure to look up when you go in, the ceiling is painted with a beautiful river scene and there are salmon dangling at angles.

Also, be sure to ask for a table with the beautiful view of the river, the main attraction of you ask me.

It is hard to know that the owner of Sterlings is a demanding man, a chauvinist pig who only hires young and pretty waitstaff, both male and female.

My server today, Alexis, was an absolute sweetheart and beautifully efficient, putting up with my query about the origin of the coffee with grace. She brought me the Tully’s French roast, which had been cooked to bitter death on the burner before she brought it, but I did manage to salvage half a cup with the right amount of sugar (bleached and refined sigh) and real cream that the sweet girl brought from the kitchen.

If you are going to eat out, this is a beautiful spot, if incredibly noisy between the kitchen sounds, the electric buzz from the many screens diverting attention from the beautifully painted ceiling, and the hum of a thousand different machines.

Oh, coming into the building sounds and feels like a goddam wind tunnel, might want to protect your ears.

In all, I will be back when the weather dictates a warm, dry place to view the river. But I won’t stay long, the noise and bad tastes driving me back out within half an hour, which probably suits their quick turnover expectations.

If only they would source higher quality, local ingredients, making their food just as appetizing as the view, I would happily spend all my outing time and money with them.

As it stands now, they are the “lesser of two evils” from the current offerings along the Richland river front.

So I am throwing down a challenge to the Sterlings family;

Won’t you join us in the year 2019?

It is a magical place, filled with compassion for our bodies, our planet and our local community. I challenge you to make one simple change that will serve us all for the better.

How about the syrup? Which comes in a great big plastic bottle, that my children’s children’s children will still be dealing with, and who’s ingredient list contains not even a trace of the simple, vastly more delicious homemade recipe. Also the homemade stuff doesn’t give me heartburn.

Or how about the jams and jellies? Stop ordering disposable plastic packets, the first ingredient is high fructose corn syrup, a known brain disruptor in any family with a child who suffers from behavioral disorders.

Homemade jam is so easy that even I have done it. I happen to know the Richland farmers market has at least two farms a year that offer strawberries, and I’m positive that you could find more within Washington state.

Or the coffee? Why not support another local business by buying your coffee beans locally? I know of at least one roaster in town.

Any of these changes would immediately change my outlook on the Sterlings’ family contribution to my community from 3 stars straight to 5.

Have a heart, get a...

I had dinner with a group of friends, family, and coworkers tonight, and we were beyond unimpressed. The atmosphere of this place was really nice, especially being so close to the river, unfortunately the service, bartender and food were less than desirable.

Our group ordered several appetizers from meatballs to steamed clams, and while some were tasty, others were underwhelming. This place seriously needs to start with upping their salad game....it was honestly the worste side salad ever! Chopped iceberg lettuce and some croutons with a plastic cup full of dressing is a tell sign of worse things to come.....I mean honestly how much more is some good lettuce/spinach?!?

The steamed clams were good with the butter broth and seasoned bread. The meatballs were tasty, but the white sauce that came with them had split and was chunky. The seasoned fries were good, the seasoned cauliflower was flavorful, but the Mexican style chips were soggy and byfar the worste appetizer.

The food was really bad. 2 of us ordered ribeye, and it was tough, flavorless, and mostly gristle. The butchers cut steak was also severely lacking seasoning and had a weird taste, not to mention they cut into the center of it to check if it was cooked. Others had ordered seafood plates of scallops, shrimp, and salmon. Those dishes were either over salted or just okay. The sides were DREADFUL! Many of us ordered mashed potatoes, and they were literally the blandest, hockey puck of potatoes with McCormick brown gravy we've ever eaten anywhere.

The service was also lacking. While we all got primary drinks, many of us weren't offered a refil of drinks until the end of the meal. Additionally, the bartender couldn't make even the simplest of drinks. Generally, when we go to restaurants, our drink bill is at minimum half of the bill but due to the wait time of drinks coming out and drinks we had to send back for not being mixed right, we hardly ordered any drinks at all.

The server tried, but I'm not sure she was able to handle a group of 12 by herself. She really missed out on a good profit and tip due to her inability to provide better service. Additionally, she got the total on the bill wrong and tried to overcharge us by $100, which was quickly resolved by the manager.

One nice thing out of this trip was the happy birthday song and dessert that was done for the 17 yr old in our party, but that's about all that I can say that was good here.

Unfortunately, this place has lost our business. It's apparent that the quality of food has gone down significantly, and they don't have competent chefs who care enough to taste the food they put out.

If and when that ever changes, maybe I'll give them another shot myself, but I won't be bringing a large group because this experience was just...

Normally I would give more stars, but tonight my server Dave was rude at the get go from when I asked if I could replace the clam chowder with the chicken noodle on the salad bar, as I just was not crazy about the chowder and he said you can do what you want and took the clam chowder and walked away. The bill was already on the table for the one trip salad bar, as the manager Mario had brought me to my table when I walked in and I told him that’s all I was getting. He even offered to bring me a dinner roll and really was just so nice to me! I was on the phone with a friend of mine and Dave quickly comes to my table grabs the empty salad plate and the bill, but then comes back in a flash with a new bill for an ALL YOU CAN EAT salad bar and walks away as quick as he came! I kept looking out for him to come back to my table, but he was taking care of the table of 6 and not worrying about this Party of ONE that he knew wasn’t going to be a huge tip table. I motioned for another server to please ask my server to come to my table and she happily agreed and had to finally yell out his name DAVE to get his attention . He came over and I asked him why he changed out the bill to charge me for an all you can eat price when I made one trip and he proceeds to tell me that I had multiple plates, which I told him it was one trip with salad on one plate and pasta on the other. He was not willing to listen to me, so I told him to go get the manager and he smugly says no problem and sends Mario over WHO listened to me, and agreed with me that it was one trip. He took the bill and brought the correct one back! As I was finishing up the conversation on the phone with my friend Dave walks past me and slaps the back of my seat I am sure because he thought Mario was going to back him up…Dave you were wrong and fact of the matter I am almost 100% sure your rudeness towards me was because you knew it wasn’t going to be a large tip(like your bigger tables) coming from me and that’s why you changed the bill, but guess what you ended up with NO TIP from me and can honestly say you would have at least gotten 20%, but ended up with 0%!!! I have ALWAYS had great service whenever coming to this Sterlings and will still be a customer after this, just will make sure I never have Dave as my server!! Thank you Mario for being so kind to me from the moment I walked in and wish I could have received the same treatment from your...