The Riviere ( The Honey Drizzle ) — Restaurant in Richmond

First and foremost I’m all about black owned businesses and I love to support! I’ve been wanting to come to The Rivière for years now and finally had the chance to come for the first time and I was completely disappointed.

I ordered a Pineapple Rum Punch made by my server Jah who was phenomenal might I add, understanding and very apologetic.

As for my Entree I ordered the Alfredo with Shrimp. The shrimp was overcooked however flavorful the Alfredo sauce was bland and watery (no seasoning) the presentation was great but the taste was off. So I decided to still take it home and doctor it up.

The atmosphere was ok, originally when I walked in with my brother it was just us and two others but I found out that one of them was the Chef apparently. It was just one other customer, later on two other men joined. Now, I’m all about being professional and being comfortable/enjoying yourself while working, but in a business especially black owned we MUST do better why was the chef at the bar rolling a blunt in front of customers that’s insane!! You could smell the weed from afar and when I realized what I was smelling I looked up and lo and behold this man was rolling a blunt out in the open. This is very unprofessional this can cause you to lose your business.

My brother ordered salmon bites as an appetizer at first, again no seasoning in the flour the sauce was watery the presentation looked like they just threw the salmon bites on the plate no decor not appealing at all.

Then he proceeds to order fried shrimp which looked delectable! But was again bland it didn’t taste good the yams were definitely sitting under the light too long because it was hard on the top it looked stale. The Mac and cheese, yes cheesy but no flavor I had to spit it out in a napkin. (A little salt goes a long way, taste your food before you serve it.) He sends it back to order something else and after 25 minutes of waiting we realize they did not put the order in. So we decided to just leave it. The Chef who was out in the front decided to make some salmon bites himself on the house which was very nice of him. Thank You!

However the cooks in the back apparently had a problem with the food being sent back. There should be no reason to be mad if your food isn’t to someone’s liking fix it and send it back out.

The experience overall was not pleasant at all. I say all of this with love not only am I just a regular customer but I also am a Chef and I have a culinary degree as well and a catering business. So I understand what it’s like but we as a people have to do better so we can keep our businesses and grow so we can pour into the next generation.

I pray you take this with love and understanding and in hopes that I can visit again and have a better experience but as of right now I wouldn’t recommend anyone...

I want start this review off by saying I’ve been in the hospitality industry for 10 years as a server, bartender and manager so Im always understanding of service and all of the things that could potentially be out of the control of waitstaff. My experience for brunch was very lackluster. When I arrived there was no one at the door to greet guest and I ended up having to walk up to the bar to let the bartender know that I had a reservation. The space is smaller than expected but all the tables were full and they had a dj playing hip hop & t&b. I was seated at the bar and sat there for about 15 minutes before I was greeted. The choice of alcohol at the bar was VERY bare! During that time the bartender and kitchen staff were having a disagreement behind the bar in front of myself and other patrons. The bartender seemed very annoyed as she seemed busy and was making drinks. As a bartender/manager, I completely understand being in the “weeds” as the only bartender for a busy brunch shift but it is also still very important to greet customers as they sit at your bar and just let them know you will be right with them, providing at the least a menu. For me that goes a long way and at least lets me known that I am seen. Once we were finally given menus, it took the bartender about another 15 minutes to take our orders. I ordered the peach mimosa pitcher, catfish and grits with a house salad and my friend order the salmon Philly which I was very interested to try. Unfortunately, they let us know that they wouldn’t be able to make the salmon Philly so my friend opted out for the chicken Philly on the menu. The food came out in waves with my catfish and grits coming out first and the chicken Philly about 10 minutes later. I normally would like all the food for a group to come out at the same time but we had already waited a while so I let it go. The fish was pretty good but the grits were hard and flavorless without the sauce. My friend stayed the chicken Philly was just OK. My salad didn’t come out until I was basically done with my meal but I sent it back because it didn’t have the toppings that were described on the menu. I don’t even know why they would bring it out to a guest if it didn’t look as described. We ended up getting hookah as well which was $50. I was ready to go so I asked for the bill which game to $150 at first. I noticed the bartender still had the salmon Philly on the check which was a different price than the chicken. When I let her know, she said that they didn’t even have the chicken Philly in the system although it was on the menu and a different price. She end up removing it and changing the price. Overall I think it was overpriced and the staff could use a bit of training on customer service...

As part of my family's Monday dinner nights out, we wanted to try to see if we could add this place to the list of options. We arrived at 6pm and were the only customers there. With only the one waitress there, we were expecting great service, we were wrong. We should have known better when they brought us, prepackaged PLASTIC silverware. Plus, with bringing my two kids (both under age 10) we were disappointed they had no kid options for food at all! We asked for the fish dinner for the kids to share, since the waitress stated they only give 1 fish that is as big as the plate and it came with 2 sides. My mom had the salmon cake dinner with yams and asparagus (which was not noted on the menu). Nephew had the same dinner but with mac and cheese and tater tots. My sister got the chicken and waffles, while I ordered the honey garlic wings and shrimp caesar salad. We were all disappointed when we later received our meals that all had issues. The fish was NOT the size of the plate, so I had to share some of my wings with my oldest so she would be full. She had a side of mac and cheese which she did not like, especially with seeing so much oil at the bottom of the cup she had. Both the kids did say the fish was really good though! My mom's asparagus looked like it had been sitting out for days, brown and nasty looking but she tried a bit of one of the four they gave her (sent back). She asked for the only other vegetable they had, cabbage to be brought out instead. Nephew finished all his food first to say it was okay enough, the best of it all was the syrup put on the tater tots and salmon cakes. My son didn't like the syrup on his so ate 2, part of his 'no thank-you bite' (because I made him). So my sister got her food which she said was okay, just a shame they gave her ice cold syrup for her chicken and waffles. She asked the waitress for hot or warmed syrup, she brought her back another container of COLD syrup. Now y'all remember I only asked for wings and caesar salad with shrimp right, I got NO shrimp and since I asked for no croutons, they must have added extra shredded cheese. My mom got her cup of cabbage, wayyyyy too salty. I tried, I truly did. Super disappointed overall and we will not be coming back! We should have saved our $107 and went to the best jamaican restaurant (my opinion) in the next block...