RiverCrust Deli — Restaurant in Riverside

my most recent visit will be my last.

The food is decent. I've tried the sandwiches and the pizza here. Sandwiches are okay and the pizza is good. I will say the crust is nice. Pizza is very cheesy if you're into a thick layer of cheese.

But the service is mediocre at best. Every time I've come here it takes so long to get my food. This last time I placed my order online to not spend my whole 30 min lunch just waiting for my order. I got a text saying my order would be ready between 12:10PM-12:15PM. I arrived at 12:10PM. I was waiting 5 minutes before someone finally came to the register to help me. I thought, "that's okay, I don't mind because I placed my order in advance, I'm just picking it up." When I told them my online order, the guy said, "let me go check". He came back and said "it'll be right out". I also got the text notification that my order was ready to be picked up. I waited for 30 minutes!! I finally asked what the ETA on my small pizza was! The girl said "let me go check." I could hear them talking in the back. I realized that they didn't even start making my order until I got there. 5 minutes after I asked for an ETA, dude finally came out with my pizza and all he said was "sorry for the wait." 35 minutes PAST THE PICK UP TIME. For a pizza place this was some WEAK SAUCE customer service and the 3rd time I wasted my entire lunch just waiting for my food. I work a mile away. I was obviously late getting back to work and my entire team asked me why I didn't just ask for my money back. BECAUSE I WAS STARVING! And because I'm not a Karen that's going to blow up on a worker. But the level of inconsideration and the nonchalant "sorry for the wait" is enough for me to never consider coming back here, and sharing my experience with anyone who brings up going to Rivercrust. ON TOP OF ALL THIS, it wasn't even busy!! A first time customer (who came in after me) was talking with a worker and said, "wow, I'm surprised how empty it is in here." And the worker responded "oh yeah, it's dead now. You should have seen it...

So my wife and I have been told of this place by many friends and so called influencers online who I don’t follow but my wife does. We finally got a chance to try it out and the service was normal but not a place you would want to sit and eat there as it gets pretty warm inside from the pizza oven. I will say that the Philly fries were great but the sandwich could do without the spicy mayo. My problem with this place was that when we began to dig into the pizza (this was takeout ) that we got, we found a long hair baked into the pizza crust and were grossed out and just tossed the whole thing out. I also was there when these so called IE influencers were there and saw how they were actually rehearsing their lines before they even took a bit of their food. This makes me believe that they were payed or given free food for their positive reviews. I did like the food and wanted to try the pizza but finding a hair will definitely make me think twice about going back. Yes no one there was wearing a hair net during our visit. Something the owner should consider. These are the reasons I would not recommend this place! I wish I would have taken a picture of the pizza with the hair...

Food: 4/5 Got the Philly cheese and pastrami pizza. Sandwich was good (hot, fresh, cheesy, tender, juicy etc) but just a bit on the saltier side for my preference. I am going to be back to try their other hot and cold sandwiches for sure.

The pizza crust is one of the best in the area. Has the right amount of crisp in the crust and undercarriage. Good toppings (quality and quantity). Also will need to try their other flavors. It's the bready (not heavy though) kind of pizza. So don't expect a thin crust or neopolitan style pizza

Ambience/ cleanliness: 5/5 Clean inside and also in front of the business. It's quiet inside and the tv was running - makes it easy to eat lunch with someone and have a conversation.

Staff service: 5/5 The guy who took my order answered the questions I had and also made great recommendations. He also told me their usual pickle wasn't in and offered alternatives for the pizza that worked pretty well.

Price/value: 4/5 It's a bit on the pricier side for sure. The Philly and pizza total came out higher than other places I've been, but even at these prices, I'd go back and try the other items in their menu

Overall...