Shindigs Country Kitchen Bar & Stage — Restaurant in Riverside

While I normally don’t write reviews, I was so impressed by this place I feel an obligation to give it a shout out!

BACKGROUND I picked up my buddy Dunkles, who just flew in from Cinci. Of course, he is high maintenance (on everything except physical hygiene) and insists we find a local country bar to spend the evening (jelly roll fan, also likes the singer too). I had no idea where to find one so I searched and Shindigs came up. We walked in and were greeted warmly, only realizing later that we were there on a soft opening night (you would have never known!). They could have turned us away but made a point to welcome us in, which is pretty rad.

THE SERVICE Despite Dunkles both smelling and looking like he took a freight train into town, our waitress was unafraid, providing us consistent service with a smile all evening long! I believe her name was Little Cherish, so ask for a table in her section and you won’t be let down (Dunkles was a big fan, kept telling her there weren’t any places like this in “the natti” ). We had several appetizers before ordering entrees and everything throughout the evening was delivered with minimal delay. It seemed like the team worked very well together, as nearly every time a member of the staff walked by they topped off my water and asked it we were good.

THE BAR I’ve given up drinking so I told Dunkles we could just sit at a high top versus bellying up in barstools. Dunkles said he was off the bottle too, but when I hit the bathroom, I came back to find a Corona at our table, with my date for the night drinking a pint. I scoffed at him only to have him show me the bottle which has “Non-Alcoholic” on it. It was amazing, tasted like my last Corona a half decade ago! Dunkles said he ordered one too, but asked to have it poured into a glass because the bottle brings back dark memories (highly suspect, he is probably back on the sauce, didn’t look closely at the receipt, probably should have).

THE FOOD Here’s what I ordered (Dunkles meal selection is too embarrassing…and I didn’t taste it, so can’t rate it):

Fried Pickles 10 out of 10! These pickles were fantastic. Not only are they a different take on the traditional style, being served as spears rather than chips, this place uses good old fashion Dill pickles rather than the far more popular Kosher Dill style of pickle, which in my opinion is an imposter pickle. As a fan of fried pickles, I must say this was a pleasant surprise! Hopefully others follow! Dunkles, a fan of all things fried, gave them the thumbs up despite there being a vegetable inside!

Wings (Buffalo) 9 out of 10! I give these a nine out of ten not based on the sauce, but based on the fact that this place delievered some of the largest wings I have ever seen. I have seen smaller wings on a Costco chicken! While they were a tremendous value, I would have liked to see at least another option or two for sauces, particularly one with an elevated spice (right now its just buffalo and I believe habinaro mango…despite habinaro being in the name this is not spicy for most grown ups!).

Double Stack BLT 10 out of 10! The highlight of the night for me was the BLT. Not only is this thing incredibly large and filing with a generous portion of bacon and all the fixings, the fries which accompany it are delicious (fat fingers across the table kept snatching them!). The price point on this thing was also enviable, as most other restaurants are bumping up BLTs into the $20s, so it see a sandwhich which was reasonably priced under $15 was a pleasant surprise. This place has a winner on its hands in the sandwhich menu.

THE TAKEAWAY With fantastic service, great music (digital jukebox for now, they do have a stage), wonderful food, and a proudly patriotic Americana atmosphere, I believe this place is going to have a bright future. I plan to return the next time I’m in Riverside and look forward...

Went for the first time tonight. Not crowded yet, so we were happy about that. Have never been in this building, so I don’t know how it looked before now, but I really like the decor. The acoustics were good, music not too loud, and was pleasant. Huge bar with lots of seating. I gave the food 4 stars because the Candied Bacon was definitely not candied enough. And lady at the next table said same, so it’s not just me. It was also too chewy. Not sure how it was prepared, but please look for a better way. The sauce it came with was a sweet peanut butter, which was tasty. Just my thought, because I have had it before, but the very first candied bacon I ever had, was thick, crispy, and served with 2 sauces for dipping. One was a chocolate fudgy sauce, and the other was a caramel sauce, plus just a few apple slices with skins on, and some sea salt for sprinkling. Hubby ordered the Rib Eye medium rare. It came out medium to medium well. Good flavor, (herb butter it’s served with gets 👍👍up), but the type of Ribeye was more a select grade, than a choice. It was a huge piece of meat, and the 2 sides, Cheesy mash? and broccoli, cauliflower medley were cooked to his liking. Service was a 4 because the waitress did not know how the chef cooked his steaks to order, when hubby asked her. She did come back later and ask, so maybe she is new. We did not order anything from the bar, because they don’t have Happy Hour, (we were told when we asked), and no price for bar drinks on the menu usually means the prices are not spectacular. Line Dancing on Wednesday nights. Not sure if offered any other night. We will come back, we search out mom and pops to try, and patronize the ones we love. I really want this place to make it, and would love to try the...

We visited Shindigs on a Thursday night. They were pretty busy for a Thursday but there was no wait for a table. My first observation was the chairs were quite uncomfortable, understandably I am no youngin' but, I think even 10 years ago the hard wood seats would've been just as uncomfortable. The decor is cute, I would say well done a good bar aesthetic.

The service, a friend who had recently visited warned me that they obviously do not hire their servers based on experience but rather on looks. I would have to agree. We ordered an appetizer and some drinks and they came out quite fast. However, our waitress seemed to forget that she never took out order. As we saw her tend to other customers who came in well after we did. We had to finally ask someone if they could tell our way that we would like to order. It was quite a wait. Once we ordered the food arrived quickly.

We had the Turkey Chipotle grilled cheese which we highly recommend. And the loaded baked potato with brisket, I figured since it was under "Mains" it would've been heartier. However it was not that large and not very loaded. The brisket was yummy though, I only wish there were more of it and I would recommend that they season the outside of the potato before cooking, some of us really like potato skins. We would also recommend the pectaters they were quite yummy. And those garlic fries 👍 the highlight of the night.

We were a little disappointed in the non alcoholic drinks available. A place like this should really offer a Strawberry lemonade or something similar.

I say visit and I am sure you will...