The Ark — Restaurant in Riverside

We called a few days ahead of time, as we were planning my mother's 98 birthday, on 7/06/24. We gave an estimate of the number of people in our group. Upon arriving, members of our group had to arrange tables, as this had not been done prior. Let me say this: I can't tell you how many times my family members and I have dined here over the last 50+ years, and the servers have always been on par and friendly. Not this time, as our server was barking orders for everyone to "sit down,"remained sullen and snarky." This made everyone in our group a bit confused about her behavior and uncomfortable. Let me state that there were only 1-2 tables occupied during our time there, and there were more servers available than ours. Everything seemed rushed, as it felt as if we left sooner rather than later, and our server would have been happy. I ordered the whole catfish and shrimp, w a baked potato (not available), so I ordered fries instead, and coleslaw. My food was really good, except the whole catfish was extremely small with little meat. Of course, I didn't get asked if everything was okay, not sure if anyone else was asked. When finished with our meal, we had brought a birthday cake (we asked if this would be a problem and we were told "Of course, you can") I got a piece and was attempting to eat, and talking to others that were leaving. A guy was quickly bussing our table, and took my plate after I told him that I was still eating. As a previous server, I don't go anywhere that I don't tip, and it's usually 20%+ for good service. Not this time, I tipped a flat 15% and didn't even want to give that much. I don't know what is happening at this restaurant, but this visit was unlike any other visit in the past. I know that The Ark can do...

A friend and I shared 3pc fried catfish, cajun french fries, fried okra, hush puppies, & lemon icebox cake. We ordered 1/2 dozen hushpuppies on the side because we didn’t think they came with the meal, but they do.

This establishment is a small restaurant on the side of the highway. Coming in, it has an old southern look and feel to it. The staff was very nice and welcomed me when I entered to pick up the food. The food we ordered was to-go and it ended up being about $29. We didn’t sit on the inside but there was a decent amount of space for dining in. The temp was good and atmosphere was nice too.

Catfish was great, fried and seasoned perfectly. Cajun french fries were great. They were seasoned and fried well with a great taste to them. Fried okra was just okay because the breading was falling off and they were a little soggy but the flavor was good. Hush puppies weren’t good at all, in my opinion. They tasted like there was too much cornmeal in the batter so they were really hard. Biting into it, it was hard to break apart. I believe the best hushpuppies are crunchy/crisp on the outside but somewhat fluffy on the inside (similar to cornbread). This recipe could use a little work. I wasn’t aware that lemon icebox cake was the same as lemon meringue pie. I don’t like lemon meringue pie but I don’t think The Ark’s tasted any bette or worse than the others I’ve had in my life.

We will most likely be back sometime soon as the food was overall some of the best...

We ate there on a friend's recommendation (boy, is he in trouble!) on August 30 around 7 PM. We ordered the fried catfish and the fried oysters. We give the fried catfish a B+, but the rest of the meal was a big disappointment. The fried oysters were tasteless; if I didn't know what I was eating, I could not have identified what the food was. The hushpuppies were an exact uniform size and shape, dry and with very little flavor- they had to have been frozen and baked. My baked potato had a large black solid piece in it near the skin the size of a small egg and I had to return it (after a frustrating time trying to get any waitress back to our table). I here note that the little black girl clearing tables was the only person being nice to us and asking if we needed anything. They need to promote her to waitress.

They charge you $1.50 extra for any side other than slaw or french fries and I think this is a rip-off as, given their prices should amply cover these choices. Prices, as some have reported, are not really reasonable with the amount and quality of the food served.

Our waitress, Tammy, took our order, served it and disappeared for almost the rest of the meal. She did come over just as we were finishing with a pitcher of drink. We thought the table service and attention was very bad.

Save your time and money. There are much better seafood places in the Riverside area. ...