River & Fort Restaurant & Roof Top Lounge — Restaurant in Saint Augustine

I made reservations about a month ago for a friend's birthday dinner. We arrived a little early to our reservations, about 7:20 and were told the table was not ready and that they will text when it was ready. We decided to kill some time at the bar and take pictures. The place is beautiful. We even went to the top floor to take pictures and basque in the scenery. They have two bars, one on the main floor and one on the second floor and unfortunately we were unable to get a drink from either of them while we waited for our table. They were extremely busy. I'm assuming due to the night of lights tourism. Finally our table was ready, we were seated at 7:41p our reservations were for 7:30p. Our waiter was very busy and after about 10 mins he came over to our table to let us know that he will be back to take our drink orders. No worries, we were a nice group of 5 and kept ourselves distracted. He came back took our drink orders but it wasn't until some time that he came back to take our dinner orders. One of my friends asked for her appetizer wings to be cooked well done and waiter stated that it was very busy and he does not think the kitchen will be able to accommodate that but that he will put in the specification anyway. After taking our order he came back a few mins later and said that he will be putting in the wings order now and then the main course order after. We were a little bit annoyed by this point because we were waiting a bit to eat and the order wasn't even put in yet. Our food came out all except one. A steak salad. Which seems the easiest to make but was the very last to be served. One of my friends had the ocean platter which said that it was warm, dry, with very little flavor. The fish was dry and over cooked, the shrimps were under cooked, and the scallops were actually cooked perfectly. The whole dish fell flat and like they had left it under the heating lamp a bit too long too. This is in her own words. Another friend had the fried shrimp and she said her meal tasted very oily. I had a taste of her fries and they were well salted and did taste good but they were limp and also felt like it was left under the heat lamp too long. Probably why the whole meal tasted oily. We didn't bother to complain because it was so busy and they did eat most of the meal because we were absolutely famished by the point we got our food. I had the fried chicken and dumpling. It was delicious! Chicken was moist and crispy, well seasoned, the collard greens were maybe one of the top 3 of the best I've had. The collard greens were the perfect balance of sweet, spice, smokey, vinegary flavor. They were soft and yet had bite to them too. I was in love with the collard greens. The dumplings not so much. They tasted like flour to me. They really had no flavor to me but my friend seated next to me loved them. Another friend ordered the porkchop and she said the flavor/seasoning was very nice, but it they were over cooked. Collards were amazing. And the mac n cheese was dried out. Probably from sitting under the warmer as well. My friend that order the steak salad said it was delicious. Towards the end we asked the waiter if he could bring us a dessert with a candle to sing happy birthday to our dear friend and he did just that which we appreciated. All in all I would come back to eat but I doubt it will be when it's so busy or soon. The service was a hit or miss and I could tell everyone was overwhelmed by how busy it was. I really wish we spent more time with actual drinks in hand instead of standing by the bar hoping to get a bartenders attention so the time wouldn't be such a drag. We did more waiting around than anything else and it really...

We made a reservation at River and Fort for a very special occasion — my wife’s 50th birthday. With our full family of four in town, we were hoping for an upscale, memorable night. What we got instead was a two-hour train wreck dressed in a tablecloth.

We arrived on time and checked in, only to wait about 25 minutes for a table — despite dozens of visibly empty tables. For a Friday night, the energy was confusingly low, and the service even lower.

When we were finally seated on the second level, my wife sat down, gave me the look, and I immediately knew — it was unbearably hot. Not warm. Not toasty. Hot. She began fanning herself with the menu like she was trying to survive a heatwave. I glanced around, and other diners looked equally miserable. I flagged the server and asked about the lack of airflow. Her response? “The rooftop doors open and close all the time, so there’s nothing we can do.” Translation: Deal with it.

I politely said this wasn’t going to work and asked to be reseated. She said she’d check with the manager. A few minutes later, she returned and said the manager essentially refused to help. No apology, no solution. Just “nothing we can do.” Thankfully, she found a table downstairs — where it was easily 15–20 degrees cooler. So yes, there was something that could have been done. Management just didn’t care to do it.

We were then handed off to our server, Nathan B., who took our drink order. It took 15 minutes to get three drinks and a water — and from there, the service only got worse.

No offer of appetizers. No check-ins. Water glasses sat dry despite repeated promises to refill them. Our four entrees took an hour to arrive. We watched other tables seated after us get their food first, while Nathan seemed to actively avoid eye contact.

Two entrees arrived. Ten minutes later, the other two trickled in. All four were steak. Three were cold, dry, and tough. The sides? Just as cold, like they’d been sitting in a window, forgotten. Nathan swung by 15 minutes later, said “hows the food good to hear thank you,” in one breath, and was gone before we could blink. No sincerity. No care. Just get in, get out, get paid.

We sat, plates half-eaten. Nathan reappeared about 30 minutes later to ask if we were done. He brought the check, but never asked if we wanted dessert. No birthday gesture. No acknowledgment of the occasion the hostess had noted. No attempt to make the night special — or even tolerable.

We spent nearly $300 for cold steaks, room-temperature water, and the type of service that makes you want to eat at home forever.

This place isn’t short on potential. The location is phenomenal. But the leadership? Absent. If the manager’s idea of hospitality is “there’s nothing we can do,” then perhaps it’s time to find someone who actually can. Until that happens, River and Fort will remain nothing more than a wasted opportunity — and a cautionary tale for anyone looking to celebrate...

It brings me no pleasure to have to write this negative review, but I feel compelled to share my experience with others so they don’t visit this establishment when there are far better run small businesses in St Augustine that would be more grateful for your patronage.

My fiancée and I came to the restaurant on Saturday late afternoon for a late lunch/early dinner. We were sat immediately with no wait which was awesome as we’d been trying to come here for a while and there was always a long wait. Our server Scott was pleasant.

We ordered the fried green tomatoes appetizer, a few drinks, I got the filet dish and he got the lobster and shrimp pasta dish. I ordered my steak medium rare. I will be clear the tomatoes were absolutely fantastic. No complaints there.

My steak came out well done, so I asked to have it corrected to which Scott was very understanding and apologetic. 10+ minutes went by as my fiancé is trying not to eat his food without me but at this point his food is now cold. Another steak arrives, I cut into it in front of the waiter and hesitantly oblige but less then 10 seconds later determine it’s not medium rare yet again (which all of us knew off the first glance but I think wanted to ignore it). This time it is completely rare, barely sautéed on both sides. My finance ran to grab Scott to send it back again as this is a $46 steak and I’d like to enjoy it. He’s apologetic again. At this point my partner had to eat his meal without me but found it a little odd they left the tails on the shrimps in a pasta dish as he had to rip the tails off the sauce covered shrimps? By the time the 3rd steak came I was visibly disappointed in the experience, but it was cooked medium rare.

To my surprise however when we received the check nothing had been comped after this incredibly awful experience, making our grand total for the dinner $190. My partner encouraged me not to say anything and to just leave as that’s how he likes to deal with those things, he’d just write the place off and call it a day, but it really did not sit well with me as I know especially in todays economy people work hard for their money and deserve to pay for the experiences they reserve. Therefore I called the business and spoke with a manager who was yet again apologetic but offered no real solutions and essentially left us exactly where I was when I called which is what prompted me to leave...