Stewart House River Garden — Restaurant in Town of Athens

I write this review in the hopes that the Stewart House River Garden does better. At face value it’s a great proposition - a local business, a killer location, live music, and a long history. One less-than-stellar experience would not warrant this review, however I have been consistently disappointed by this establishment over many visits throughout the years. The service ranges from ambivalent to hostile. The drink menu is unwaveringly narrow and expensive, offering up NYC prices as a way of saying “where else ya gonna go in this town?” At one point I ordered an $18 chicken Bahn Mi sandwich, only to be served what can only be described as Price Chopper cold cuts with a veneer of sauce on stale bread. There was the time my wife and I became physically ill from drinking “pre-mixed” margaritas. There was the time my mother-in-law was asked “what are you doing here?” by the proprietor’s wife simply because she was not actively engaged in the act of purchasing or consuming food or beverage (she was at a picnic table while we were attempting to order at the bar). Trying to order anything from the bar area is an exercise in futility, as the waitstaff generally avoid customer contact at all costs. It’s never clear upon entering the River Garden if this is a welcoming place fostering a sense of community or if I’m just someone who’s expected to plunk down $30 for an overpriced drink and a bag of chips and dip. I keep on telling myself “they’re going through a transition phase, they’ll figure it out” yet time and again I encounter the same basic problems which I can only attribute to an indifference fostered by catering to a primarily captive hotel guest customer base, and maximizing profits is contingent on minimizing your labor overhead and the customer experience. So please, please, PLEASE, you’ve got a great thing at the river garden...

The park-like atmosphere is fantastic! The hostess and bartenders were helpful/friendly. We ordered takeout food for the adjacent concert in the park. CHECK YOUR FOOD BEFORE LEAVING!!! My gazpacho was in a small cup that was only 1/3 full. (The actual soup was below the green line on the exterior of the cup. The rings of soup were from me carrying it quite a distance from the restaurant and then across the concert field. It ended up being about 5 or 6 soup spoons. I called and I was advised to go back and show a manager that the to-go cups were quite large. I contested that and said that if I was dining in the restaurant, if I emptied the contents of the soup cup into a restaurant bowl, it would barely coat the bottom of the bowl. The grilled bread was fantastic though. If I had a fair portion, I would have been very pleased. Walking back to the restaurant was not an option, as I was at the concert with friends. I was very dissatisfied with the miniscule portion from #Stewarthouserivergrill I just had a lovely conversation with the manager that kindly apologized and offered to make good on the situation. She extended several generous options, which I happily chose a gift certificate, which she said she would mail to me. I did reiterate that I was only looking for them to make good on missing soup, nothing more than that, as we were pleased with everything else. I did suggest that possibly the kitchen ran out and provided more grilled bread to make up for it. If the certificate makes it to me, we shall certainly return to support a business like this. I'll also change the star rating, as we were happy with...

I’m giving this place 4 stars because I don’t want to mess with their rating. Too bad you can’t write a comment about a place without having to rank it.

I put together a group of 8 friends for dinner. It’s a lovely spot, one of very few places where you can sit by the water outdoors in the catskills. Give me a cocktail in that beautiful location and the food and the service are beside the point.

I made a reservation through their website, but when we got there we discovered that they were sponsoring a story-telling evening. A woman was on stage speaking into a mic that was amplified throughout the entire space about her C-section. Not exactly the atmosphere I had hoped for. Our group of 8 couldn’t talk because it would be rude to the speakers. When I said to the hostess that I didn’t see this event on the website, she said it was posted on Instagram. Not helpful.

We found a perfectly nice brewery within walking distance which saved the evening. This wasn’t the first time this happened. Last summer we were there for open mic night and sat through an evening of local bands playing Charlie Daniels. We had to yell across the table but at least we could talk.

It’s such a lovely spot I wish the management would trust in the location and let people enjoy the evening in peace. Or at least post a schedule on line to give...