River Grill — Restaurant in Town of Tonawanda

Riverside Grill opened up for the season on May 24 for Memorial Day week-end. We knew it would be slammed, there would be a wait and parking would be a mess. It was the first week-end they were open. Parking lot was full and the street parking was lined with cars about a 1/2mile down or more. We were willing as it was a gorgeous day out. But we weren't expecting this.

Music was great! That was definitely a helpful and cheerful way to pass the time while we waited for our seats. It was a 45min wait, so we grabbed a couple beers, found a couple stools and waited. When we were finally called, we were escorted into the outdoor patio area, around the corner of the building, next to the parking lot and literally in a corner with 4 other tables that already were clearly perturbed by the lack of service.

We all made friends and were informed that each table had been waiting over 30min just for a server to take their drink orders. One table also had a child with them -which I must say props to the parents for keeping her busy and the rest of us tables helped as well while she skipped to each table as we all waited.

Finally a server came to our table after over 4min, placed our menus and silverware down and walked away without asking what we wanted for drinks. This is when I decided to start timing everything as the table around us were beyond frustrated. The table behind us got the spinach dip and it took the kitchen and sever 40+min just to get that and that wasn't even their entrees. 9min later she came back and took our drink order. Hawaiian Breeze and Long Island Ice Tea.(We ordered 2 each and were really good, but the second drink was better and definitely made by a better bartender).

4min later she came back with our first round which we were quite surprised but had to call her back as she walked away so she could take our order....little weird.

We ordered the Peel and Eat Shrimp in Old Bay and the River Grill Bucket (mussels and clams in a white wine broth). It took 1hr and 36min for us to get our food and other tables were within minutes of getting theirs too. We also ordered our second drink as we didn't know when we would get it.

Complete lack of servers for opening week-end and clearly the kitchen staff could have used help. We then hear our server(as we all had he same one in the corner) tell another table that the kitchen is running a minimum of 1hr behind. Wish that would have been relayed.

When we finally got our food, the clams and mussels were gritty, had barnacles on some and some not open. The peel and eat shrimp were not deveined at all(which I had to do myself-if you don't know what that means-they did not make a slice down the back and take the poop out of the shrimp) and the Old Bay was a liquid with the season in it. The shrimp had no flavor unless you ate the shell. Both dishes were overcooked -seafood rubbery.

We sat in the corner along with 4 other tables, staring at a parking lot, barely hearing the music, waiting for everything. We spent a total of 2hrs and 14min there. Most of the time...

The food had always been good, i have always enjoyed lunches here by the river and until this past Friday i would have recommended RG heartily, but the "waiting list" policy on the weekends is for the birds. We had a party of 9, including out of town guests. We knew that there were no reservations on the weekends. We contacted RG on Thursday night to inquire about the best way to deal with the wait list and when to call to make sure we were on the list and would be seated promptly bc we knew we were a big party that would take up allot of tables. A woman told us 3:00 for a 6:30 arrival. We called at 3:00 Friday and the man who answered said that whomever we had spoken too must have been confused bc it was too early for a waiting list and that we should call back at 5:30. We called at 5:30 and were told that there was no wait and therefore no list; call when you're 15 minutes away. We called shortly after 6:00, on our way early for our 6:30 arrival, and were told by the woman who answered the phone that there was no wait list. What luck!

We arrived at 6:20, the parking lot and street were PACKED and the woman with the TWO PAGE LONG wait list said we should have called ahead bc there had been a list since 5:00 and our wait would be an hour or more! We said that we had called and her only response was, "Well i don't know who you talked to but..." We put our party of 9 at the bottom of the list and immediately tried to find somewhere else to go. Meanwhile, I called again to ask if there was a wait list and was told "Yes, since 5:00."

When I asked why that hadn't been the message when we called 20 minutes ago, she replied "That's how quickly we fill up on a Friday. You should have called when you were on your way."

Jumping up and down in the parking lot, I said, "THAT'S WHAT WE DID!"

Her curt response, "I'll ask you not to tell at me sir."

"You have to understand how frustrating this is, don't you? I am bringing 9 ppl that are going to eat and drink in your restaurant and the wait list that didn't exist when we called 20 minutes ago because that's how quickly you fill up on a Friday has actually existed for almost an hour and a half!"

"I don't know what you want me to do for you, sir, this is our policy on the weekend. Are you on the list now?"

OMG! Get it together RG! If you're going to implement this insane policy then at least do so consistently. Have a single point of contact who knows what they're talking about! Or take reservations for larger parties only or something.

Readers: I recommend the Bommerang Bar and Grill on Niagara St. They don't have a River view, a band or a day-glow palm tree but they have food they're willing to serve a large party...

I have driven past The River Grill many times, especially since I recently purchased a house in the area. So when my friend surprised me with a short visit and we wanted to go to lunch I thought I'd take her there. It is a beautiful location on the water.

However, our experience was not what we had hoped nor expected. Our waitress, LUANN, was extremely short, rude and annoyed with our presence since we sat down. My friend was the only African-American in the restaurant and she quickly felt very uncomfortable. She felt Luann's dislike for her.

She answered questions with short, rude responses. We asked what was good or the best meals and her response was "Don't ask me what is good here - it is all good so I can't tell you what to get."

She never got us any drink refills. Anything we asked for she responded as of it was a burden. I asked for ranch when I ordered, and when the food arrived and never got it.

When we were finished we waited over ten minutes for her to bring our bill. My friend gave her CC and went to the bathroom. When she returned Luann still hadn't brought us the CC slip. She finally brought it after another ten minutes. Then she stood over my friend while she signed the receipt. As we walked away from the table, Luann shouted and the entire restaurant was forced to watch and listen as she yelled across the restaurant "Was there something wrong with the service? She didn't tip me and your bill was $77!!!" I explained that we left a cash tip. She said "Oh you did?" and went back to the table to retrieve the cash. She then held the $8 that we left as a tip (yes it was a much smaller tip than we normally would've left due to the circumstances). She came up to my friend and threw the money on the table in front of where she was standing and said "Oh no honey - you can keep this!!! Your bill was $77!!!!"

It seemed like that restaurant only welcomed their older, white clientele. The bartender and two other servers apologized and said that Luann is the supervisor and she is rude and crass. They were so embarrassed at Luann's unprofessional behavior. You could tell that they were stuck in a hostile work environment with her as their supervisor.

The food was okay but it is very overpriced. It definitely could be a nice restaurant with the ambiance and location. Also - she overcharged us. Only my friend ordered a side salad. I ordered the chowder..... Luann charged us for two salads.

Unfortunately I don't plan on ever coming back. I'll go to Old Man River in Tonawanda where we were treated with much more kindness...