River: A Waterfront Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Wethersfield

Horrid Experience from an out-of-towner.

Just left and I could not wait to write this review because the experience was so bad. First, my sister-in-law called ahead to check if a reservation was necessary and they told her it wasn't. We arrived and we're still asked about a reservation. She explained her call ahead.

Fast forward to us being seated pretty quickly. I was visiting with my brother and his wife with my husband and son, so 4 adults and a baby. We were given a high chair. We waited about 20 mins for our server "Pri/Bri” to bring waters. She didn't introduce herself, any specials, or ask any questions, but just rushed us to order. I asked about mocktails and she suggested lemonade, sweet tea and other non-mocktail items. I decided to stick with water and she indicated the drinks were in premade batches. My husband and sister-in-law ordered sangrias that took another 10-15 mins to get. My sister-in-law was nearly killed by the cherry garnish, also not indicated on the menu (she is allergic) so hers took another 10 mins to get. I was in deep conversation with my family and decided to order my son fries. The fries came out in about 15 mins.

We ordered salads (my husband and I), calamari, a salmon burger and pasta.

Pre/Bri was very inattentive and non communicative. Our food took over an hour and we had to ask about it. When it did come all the plates did not come at the same time. My calamari came out and was pretty tasty and hot but my Caesar salad looked as though it had been sitting out and is dangerous for me to eat at 7 months pregnant. I sent it back and asked for the manager. She asked why I sent back the salad and I indicated it was warm and did not look fresh. Pre/Pri told us the manager would be out "when she got time," and that was about 10-15 mins later.

"Michelle the Manager" apologized upon walking up to the table but made no concessions for over an hour wait for food. She offered to remake my salad (a side salad) and I reluctantly accepted. I wish I had not. It was a mediocre side salad and had a surprise of avocado slice in the salad (I am glad I am not allergic but cross contamination? Possibly). I stopped eating when I saw it and waited for the bill. Pre/Bri was most attentive to bringing the check. $99 for a 2 hour wait, plates to come out separately and subpar service. She even charged me for a full salad and not the side salad that was made. She told me when I asked about it that "she thought" she could charge for a side salad at lunch but couldn't (but never indicated otherwise). I made her take it off. When she took it off and brought it back she did not hand it to me, she dropped in the middle of the table, didn't make eye contact and walked away. I dropped the check at the register and left too.

Michelle didn't do her job as a manager and compensate for the short comings of the restaurant. Pre/Bri. was minimally communicative and did a poor job of checking on us and keeping us informed. Several times we wanted to leave but were already down the rabbit hole hoping food would grace our table. The 1 star is for the food and view. She did not get the 20% I would've given if the situation was properly handled. 0 stars, would not recommend....

I didn't do my research of the location. So to my surprise, the restaurant is located in the Xerox building. Upon arrival to the location, there is a sign for the restaurant at the entrance of the parking lot. As you drive in there's another sign indicating it's in the back. Naturally, I follow the sign & of course that's the wrong thing to do. It takes you to the side of the building where parking isn't available. Instead, park in front. Then go into the main entrance of the Xerox building. Only then do you see the other sign giving those exact instructions, smh. Upon entering the restaurant, the hostess gave a pleasant greeting & asked if we preferred instead or out. Of course, we chose outside on the 2nd level, since it was a beautiful day. The view was gorgeous & we also had the pleasure of seeing some jet skis out enjoying the weather. At the bottom, there's another tent & seating area. No one was down there. They may have events in the evening. I also noticed heaters for both levels, so it must be comfortable to sit outside in the evening as well. The waitress came over & was patient with our indecisiveness on the drink orders & also provided suggestions. The orders were placed & the beverages arrived pretty quickly. I was shocked when fish bowl was presented. She tried to describe the size prior, but it didn't get through. The menu says for 2 people, but 3 is more like it. The fish bowl isn't something you'd find at the carnival. More likely to be sold at a pet store. Sadly, there is more blocks of ice & blue caraco(sp) than liquor. I wouldn't purchase it again. The waitress returned after 15mins {estimate) & after much debate at the table, the food orders were placed. Again, the waitress was very patient & tried to assist with the final decision. Unfortunately, the food took a long time to appear. So much, that we were checked on a few times & had to be reassured the food was on the way. Once, it did come, we immediately started eating with our eyes. I think we were full before we started digging in. I ordered the French toast & wasn't disappointed. I coukd taste the salty & sweet with the peanut butter & cream cheese. Not to mention the syrup, bananas & cream. I knew I signed up for a food coma when I picked this dish. However, the French toast itself became tiring to eat. In my opinion, the bread used was somewhat tough. Towards the end, I found myself only eating all the fillings. My counterparts, chose the seafood pasta & the lobster benedict. No complaints from the pasta. The benedict on the other hand, was disappointing. For paying MP ($28), only 2 small claws were included. If a restaurant is charging full MP, they should really include some of the tail. It would have been nice to have the tail shredded so the benedict is overflowing with meat. In addition, the English muffins were well done. They were extra crispy to the point where you were sawing them in order to cut through. We opted to skip dessert. I'd return to try their normal menu. I'm not in a rush to do...

I frequent this restaurant occasionally mostly for birthday celebrations and date nights with my husband and have had good experiences, but yesterday alone was enough to make me not want to return. I’m all about customer service when going somewhere and the person managing the floor last night during our 4pm dinner reservation on 4/23/2022 clearly had an issue with our party of 6. She was on the floor waiting at tables as well so at one point my brother turned to call to her since our waitress was busy at that moment. She literally looked him in his eyes and looked away even though he said, “excuse me”, 3 times to get her attention. She purposely kept walking by our table with her nose up, yet continued to visit almost every table surrounding us to “check in” on them. We ordered drinks and I usually go for the Moscow mules, however they came in a regular glass so, I jokingly said “oh they don’t have any of the special Moscow mule cups?”, the waitress then shared that they don’t have any more available at the moment and we shrugged it off and said it’s no biggie. We then ordered a calamari appetizer for the table before our meals and when they brought out the plate it was in a small circular dish and it looked as if they’ve thrown scraps of calamari onto a plate. Due to the fact that I’ve been there multiple times before and we are witnessing other calamari orders passing by us, it usually comes in a large square dish and the calamari towers the plate and is enough for everyone to share. My husband and brother who doesn’t like making a big deal out of things didn’t want to send it back, but I made sure to tell the waitress about it since we already weren’t worthy of getting the managers attention who clearly was waiting to other tables. I had already picked up on her negative vibe and energy towards us since we sat down and locked eyes so I also informed our waitress about that so the manager came to our table to finally “check in” and attempt to discuss the calamari, saying sorry they ran out of plates which is why ours looked different, even though the restaurant wasn’t anywhere near capacity. I said, why is it that our table is the only one having issues with things “running out”, we would’ve patiently waited for an original plate to be available if it would’ve been communicated to us and the overall size and presentation of the dish was entirely disrespectful compared to what it really should look like. Anyways, the real issue was the manager, it was as if she had a personal vendetta against us. I’m not going to sit here and say the food wasn’t good cause it usually is. I enjoyed this restaurant, but yesterday was most likely our last day going there due to the negative energy the manager was...