Riverside Subs — Restaurant in Wrightsville

Unfortunately tonight is our second time trying Riverside subs we moved to Wrightsville April 2023 and tried them for the first time not long after they opened. The food wasn’t bad but definitely missed the mark and we weren’t impressed. That being said we love to support small businesses in our area and chalked it up as “they just opened let’s try them again after a while.”

After seeing all the hype of social media and “tik tok” we decided tonight was the night try again. What a mistake. We ordered two subs, Sd of tots and a kids meal. After 30 minutes we only had the tots (yes we had the time stamped receipt) so I decide the ask the women behind the counter who I believe was the owners wife “can we have an update on our order it’s been almost 30 minutes”. She replied with one second then never responded to us. In the next ten minutes we received my wife order only. (Turkey sub #7) After 40 minutes (again time stamped receipt) I asked for a refund for just what we hadn’t received yet as a general question to the workers because they were all In the same general area the same women I dealt with before decided to turn around to the owner roll her eyes and say you deal with it. The owner said we have your order right here which the order that was ready was not ours and the items I was waiting on were a chicken cheese steak and a kid meal which was bread ham and cheese nothing special certainly not for a reason for a 40 plus minute wait. After telling him that was not our order and I just wanted refunded because of the items we haven’t received after 40 minutes his response was well our wait time is usually over an hour on the weekends. I said well if that’s the case the kid at the register should have said that but regardless it’s not his fault. The owner proceeded to debate with me that “he’s not a kid he’s 14” which last time I checked was a juvenile aka a kid. He tried to get me to take the order again. Still the not my order it was the table behind us order who arrived ten minutes after us. After informing him I just wanted my money back for what I hadn’t received he finally complied and while refunding me turned the the boy and said “make sure your telling everyone wait times” as if it’s his fault that a ham and cheese sandwich took over 40 minutes. Again we like to support small businesses if the lady would have come out and said hey sorry we’re really busy or something of the sort no problem but ignoring me after I asked for an update is not the way to do business.

We left drove 5 minutes to Smiths subs in Columbia ordered my daughter and I’s food waited all of 5-8 minutes (and yes they were busy too) and went home happy.

Also my wife who was the only one he got her food the #7 took it home and ate it to find out it wasn’t good and didn’t taste at all she actually threw it away so more wasted food. We really wish it was better considering it’s local and we live so close but we won’t be trying it again.

Edit to respond to the owner.

My comments toward the “kid” weren’t harmful I was stating to you that it wasn’t his fault as you made it seem to be. Its nice to see him out working rather then doing stupid crap most kids his age are. He was most then respectful while taking our order and delivering what food we did get. As far as food served in timely matter you must be completely out of your mind because I know for a fact you would not go to other restaurants and be okay with waiting 40 minutes for Dine in food. For the reason we tried it again would be as I stated. The first time we tried you guys we made the assumption you guys just opened and we’re working kinks out. Seems to me as you would rather have your customers not come back if you missed the mark rather then be given a second chance to make things right. Furthermore I wouldn’t boost yourself too high with your business standards considering you’ve had employees quit because you take their tips and put them in the register and told them you can get away with it because you pay them under the table. Take your money elsewhere and save...

A Loyal Customers' Honest, Evolving Opinion

As a sub aficionado from NJ, I was initially thrilled to find Riverside Subs. For a long time, they were my go-to, with their excellent rolls, quality meats, and fantastic cheesesteaks (the one with Cooper Sharp is a must-try). I also love their creative "Sub of the Month" specials.

However, after being a frequent customer since they opened, a couple of frustrating business practices have become too consistent to ignore, forcing me to lower my rating.

Inconsistent Portions Tied to Tips: I've noticed a direct correlation between the tip amount and the amount of meat on my sandwich. A small tip often results in a disappointingly light sub, while a larger tip of $3-$4 seems necessary just to get a standard, properly filled sandwich. I even tested this theory a couple of times by placing an online order with no tip but asking my wife to give a cash tip at pickup. Guess what? They assumed no tip from my online order and the sandwiches were LIGHT on meat and HIGH on lettuce every single time. This practice feels manipulative and undermines the menu price.

Aggressive Upcharges: The nickel-and-diming for basic toppings is getting out of hand. Charging extra for oregano is odd, and nearly $1 for pickles or banana peppers is steep. The tipping point was when my online order total was adjusted by an extra $3 after I had already paid, simply because I requested a little more cheese and some mushrooms (Let alone CANNED mushrooms) on my cheesesteak in the comment section. It felt petty especially since they already sell a mushroom cheesesteak for the same price as the cooper cheesesteak, you're just putting a different type cheese on the sub.

I still think the food here can be top-tier. But the inconsistent value and questionable charges have soured the experience. I'll be cutting back on my visits for now. Be prepared to tip generously if you want a hearty sandwich, and double-check your bill for...

Came in after seeing their videos on tiktok and looking at Google reviews. I would give an overall 4.5 stars if I could. Only because my fried pickle cheeseburger sub was cold when I got it as one of the first items at our table. We ordered the stuffed shells, literally came out HOT. Hubby got the mushroom cheese steak and it came out so hot I could see it steaming and he had to keep "hoff hoffin" it down to try and not burn his mouth. For all the meh reviews on the wings, we got the BBQ and I thought they were delicious! Nice and crispy, good amount of sauce, hot and decently sized. We got a lot of food for our money, knowing that it was all pretty fresh. The sub rolls were DELICIOUS and the flavor of my fried pickle cheeseburger sub was absolutely perfect. Just lackluster since it was all as cold as the lettuce and tomato they put on it (including the fried pickles which I expected to burn my mouth as they usually do in most establishments). Lettuce was crunchy though and tomatoes were juicy and fresher than most places in PA. It also was a Thursday night and they were decently busy, but still only took about 20 minutes to receive our food. Service was great and staff was nice. Watched the cashier(?)/server(?) wiping each table down as the customers cleared out. Would definitely come back to try other things as I was really hoping to try the tuna and a cannoli, but I can only eat so much in...