Riviera Bistro

CLOSED
They lost their lease.

Last night Friday May 11, 2013, my wife and I decided to take two friends to Riviera Bistro to thank them for taking care of our cats and house during our travels to Honk Kong and the South China sea. I made reservations for 7:00 pm and we all arrived at Riviera Bistro a few minutes before 7 pm. We were greeted courteously by the owner and escorted to our table. The décor inside the restaurant was beautiful considering the limited space. The chandeliers and the art work on the walls were appealing and fit perfectly in the well designed and cozy space. That was, in retrospect, the absolute and only highlight of the evening. The menu was well designed and offerred the customer an appealing variety of choices. My wife and one of the guests ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc. I started the dinner by ordering Calamari Fritti and Pommes Frites (french fries). The appetizers arrived shortly. A soon as the server placed the calamari plate on the table, my wife immediately pointed to a long strand of hair laying conspicuously accross the plate. The server apologized and immediately took the plate back to replace the order with a fresh one. It is, however, beyong comprehension, how a visible hair on a customer’s plate can escape the scrutiny of final inspection by several people in the kitchen. It was at that moment that I realized the entire meal would be a total flop. And it was. The fresh Calamari Fritti plate was served again. It was, unfortunately, grossly overcooked with an after taste of near-​rancid oil. They were no tentacles, not even one to be found in a small mound of fried calamari rings. The plate contained an abundance of tasteless fried crumbs. It seemed as if the chef or sous-​chef literally emptied the frier into the plate without any consideration for appeal and presentation. A thin shiny layer of oil was clearly visible under the calamari. The plate came with three sauces that were very poorly slopped onto the plate. The sauces were barely enough to coat about 8 calamari rings and were completely devoid of any creative thinking and flavor. The sauces were literally slopped next to eachother, therefore mingling and loosing any potential for a distinctive flavor. The Pommes Frites were good. They were served with Ketchup, even though none of us ordered it. That was almost funny. How about something a little more creative…
Next, we ordered three Caesar salads and one Bistro salad. The lettuce was firm, fresh, and the dressing was superb with a delicious lingering taste of fresh anchovies. This, however, was all deflated when you bit into a boring and completely stale croûton. The Bistro salad was outstanding with the right mix of vegetables and flavors. I was given a cheap looking personal and disposal pepper grinder upon asking for some cracked pepper. The kind you buy at a supermarket and take with you to a camp site. Really!!!
My wife and I along with our guests already knew the entire dinner was a total failure. Among all of this, the Sauvignon Blanc that my wife and her guest were drinking was no longer available. For the main course, I ordered Shrimp Scampi. My wife ordered Chicken Saltimbocca, and our guests ordered Salmon Roulade and Chicken Marsala. My Shrimp Scampi arrived and I could tell immediately the shrimp was undercooked. The shrimp had no sear color and looked blanched. Totally devoid of any color. And of course, it was grossly undercooked, almost raw, with only the outer skin layer cooked. Again, another stomach turning experience. The Scampi sauce was difficult to find on the plate and there was this green smear of what looked like pesto on the edge of the plate. It literally looked like as if someone had engulfed a pound of pesto then proceeded to lick the edge of the plate. Really not appealing. Okay. So now second shrimp dish arrives. The shrimp is cooked to perfection but… that is all… No burst in any flavors. Just seared shrimp with an abundance of overly salty and dried petites capers. My wife’s chicken was so dry that it looked like dark meat. I will spare you the details of the other two entrees, but I believe the reader at this point can guess how the rest of the dinner transpired. The most offensive and dismissive part of the entire meal came when the server, as a consolation prize, offered the entire table, one FREE Crème Brulee. Wow! Talk about stellar customer relations. I could see the owner interact with her staff behind the bar. The owner never visited our table to even apologize or discuss the situation. That is unforgiveable! The bill for the meal was $ 176.45 plus a tip of $ 28 for a total of $ 204.45. I might have saved a lot of money by having dinner at Mandola’s next door. I strongly recommend the readers avoid this restaurant. It is a bit sad because throughout all of this, I could discern a faint potential for success and passion in the attempt to produce some delectable entrees.

Recommended by a colleague, my work group decided to try out Riviera for a celebratory lunch. The décor was very modern and cute.
When we sat down, our waitress came over to explain the specials. When we asked her to repeat it, her response changed/​she wasn’t sure, and had to go to the back to ask the chef.
The food made all of us sick. We all had upset stomaches when we got back to work. Two of us ordered the salmon, which was just covered completely in cheese. It was super heavy and not delicate like good salmon should be.
Not only was our food bad, but our cups were dirty. Our meal left a sour taste in my mouth. Very unsatisfied with the entire experience.

My wife and I visited this restaurant over the weekend and we definitely found this place to be solid. It is a small spot in a strip center. Don’t be deceived by that because they have some impressive food and a very energetic vibe especially for Bee Cave. We had the crab cakes and the pork, both were great. The zucchini side with the pork was maybe one of the best things I have tasted since going GF. Both salads were tasty with loads of toppings and a mouth watering goat cheese fried to perfection. They have a nice wine list and excellent service. At night I would consider this to be a great date spot for the area.

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who lived a happy life in Austin, Texas. One day a wicked witch told her she could never eat gluten. The Princess had long blonde hair, blue eyes, a gorgeous body and she drove a red Porche. Okay, okay… she had shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes, a muffin top, and drove a six year old car.
But the fairy tale gets better! Every minute of my meal at Riviera Bistro made me feel like the spell had been broken and I could eat anything I wanted. I ate the Cecina, a soft rosemary infused chickepea flat bread drizzled with olive oil. So good!
I really enjoyed the creative Blue Salad featuring lovely greens with wine poached pears, sundried cherries, olives, and capers, tossed with a creamy gorgonzola dressing adorned with onion frites and honey roasted walnuts. My entrée, a spectacular Chicken Goujon with Parmesan, was devoured but not by a dragon. It was a unique presentation and enough for two.
Hubs and I split two stunning desserts. Beignets!!! I thought I was in a New Orleans fairy tale! Every gluten free bite was heavenly. Plus a delicate delicious crème brûlée. Princess indeed. The entire meal was wonderful. Service was slightly distracted but I can’t give less than 5 stars because of what the owners have accomplished along with the fantastic food. The wine list is superb but good draft beer is lacking.

What a great little spot for a really fantastic Gluten-​Free meal. I was up in the Hill Country Galleria area picking something up from the center and remembered that my cousin had recommended the Riviera Bistro to me.
I had some work that I needed to do and my backpack in the car so I decided to drop in to get some lunch and a little work done.
First thing — I told the host that I wanted to do a little work during lunch so he found me a great table by the side windows with a lot of light and away from the other diners. Very accomodating.
When the time came to order I asked for the Pasta Del Mare (I was craving a little seafood) and the waiter said ‘no, you don’t want that. You want the Seafood Crepes’. I told him that I was looking for some seafood and the pasta sounded good and he said ‘I’m happy to bring that to you, it’s really good, but you can get gluten free pasta anywhere. Try to find gluten-​free crepes somewhere! The Seafood Crepes are incredible’. I decided to go with it and got the crepes. He wasn’t being obnoxious about it, he was being friendly.
Holy cow.
Incredible.
The food was fantastic (craving it now as I write this) and the service was super.
The only reason that I gave four stars instead of five is that I really STILL want the pasta and I am uncomfortable giving five off of the one visit. I’ll go back for the pasta and if it’s as good I’ll update this and repost the rating.
Definitely recommend this for my gf friends. Hope that this restaurant makes it in the tough restaurant climate.

Alright, I am not gonna lie. I was a little scared of my green mashed potatoes. That is, until I put them in my mouth!!!
Fantastic meal. I got the chicken parm to go after working out in that area yesterday and I have to say I was beyond delightfully pleased.
If you are ever out in that area, I HIGHLY, let me repeat HIGHLY recommend visiting this place.
Two thumbs up all around. I will be back!

I was excited to find a totally gluten-​free restaurant while staying in Austin — we met friends there for a Saturday night dinner. It’s a cozy little place, casual, with Chilewich placemats and linen napkins. My Bistro Salad (with almonds and fried leeks) and Harvest Vegetable Torte were both delicious, and my husband enjoyed an excellent ribeye steak. Our friends both ordered hot and crunchy salmon and reported that it was also excellent. For dessert they had a spicy panna cotta which they enjoyed, but my husband and I shared the cinnamon apple crêpe with mascarpone, which was a disappointment. It was quite dry, without any sauce to moisten the crêpe, had no discernible cinnamon flavor on the dry apple wedges, and only a small dot of mascarpone cream on the plate.
Service was friendly but a little haphazard. Overall, though, it was a good meal and we would definitely return.

Went there late last week and what a great meal. I’m GF and my wife is corn free and they took great care of us. Not only was the food great. but the service was first class.
You will absolutely LOVE this place. Even for those of you muggles who have no food allergies. you’ll STILL be very happy you went there.

I’m really disappointed to give such a low review. Ive never actually been to a gluten free restaurant so to be able to order off the menu with no digging for acceptable food had me ecstatic! I had such high hopes… Service was amazing but the food was incredibly bland. I wonder if people are rating it so highly because they really want to like it? I’m super surprised.
I had the trout almandine which had no almonds but what tasted like almond extract added to the reduction sauce. The skin, I could tell, started out crispy but laid on top of the potatoes and sauce got squishy pretty quickly. It wasn’t seasoned at all. I mean– like at all. No salt, no nothing, only the sauce.
My husband got the crispy salmon (not crispy actually) when he cut it in half (to share with me) it was way under cooked so he sent it back. Not a big deal. They brought back the same piece that we had cut in half. Sauce gone and completely unseasoned. But the skin was crispy then!
To sum up– I think I’ll stick to south congress café next time and just dig through the menu to find what I can eat. It’s more complicated but at least the food is tasty.

AMAZING!
The food is delicious– especially the calamari. The risotto is great, the fish is great, the truffled mac-​n-​cheese made from quinoa is heavenly. They have a great wine list as well.
The chef/​owner greeted my friends and I while we ate and answered our questions and was very nice as well!
Love this place, can’t wait to go back!

Here’s another place I never would have heard about without Unilocal.
We’re starting to learn who has deep gluten-​free menus for my wife (or at least one or two GF items she loves). But I was surprised to find an entirely GF (and as local/​seasonal/​organic/​sustainable as Chef can muster) restaurant, in all places, a strip mall. A strip mall very very far away from most in Austin.
I really should just give 5 stars for the calamari. My wife was the first to introduce me to this tasty squiddy goodness years ago, but she hasn’t had it since our San Francisco trip years ago, right before her gluten allergy diagnosis. They were unfortunately out of all shrimp entrees, and a fish course. The chicken stri. errr… goujons would make «the Colonel» blush. And when she saw chicken parm on the menu, she immediately salivated. It did not disappoint, and as her favorite dish that is high praise. The mac and cheese was also 5* worthy (and should be the side that comes with everything! Mashed potatoes I can do at home). The beignets are a satisfying crispy/​gooey ending to the night.
Service was reaaaallly slow. Maybe that’s part of the European plan. I’ve never had an app arrive before we ordered our mains. Or maybe they were just slammed because of folks coming out for the nearby Willie concert. Either way, we got there by 6:30, and spent about 2+ hours there. Oh, and we almost didn’t get a table. I’ll call ahead from now on.
Chef seems really personable, and obviously cares because this is a labor of love for him. While we dined there, there were a few generations of his family dining there, including GF mom (–in-​law, I think). Staff was friendly, helpful with wines, etc. I’m hopeful the décor is in a state of transition. It is loud and echoey, and the opposite of intimate. Facing a parking lot and a playground doesn’t really lend to a fine dining experience. Curtains and other things to soften the look might go a long way. Heck, there’s one blank wall with track lights spotlighting it. Partner with a local artist or two and get something hanging there!
For those who have severe allergies to gluten, this place is a invaluable. There is NO chance for cross-​contamination. My wife was really pleased with the food. But she can probably cheat more than some of the folks we saw there. Don’t come if you are in a hurry, but bring a little extra money, and you will eat great food at the Riviera Bistro.

Just went here tonight with my husband and sister in law. I was looking for a new option to celebrate my birthday but that has good gluten free options. I was so excited to hear about Riviera from a co-​worker knowing I wouldn’t have to worry about what to chose on the menu!
They have recently expanded so we didn’t have to wait to be seated. We then proceeded to try a variety if dishes; mussels and a soup for an app, pork, shrimp and chicken entrees and the amazing beignets and choc cheesecake for dessert. They were all wonderful and the service was just as amazing!!!
I will definitely go back! I cannot express enough about how great it is to go to a g-​free restaurant and choose absolutely any item on the menu!!! And my none g-​free husband and sil were equally as impressed!

All gluten free! Yay!
We split the shrimp frites and chicken goujons (both with the mashed potatoes), an order of spinach, and beignets. YUM. Everything was super tasty. The breading on both the chicken and the shrimp was amazing and the sauces for both were really good. The beignets were crisp on the outside and doughy in the middle and sooo good.
It’s a little expensive but everything gluten free is so it’s expected :) It’s also a little weird that the restrooms are located in the yoga studio and that the restaurant space is so tiny (I think there were 8 tables?), but they started renovations on Sunday so both of these things might be different in a few weeks! Now if they were just closer to NW Austin…

I’m in GF heaven! A friend who is also gluten free found Riviera Bistro when searching for a new GF friendly restaurant for us to try. When she said that Riviera Bistro is 100% gluten free I couldn’t believe it. It was quite a drive from where I live in central Austin, but I was game.
We met there for lunch on Saturday, and I couldn’t believe the items on the lunch menu. Salad with croutons? Macaroni and cheese?! While waiting for my friend to arrive, I told our (very friendly) waiter how excited I was to not have to worry about cross-​contamination. He told me they even have a type of bread that diners rave about for dinner (made from chickpeas I think) — unfortunately not served at lunch.
Since other Unilocal reviewers had raved about the trout almondine and potage de blanc (a potato soup), I ordered both. A cup of the soup was $ 8 — very pricey I thought for a cup — but it was a large cup, and it was indeed heavenly. Garnished with fried leeks and white truffle oil — scrumptious. For choice of veggie with the trout, I ordered one of the vegetables of the day, sauteed spinach. The trout was just wonderful — a sublime sauce garnished it, and the spinach was great as well. And it was served on a long, narrow plate that made it visually interesting.
It was an expensive lunch, but I will definitely be back. Part of the cost is that GF ingredients are expensive, plus I love that Shoel Ross, the chef/​owner, uses local, organic fruits and vegetables, sustainable seafood and natural chicken and other meats whenever possible — and those ingredients are not cheap.
Really inspired food — Shoel is obviously a foodie as well as being very knowledgeable about gluten. Our waiter told me that Shoel won’t even allow him to bring a sandwich made with wheat bread into the restaurant for lunch — he doesn’t allow ANY gluten in the restaurant. YAY!

We took a friend with Celiacs for dinner one evening. I have to say, I’ve done the whole GF thing and frankly, I always felt that I was sacrificing something.
Riviera Bistro delivered, and then some. The space is small, but cute, and I like how they have created a more defined space for themselves apart from the yoga studio. As much as I love yoga, I don’t want to think about it when I’m about to devour some of the crispiest, most flavorful calamari I’ve ever tasted. My husband is pretty picky when it comes to calamari, and the fact that it was breaded with potato flour and perfectly flash fried and presented with a nice trio of sauces, (Basil mayo was the winner in my group), prompted him to declare it a new fave.
We also tried the chickpea bread which tasted so lovely, salty, almost a bit like curry, and had a soft and light consistency unlike most GF breads.
For our main courses, our lovely friend had the crispy salmon with polenta and she raved about it. I had the perfectly seared Scallops with red pepper polenta and a cheesy veggie stack that tasted like veggie lasagna– minus the noodles of course. The serving size looks small and delicate upon initial presentation, but that must have been an optical illusion as I couldn’t finish my plate.
My husband ordered the pork tenderloin with their GF mac n’ cheese and he was truly amazed about the al dente texture of the macaroni. I tried it, and it could stand up to any wheat noodle mac n’ cheese dish found at most higher end places. This kitchen and chef know what they are doing…
And so does the wait staff. Our server was a gregarious and passionate lady that helped us make excellent choices not only for dinner but for our wine. She embodies the spirit of great customer service and really created a fabulous experience for us.
We look forward to returning and perhaps meeting the chef as he has filled a much needed niche in Austin.

My fiancé and I came here last night, we have been to this location before when it was Apatit. We really enjoyed Riviera Bistro and we are glad this gem is in the Shops at the Galleria close to home. We started off with a glass of their red house wine, it’s a cab/​merlot blend and it’s not bad for $ 4.
My fiancé ordered the crispy salmon and absolutely loved it. The sauce was decadent, the salmon was cooked perfectly. The salmon came with a side of cooked spinach and polenta. The polenta was delicious and soaked up the sauce.
I ordered the stuffed or rolled chicken breast with assorted cheeses inside, it was awesome. The sauce was great, and I loved the grilled asparagus. Our server was very friendly, we liked the small and quiet atmosphere. The bar looked cool but it is small. They have a nice menu and they do have reasonable prices. For instance their trout is around $ 14, the salmon is $ 19, and the dishes can go up from there. But I think it’s great they have a few reasonable options. I would like to see them do a happy hour on their appetizers, we’d love to try some new things but their prices are a little high on their appetizers. We will definitely be coming back to try something new next time. Make reservations because they are very small, you want to make sure you get a spot before you show up.

Was excited to try this gluten free restaurant. We had the calamari for a starter. The breading was made out of potatoes and was not light. The calamari seemed not fresh and rather greasy. I was very disappointed. I also had the shrimp bisque which was nice but a little too rich.
The restaurant is small so you need to make a reservation. Staff was very friendly.

I went to Riviera Bistro last night for the first time. It was for Valentine’s Night and the place was packed. I went there because it was a Glutten Free Restaurant and like to eat Glutten Free. Well, I was seriously blown away. The food was more than just and acceptable version of GF, it was truly decadant. The owners were great and made me feel quite at home. The freedom of being able to order anything on the menu was enough to make me want to go back, but the Shrimp Bisque would have done that anyway.
The best part about my experience though, was not how great the food was, but rather how I felt after I got home, and how I continued to feel the next day. This expereince has convinced me I need to take my «glutten free» dining from a preference to a MUST. I guess you can say that Riveiera Bistro has changed my life!

Riviera Bistro has taken over the old Apatite location and has just as inspiring healthy gourmet AND 100% gluten free menu (it shares the space with a Yoga studio). The owners source local and organic ingredients for their French Italian inspired Gluten Free menu.
For now they are only open for dinner and since they have yet to get their liquor license you can bring your own (there is a Specs and World Market in the same shopping complex) or enjoy complimentary wine while it lasts!
We decided on Salmon Croquettes on mixed greens, Poached Shrimp with remoulade sauce and Shrimp and Scallop Risotto. The risotto was a full 5 stars! so creamy with asparagus and topped with perfectly cooked shrimp and succulent scallops!
Minus a star only because the ambiance and small portions do not warrant the prices.