Riverview Tavern

I come to Riverview quite often since it’s close, but the service here is quite poor. Today we spent 40 minutes at our table after finishing our food to see our waiter. He walked by multiple times and never checked on us or removed the plates. I had to track him down. This is one of multiple times of poor service. There are too many places to eat around here for this.

This place isn’t going to change your life, but we enjoyed our visit here. We tend to be a bit snobby when it comes to our beer and we were pretty happy with their selection. Husband ended up ordering a cocktail called Teatime which was boozy, delicious and not crazy expensive. I tried the two draft porters they had available and settled on the Shipwreck, which was bourbon barrel aged and absolutely delicious. It came in a snifter, was 12% alcohol and $ 8. This is comparable in price and alcohol content to a glass of wine, but the snifter definitely had more in it. The service was OK, but we were there only people enjoying their dog friendly patio, so we weren’t surprised that they weren’t falling over themselves to run outside to check on us.

Really good selection at the bar and the food has never disappointed. It’s a step above the usual bar food, like the almond-​crusted avocado tacos. Those really delivered. Plenty of TVs make the Riverview a good spot to watch the game, and trivia on Wednesdays is a hoot. Definitely worth checking out.

Despite the mixed reviews, I had really high hopes for this place. I drive by here all the time, and have been curious about it because it has a nice, comfortable look, and they seem to have rooftop seating, which is a plus. When I finally visited, I was very disappointed. The pros are they have a very friendly, accommodating staff, comfortable atmosphere and décor with just enough kitsch without being tacky. They also have a large selection of beer on tap, but were virtually all ales. If you want a crisp lager or pilsner, you’re out of luck — we’re in the Midwest, I would think at least one on tap would be in order.
I chose this place based on some of the food photos on Unilocal.A photo of nachos looked especially delicious, so that’s what I ordered. Not three minutes later, when they came out, I immediately thought, «See here, we’re off to a bad start.» Yes, it was during brunch time, but they do offer their entire menu. What I was served was a congealed mess of unmelted, shredded cheese with a cold glop of cheese sauce ladled on top of cold chips with a thimbleful of black bean and corn relish, not the deliciousness featured in the Unilocal pic (see my photo). Not to make a scene, I tried to muscle through it because I was hungry, but after 3 chips I had to stop. They took it off the bill without a problem. Though it was a bad food experience, but I might be willing to give it another shot, just not during brunch hours.

Wide variety of beer, lots of IPAs. It was in the middle of the day on Sunday with the Cubs game and playoffs hockey on tv. There were maybe 10 other people in the bar. The food was alright, but nothing to rave about. It’s close to my apartment, so I would check it out again for trivia night, but there are bars closer to me, so if I’m going for a drink, I’d probably go to those instead.

I came with about 20 friends to watch the Mets home opener. I think at around 12:30, there were four other people eating there besides our group. They had a pretty decent beer list, though I wasn’t very familiar with most of what they had to offer. I had a Half Acre Pony Pilsner, which was pretty good.
I ordered the BBQ ribs appetizer. I got about 8 ribs that looked really charred. I bit into one and I got a nice dose of char and some mostly dry meat. My guess is they were smoked and then finished on the grill, but they were done way too long. They came with brown mustard (who puts straight mustard on ribs?) and two BBQ sauces. I had to use a lot of BBQ sauce to make them edible. I will credit them for a few things. Hand cut fries. Big deal in my book. Also, I appreciate the owner sending all of us Fireball shots, so big props for that. But I wouldn’t return unless it was for a group event.

My friends and I had the BEST time at Riverview Tavern! The legendary Bloody Mary lived up to its reputation, bottomless mimosas left us feeling very happy, my grilled cheese was superior, our waitress couldn’t have been more engaging, and the atmosphere was inviting. I’m going to introduce some other friends to this place soon!

Love the food! Staff is great! I’ve tried to get a late drink during the week there and a couple times they were closed early. Which then made me go home and be productive… so still a plus!

The best and the worst.. . I had the BEST pizza of my entire life here yesterday!!! Smokehouse pizza with three different kinds of bbq’ed meat!!! To Die For!!! The service was also great (thanks for your attentiveness, Maddie!) everything was great except the waffles in my wife’s chicken and waffles. The chicken was cooked perfectly– hot, plump, fried just right, and flavorful! The waffle, however, was inedible. No kidding– it was as hard as the table– as demonstrated when we tapped the table with it.
This would have easily been 5+ stars except for the waffle. We’ll be back though– for sure!

Food is original and beer selection is good! Usually pretty low key so there is room for groups and a good view of tvs. They have darts!

I’m not sure if this was an average experience because of the things that happened or because of the bar itself…
We came here after some friends’ brunch wedding expecting a bar hop – the group stayed here all night. And it was just a lot of people fighting off the hangover from the brunch booze and trying to keep the drunk rolling. There were multiple fights (mostly girl drama) and some girl (I don’t know if she was a regular patron or part of the wedding party) kept picking «fights» (and by «fights» I mean flirting) with my husband all night. She moved on from him to me when she thought I was moving in on her target… lolz awkward.
Anyways, I just don’t know if I’d choose to come back here because of the poor associations or just because it wasn’t the most exciting place otherwise. Atmosphere seemed lacking and service was gruff.

So I decided to stop in here for lunch before going to a later Cubs game. Had the Mac n cheese, salad, blantons, and some beers. My fellow Cubs fan had the grilled cheese.
Food was amazing. Very good. Bartender was greatly helpful, chatty, personable, and seemed to have a great knowledge of what’s going on in general.
The only disappointing part… We left, hell bent on coming back after the game for mini corn dogs. The place was closed before midnight, while listing hours until 2.
Loved the place, enjoyed the fresh food (most things, even ketchup are made in house) but wish I could have tried the damn mini corn dogs.

Environment: ³⁄₅. Pub, dart board, outside seating
Waitress Hotness: ³⁄₅ very cute waitress
Service: ⁵⁄₅ very nice bartender & quick service
Beer Selection: Ok. Not as great as they made it sound.
Overall: it’s hard to judge overall since I didn’t try the food however I will update my review upon trying more. Beer selection… could be better.

Cocktails are nice. Service is spotty. The waitress was not knowledgable on the menu and specials, so I witnessed the bar manager talking down to her when she made mistakes. I would not recommend this place, although the patio seating is awesome!

This place absolutely sucks but because most of the restaurants in this neighborhood are subpar it gets by.
The food has always been mediocre but it’s an option to go to out of the 4 edible establishments in the vicinity. Today we ate on the patio and from the moment we walked in to leaving both food and service were a huge miss.
I stood in the entryway as a mousy server passed me multiple times without acknowledging my presence. Finally the bartender asked «can I help you?» I told him we needed a table outside then mousy server told us to sit wherever and she’d bring us menus.
We ordered iced tea and pepsi to drink, neither were refilled throughout the meals. We had to go get our own silverware because we weren’t given any. The sweet potato tots (which are a $ 2.00 upgrade) were burnt to shit, looked to have exploded in the fryer and were happily served on both plates. It’s alarming the morons in the kitchen found it appropriate to even plate them and send them out. I’m not a cheapass who looks for freebies but we really should not have even been charged for this crap. Food sucked and service sucked.
Won’t be back.

It’s old news that there are new owners and it’s a different menu, so i am just going to update my review.
They offer a pretty wide beer selection. Their burgers are quite tasty, especially the mini burgers. On Wed, the mini burgers are $ 2 each and I had the black and blue and the Merkle’s cheddar burger. Since then I had the bacon brie burger and it was tasty too!
Their pizzas are so good. I LOVE THE BALBOA PIZZA. I think it is one of the best thin crust pizzas I have ever had. The bbq chicken pizza was good and I really liked the buffalo chicken pizza. The hummus is decent but comes with large pieces of red onion. Do people really dip raw red onion in hummus and eat it? I would rather more cucumber, tomato or pita bread than red onion. They don’t offer hummus in the «winter,» but they still didn’t have it when I went in June. The grilled cheeses are really tasty too, and I think they do a special on Thursday nights. The tempura green beans are tasteless, no salt or any type of seasoning which was disappointing. I would suggest staying away. But pretty much everything else is really tasty. I am rarely disappointed and we come here a lot.
The trivia on Wednesday has much improved and we love the trivia host.
Love the outdoor seating as well.

This is a great neighborhood bar in Roscoe Village to grab a few beers with friends or to get some really good bar food!
I’ve been here several times just for drinks and they have a great beer selection that is always changing. Prices are pretty standard for craft beers in Chicago. The bar tenders are good people and can offer some great suggestions if you ask.
The food is really outstanding compared to most bars/​taverns. I’ve only had the pizza but it was really good! Their menu has a nice selection of entrees and appetizers and there definitely is something for everybody.
If you’re ever in the area and are looking for a place to chill and have some good grub and a couple beers this is the place!

I went here for a college football game back in the fall and I was impressed by the place. Of course that impression is based upon the world of pubs in Chicago, where there are a dime a dozen and typically they serve average to below average food.
Riverview Tavern was not the case. I was happily impressed with their nacho appetizer and with their grilled cheese sandwich. Obviously those items are trailblazing and are standard fare at restaurants, especially pubs, but I have those dishes before in pubs across the city and they’ve been unmemorable or memorably bad.
Not as Riverview. I could tell there was a little extra effort there and I appreciated it and it didn’t make me feel remorseful that I had to settle with eating at a bar.
In addition to the above average food they have a great beer selection on draft and solid service.
A win-​win in book, and I’d happily go back to grab a drink and a bite to eat.

This place was awesome. I went there after the big blizzard of 2015, so everyone in there was kind of frazzled. The waitress was really nice though, and we were able to get a table for lunch right away.
Anyways. My friends and I started with fried cheese curds with a spicy aioli sauce. That was super yummy. We were fighting over them by the end. There’s also a section of gourmet grilled cheeses on their menu that was out of this world. For our main dish we ordered a spicy chicken wrap, the «yummy» grilled cheese (it comes with tomatoes and avocado but I went sans avocado) and the «savory» grilled cheese which included goat cheese and spices, among other things. The sides were tots and fries and we were all seriously pleased with the food. I’d order my meal again, hands down.
Since this is only a few blocks away from my friend’s apartment I’ll probably be coming back again.

Overall, a meh experience. It’s a typical neighborhood bar, with prices a bit higher than what can be had elsewhere. Not a place that stands out in my mind, just a mediocre place to grab a bite and a beer.
Service has been OK when I’ve gone, though a bartender insisted I had one more drink than I had, which was fun because she straight up said nope, you’re lying, you’re paying for what I say. I don’t usually fight about a $ 6 drink unless I’m right, which I was. But since she was a B****, and $ 6 isn’t the end of the world, I didn’t let it get to me too much.