Riff Raff Tavern On The Canal

Amazing Blues and Rock music you can’t find anywhere else. Feels like a Chicago Blues club in the heart of the revitalized downtown Dayton entertainment district. If you’re passing through Dayton or you’re a local you have to stop in if you love the Blues.

Noticed this place having an afternoon (2−6pm on most Sundays) live blues band and all you can eat BBQ for $ 12 (or $ 10 in advance). I love both of these, so I took a chance. I was pleasantly surprised that this place is quite nice inside and out. I was half expecting it to be a biker bar (since they said that bikes can park out front and let’s not forget the name of the place — RiffRaff) — if it was riffraff or a biker bar, I would not have gone inside, quite frankly. But no, it was clean and the clientele was more couples, small groups and family oriented. There was an older couple who danced to most of the songs. They actually had two bands play — both were good. And, the BBQ was pretty good, too. There were ribs, chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, mac’n cheese, corn on the cob, cucumber salad and all the fixins. Most was tasty, though the burgers were not homemade & had absolutely no seasoning, the mac’n cheese was kinda bland and goopy, and the cucumber salad was over-​dressed. I also wished they had better plastic-​ware since the ones they provided were the flimsy kind; but, I made do. The staff was family and quite friendly. I could see this place as a regular hangout. The service was a bit slow; had to ask for water refills and was never asked if I wanted another beer. They also had Guinness bottle for $ 3. I was tempted to try one of their concoctions «The Garbage Can,» which is on par with Long Island Ice Teas… not one of those drinks you’d have and then drive away. lol This location is good; actually was right across from the Celtic Festival 2015 so I could’ve walked over and back and not had to pay for additional parking. However, RiffRaff has parking out front and back so parking should not be a problem. Anyway, I was happy with the experience and I plan on going back. Caio!

The place is really awesome! The staff was super friendly, fun old-​school /​funky atmosphere, there was live music Friday night when I went and we overall really enjoyed our experience there.