Riverside Cafe

Me and my husband stopped because we had been out enjoying the sun all day and starving. Seeing that they had a sampler platter and the captains plate, we were excited to stop for our first time. We will never stop again and will never recommend this place. The food was at best horrible and the service was around the same. When I tried to explain to the waitress that we were not happy with our meal in the least bit, she blatantly disregarded me and continued to ring up our bill. And then turned around when I went back to my table to mock what I had said to the cooks. When you order a salad, it should come first not forgotten and handed over only when you have mentioned it for the 3^rd time. And any other place you receive a combo of seafood, you always get at least one slive of lemon, not none! And in what restaurant do you not get asked if you would like something to drink? I guess this one.

Because we had a coupon we decided to have lunch today at the Riverside Café. From previous reviews we weren’t expecting an amazing meal but good at least. It was one of the worst meals we have had dining out! I ordered the special, a prime rib dip for $ 13.99. The prime rib was almost all fat and my French fries were under cooked. My boyfriend ordered the country fried steak with sausage gravy and… it was disgusting! The gravy was obviously from a can and had a strange after taste, he took a few bites and left ¾ of it uneaten. I can say the French fries were the only decent item from his meal.
I have never written a review of a restaurant before but after this experience at the Riverside I felt I had to. Not recommended.

I insisted to my mom and sister that we support a local business & go to Riverside café! Service was friendly, but not so timely. Food was yummy and tasty but I really wanted to try their feature salad as a side for my half sammich but they said they couldn’t or would have to charge me for the full salad which still does not make sense to me.
Try this place out though, staff is super sweet and they local

The fish and chips were really good, though the fries are just the from-​frozen variety. Service was friendly and prompt. On the other hand, it seems like this place is hanging on by a thread and trying to cut corners wherever they can. The outdoor lighting has been cut in half, making one wonder if it’s even open. It’s kept freezing cold inside (we never took our coats off). Also, we were bombarded with little paper signs everywhere promoting various goodies that can be ordered. These are obviously the frozen items that get thrown into the microwave or freezer, as the flyers are from companies such as Trident Foods, etc. The kids mac and cheese was just Kraft. The clam chowder was just okay. The atmosphere is confusing… Mexican-​style booths in an all-​American food restaurant. We were the only ones in there almost the whole time. I probably won’t go back. :(

1) service was a 2 outta 5
2) food was plain 1.5 outta 5
3) prices are stupid high for plain food
So hear is the real review…
Not a fancy restaurant for the coin your going to drop, the food is not that great…
So if you looking for good food and a decent price this is not the place…
Sorry riverside café, step your game up…
Thanks for reading this review, have a great day!

Pro: Good, traditional food and lots of it. The fish and chips and burgers are particularly good. The fish and chips are really good. Not too much breading and the oil is fresh and at the right temperature so the fish is not greasy. The service is friendly and the food arrives quickly. I’ve seen a few breakfast dishes and those have looked good.
Con: A little expensive for «fast food». The waitresses are always changing and often new and have little experience with food or being servers. I had a «taco salad» once. There were no refried beans on the bottom and the «salad» consisted of a bag of washed lettuce and some diced tomatoes and a handful of seasoned ground beef on top. I could do a better job at home. The waitress did not mention when I asked for refried beans, and «is this it?» after I got the «Amazing Taco Salad» and then when I was done there’s still a LOT of lettuce on the plate. It came to $ 15.30 with a coke and I thought that was too expensive. (I felt bad for the waitress and left a tip so it was more than that. For lunch… a lunch that 20 minutes later I’d be hungry again.)
The food is OK but can be spotty. Stick to more traditional «stick to your ribs» type food. My suggestion is that the cook should go to Taco Time and have a taco salad before he makes another one. I should have done that as well.

Hands down the best fish and chips in Skagit County. Reminds of the old Short Stop fish and chips. Order it you won’t be disappointed!

Using my ‘GoSkagit’ coupon I tried this place for lunch. Had the Monte Cristo which was pretty ordinary. However, I had the BEST French fries EVER! They have little signs on the tables which say ‘Popcorn Fries’ which I’m assuming are some sort of licensed fries. Whatever! Every once & awhile I just NEED an order of fries & have stopped in McDonalds as they do make good fries. But these are incredibly crisp on the outside with a flaky inside & just the right amount of salt. Usually fries start to get soggy as they cool… not these. Also, I like tarter sauce with my fries & theirs is a cut above the regular tarter sauce I’ve gotten elsewhere. A big winner all round. With the drive-​up window my only problem could be limiting my intake!

Inside this former fast-​food chain restaurant there is a very good cook.
The BLT soup was a surprise and very good with bacon, croutons and fresh lettuce on top of a spicy tomato soup.
The philly chicken was tasty, even the cheese had a good strong flavor, unlike the cheese you get at most cafes and dinners. The steak potatoes (small crispy fries are an option) were cooked just right: soft but crisp on the outside and not too salty. The mixed steamed veggies were not over done.

Tried because I’ve seen so many advertisements for this place with BOGOF coupons, though I’ve been disappointed by every restaurant that has set up shop at this location. This is a little better than the earlier establishments, but not by much. I went for the chorizo con huevos for breakfast, but it was beyond Americanized. Bland. The «chorizo» was just breakfast sausage like I would find in any diner.
Coffee was overpriced and not so good. $ 2.39 for a cup.
The service was very good.
I was going to give it two stars, but it gave me a satisfying burp.

I really wanted to like this — and I should have, considering I was starving. The breakfast quesadilla was okay because the cheese was melty, but it lacked luster. The chicken wings were meager and came with an unaltered hot sauce. It was just… blah.

Lured by an Entertainment Book Coupon, we tried the Riverside Café for dinner this evening. Located on Riverside Drive in a former chain fast food location, this restaurant it’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The dinner menu includes a number of «Breakfast All Day» items, sandwiches, burgers, steak, prime rib, pastas, entrée salads, and (mostly fried) fish. We shared an order of fish and chips and an order of fried clams. Both dishes included large portions and plenty of fries, as well as, a small bowl of cole slaw.
The service was friendly and efficient and we found both meals quite tasty.
Not much atmosphere, but good food will bring us back.

My review pretty much mirrors the reviews of others. Decent menu, clean restaurant, average décor. Our server was kind, but subdued, obviously she hadn’t been in the trade very long. Slow to check back on us.
The food? Well, it was just, ‘meh’. I’d hoped for better when I saw home-​made sausage gravy listed on the menu. Not so. Canned or gravy «mix». Frozen CFS. Frozen hasbrowns. Generic toast, not buttered to the edges. Boxed or packaged biscuits. Not worth the price, but perfectly adequate if you just need to fill your belly and don’t care how much you need to spend. If they would upgrade their food from frozen to fresh, and get their servers on the ball, they could knock it out of the park. Fresh isn’t that much tougher to make, and it’s less expensive. Just keep an eye on inventory and make sure it’s rotated.
The driveway from Riverside is difficult to get in, so make sure you go around to the side, unless you have a small car.

The Riverside Café has a variety to offer anyone that may stop off the busy highway but that doesn’t mean that they can satisfy everyone. The trouble with this joint is that they depend too much on frozen food and charge way to much for what they deliver. The Wife and I had a small (very!) fish and chip and a BLT with a soda and coffee. $ 30 (without tip) later we felt that though our bellies were full, our souls were far from satisfied. The A&W across the street would have provided the same level of satisfaction for half the price.

We went here for lunch one afternoon and I was rather disappointed. The food was good and an apitizer is all you really needed to fill you up, which was good since I believe nachos were around $ 10. The girl seemed annoyed that we had disrupted her afternoon so we felt rather unwelcome as well.

This will fall into our «Fish and Chips «(hereby abbreviated FNC) subset of reviews. Understand, we compare all FNC to those from Waterfront Fish Market in Everett, sadly now closed (sniff sniff). We chose to do a side-​by-​side comparison with the FNC from Riverside Café and the Café 99 Phở restaurant around the corner.
Riverside’s FNC were overpriced ($ 12.99), something we find typical of FNC that is served with garlic toast. The last thing you want after a bunch of fried potatoes is more starch… Their fries were also not seasoned, and the tartar sauce was acceptable but not amazing. The fish was typical, what-​you-​would-​expect, but nothing to go back for. Mt. Vernon doesn’t offer much for FNC, so choose wisely.

My wife and I stopped here for dinner because we were looking for something light and simple. This unassuming mix between a diner and fast-​food drive thru has everything from prime rib to seafood to breakfast. I would say the menu is Denny’s-esque with a home cooked flavor. My wife ordered the short stack and I ordered a burger. Both were made to order and the service was courteous and prompt. I would eat here again.

I feel sorry for this place. You can tell the owners are trying everything they can to be succesful, it just doesn’t cut it. They started this place as a Mexican place and since the Valley is over saturated in Mexican food, decided to have a go at American. Its clear they don’t have a complete grasp on American Diner cuisine and no clear vision for their restaurant. Is it a drive through or is it a diner? Most people speeding by on Riverside Drive don’t know. They don’t care too much to stop in and see and why should they?

Pretty good mixture of Americanized Mexican along with more traditional dishes. Service is great (although I usually go on Sundays, & they’re not too busy).