Riverside Farm Market and Café

What a pleasant surprise! Oakland is a very, very, very humble little town. OK, it’s pretty much a dump. But Riverside Farm s anything but. The building is beautiful, cozy yet modern. The food was very good — inventive, fresh, and flavorful. Maybe a bit on the pricy side, but I’ll happily pay for a meal of this caliber when the local alternatives are so limited.
This place should be a must for parents visiting local camps and colleges.

Very nice lunches. It will run you $ 30 for a typical lunch with dessert and a drink. Quality is very good. Their pastry is outstanding but needs a bit more on the well done side on the crusts (evidently this inability to make crusts not soggy plagues most baking in Maine). Wedge salad terrific. quiche is outstanding. Friendly prompt service. Definitely recommend.

What a dinner! Delicious, inventive flavors. A unique ability to blend seasonal ingredients with savory, global seasonings with amazing results. The peace and calm of the setting only added to our enjoyment. Bravo!

I went back to this restaurant last month after having a bad experience a year earlier. I will never go back there again even though I have been an off-​and-​on diner there since the first week they opened. The Riverside Farm Market and Café is a very quaint, rustic, post and beam (PRICEY) restaurant environment set on land with their own vineyard. The night we went was our 27^th anniversary. When we walked in, there were 4 tables seated and many empty. We had a reservation and were 10 minutes early. We stood there waiting for someone to seat us and the owner, who was behind the bar, finally asked us if we had a reservation and let us know that we were early. She told us that she would be right with us. Ok… we sat down on a bench to wait and after 10 minutes a waitress came to us and asked us, again, if we had reservations (at this point I wanted to run away because you got the feeling that you were bothering them.) She explained that we were early, AGAIN, and that she would seat us soon. (You would think the place was crowed to capacity and that they were trying to squeeze us in). A year earlier, 3 of us walked in without a reservation and asked if they could take us. (Again, there were more than two thirds of the tables empty, but you would think we were asking to get into the Inaugural Ball without tickets!) Finally they came to us 40 minutes after we got there and told us our table was ready. (READY??? The table sat there empty the whole 40 minutes!!) If we had waited at the table maybe they would have made out by us ordering drinks. But it was late and we were hungry. My husband ordered an item that was written as a cooked all day pork dish. Cooked all day would make you think that it would be falling apart and tender. It was more like a pan fried thick pork chop… not tender, no flavor. He was going to say anything but I finally spoke up and did and they took the pork off the bill. Everything was lukewarm. We saw a friend across the room who works with my husband. He got the same menu item as my husband and later at work asked him how he liked it. He was disappointed too with the same complaints. I gave this place another shot, after a year, because I know they use fresh ingredients and I do like the atmosphere but to my surprise it still was the same, and not worth the high prices and the dealing with the pretentious management. They need to make some huge changes to make it enjoyable again.

The restaurant had a cute homey feel and great music. The menu was unique (cream of sweet potato soup) and delicious! Staff was very friendly and personable. Great experience!

Awesome lunch outside on the deck. Lobster role was fresh and tasty. No shortage of meat. Homemade cole slaw, too. Wife had the tuna rollup. That had nice amount of mayo, some cheese and spinach. Iced tea is brewed. Iced coffee stood up to the ice. Excellent service, too.

Awesome, just awesome… I happen to be working in a small town nearby and found this restaurant on Unilocal… what a treasure… the food was phenomenal… I had the butternut squash soup and the lobster tacos… everything was freshly made and I left with a full tummy… stumbled over to the market which sells not just baked goods, coffee, artisinal cheeses as well as wines reasonably priced. They also sell local artists work.

The best. The Chef is unbelievable. Very inventive. Gelato for dessert, finishes the meal with very low calories.

EVERYONE STOP. HAVE I DIED… and gone to dreary, rainy day heaven?
It was a drizzly day up here in Oakland today. Unilocal didn’t fail me by sending me a few miles out of my way to this little place. Get this: Wednesday afternoon — parking lot is packed. I park a little bit down the dirt lot, right across from the vineyard and raised beds filled with salad greens, kale, and other delicious veggies.
The décor is quaint with subdued lighting. Friendly staff helped me choose the Curried Pumpkin special. It was slow roasted with potatoes, carrots, kale, and pumpkin in the most perfectly balanced curry sauce. It was over a bed of black quinoa, which added a perfect contrast of textures and flavors. For 9.99? Seriously? Seriously.
I left so beyond satisfied with my cup of hot mulled apple cider to go and will try to go back whenever possible.
Go there. Go there now… and enjoy it.

Charming restaurant a stone’s throw from Colby College. The night we visited must have been faculty night. The restaurant is charming, with a rustic vibe. There is an attached market which was closed when we were at dinner. The interior is bright, with a scent of pine from the paneling. There’s a great outdoor patio that overlooks the working farm that supplies the restaurant, and a river. We relaxed outside with drinks, but it was too cool to stay there for dinner.
The waitstaff were all nice and friendly. The meal moved at a leisurely pace. Alcoholic beverages were really inexpensive. Cocktails were $ 7 and wine by the glass was $ 6. The wine list was equally inexpensive. My martini was good. The wine by the glass was OK.
We started with the complimentary salad, which was locally grown. It was very good. The dressings were particularly good, especially a wasabi based one. The main courses were good. My wife loved her ravioli. I liked my saltimbocca with a side of pasta pesto. My daughter ordered chicken parmesan and asked for the chicken not to be breaded. The chicken was very dry. The dish probably would have been better unadulterated. Cappuccinos were OK.
Overall, a very pleasant surprise in the Waterville area. A nice meal at a very reasonable price.

I have gone to this place for the last two years while taking my son to camp on Snow Pond. Yes, the ingredients tend to be fresh (many are not if you ask for provenance of meats and fish), but the food was not as good this year as last year. In fact, I found the food to be not greater in the art of its preparation than a diner. I was very disappointed. The plating was also poor. The management was officious and turned us away three times during the camp’s parents’ weekend, though their were clearly empty tables for greater than 30minutes (and yes, I do account for having to honor reservations, but the staff at the White Barn in Kennebunkport was less officious). It would seem that a pedestrian chef or a novice has occupied their kitchen.

Great food and value. Goat cheese appetizer was superb as were salads. Orange salmon was tender and flavorful. Veal Parmesan was lightly battered and very tender. Underlying home made pasta was excellent. Don’t miss the deserts, particularly the apple pie — ask them to top with the almond gelato!

Went to the Sunday brunch as well as the little deli on the side. The brunch was ok. I got the eggs benedict and it was good. The food is super fresh and they have their own little garden in the backyard. I thought was cute since the flowers we saw growing in the back were the same ones that were on all the tables. So three stars for that. The four stars are more for the deli on the side. I had these great panini sandwiches, which yes you can get in the restaurant, but you can get them here, minus the wait. Since there was a bit of a wait during the brunch. They were packed. They also have the best chocolate chip cookies ever. They’re these huge disc sized cookies and they’re mega delicious.

fresh, delicious food. I’ve eaten here many times and have always had an awesome meal. The veggie sandwich and curry wrap are my favorites. I highly recommend.

Amazing fresh local produce served by friendly staff. Their outdoor patio is beautiful and overlooks their little vineyard and the river.
There is also a great little store attached that sells yummy stinky cheese and some interesting wines.
I have only been for lunch so far but look forward to trying dinner and brunch.

Really good quiche and chai for lunch today — best i’ve had and good service

Stellar place. Fantastic entrees, service, and riverside vineyard views. Delicious toasted paninis for lunch, smart wine market, deli meats and cheeses, and classy Friday/​Saturday dinners. Don’t miss Sunday brunch!

Recently spent a week in this town and ate here twice. Food is lovely, using the freshest of ingredients (many they grow themselves). The very finest points of big city dining are lacking (like when I finished my salad, the server asked me if I wanted to keep my fork or did I want a new one), so that’s why I didn’t give them that last star, but that’s being picky.
The food (and that’s the point, isn’t it?) is well-​prepared (don’t miss the smoked scallops on the fish platter appetizer. I’d consider ordering a double as a main!), seasonal, fresh and dishes, imho, walk the line between the tried and true and the imaginative. Definitely worth a visit.

The best hot apple cider! The very very VERY BEST! Since I stopped in Riverside Farm I have been looking for months and months and months trying to find another spot that serves cider as good as this. The food is also terrific. You can taste the difference that fresh makes. The quiche was outstanding and my salad was crisp and delicious. The service was good also.
Okay, this is simply a matter of tastes but the one thing that kills me is the 1990’s wood décor. It’s pretty much timber overload inside the café. Thank goodness the iron work breaks up the room a bit. I can’t look too much at the wood, faux vines and iron. It then repeats; wood, vines and iron … all. over. the. room. Its just too much. Hey! But that’s just me! Just sip your cider and look out the window. Now that’s a pretty view.