Maxson Riverside Restaurant

This review is in response to my experience with the management of this company. Since My original review I have been contacted multiple times demanding that I remove my review and give them another try, as they are under new management. When, I have declined to do so, they have other employees reach out to ask as well. It is to the point where it could be considered borderline harassment. My original review is an accurate description of my experience visiting here. I did not fabricate, nor exaggerate anything. In fact, I gave both positives and negatives about my experience. I am fair in my assessments of businesses. If you look at my review history, I am liberal in 4 and 5 star reviews. The majority of my reviews are in that category. So If I had a bad enough experience to warrant a 2 star review, it was earned.
I am even less inclined to come back than I was before. I imagine that if they are this relentless about a negative review, I’m scared that if I had the same opinion when I came back they would harass me more. I will not be back, and I won’t be recommending them either. All of my friends are Unilocalers too and I wouldn’t want them to feel bad about describing an honest experience because it may lead to relentless Shame on this company. I feel that if you have made the improvements you claim to have made, let your customers prove that to you by positive reviews. They would eliminate mine all together! Please stop contacting me.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: Went here for a wedding this weekend. I have to say that the scenery at this place is beautiful. They have the rock river right there, the greenery is beautiful. They really have so much that they could capitalize on here. The building and the restaurant are nice on the outside. The inside is nice too, they could do a few cosmetic updates like paint the walls etc… But it’s nice either way. The staff was friendly and very efficient. The reason for my two star review is for the following reasons… First, they have this huge steam boat that could really be something special. However, it’s clear that the boat needs some attention. The awning is sun bleached, the boat is rusting, and the paint job really needs to be touched up. For a place that tries to make this their selling point, they really seem very uninterested in making some much needed repairs. The pictures on their website have to be very old because the boat does not look like this. How lovely would it be to have a wedding reception going down the rock river? I can tell you that I would love the idea. However I would hate the idea of the photos of my wedding on such an ugly boat. Second, the venue provides chairs for the guests to sit in, but they give cheap white plastic lawn type chairs, and they’re dirty looking. I asked how much they paid for the venue and I can tell you for the price I would have been extremely upset if this was my wedding. I hear this place is always booked, and I have to assume that it’s because there isn’t much competition in Oregon. My only advice to this company is invest in your business. It has a lot going for it. I want to like it, but it looks and seems like the owners don’t really care about it. People will pay to make their wedding beautiful. If you want a mediocre wedding go here. If you want something elegant and unique look into the pier in Chicago. It costs $ 40 a person for the yachts overlooking the city, no decorating required because they are already decorated beautiful and the skyline and fireworks will leave a better impression on your guests

The new owners make this place work. Come eat here. My family and I ate there on a Saturday night for the live music, and we had three (3) of their soup & salad buffets (1 soup, 1 chili & fairly expanded salad fixin’s buffet), and three (3) full-​size BBQ buffets which also included ribs, pulled pork, corn-​on-​the-​cob, skillet-​fried potatoes, sausage (yum) and peppers, and sliced turkey (as a slice or as a sandwich – as you wish).
My kids of 13, 13, 12 & 11 all enjoyed the guitar player live on Sat. night (from 6−8pm, according to their FaceBook page). They brew their iced tea (makes a huge difference) and generously brought us pitchers of lemonade, iced-​tea and pepsi to keep us well-​hydrated.
It was only ~55 degrees last night, so it was all inside their spacious dining room, but normally they would be serving their Sat. night buffet on their expansive deck which is literally on the bank of the beautiful Rock River.
Their paddle-​wheel boat takes people out for Sunday brunch and many other rides, plus they’ll do sight-​seeing rides for 7-​miles up stream and then back.
The cement statue of Blackhawk is «under repair», and covered up at the moment, but normally you would be looking at that directly across on the opposite bank of the river.

If you haven’t been here for awhile or not at all… It’s worth the trip! Yes the view of the river is beautiful but the food is fantastic! Freshly prepared and not your everyday place! I have only eaten here twice since the new owners have taken over in 2014 but both times the food was amazing and the service was great! My first trip was with my 13yr old daughter who loved the food and the view. My second was with my husband.
We can’t wait to come back and enjoy the beautiful outdoor deck or the Riverboat, when the weather is a little warmer. I think we will try the Sunday Brunch next time.
Great place for a party too! From one foodie to another you wont be disappointed.
Kudos NEW OWNERS!!! Your doing everything right!

Have been going to Maxsons for over 40 yrs., this is the first time that I have to complain. We went to the Sunday buffet. The food selection was limited especially salads and desserts, not what we have normally experienced at Maxsons. They ran out of roast beef an hour before the buffet closed, also desserts. I will say the quality of most of the entrees was good. However the orange rolls that Maxsons are famous for was very disappointing. Not at all the same roll, small and very dried out like they had been sitting out for a week. They used to be served at the table, warm from the oven.
Also we were given our bill before we had finished eating, I think so the help could eat which was at a table in the main dinning room.
It is a beautiful setting and so much could be done with the restaurant. I understand they recently reopened with new owners but I am afraid they will be closing soon. It was Father’s Day and the restaurant was very empty. Although it has been one of our favorites we will not be returning.

We stopped by for lunch and had the buffet. To be honest it was a terrible experience and I wished we had not stopped. The food was either over cooked or just tasted like mush. We had to wait a while for drink refills and there was only one other family there and they had two waitresses. The décor is dated but does sit on the river and offers some great views. Just disappointed in our experience.