The River Restaurant & Lounge

Restaurant options are very limited in the area which leaves this restaurant as one of the only viable options. I was hesitant to eat here due to many poor reviews. However, my wife and I were overall content with the restaurant.

The atmosphere is cozy and the service is above average with the waiter and other staff members checking in frequently taking dirty plates and refilling water.

I had a salmon dish (see pic) that was better than I expected and my wife had chicken marsala that had sauce that was a bit sweeter than what marsala sauce should be. The salad bar pretty much comes with every dinner option. The salad bar is a bit sad and not much to talk about other than it’s a very plain salad bar with nothing to get excited about.

Overall, this restaurant does not deserve any of those 1-star ratings and is a good restaurant that will work for most people looking for a decent meal.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

The food was good but overpriced
Catch a bigger salmon next time

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Absolutely horrible and a total rip off. Salad bar is abominable - has goldfish crackers and undressed coleslaw. All entrees have frozen veggies reheated as sides and entrees go for $30 a piece. My chicken breast had a huge chunk taken out of it and all steak cuts were low quality being marketed as high.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 2

Good place for dinner.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Saw a lot of bad reviews. After eating here in July 2025, I can say that those reviews are absolutely not correct! The trout is very good. Our group also ate pasta and salmon. They refill your water when you please.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

We stayed at Yosemite View Lodge so this is the closest restaurant we can go to. I was initially hesitant to try it because some of the recent review ratings were low but because we're so tired and don't wanna drive we decided to try them out. I ordered Pepper and Blue Ranch Steak while my boyfriend ordered New York Steak. We also got to try their salad bar for appetizer. Their salad bar doesn't have a ton of choices but enough variety (greens, tomatoes, beans, chickpeas, onions, cucumber, beets, and so on) to have a good salad as appetizer. They also got 4 different salad dressings to choose from. Their entree was decent. The steak isn't the best steak I ever had but it was good enough to satisfy my hunger pangs. They cooked it perfectly and it was seasoned well. The service was excellent. I forgot our server's name but he has excellent customer service (I remember him saying he loves rice too because he's from Colombia). My friends had dinner at this place too after we went and they had salmon and ribs and they both enjoyed their meal as well. My suggestion is to not let the negative reviews deter you from trying this place and hope you have a good experience with this restaurant just like we did.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

OK, stay with me here. There is, for all intents and purposes nothing exceptional about this place. It is a decent restaurant in a tourist location. No harm, no foul. So ‘why a five star review,’ you ask? This restaurant is nothing short of a Time Machine. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of 1990s original fast, casual style, this is THE PLACE. The food tastes the same, perfectly acceptable, but no James Beard Award winners here. It is functional. It is friendly. But above all, it is nostalgic.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Make sure u have at least a hour when the front desk tell you 15 min

The food was out right terrible, like close to microwave food. Very overcooked steak, dry burgers, and somehow over and undercooked rice. If you are hungry after a long day of hiking do yourself a favor and drive into town. Other than the food the staff was nice and it was clear that they are a bit understaff as it took a while to sit and then get our food. I would say if you have to eat here try and get a good view to look at.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 3

Food was not good at all, and they got 50% of our order correct. The salad bar was laughable. The highlight of the meal was the ranch dressing in the salad bar; it's the good kind. Do yourself a favor and eat in Yosemite or at the pizza place next door. Anywhere else, really.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

the food is not it. consider eating elsewhere unless you are exhausted but even then it would be better to grab something from the shop by reception. there was an unmentioned splitting fee for the food to be split and there was a 2% fee for credit cards (which was listed on the menu)

Breakfast buffet was good. Various fruit, pancakes and French toast. Bacon and sausage, toast and biscuits. Dinner menu was not very interesting. Burger was ok.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

A terrible experience. We only ordered their “Tender & Juicy” chicken wings for takeout. What we got were overcooked and dry pieces that were virtually inedible. Given the size of the serving (See the picture of what we received), a complete rip-off for $20 and the audacity to ask for a tip. A disgrace. Pizza place next door is a far better option.

Food: 1

Oh my gosh DO NOT EAT HERE!! I’m warning you. Server was so rude to us. Then we order and it takes 20 minutes just for drinks. The food was overcooked and dried out. This was the absolute worst steak I’ve ever eaten. $150 for family of 3 and a waste of 90 minutes.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 1

Terrible service, long wait and average food. Server took wrong order. They didn’t tell me the salad bar until after 40 min. When I tried to get the salad they told me nothing left.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 1