Big River Restaurant & Bar

This place is a shadow of it’s former self. Decided to visit while in town for a OSU basketball game not realizing this restaurant had new ownership. Made a reservation and still had to wait 10-15 mins for a table. The new manager seemed very disorganized and overwhelmed. We were seated and they only had one menu available for my wife and I. Once ordered, it took 45 mins to receive water/drinks. Now I would imagine 2+ hours before a game would be plenty of time to eat and get over to the stadium. I was totally wrong. It came to 30 mins before the game and our meal had not yet come. After speaking with the manager and our meal nowhere in sight, we decided to leave. This place has gone downhill under the new owners. Definitely will not be back after this terrible experience.

This is one of the more pricey restaurants in Corvallis (>$20 a dish), but the food is great and has a professional atmosphere

I wrote the following review over a year ago and just learned this place is closing. NO surprise as they took a good restaurant and just ruined it: I moved to Corvallis in 2002 and have dined at Big River for the past 16 years. 10 years ago I started splitting my time between a home in Calif and here in Corvallis. Each time I'm in town I always go to Big River. If I'm here a week I would dine there almost nightly and preferred to dine in the bar area since I'm always alone and they had a GREAT bar menu and drink happy hour. Last night after a change in ownership I went down as usual and was very unpleasantly surprised that the bar menu had almost been wiped out. The wine selection is what you would find at Denny's and the food selection has been paired down to almost nothing. I was so disappointed I told the waiter I really didn't see anything on the menu I wanted. I asked if I could order a small pizza and she said no they wouldn't serve pizza's in the bar anymore outside of their beer and pizza menu item (chicken or pepperoni). I ended up having a dinner salad and glass of bad wine and left. I'm so sorry to see this business change hands and destroy the bar menu and business they had. When I left at 6pm there were only 2 tables with 4 people in the bar area. The main restaurant was not much better. The new owners I understand are microbrew people and sadly have made changes that I feel will cost them a lot of business in the long run. I don't think I will be trying Big River again. A month later I thought I'd give it another try and sit in the main dining area. I ordered a pizza, salad, and glass of wine and asked for the usual bread and olive oil that has made this restaurant famous over the years. I was told sorry no more bread unless you pay $4.50 for it and given some lame excuse about the bakery being separated from the restaurant. This will for sure be my last visit to Big River. It has been studied and said how much a new customer costs a business to bring in compared with how much it cost to bring an old customer back after a bad experience. I don't think long term this place with survive.

Average food quality, expensive for what we ordered. Only one IPA on tap. Disappointed.

The variety could be better, but overall very tasty. I wish there were more parking spots.

Our teen got a generous homemade cheese pizza and we both had the ragu special—-very good. Loved the porter too. We usually avoid Corvallis for dinner due to limited parking. We got lucky this evening.

Fantastic food, helpful staff, always awesome character. They charge convenient pricing and the food quality is awesome. Kudos.

Great menu, but I could just go for dessert! So many delicious options, it is difficult to choose just one! Nice seafood dishes and pastas too.

Great food and service. Comfortable

Very elegant and convenient place. They serve large portions and for affordable prices. We liked the food very much and the staff were very personal and chatty. Will definitely recommend this restaurant.

Can hear the owners yelling at the staff in the kitchen over the music. Very depressing atmosphere, I feel sorry for the workers in the front and back of house.

Walked in for lunch today and could hear a woman screaming from the back of the restaurant. Great environment to have lunch!!! Yea, nope! Walked right out. Won't be back til they have new owners or something.

Awful experience multiple members of my party got sick. Our pasta was over cooked. Our brisket was bland. The staff was inattentive. I called and they told me they would investigate which took a week and culminated in them sending a $25 giftcard on a $200 meal. Used to be a nice restaurant but with new Mazama ownership we were very disappointed. Would recommend everyone stay away.

Way overpriced. The food is good, but not THAT good! You're paying for a lot of atmosphere and experience. You can get the food (except the dessert) anywhere in Corvallis.

Great service. Unique dishes. Fabulous desserts.