I always enjoy Rivas. We got there rather late and we did feel rushed as the kitchen was closing but it was still a good experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Gibby
Was pleasantly surprised by Riva’s! Friendly staff and large menu to enjoy. The chicken funchezzi was super thin and crisp. Well cooked. Veggies on the side were good. Hubby had the cream penne with chicken and it was good. Big portions. Both plates came with soup and salad which honestly isn’t needed but I get it. They were fine, but next time I would decline. Focus on the main meal. :).
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Chicken Funchezzi
Bryan P
Been here many times. Seems to get worse. Same old story. Mediocre food. Service is very slow. Drink limit of 2 per person and yet the 2nd drink they bring out is watered down and they charge the same price thinking you won’t know the difference. In my opinion it’s a deceitful business trying to get the most out of your $. Would not recommend
Katie Bushong
If you’re expecting authentic Italian food, this is not the place. While I was excited to try a hole in the wall, nostalgic kindof place - the quality of the food was lower than a 1 rating. Also, the smell of Fabuloso burned our eyes and nostrils! It was grosser than gross.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Rick R
Place was super busy and a wait. Didn't like that my whole party had to be here before getting a table
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
G
I’d say this is about Olive Garden level but honestly Olive Garden might be the better value. $20-$30 per entree for three spoonfuls of soup (not exaggerating), a side salad that tastes like they got one of those mixed green bags from Walmart and off the shelf italian dressing, garlic bread that’s almost identical to the frozen texas toast you can get at any freezer aisle and pasta. Pasta portions were very large but also bland. House wine tastes like water. Service was meh but quick. Nothing to write home about but not bad. Honestly, you’re better off making your own grocery store lazy italian food than coming here. Or just go to Olive Garden.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 3
Melissa So
I will start off with finding parking was a pain. The lot they have is limited so you’ll have to park on the street somewhere and many spots have a “no parking” sign that points to different directions and states the time. It took us about 30 mins to find parking somewhere nearby.
When we finally arrive to the restaurant, it looked almost like a dive bar from the outside (sorry, I don’t know how else to describe it). Once you enter, it’s small and quaint. My only issue I has were the workers. There were groups of people waiting to be seated and we sought out the employees that walked by number times. We called to them to get their attention and ALL of them ignore us. We sat at the bar waiting and no one greeted us or anything. It was quite disappointing to be honest having this as an experience during a date night. One server I finally got to stop for a moment, I asked him if there’s a wait or who do we talk to to be seated, he just made a noise of some sort and walked away.
Waited about ten mins and finally an older fellow started asking people for their names and how many the number in their party. We waited about another five minutes and finally got seated. The server that kind of ignore us and made that noise ended up being our server (he speak by the way).
We ordered the crab cakes. It was very different from all the other crab cakes I’ve ever had. I think there were cucumbers in there. It was… Interesting. They brought over soup (of the day I’m assuming) and salad before the main course. I’m guessing it automatically comes with the meal since we weren’t asked if we wanted any of it. They brought out the garlic bread. I ordered the chicken penne pasta with the Rosa cream sauce and my gf ordered the lasagna. I will say the portions are HUGE. We barely finished a third of each plate. Of course, we to-go’d our meal and asked for the check.
The server was definitely busy so he wasn’t so attentive. When we dropped off the check, he gave us to-go boxes. I was assuming there were no bags since he didn’t bring us one. Once we packed our food, the guy who seated us initially stopped by the table and gave us a bag. After that I see him bussing table. Got better server for a bus boy than the server.
4 stars for the food and the bus boy. I do recommend the place if you want someone small and intimate. It’s an adorable spot.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Lasagna
Julian Vargas
If you think this is good italian food you are sadly mistaken. The ceiling is full of grease and dust. The serve a lot of food, bad food. So you will get your moneys worth if thats your thing. The salad is straight from the bag. Ewww. Stay away
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Lasagna
Hector Ramirez
Don’t tell me I can bring my kids and then change your mind, makes no sense. And no they were not acting up they actually more chill than most of yall loud grown ups.. sad old man.
Service: 1
Meagan
The interior is very festive and fun! We went for brunch but had to have the menu switched when we ordered, but still good food.
Can't imagine a restaurant where kids under 13 are not allowed. That's just outright rude!
Atmosphere: 1
Eric S
Wasn't impressed with the brunch. They were out of veal so I had eggs Benedict. Bacon and sausage was good but the rest was subpar. The breads were definitely store bought.
Kid-friendliness: No, do not bring children!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 3
Nina Klonis
Was excited to come here for a fun dinner and immediately regretted it. Upon arrival, the restaurant smelled dingy and off putting. We decided to try it anyways since so many people seem to like the place.
We were sat at a 2 seater table that was nearly touching the table next to us. The server came out and didn't introduce himself or say hi whatsoever, just asked what we wanted 2 minutes after sitting down then walked away when we weren't ready.
We each ordered an entree which included soup and salad to start. The soup portion is maybe 8 spoonfuls. Take a look at my pic, that's untouched and it was lukewarm when the restaurant had literally just opened 5 minutes before we arrived. The salad was meh. The garlic bread was good.
For my main, I got the penne cream rosa. It was decent but a bit heavy on the cream - not balanced with tomato enough. We also got the chicken fransico which was tasty but kind of an odd dish on an Italian menu in my opinion with the poblano cream sauce and sautéed veggies on top. It almost reminded me of fajitas. I took a bite and it had a piece of bone in it which was surprising and unpleasant. The fettuccine Alfredo was abysmal. It was straight cream with no seasoning or flavor or cheesiness. Our server never checked on us and we had to catch his attention to ask for simple things.
Overall, I wish I didn't come here. Really hope it doesn't destroy my stomach tonight. I threw away my leftovers from how terrible the experience was. Sure they have cute decor but at the end of the day, it's a restaurant and what matters is the food and service quality which were both poor. Such a waste of money. Olive Garden is better. Even piada is better.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
Joe Baird
The urine smell was sickening. When I shared my concern with the waitress, she never addressed the problem. In fact, after taking our order, she never returned to our table even though she continued to wait on other tables. We hadn't been here for a few years, but I don't think that we will rush back.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Claudia
Very rude, didn't even try to accommodate us in any kind of way. My family and i were trying have a nice dinner and the man who called me was extremely rude even told him we could sit in 2 different tables. Idk if it was bc we were a group of 9 Hispanic people that he didnt want serve us. Do not go here if you are a big group.
I always enjoy Rivas. We got there rather late and we did feel rushed as the kitchen was closing but it was still a good experience.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Was pleasantly surprised by Riva’s! Friendly staff and large menu to enjoy. The chicken funchezzi was super thin and crisp. Well cooked. Veggies on the side were good. Hubby had the cream penne with chicken and it was good. Big portions. Both plates came with soup and salad which honestly isn’t needed but I get it. They were fine, but next time I would decline. Focus on the main meal. :).
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Chicken Funchezzi
Been here many times. Seems to get worse. Same old story. Mediocre food. Service is very slow. Drink limit of 2 per person and yet the 2nd drink they bring out is watered down and they charge the same price thinking you won’t know the difference. In my opinion it’s a deceitful business trying to get the most out of your $. Would not recommend
If you’re expecting authentic Italian food, this is not the place. While I was excited to try a hole in the wall, nostalgic kindof place - the quality of the food was lower than a 1 rating. Also, the smell of Fabuloso burned our eyes and nostrils! It was grosser than gross.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Place was super busy and a wait.
Didn't like that my whole party had to be here before getting a table
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
I’d say this is about Olive Garden level but honestly Olive Garden might be the better value. $20-$30 per entree for three spoonfuls of soup (not exaggerating), a side salad that tastes like they got one of those mixed green bags from Walmart and off the shelf italian dressing, garlic bread that’s almost identical to the frozen texas toast you can get at any freezer aisle and pasta. Pasta portions were very large but also bland. House wine tastes like water. Service was meh but quick. Nothing to write home about but not bad. Honestly, you’re better off making your own grocery store lazy italian food than coming here. Or just go to Olive Garden.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 3
I will start off with finding parking was a pain. The lot they have is limited so you’ll have to park on the street somewhere and many spots have a “no parking” sign that points to different directions and states the time. It took us about 30 mins to find parking somewhere nearby.
When we finally arrive to the restaurant, it looked almost like a dive bar from the outside (sorry, I don’t know how else to describe it). Once you enter, it’s small and quaint. My only issue I has were the workers. There were groups of people waiting to be seated and we sought out the employees that walked by number times. We called to them to get their attention and ALL of them ignore us. We sat at the bar waiting and no one greeted us or anything. It was quite disappointing to be honest having this as an experience during a date night. One server I finally got to stop for a moment, I asked him if there’s a wait or who do we talk to to be seated, he just made a noise of some sort and walked away.
Waited about ten mins and finally an older fellow started asking people for their names and how many the number in their party. We waited about another five minutes and finally got seated. The server that kind of ignore us and made that noise ended up being our server (he speak by the way).
We ordered the crab cakes. It was very different from all the other crab cakes I’ve ever had. I think there were cucumbers in there. It was… Interesting. They brought over soup (of the day I’m assuming) and salad before the main course. I’m guessing it automatically comes with the meal since we weren’t asked if we wanted any of it. They brought out the garlic bread. I ordered the chicken penne pasta with the Rosa cream sauce and my gf ordered the lasagna. I will say the portions are HUGE. We barely finished a third of each plate. Of course, we to-go’d our meal and asked for the check.
The server was definitely busy so he wasn’t so attentive. When we dropped off the check, he gave us to-go boxes. I was assuming there were no bags since he didn’t bring us one. Once we packed our food, the guy who seated us initially stopped by the table and gave us a bag. After that I see him bussing table. Got better server for a bus boy than the server.
4 stars for the food and the bus boy. I do recommend the place if you want someone small and intimate. It’s an adorable spot.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Lasagna
If you think this is good italian food you are sadly mistaken. The ceiling is full of grease and dust. The serve a lot of food, bad food. So you will get your moneys worth if thats your thing. The salad is straight from the bag. Ewww. Stay away
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Lasagna
Don’t tell me I can bring my kids and then change your mind, makes no sense. And no they were not acting up they actually more chill than most of yall loud grown ups.. sad old man.
Service: 1
The interior is very festive and fun! We went for brunch but had to have the menu switched when we ordered, but still good food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 4
Restaurantji Recommends
Can't imagine a restaurant where kids under 13 are not allowed. That's just outright rude!
Atmosphere: 1
Wasn't impressed with the brunch. They were out of veal so I had eggs Benedict. Bacon and sausage was good but the rest was subpar. The breads were definitely store bought.
Kid-friendliness: No, do not bring children!
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 3
Was excited to come here for a fun dinner and immediately regretted it. Upon arrival, the restaurant smelled dingy and off putting. We decided to try it anyways since so many people seem to like the place.
We were sat at a 2 seater table that was nearly touching the table next to us. The server came out and didn't introduce himself or say hi whatsoever, just asked what we wanted 2 minutes after sitting down then walked away when we weren't ready.
We each ordered an entree which included soup and salad to start. The soup portion is maybe 8 spoonfuls. Take a look at my pic, that's untouched and it was lukewarm when the restaurant had literally just opened 5 minutes before we arrived. The salad was meh. The garlic bread was good.
For my main, I got the penne cream rosa. It was decent but a bit heavy on the cream - not balanced with tomato enough. We also got the chicken fransico which was tasty but kind of an odd dish on an Italian menu in my opinion with the poblano cream sauce and sautéed veggies on top. It almost reminded me of fajitas. I took a bite and it had a piece of bone in it which was surprising and unpleasant. The fettuccine Alfredo was abysmal. It was straight cream with no seasoning or flavor or cheesiness. Our server never checked on us and we had to catch his attention to ask for simple things.
Overall, I wish I didn't come here. Really hope it doesn't destroy my stomach tonight. I threw away my leftovers from how terrible the experience was. Sure they have cute decor but at the end of the day, it's a restaurant and what matters is the food and service quality which were both poor. Such a waste of money. Olive Garden is better. Even piada is better.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 2
Service: 1
The urine smell was sickening. When I shared my concern with the waitress, she never addressed the problem. In fact, after taking our order, she never returned to our table even though she continued to wait on other tables. We hadn't been here for a few years, but I don't think that we will rush back.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Very rude, didn't even try to accommodate us in any kind of way. My family and i were trying have a nice dinner and the man who called me was extremely rude even told him we could sit in 2 different tables. Idk if it was bc we were a group of 9 Hispanic people that he didnt want serve us. Do not go here if you are a big group.
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