River Bend Tavern & Restaurant

River Bend has been here in some form or another since I can remember. I’ve been coming to Matagorda for 50+ years now as this is my dad’s home town. This place of old used to be a honky tonk with straw floors and a shuffleboard. Live music blared on the weekends and a good fight or two was bound to be had.
While the bar and shuffleboard remain, the place has had some serious remodeling in the last few years for the better. It is now focused primarily as a restaurant with a full service bar, has a bankhead on the back for the mosquitoes along the Colorado River to eat you alive while you foolishly give into the temptation to sit outside next to the old channel of the river that the Corp of Engineers dug out many moons ago.
You’ll have plenty of flies inside, but no mosquitoes that I could tell. It is what it is people. The inside is clean and holds a certain charm that is all Matagorda in taste. The men’s room hasn’t been remodeled since Moses guided his folks through the Red Sea, but it isn’t totally obnoxious. Just old style and, well, old.
The food is basic and enjoyable, with a touch of honest good cooking going on. We’re talking fresh fish and shrimp all brought in local. When the Matagorda Oysters are fresh and flowing, you can get a mess of them here to eat. The fish is great, shrimp great, and the oysters good when in season. Our seafood platter had huge crab cakes on them. I thought they were amazing. I could taste the crab meat. My wife thought they were good, but felt they had a bit too much breading. She’s allowed to be wrong on occasion, I still love her.
Skip the french fries. While very good (and really, they are), they make some of the best homemade onion rings you can find. Seriously. You’re going to pay for them, too with a $ 2 surcharge, but they are delish over and over again. Very recommended.
The red sauce is standard and good, the salt is salty and pours well, the tartar sauce is a basic mayonnaise recipe, and this is all washed down with some good sweet sugar tea or a cold brewski.
The décor is old style tin, wood, fishing stuff hither and there, and you’ll get to use some paper towels to clean your hands if you don’t lick them clean first.
Don’t come here to save money, as you can’t and won’t. This place is pricey. I will suggest you get what you pay for, though, which is some home cooked fresh seafood.
Do know this, VERY important: they take up to one hour to cook your food once the order is placed. You just have to know and understand that it takes a while to catch the fish, then clean them, then bread them, and then … well, you get the idea. Hey folks, they work on Matagorda time here. These folks have been catching, cooking, and eating fish longer than you’ve been alive. Just do it.
A Matagorda classic. Don’t be in a hurry, take your time (you won’t have any choice), and enjoy looking at the idiots who first sit outside, then start doing the mosquito swat and dance, then run inside looking for a table. Always fun.
Recommended.

Had one of the best burgers that I’ve had in a long time friday night. Great job to the cook… That being said Saturdays dinner was a joke. We sat outside on the deck only to wait 2 hours to receive our food cold, and my wife’s meal was totally wrong. It took an hour just to get my salad out. There weren’t even all that many people there. It’s a real shame that people go to this place to spend their hard earned money for this kind of service and lack of quality food. I feel that management needs to take a hard look at how this place is being run, most tables looked to be in the same boat. A 2 hour wait just to get cold food along with the wrong order is NOT what customers want just a little FYI. I feel robbed just to have paid the $ 50 that I did.

Tried a new place tonight. Food was freshly prepared, but very bland. No real flavor at all. Waitress was disinterested in but polite none the less. Won’t be going back again.

I am pleased to have found this place. It is off season for tourists and we were looking for something with local flavor. This place impressed me with the local oysters, the crab stuffed jalapeños and the shrimp. Local fishermen were the only other people in here so I wasn’t expecting much. What a find! Would definitely recommend it to anybody from anywhere at anytime.

I’m incredibly disappointed with riverbend. My family has been coming to matagorda for MANY years. I get that riverbend has weird hours because of the location. But, on a Sunday during spring break at 4:30, you should not be closed! Especially when your hours say otherwise! Give me a break. It used to not be that way but I’m pretty sure it was sold and service has been crappy. Y’all had great food but If you are never willing to stay open then you won’t survive.

Overpriced, slow service and I don’t taste what all the hype is over the food. It wasn’t all that. However it is a friendly and relaxing atmosphere. Enjoyed looking at the hiogs across the water. Will go back, just not to eat.

I went to River Bend with my friends Ed, Mary Alice, and Chris. We needed lunch, beer, and a warm place to have a cigar while attending the Matagorda Madness RV rally. I had the chips/​salsa. The chips were rather ordinary, and the salsa wasn’t home made, but the pico de gallo and the generous portion made it good.
Chris had the home made onion rings and gravy. He said that they were really good, and the portion was so generous that he couldn’t finish them.
Mary Alice had the mushroom buger and onion rings. She had to take much of it home with her.
Ed had the shrimp and smiled as he ate them indicating that they were good. Ed knows his shrimp.
Thankfully River Bend allows cigar smoking in the bar area, so we hung around in the warm atmosphere and enjoyed a few pitchers of beer with our cigars.

Well there’s not a whole lot of options in Matagorda, but this place really isn’t too bad. In fact I find the fried mushrooms and the burgers pretty good. There are several options depending on what you’re fancying, but from what I’ve seen and heard only a couple aren’t very good. I got the Big Bend burger which is an 16 oz burger that let you pick your choice of cheese and two toppings. I got the bacon, swiss, mushroom, grilled onions and added avocado. It was HUGE, and pretty good. The only problem I had was it was a bit dry, and they didn’t put in mayo on it which I feel helps with a dry burger. However, the size was impressive and I ended up making it two meals. I threw some ranch on the burger and it counter acted the dryness and made it awesome. I devoured an order of friend mushrooms, and worded on the fried pickles with my buddy. I have to say the fried pickles are amazing. I ate those bad boys constantly throughout the rest of the evening as they give you so many you can’t help but have left overs. My buddy really loves their shrimp basket as well, and trying them I can say they’re not bad. Overall there are many options here, and you can almost definitely find something that will meet your craving. Plus, you’re in Matagorda so what other options do you have.

Was finally able to make a return trip to Matagorda to eat at River Bend. We each ordered the shrimp baskets with an appetizer of onion rings. The order of onion rings was huge. But apparently they have changed the recipe for the coating on the onions. The batter was very tough and really had no flavor at all. Very disappointed in the onion rings. We got our shrimp baskets and there were 12 large shrimp coated with the same batter as the onion rings. The shrimp had absolutely no flavor. Very disappointing. You’ll have a hard time convincing us they are serving shrimp from the Gulf. Tasted like farm raised. Our server gave us excellent service.
We probably will not return to River Bend.

Laid back atmosphere, Alan Jackson on the radio. Place is packed but The host greets us and offers a picnic table so «we don’t feel crowded. «
The kids order fried pickles, and though warned it takes a while, we had those pretty quick. They were crispy and tangy…(definitely fried so don’t be surprised at the oily bottom of the basket).
Salads are huge and onion rings are hand battered and massive!!!
Husband enjoyed the chicken fried steak.
If it is a peak time, you will wait but at least you are checked on and appreciated unlike some other local spots!

This is definitely a dive. Awesome place with a view of the Colorado river and the wild hogs on the other side of the river. The portions are pretty large. The crab stuffed jalapeños are sooooo good. You can actually taste the crab as they are filled with chunks of crab meat not just some mixture. Also, the crab rolls are awesome. The food is fresh, service is great, view is pretty cool and the ambiance is very relaxing. This is the place to go when you’re in town.

Overpriced. Over-​hyped.
Restaurant was clean inside, service was average. Burgers and sandwiches run about $ 11 – 12, and just aren’t worth it.
When I saw the menu prices, I told my kids, «We’re all getting water!» Even without spending money on beverages, our bill came to $ 50 and change. We ordered:
1 Patty melt
1 buffalo chicken sandwich — not buffalo sauce but some weird pesto-​ish sauce
1 order steak fingers
1 mushroom burger
Hamburger patties were large but didn’t have any flavor. My daughter asked for a side salad in place of fries, for which we were charged an additional $ 2.50.
Restaurants here are few and far between, but this place is strictly average with prices that are out of line for the area.

It was neat place! Has seafood, chicken, and burgers! Great river view and staff was excellent! They did a good job!

This is the restaurant that every beach town needs.
Quick overview — excellent service (kudos, Jackie!), pleasant view, quality food, and good value for money.
Date got fried catfish, I got grilled tilapia. Salads were real salads, not just a sad heap of iceberg lettuce. Also they come with a little complimentary cup of some outstanding pinto beans. Entrees were both very good, and more than either of us could eat. My tilapia even came with an unheralded extra side dish of fresh green beans, such a nice surprise.
We sat out back in the shaded patio with a view of the feral hogs. Really a lovely setting, although the angle of the sun probably means it won’t be shaded from 4 or so till sunset.
We were particularly pleased by the prices — very reasonable for the quality and amount of food you get. I’ve read some complaints about service — admittedly it wasn’t crowded when we were there; I’m sure it’s slower on a Saturday night, but they tell you that right up front. There’s a sign at the door saying that it’s probably going to take an hour. Did it for us? Not at all, about 25 minutes, but I’m sure they get tired of people complaining. It’s a vacation town — relax, have another beer, and know that the food you get will be fresh and good.

River bend is where my buddy and I ended up after getting lazy about cooking our catch. We were a bit wary at first as the Ice Tea wasn’t great and the draft beer menu was limited. Our concerns were unfounded.
Their food was surprisingly excellent. The crab stuffed jalapenos was battered perfectly and the crab was some of the best crab I’ve had in the last few years. I got the seafood basket and was pleased with the freshness and battering. Sauces and fried were good as well.
Food prices are reasonable but not cheap and their draft beer menu was disappointing, but overall it was really good.

I thought the price was high for a shrimp basket. I was wrong. It came with 12 HUGE shrimp, perfectly battered, as fresh as it gets. It also came with some wonderful crispy french fries and and a not-​your-​usual coleslaw. Well worth the price. The beer is cheap, domestic and premium bottle and draft. Pool tables, general fun atmosphere. Good place to go.

Second visit Saturday evening SO GOOD The stuffed jalapenos are to die for absolutely delicious our food orders came prompt and were hot and warm and delicious as well. Our waitress was a sweetheart we were outside at first but then it got chili and came inside with no issues we look forward to going there again I highly recommend this restaurant I do wish Sunday evenings they were open a little later but that’s okay no biggie

Everyone has been telling me to try crab stuffed jalapenos at River Bend, there is a lot of hype going on about how great they are… well Believe It ! They really are that good. Cooked perfectly with a light coating, not greasy and the filling wasn’t all breading, they actually have crab. Fantastic!
The fried shrimp are a hit as well. Large, fresh and coated with a light batter. You can get them on a platter with fries or on your salad. The salad is large enough for 2 hungry people. Everything that we tried was excellent.
Our waitress was friendly and attentive our Ice tea was always full. Plenty of parking. Looking forward to another great meal the next time I’m in Matagorda.

The wife and I decided to make a day trip to Matagorda to buy some fresh oysters, a gallon to be exact. While there we had heard about the River Bend Tavern and Restaraunt and their fresh seafood! So we looked it up. It’s not very far over the intracoastal waterway bridge in the town of Matagorda. We settled in and ordered the crabmeat stuffed jalapenos. While we were waiting we were taking in the scenery, as it sits right on the Colorado River just south of town. Really nice setting!!! We watched wild hogs on the opposite bank of the river! My wife ordered the Shrimp! Shrimp! Shrimp! Which was an entrée of grilled shrimp, fried shrimp, and coconut shrimp with your choice of two sides. She got the dinner salad and their onion rings. I ordered the choice of two with fried shrimp and oysters. I also ordered the dinner salad and I had fries with mine. But you can get catfish and several other items. The menu items all looked very good! The hamburgers at another table looked awesome too! They also brought out a sample of their pinto beans which were good but needed just a tad of salt. It was a very good experience and I would recommend it to all and I will go back!!! The owner takes the scraps left from the patrons during the day and takes them across the river and feeds the wild pigs!!! And from what I could tell, they eat very well! Great place!

This is one place that I really really miss in Texas. We come here almost every visit to Texas and always leave happy.
The thing to get is the po’ boy. The combo shrimp and oyster version with tartar and cocktail sauce is my flavor of choice. The fries are crispy and I think battered. Really yummy. When oysters are in season, we also get these — can’t go wrong with fresh Matagorda bay oysters!
The buffalo chicken salad is gigantic and comes with spicy ranch. It’s enough for 2 (or maybe even 3!!) people. Draft beer always is always a must and pitchers are a good price.
When we were there over Thanksgiving, there was a for sale sign out front. I really hope that this place stays around for a long time and the quality doesn’t change!