Hudson River Cafe

A must visit! It is an amazing spot right on the Hudson river… NY! I am so about that life… great food, great live music, great atmosphere, and great service! If you are looking for experience in cuisine at its finest, head on over, you will not be disappointed!

The place is closed
It has been closed for
A while because they lost their license
I don’t know why they would sell a Unilocal
Deal
If the establishment is closed

It’s always a hit or miss with Hudson River. I’ve had some really great brunches here with great service and great food (I love the huevos rancheros). But I’ve had some very poor experiences as well, with poor service. The biggest issue seems to be a lack of communication within the business. I’ve called to confirm they would be open and sometimes the cooks wouldn’t be in, even though the website says the restaurant should be open at the time I’ve called. We also came here one time with some out of town guests and they weren’t open with no indication as to why or when they would re-​open.
I really want to love this place but hard when you can’t even get in.

I didn’t like the food here at all. I came for an early dinner on a Sunday and had the chicken breast dish with mash potatoes. The portion was small and both the chicken & mashed potatoes lacked flavor.
It’s a very nice place especially if you come at night for drinking and dancing during the evening. I would recommend coming for just drinks unless they have recently changed the menu or the chef.

If I could put no stars I would. This place is horribly unprofessional. We made a reservation for my friends birthday and the place was closed! Someone, not sure who exactly told us that the place was closed for renovations. When he found out that we made reservations. He went inside to tell the «manager». The man came out and told us that there was a shooting last week and the liquor authority shut them down and the manager was sorry. He never came out to apologize for ruining my friends birthday. Thanks for nothing Hudson River Café!!!

I’ve been here before and find most of the staff pleasant and the food to be mediocre. The restaurant was clean, with a nice ambiance.
I came here with 13 other friend/​colleagues for celebratory meal with our guest of honor. We chose HRC for its value, menu and close proximity to our office. By the end of the evening we were not very happy.
Initially, we made a reservation about 3 weeks in advance for a room to ourselves from 5−7p. This was secured with an Amex credit card. Part of the plan was to arrive during happy hour. Upon arrival we were told «in order for us to take advantage of happy hour we needed to remain at the bar.» Not! This was a bit inconvenient as our room and guests all occupied a room upstairs!
No one went to the bar. HRC lost$$$… we were then told that the credit card machine was inoperable and only a ck or cash could be taken. What!!! «However for your convenience we have an ATM on the premises.» There was no prior notification of how we would have to settle the bill.
Long story short. The guest of honor had to wind up writing a check for not an unsubstantial amount of money.
Most of the food has the right idea but something gets lost between prep and execution. In general, there needs to be more flavor. I had a roasted chicken with roasted root vegetables. Carrots, parsnips etc. The vegetables were roasted but not peeled!
Needless to say they have lost 14 customers and any potential of them recommending HRC to anyone else without sharing their experience.

I’ve been coming to HRC for a few years now & have always enjoyed my experience, but my last two visits have now convinced me to NEVER come back. Two visits ago I came for their Sat brunch & ordered the Shrimp & Grits; everything was good except my grits weren’t completely cooked. I let that slide & came back last week for their Sun brunch & my entire table had the worst experience when it came to our breakfast. Two of us had to send our french toast back TWICE & both times they weren’t throughly cooked (literally mush on the inside), our eggs were overly salted & any chef/​cook knows salt is something you can add in yourself & lastly everyone’s bacon was burnt to a black ash crisp! HRC used to have a great jazz band for their Sat/​Sun brunches, they served unlimited mimosas/bellini’s in large wine glasses (which has been downsized to champagne flutes) and it used to be for 2hrs (and is now 1.5hrs) & the food used to be really good! Apparently they’re under new management & it’s disappointing to see them go downhill b/​c of it… I should of known something was wrong b/​c the entire top floor was empty during what used to be a packed Sun brunch. The only reason they’re receiving 2 stars is b/​c of the free valet parking, the venue still being well kept and clean & the waiter/​servers were very nice.

I came to HRC with high expectations and honestly am a bit disappointed. The staff was very pleasant and welcoming when I got here, but the place in general seemed like it had just opened for the day.
I asked to be seated outside but was told that since it was cloudy, they didn’t want to set up tables outside. it might rain. Our server was really nice and when I showed her my
app forecast, a table was indeed set up for us. Around this same time, our server told us that the credit card machine was not working and they were cash only. She apologized for the hostess not telling me this when I walked in. if I had been informed when I walked in, I would not have eaten here. My friend and I both got the unlimited mimosas, which were severely alcohol-​starved.
I ordered the Caribbean French Toast with eggs and chicken sausage and I thought it was really good. The ambience, though left much to be desired. The whole feel was like that of a place that was in the middle of a spring cleaning exercise.
The staff is really nice and so is the food, but my experience was way below expectations as far as a fun Sat brunch is concerned. Not sure if I will make the hike up here again, away from my midtown east go-​to spots.

Great environment, great music & definitely had a great time !! I will definitely go back anytime !!

#48 I came here for the Happy Hour and the ‘Art Culture’. They have no cover charge on Thursdays. That includes: Art exhibit by Guest Artist, Gallery Networking Party, Live Art Show, Body Painting and more.
I found the staff to be very agreeable and pleasant and it was such a nice atmosphere. I would recommend making reservations as there was about an hour wait for a table, they have a mini rooftop that don’t have a good view, but is very nice.
They have a good deal on the Happy hours included: 1 $ tequila shots, 5 $ margaritas, 2×1 drinks, 20 $ bucket of beers and 100 $ bottles all night. I did not eat here, but the food look amazing, so I will come back for a meal.

No Gracis Senores.
I found the Unilocal deal for this familar location and was excited bc I had visited the location before for drinks but never food.
We arrived and despite the crowd we were quickly seated. The overall service was fine.
Drinks– To me our mixed drinks were similar to juice. I had one of the house speciality but it was too weak so I switched to a margarita with no problem.
Dinner– It was difficult to order. We visited the restaurant on a Sunday night, the waiter informed us that many items were not available. We ordered the, chino Latino rice, which was great but hard. My boyfriend had a shredded beef dish that lacked flavor. I had a roast chicken dish which also needed more flavor.
Overall, it’s a great place to lounge and listen to loud music.
Not the ideal place for dinnner.

If you are going to go, just go for the boozy brunch. I don’t think this place is worth it for anything else. They have a prix fixe that comes with unlimited mimosa or bellini that’s kind of worth it. I think the food is overpriced for the quality and service. The only good thing s that our server was on point with always having the glasses up to the top. But our food took a very long time to arrive and it wasn’t all that. I could of easily cooked that in my house. My friend actually got sick from what she had there.
I’ve also been there for dinner and again, the service is not that grade and I wasn’t impressed by the dinner menu. Also, their location sucks because its so far from the train and cabs rarely go by. Overall, stay away if you can.

The chinco latino rice was so good. It had so many great and flavorful ingredients in it. However, the rice was a bit hard. The prime rib skewers could use some work. I received a nice portion but it was mostly fat and tough meat. I also had the sliders and they were horrible. It had a sour spoiled taste to it. I really wish I would have eaten the sliders while I was in the restaurant because I would have sent them back. The deviled eggs were prefect.
The setup of the dining area was really nice. It would be great for a birthday dinner, or a group of friends. If you’re like me and does not enjoy the smell of hookah request to be seated upstairs.

FAIL! FAIL! FAIL!
Please read my very constructive review. I’m a longtime Harlem resident and HRC supporter. Dont get me wrong — I love staff and service. I love the cocktails! And the real estate is awesome — you get disco, bar and quiet dining all in the same place — LUV.
Now what I did not LUV was going here on NYE (of all nights) and having a horrible meal. I’ve been here before for brunch and dinner and perhaps there were a few things off about some of the dishes we ordered but still overall pretty good flavors. Somehow on our last visit the dinner steak had no flavor and was dry and my fish was super bland. I also found it strange that this was a «pilot menu»??? Who does that? On NYE everyone tries to have the most memorable experience and this was a BUST! Even the server kept saying, and I quote, «please tell me if you need anything changed; we are trying a new menu after re-​opening a few days ago». I’m like WHAT… So, I’m a guinea pig? No FUN HRC!
I will try here again but I will do lots of questioning about the final menu before ordering. Get a better chef HRC…

This is about my fourth trip to Hudson River Café and I’m still a fan.
First I have to say that I absolutely love outdoor restaurants — especially on a nice summer evening which is exactly how it was when I was there.
My husband and I met another couple there for dinner and drinks. I was the only one that had been to Hudson River before, so it was kind of my suggestion to check it out. Everyone enjoyed themselves and loved the restaurant so I was happy that my recommendation was on point.
We started at the inside bar for Happy Hour drinks — I was a little disappointed that they were having a private event outside and we couldn’t sit at the bar. Actually I think we could have sat at the bar but once I asked the hostess that blew that idea so inside we sat. The drinks were usual happy hour drinks and we not one ordered anything exotic but we were happy with the prices.
We had reservations for dinner at 7:00 and they sat us upstairs in their outside area exactly at 7:00. We started with appetizers for the table… buffalo chicken, crab cake and calamari. The chicken was good, but there was only one crab cake. Even though it was a decent size, I would think two would have been sufficient. The calamari was fried nicely but it didn’t have any seasoning on it and the sauce was kind of bland as well.
I ordered the seafood fettucine for my entrée and I loved it. It was plentiful and my plate was done beautifully with a lobster tail sticking out of the fettucine. The shrimps were a nice size and the crab meat was also plentiful. I asked to hold the asparagus as I’m not a fan of it. The other couple each ordered a burger and they said that it was good — it looked like a standard burger with all the toppings (lettuce, tomato, pickle). My husband didn’t order an entrée as he was full from the appetizers.
While we were eating, the private event ended and a band started playing. They sounded pretty good and that put the exclamation point to a very enjoyable evening.
Everyone left happy and said they would be back again.

Thanks to Hudson River Café I had one of the worst dining experiences ever and will not be returning.
I am not even sure how to start this, other then to say that at the end of the night I had to leave my table and go find a waiter to give him our bill so that we could leave.
When we first arrived at 6pm, there were only a few other people there. It took 15 minutes for our waiter to return to say that he had no Guinness on draft. Then it took him other 10 MINUTES TO RETURN AGAIN to say he had no Stella on draft. Then after we attempted to order a bottle beer, to make everything as simple as possible, it still took him 5 minutes to return.
When I say «return,» I mean walk the 20 feet from our table to the bar. The bar was on the same floor and in the same room as us.
The wait staff never checked on us during our meal, not once asked if everything was alright, which it clearly was not. I had to GET UP AGAIN to go ask a waiter to get us another round of drinks.
Then they were out of the appetizer we wanted.
Then they were out of the chocolate lava cake we wanted, and only had 2 desserts available.
I will not be returning to this place.
And I will most likely have a case of the shakes every time I have to walk past it.

Don’t go here. Unless you want to wait for a half hour to be served, be forced to inquire about who your server is and be regarded with confusion for expecting service. A party sat down after mine and was immediately acknowledged and served while we, time and time again, had to flag our server down. He forgot about serving our drinks but refilled the still practically full drinks of the party who came in after us. He was very attentive and flirtatious with them, while completely ignoring us.
Also, it’s LOUD. Like cafeteria loud. Not exactly what we were looking for at a restaurant on the water during brunch hours.
The sangria is bad and the service is severely lack-​luster. My Bellini tasted like a Mimosa with a shot of peach in it. I had the Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict and it was good, but not worth the trip all the way up to Harlem or the terrible service. I’ll continue on patronizing my regular brunch spot.

So this place is run by my friends family, and I loved my time there. I may be writing that the time i spent was also enhanced by the people I was with, but ultimately, with the right hook ups, it’s a great place for outdoor space in NYC during the spring and summer. The crowd is very upper manhattan, and a bit more raw than where I usually frequent, but that’s the fun of NYC — always look for a reason to mix!
And this is a great place I get your Latin music or reggaeton fix. Make a trip up the island and have some fun!

Came here for brunch and sadly it wasn’t my first choice. I didn’t want to be «that friend» who always have to decide where to eat based off Unilocal reviews. And I’m mad I didn’t speak up.
Pros:
Lovely restaurant
Great Sangria’s
Cons:
Slow service
Language barriers
Mediocre food

I was skeptical about this place but I am glad hubby asked me to get a voucher for it. We came here for dinner and it was pretty packed but we were able to be seated right away.
I had the Lobster Mac & Cheese and it was excellent and served, piping hot, in a mini cast iron pot. Hubby had the Sliders Appetizer and they were yummy, too.
My main course choice was the Black Paella which was a heaping dish of mussels, lobster, shrimp and oysters in a bed of squid ink-​blackened rice. Divine. Hubby opted for his fave, Churrasco, served with Yucca Frites and he said it was one of the best churrasco steaks he has even had the pleasure of eating.
The food was excellent and I am upset that I didn’t try it out earlier. I will definitely try them out again.