Riverhouse Reef & Grill

Looking forward to a night of music good food and fun with friends. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Great location without question, sitting outside watching the river flow by is a wonderful experience, drinks menu is good, but the food is far from stellar, we ordered 3 dishes & 2 were «off», service was reasonable & plenty of parking albeit with a longish walk along the pier before you arrive

I give them two stars just for the customer service alone. Full rack of ribs and my 200lb beast of a husband couldn’t make himself love them. You know you have a problem. I ordered the shrimp and scallops pasta., the scallops were so small, I questioned the authenticity. This restaurant sits right on the water. The ambience was ok but I just was hoping for better. They comped the meal, that was noble but I left hungrier than when I arrived.

Since moving to Palmetto in June of ’15, our family of 3 has dined there 5 times, and the appetizers, drinks and food was good (not incredible but the prices aren’t outrageous either) the atmosphere a bit too loud by the bar, but we enjoyed dining there fairly early to beat the crowds, and try to sit as far from the bar as possible.
We took a relative from out of state there on January 19^th and got a great seat by the water. The vegetable of the day was steamed green beans, carrots and some other mixed vegies. I quietly informed my waitress that my vegies were raw. She apologized and came back with a second bowl, exactly the same. When she came back, I informed her that this serving too, was still raw. The rest of the table saw what was happening and said their’s were raw too. The waitress said, «Do you want me to throw them back into the microwave again?»
There goes the whole vision of «steamed vegetables». I can steam them in my microwave too, but we all know it’s not necessarily even cooking. I told her I’d pass.
No apology, no offer of an alternative, no offer to take anything off the check.
Their website asks for feedback, I provided it. I responded to an email newsletter, and messaged them of Facebook. No response whatsoever. All I would like is a, «wow, that’s not what we intend, we’ll look into retraining our service staff». I’m not looking for a handout, and I give management compliments when we receive great service.
I doubt that I’d give my hard earned money to this establishment ever again, if they don’t value the feedback they ask for.

Best meal we had while in Sarasota area– we loved the seafood pasta, the Mediterranean chicken, butterfish and the great service!

Great view but wow, my partner got sick and threw up right when we got home. The Mahi was uncooked and he took a bite to realize that… though they fixed it along with the bill, it was late. The fish bite was ok but had some weired taste in some of them. Lobster Fritters were ok. My sushi was disappointing, slightly hard rice, with odd ingredients such as cheese and green onion in them?
Like other people by the riverside, pack your food and chairs, sit outside next time!

First time visit for us.
Had stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer — YUM!
Lobster pot pie was awesome. Atmosphere is very nice and service was great!
Enjoy!

We went here twice on our trip to Florida. Great, relaxing view and a good menu with variety. We plan to go back again!

Just Ok. Tried it twice, won’t go back.
Menus are sticky and mine was smeared with what looked like mashed potato (still wet) that I had to wipe off to read. Tacky and messy.
For openers, they serve a ‘piña colada’ sweet white bread with cinnamon butter — too sweet for us.
Seriously overcooked and under seasoned vegetables look like they’ve been sitting in a steam table for a week. Warning: Sweet potato fries come coated in granulated white sugar. The proteins are ok. Grilled shrimp were dry, but very good sautéed. The cod was sweet (from sugar), small and over cooked. Lobster pot pie got a good review.
This place has the feel of a commercial food school emporium, like a cafeteria, it’s not a ‘nice’ restaurant. It’s dingy, if not gross (lots of dead bugs in the light fixtures). Someone with some real culinary expertise could make this place shine. Meanwhile, it’s pretty lackluster.

Go here for atmosphere not food or service.
I have been here several times to entertain work colleagues.
The atmosphere is wonderful.
I would say the food is what you would get at an Applebee’s. The sides were low quality. Vegetable medley is definitely microwaved and the mashed potatoes were old and dry.
It took 15 minutes to get an appetizer and the food seemed to take long as well.
I had the mahi mahi, blackened, at $ 20.00 it was ok.
Service was friendly but the kitchen was very slow.

The service here is great — they have a trolley running across the pier to transport guests from the parking lot to the restaurant in the rain! Aside from a friendly and polite staff, Riverhouse Reef and Grill body’s a fantastic selection of seafood.
For dinner, I ordered the lobster cakes served with a Cajun sauce. I love anything seasoned with Cajun flavors, so I was bound to fall in love with this dish. I got the lobster cakes grilled, and they were so soft and jam packed with flavor. The Cajun sauce paired nicely with the dish, and most of the other seafood dishes for that matter. My brother ordered the mahi mahi grilled, and I would also recommend that. The fish was cooked very nicely and I would have probably ordered that had we come here a second time.

Back in florida for a visit and had to make a trip to Riverhouse and had another great meal. Andrea had the lobster pot pie and I had the redfish Angie had the cuddle fish and warren had he shrimp. Great food with great friends.

Went for lunch with friends today. Beautiful view; great salads, tuna & mahi mahi, and beverages. Definitely a place to revisit.

We decided to stop here for lunch after having a beach day with the family. We were excited because the place looks very nice and we were looking to get some good seafood. Unfortunately all our food was extremely bland. All of the fish lacked seasoning and the coleslaw didn’t taste like anything. I don’t understand how you can be a chef at a nice restaurant and not know how to season food. If they can get that part down, then it would of been great.
Our server was really nice.

Awesome view from the Palmetto side of the Manatee River, right next to the Marina.
The wait staff is friendly, professional and knowledgeable of the menu. The food is hot, fresh and excellently prepared. A full bar with delightful libation creations. A perfect choice to relax and celebrate any occasion!
The courtesy tram ride out to the restaurant is an added bonus to those who need assistance walking or just for fun, with an sweet gentleman driver!

Attended a wedding here. Great views of the river and the marina and a beautiful bride to boot! **
The entrée was delish (Mahi Mahi). The DJ did a good job. The staff were super friendly (we had a Maine-​iac waiter, which is a waiter born and bred and the state of Maine). The sunset was a «beautiful orange ball» in the words of my uncle. They even have a golf cart to bring people down the long dock (which is appreciated when donning formal wear on a 90 degree day).
My only suggestion would be an awning over the deck for the ceremony. It was quite toasty!
**Must supply own bride.

We have arrived by boat and they have restaurant dock to hook up the boat. The restaurant foundation is support by piles and is over the water. The outside deck is a beauty for this weather when you dine out. You can see boat come and go on the Manatee River.
The restaurant have the lunch menu and their food is typical more expensive than the nearby restaurant that serve the same food. I have ordered the lobster corn chowder and the blacken Mahi Mahi sandwich. The lobster corn chowder have lobster chunk meat in creamy sauce. This soup is $ 7.50 and they are good deal. Most restaurants have a value dish to attract customer and this is one of the dish.
I was original going to order the grouper sandwich and the menu show market price. The cost is $ 19 for lunch. I change my mind to order the Mahi Sandwich since they more reasonable price. The Mahi is blackening. The blacken spice is nice but very plain. They also are missing salt in the ingredient.
The overall service is good, the restroom is clean, and the setting is nice. I like the lobster corn chowder.

Jessica was fantastic. Drinks were great! Food was amazing! So happy to find a new place to eat. Better than Pier 22!

My wife and I were vacationing in Palmetto this year and decided to try this spot because of the wonderful Unilocal reviews.
It was really cool that a gentleman with a golf cart gives rides from the parking lot to the restaurant. That would’ve been a long tedious walk for somebody like me.
The food was very good. I opted for the grouper sandwich which was wonderful. The cole slaw was pretty darn decent as well. The sandwich was huge and more than enough for anybody to eat for lunch. The view was wonderful on a beautiful day.
The service was less than stellar. It was merely ok. The attitude was pretty apathetic, but it was not awful.
I would recommend giving this place a whirl !!!

It’s going to take you a while to get a seat at this Palmetto hotspot for seafood. Not because the wait is necessarily that long, but because the Riverhouse Reef & Grill is stationed at the end of a very picturesque pier at the Regatta Pointe Marina. You’ll spend a half an hour marveling at the sights of the marina, her ships and the sea in all it’s splendid glory, and all the while watching the wiser, older people ride the electric bus-​like go-​cart to the Riverhouse and stealing your table. But who cares? Lifes not worth living unless slow down from time-​to-​time and drool over other people’s boats and yachts and wish that was your life.
Anyways, the location of this restaurant alone is worth the walk. Beautiful views of the Manatee River, both on your walk in and at your table. The food is certainly above average as well. I had the grouper at my most recent visit, but I also had the red fish. You have the option of choosing between three different specialty sauces and having the fish prepared in the manner in which you prefer (blackened, battered, grilled, etc.) Every time I go I request all three sauces, those being the «tropical salsa», «lemon dill aoili» and the «cajun remoulade». It’s tough to say which to recommend. All three are good and variety is the spice of life.