Riverbend Restaurant & Bar

Riverbend is a must visit every time I am back in St. Louis. The food is fantastic and the atmosphere is friendly. I don’t know how this restaurant doesn’t have 5 stars!

Consistently good food. Their daily specials are always a good route to go.

I genuinely do not understand how anyone could not love Riverbend.
I’ve eaten seafood all over the country and specifically eaten gulf/​New Orleans seafood every year for 20 years or so. I am here to tell you that Riverbend is absolutely as good as any gulf/​New Orleans style seafood you’ll get anywhere. The gumbo is incredible. I’ve had it probably a dozen times and it always tastes like it’s been simmering for days, in the best way possible. The shrimp, oysters, etc. are fresh, tender and sweet.
Please, please, PLEASE do yourself a favor and go to Riverbend. Sit at the bar. Order a sazerac. Strike up a conversation with a bartender. Order a shrimp po boy and a bowl of gumbo. Prepare yourself for a party in your mouth and eat every last bite. You will not regret it.

my hubs and I were always a fan of riverbend. today they had their crawfish boil and we just had to make sure we were there. the service was quick, the crawfish were delish, and I was in good company. I especially love how the owner makes himself available to the restaurant and the patrons. he made a few rounds making sure we were doing ok and thanked us for coming. he also saw us out the door. I can’t help but really appreciate these small gestures. he not only cares about his business but also the people… and that’s what keeps me coming back. & the great food, of course.

First time ever visiting here was last night.
Parking was mediocre. Only one way in and out, which isn’t too bad considering it’s in the City.
Ambiance was fantastic. New Orleans and Louisiana artifacts on the walls and throughout the Restaurant. Very cool atmosphere.
The Cardinals game, and Blues game was playing on the screens so if you’re an STL Sports fan, you can definitely add this place to watch the games.
Food was outstanding. We got the stuffed mushroom appetizer which was delicious all around. The bread was warm like it just came out of the oven. I got the Mardi Gras pasta which had a variety of meat and seafood in it– great spices and flavors. My friend got the Fried Shrimp Po Boy sandwich which he would recommend to anyone.
Customer Service was fast. We got our drinks pretty quickly. They didn’t come around as much as other restaurants-​not that we needed it, but if you’re big into Customer Service, this place could use more time spent visiting each table.
Overall, it was a great visit and I definitely plan on coming back soon!

2-​stars… the food is okay, but man, I cannot stress how awful the interior of this restaurant is… The cheap old rickety tables/​chairs might be cute down in a dive bar area like Soulard, but it is NOT OK in the Clayton area. Degenerates who are out drinking after midnight might think this place is acceptable, but if you’ve got any semblance of taste, you’ll instantly recognize how unacceptably tacky the décor is… Imagine if a group of children pretended to open a restaurant in their garage using random pieces of grandma’s old furniture — that’s how this place looks. If any restaurant in St Louis is a candidate for that «Bar Rescue» show, it’s Riverbend. For that reason, it’s a once-​per-​year kind of place, IMO.

Quick and easy review. It was ok. Nothing we ordered was more than — ok. The jambalaya was ok but definitely plentiful. It was piled high and realistically could have been shared by three people. My étouffée, on the other hand, was barely enough for me. It was good, not great. The cornbread had too much going on. Cheese and bacon? It was dry and crumbled when I tried to pick a piece off. It did have a good flavor, but just give me a good piece of southern cornbread with a little butter and I’m happy. End of the day, there was nothing here that made me want to return.

This is one of the great places for cajun food in STL! The owners are awesome and check on each table to make sure everything is going well. The crawfish mac and cheese was on special one weekend. It was a HUGE portion! Had leftovers for another day:) I have never had a bad meal here.

Food was good but the waitress was kind a bit rude, cold shouldered maybe because it’s Clayton attitude, took a long time to get refills, check etc… And it was a slow day
Not going back
I would recommend this place but a few things need to change to be more friendly.

Quick seating. Great menu selection. Wonderful Cajun cooking. Great waiters. Quick service. Very attentive. Have not been disappointed in any of my previous visits. Consistent performance.

What a disappointment. We used to love this restaurant when they started out in Soulard and had a personal touch.
When we arrived last night before 7, the restaurant was half full. After being quickly seated a staff member brought water and after that we were ignored to the point of being invisible. Waiters asked others how their food was and took an order from anther table that arrived much later than us. After 15 to 20 minutes we left without anyone attempting to take our order.
On the way out the hostess thanked is for coming, totally clueless to the situation. When I explained why we were leaving she was speechless and just walked away.
Clearly the staff was asleep at the wheel.

I stopped in for lunch today since I was in the area. I ordered the house special seafood gumbo (cup) and the fried shrimp platter. The gumbo was tasty but was luke warm and there was a spoon full of rice on top that was stone cold and underdone. When I stirred the two together it made a not so appetizing cool dish, wish it was hot. The shrimp platter was very good and the slaw was amazing. There were at least 7 very large crispy shrimp and the dipping sauce was very flavorful. I usually never order slaw or potato salad when out because they never compare to mine and are always a let down but this slaw was superb. The hush puppies were ok, I am not a big fan of them anywhere so don’t go by me on that issue. Overall on taste I would say a 4 but with the cold gumbo a 3.

Perfect lunch spot just down the street from my office. Had the catfish po-​boy. Boss had the fried oyster po-​boy. Decent service. Food was surprisingly fresh. Nothing super fantastic about this spot. Will definitely check it out again.

The Boo and I have now eaten here twice. Both times we really enjoyed it. On our first adventure, we both had Po-​Boys. I got the BBQ shrimp «dressed» with creole mayo, lettuce, tomato, and pickle. Yum! Boo had his with soft-​shell crab. These are HUGE sandwiches. You don’t need a side unless you are perhaps splitting your sandwich with another person. On this visit we’d also had some crabmeat stuff mushrooms (amazing!). I ended up taking part of my sandwich home.
On our second visit, I got the Mardi Gras Pasta. It was quite good but oh man was it a lot of food! I’d never had crawfish before but I think it was my favorite part. The sauce was delicious. The Boo had the Creole Meatloaf. His favorite part was the vegetables that came with it. We started with an order of the Oyster Bread and it did not disappoint. Their delicious french bread with «oyster spread» on it. The flavor was very good.
On both occasions I enjoyed a Pimm’s Cup, as I am always excited to see one on the menu. The perfect drink for nearly any meal!

A restaurant called Riverbend located across the street from the Office Depot behind the Esquire, facing the alley, who’d a thunkit?
Not even the people who own this place. It was originally located in Soulard somewhere. There’s framed reviews from when it first opened hanging in the doorway.
It must have been well-​received, or else I’m thinking they wouldn’t have displayed those reviews. But who knows. Maybe they’re terrible reviews, and they’re counting on no one reading reviews hanging in the doorway of a restaurant.
The inside is both nicer than I needed it to be, as a savage, and smaller than you’d think, since it shares the building it’s in with a place that sells cheesecakes.
There’s two doors out front, one that takes you to the place that sells cheesecakes and one that takes you to Riverbend. When we got there, my mom took a look inside the place that sells cheesecakes, saw that it was closed and started to turn around and go home. It was almost the cajun-​food equivalent of when they got to Wally World in National Lampoon’s Vacation.
Because it was Sunday, and the football game was on, there was a special on appetizers, but it didn’t seem all that special to me. Spinach artichoke dip was a dollar off. Do they not sell chicken wings otherwise?
It was as cold as a museum inside, and they probably won’t adjust the thermostat until October, for budgetary reasons, so the spinach artichoke dip wasn’t lava-​hot like when you make it in the microwave. When it’s lukewarm like that, you realize just how unhealthy it is, and it makes you feel guilty.
The hot wings were ridonkulously large, like the wings at Sweetie Pie’s or the all-​you-​can-​eat KFC I used to eat at in college, but they could have used more (or hotter?) sauce. I would have preferred the exact opposite. If the wings weren’t as big, I would have just eaten more of them. I can’t fix the sauce.
The menu is not particularly extensive, but it’s hard to decide what to get, because everything is either deep fried or has seafood in it, oftentimes both. I felt anxious just giving it a cursory perusal, so I just said fuck it and went with a po’ boy.
I like po’ boys anyway (pause), and there’s basically no way a po’ boy can be bad, because all it is is deep fried seafood on a split piece of French bread. Even the po’ boy they used to sell at Popeye’s was delicious. I had the po’ boy at Peacemaker the other day, so this would be a chance to compare.
The po’ boy at Peacemaker was good even by po’ boy standards. This one at Riverbend was right up there, and it was also bigger. The shrimp were a pretty decent size, and fresh-​tasting, and they pile them on. The whole sandwich may have been bigger than the footlongs at Subway (ayo), which aren’t really a foot long.
The bread was really good, but a bit crustier than I require. If I’m ever back, I might try to get it not toasted, and maybe a little extra cajun mayo. Though you gotta be careful ordering extra mayo. The cook might dip the whole thing in mayo out of spite.
My mom and little brother, both of whom eat like birds and/​or the protagonist in Goodbye, Columbus, ordered these $ 23 seafood platters and ate maybe half of them, at best. Other plates I saw being brought out seemed similarly ginormous. For the price, it’s not any more than you should be getting anyway, but it could be worse, right?

I like this restaurant for a few things:
1) The place is laid back and unpretentious.
2) The wait staff have been so nice the couple of times I have been here.
3) They have TVs tuned to different sports channels if you are looking to check scores, etc.
The food have been pretty good during my visits. I wouldn’t say they were super great but nothing to complain about either. What I love the most is the atmosphere. The place just seems so relaxing, to the point where you don’t have to worry about people judging you based on what you’re wearing, etc. Sometimes, I feel that I choose a restaurant based on how I am dressed that day but with Riverbend, I can come in right after work wearing dress clothes or on my days off wearing shorts and a t-​shirt.
I have tried a couple of their offerings here. I’ve tried their crawfish and corn bisque which was quite tasty with a slightly spicy flavor. Also, even though I only had a cup of the soup, I felt like they made the bisque with a lot of crawfish because I certainly had enough in every bite! I have also had their crawfish étouffée which I will have to say, did not fair well in comparison to one other place I have had crawfish étouffée from but is certainly better than the peppery one I have had from Highway 61 Roadhouse.
During my last visit, I tried their fried seafood plate with 2 soft-​shell crabs, dirty rice and hush puppies and I didn’t think it was anything special. The soft-​shell crabs were not crispy, the hush puppies were fried up too long and ended up being too crunchy and hard, but the saving grace was the delicious dirty rice! As far as the flavors go though, the soft-​shell crabs were well-​seasoned.
Overall, I like this place and will give it 3 stars for now. I will definitely come back as it is a nice establishment.

Stopped by for Friday lunch @ noon. The parking lot was surprisingly small. I saw numerous spots available which is not something said very often at lunch time. The server was nice and the atmosphere very casual with music playing throughout the restaurant. (Liked the feel of Soulard location much better.)
The stuffed shrimp appetizer was good. For my entrée, I ordered the pick 2 lunch with fried catfish Po Boy & Crawfish Corn Chowder. The soup was a little bland, but good when I added salt and some of their hot sauce. The fish was cooked perfect, and the flavorful remoulade on top was a plus. My fiancé had the gumbo, she said it was good.

The place is nice, staff is friendly, and the owner seemed like a genuinely nice guy. I wanted to like the food so badly but found it to lack salt. I had the crab stuffed mushrooms. Presentation was beautiful and they tasted great once I seasoned them. We also had the Cuban and the fried shrimp po boy. Again, presentation was beautiful. The Cuban needed more ham and the pork was not on point. The Shrimp did not taste fresh at all and the breading was bland. Lack of seasoning was consistent throughout the meal. The red beans and rice were not my cup of tea… not enough rice and it reminded me of chili beans in spaghetti sauce. Even though the meal was not great, I would still try them one more time because of the staff and atmosphere.

I visited for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I wasn’t that impressed. The service wasn’t that great. I ordered the soft shell crab po’ boy and it was seriously lacking in seasoning. The dirty rice I had on the side was just okay. Someone at my table ordered the onion rings for an appetizer and they were the best thing I had all night.

First time here at the new location. The food was awesome! As expected. Service was excellent! Would highly recommend as one of the BEST Cajun/​Creole places in our area.

Went there last weekend for the crawfish boil. I am a big fan of crawfish and enjoy all kinds of crawfish dishes.
We ordered oyster spread bread as our appetizer. It was great. Then, we both had 2lb crawfish boil. The crawfish is good and very fresh. But the sausage is a little too salty.
Service is good, but slow. Maybe because that’s a busy weekend noon. I may come back later to try some other dishes.

Perfect everything was perfect.
Casual atmosphere with tasteful food. The seafood gumbo the mahi mahi the étouffée. It was all so flavorful and not too heavy.

I’m from East Texas. I lived so far east that I practically lived in Louisiana. It was a land of Tex-​Mex, BBQ, Cajun food, last names ending in «eaux,» and people with heavy accents.
I’m not an expert on Cajun food, but I have eaten a lot of it in my lifetime. I lived about an hour from the beach, and we had some great restaurants. In addition, my grandfather was a shrimper. Shrimp gumbo became our Christmas Eve tradition, and it was fantastic.
When I come across a review with a couple of paragraphs like the ones you just read, I roll my eyes. «Here we go again. I bet this is yet another person whining that a restaurant’s food isn’t as great as what she grew up eating.»
But I really did not care for this place.
–The Facts–
My mom and I had lunch at Riverbend in December 2014. The restaurant shares a building with Hank’s Cheesecakes. The parking lot entrance is located just north of the building. They are closed on Mondays.
–The Food–
The menu offers soup, salads, po’ boy sandwiches, jambalaya, fried seafood, and red beans and rice. Nontraditional selections include crawfish enchiladas and creole meatloaf.
–The Meal–
I ordered a bowl of chicken and sausage gumbo. My mom ordered a ½ pork po’ boy and a cup of the same gumbo.
Neither of us liked the gumbo. It was edible, but I definitely would not order it again. It was very thick, and honestly, it tasted like gumbo-​flavored brown gravy.
The pork po’ boy was not attractive. It was kind of sad-​looking. I had part of it, and it seriously lacked flavor.
Service was fine, but the meal left me wishing we had gone somewhere else for lunch.
–The Rating–
With a 4.5-star rating at their previous location, I went to the new location expecting a meal that would rival anything I’d had back home. I wanted spice. I wanted zest. I wanted something with flavor. I wanted food that would make me shout, «Laissez les bons temps rouler!» I know I only tried two items, but based on those two items, I have no plans to return.
I don’t like to leave negative reviews, but this was between 1 and 2 stars for me. I’ll just leave it at that.

Caitlan is a very accommodating server. We were seated in the front (east) room at first, next to a party of 19 young men. It was LOUD. So she got us another table when it was available. But not her section. I’ll be sure to look her up on future!
Ok first time here and food allergy questions all are answered, loved the onion rings and the meatloaf and roast beef sandwich. Great menu. Really fun!
We’ll be back soon!
Thanks, Michael and Sam!!!

My wife and I went here last Friday night as a pre-Valentine’s Day celebration. We arrived shortly after 6 and were seated right away. This was good timing on our part because about 5 minutes after we sat down there was a line of people who ended up waiting for 15 – 20 minutes for a table. There isn’t really any room in the restaurant for people to stand and wait so it did get a bit crowded.
Before we get to the review. One of the things I didn’t care for is the restaurant allowed people to smoke right outside the front door. Thus, as people came into the restaurant and it became more and more crowded in the front of the establishment the doors tended to remain open (both of them.) This allowed the smoke from outside to easily drift into the restaurant. It felt like it was 1983 all over again. Normally it wouldn’t be nearly as big of a deal but my wife is pregnant and there was no need for us to have to encounter second hand smoke from outside the restaurant. No one from the establishment bothered to say anything which seemed strange. When we were leaving I suggested to the people smoking to move away from the door and they of course laughed. Oh well!
For an appetizers (apps!) we ordered the crab meat au gratin. The dish itself was good. However, when they bring it out they provide plain slices of french bread to eat it on. Ours came with only six pieces of bread. Certainly not enough to eat all of the dish. The bread was also plain. No butter. No seasoning. Just plain. Seemed odd. When we asked for another round of bread they brought out more of the same except it was toasted on one side, also strange.
For our entrée’s (tre-tre’s) I had the craw fish e’touffee. It was average. Having been to New Orleans on plenty of occasions I was excited to try this dish but disappointed in how it tasted. It wasn’t terrible but wasn’t nearly as good as some of the truly authentic dishes I have had elsewhere.
My wife had the fried oyster platter. She enjoyed it but though the batter on the oysters could have been seasoned better. The hush puppies that were included were delicious as my wife did let me have a bit or two!
For desert we ordered the bread pudding which was very good. It wasn’t too heavy and very tasty. We might decide to come back to try a different dish but overall I was disappointed as we haven’t had any luck finding a decent creole place in St. Louis.

Accompanied by the D’s, this was our second visit to Riverbend, but the first time at the new location. The place was packed. Riverbend does not take reservations, so we had an hour wait on a Saturday night. Be aware that parking is also limited. We ended up in the office supply store lot across Big Bend, but it looked like a lot of people did the same. They have a few local craft beers to occupy you during your wait plus some from Abita in Louisiana, I guess to support the Cajun theme.
This time we skipped appetizers. Mr D and I had each had a cup of Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, since they only offer Seafood Gumbo on Fridays. The version we had was fine. I would have liked more dark roux flavor, less thyme and less thickening. It was decidedly pasty. I’m still looking for 4 – 5 star gumbo in St Louis. This is 3+.
Around the Table; Ms T had Fried Shrimp Plate, Mr D had Shrimp Etouffe, Ms D had Creole Meatloaf Po-​Boy and I had the Creole Meatloaf Platter. Ms D and I liked our meatloaf. It was moist and a good texture, not mush and not a brick. Again, I found it to be over-​seasoned with thyme. Thyme is a wonderful herb, I certainly use it, but Riverbend is heavy handed with it. Ms T had a good plate of fried shrimp for the Midwest. The coating was light, not a heavy batter. The shrimp were large and the one I sampled was flavorful. Pretty good this far from the Gulf.
Ms T and I both had coleslaw as a side. I liked it a lot. I also got to eat some of Ms T’s since it showed up with green onions in it (as you should expect from a Cajun place). She had specifically asked and was told it had no onions. Oh well, I really liked it with Crystal splashed all over it. I did not eat any of my sautéed vegetables since they included equal parts chopped garlic and I had just recovered from a 48 hour bout of Stir Crazy garlic mouth and was not about to put Ms T through that again. It is cold sleeping in the garage. The dirty rice was OK, I just wish they would make it from something other than what I call «plastic pellet» rice. I guess it is Uncle Ben’s or something similar.
This does not sound like a rave review, but the Meatloaf and Shrimp were good. Chicken Gumbo was decent. I liked the slaw, regardless of green onions. It was 3+ food, and I am rounding up to 4 because they include Crystal on the table (not just Tabasco) and then I am rounding back down to 3 for the over use of thyme.

Riverbend has brought it’s renown New Orleans cuisine to the old Harvest restaurant space, and it’s all quite delicious.
My first visit was a Thursday night dinner. The place was pretty crowded but we got seated right away (party of two). Kicked off with the Crab-​Stuffed Mushrooms app ($ 8)…these were AWESOME. Mushrooms were hearty and had a great amount of crab on em… and man that crab was seasonsed just right. I highly recommend these.
I went for the Shrimp Etouffe ($ 15)…for the price it seemed pretty simple, just some shrimp, rice, and sauce. But then I took my first bite and tasted those deep cajun flavors from the dark roux and spices… oh my, it was outstanding and the heat was the perfect amount. I savored every bite I took, it was just that good…
One ‘meh’ dish I tried was the crawfish enchiladas, which were recommended by a friend. These were just messy and heavy and just didn’t taste good. I should have known… why would anyone combine cheese and crawfish? Just avoid this.
I came back for lunch on Friday to try their seafood gumbo (only served on Fridays). It was definitely tasty but my cup could have used a bit more seafood. I strayed form the cajun dishes and went for a Cuban sandwich ($ 9). This thing was HUGE and absolutely delicious. The bread was amazing, thin and crisp, and the pork was tender. If the mustard and pickles were just a bit more pronounced, this could be the best Cuban sandwich in St Louis. It was savory and delicious, but just needed a little more of a bite.
This place is very popular. If you want a weekend dinner, make reservations, and make them at least a day or two in advance. The crowd is mixed, but definitely seems to have a good contingent of senior citizens. Is Cajun food the new comfort food?
The parking lot out back can get busy, try to park behind the restaurant if possible, not on the side. It can be difficult to back out of the side spots… I saw a car do an 11-​point turn to get out of one.
The one thing missing here is the atmosphere. It’s kind of bland inside, with a handful of big TVs playing sports. Not too much character. But the food and service are both great, so it’s cool.

They’ve been open about a month when I went. I had the bisque upon high recommendation from friends, and it was pretty darn good. For lunch, I also ordered the shrimp po boy for about $ 11.99, and I can see why they offer the Pick Deux option where you get a cup of bisque (or salad or soup) with a half po’ boy. The po boy sandwich was huge, and the shrimp po boy uses very large pieces of shrimp! I could only eat half my sandwich with the cup of soup.
Cajun, New Orleans-​style menu. I look forward to coming back and trying more.