Last Saturday night, we decided to try the Riverside Café for an early dinner before heading across the park to catch ‘Memphis’ at the Riverside Theatre.
For casual dining, we have long viewed this restaurant – located on the Indian River lagoon under the Merrill Barber bridge – as probably the best beachside option (though a rather noisy option) to Bobby’s.
When we arrived last week, we found the main area with the bar already crowded, with only one table left in the front room of the restaurant. Good thing we had made a reservation.
For starters, we decided to share two of the appetizers – the crab cake ($10.99) and the bang-bang shrimp ($11.99).
Notwithstanding the menu description, there was no evidence of big bites of “jumbo lump crab meat” in the mushy crab cake.
On the other hand, the half dozen battered shrimp were a thing of beauty, perfectly cooked, served with a tangy sweet chili sauce. The best bang-bang shrimp we have had recently. They disappeared quickly.
We then moved on to the soup and salads, which are included with all meals. I opted for the house salad with a vinaigrette dressing and my husband chose the soup of the day, which was a New England clam chowder.
My salad was perfectly fine, but my husband – who fancies himself a clam chowder expert based on his New England upbringing – took one taste and made a face.
What’s the problem, I asked? An overpowering taste of bacon, he replied. Since my husband views bacon as nature’s most perfect food, I was a bit surprised to hear this. But he embarked upon a soliloquy on how chowder is ruined by the overbearing flavor of excessive bacon.
Put bacon anywhere but in my New England clam chowder, he concluded.
Which brought us to the entrées. I ordered the catch of the day, in this case grilled grouper ($26.99), and my husband chose the ahi yellow fin tuna ($23.99).
The grouper, topped with a citrus cream, was a bit overdone. The ahi tuna was perfectly seared rare, and served with a light Caribbean Jerk spice, tropical fruit salsa, black beans and rice. Both dishes were accompanied by julienned vegetables.
On previous visits here, we have enjoyed the Southern fried lobster (which we did not spot this time on the menu), and the Danish baby back ribs ($20.99) – a large slab of slow roasted baby backs basted with the café’s own cattleman’s BBQ sauce.
While we did not have room for dessert on this visit, the Riverside Café has a very nice Key Lime pie with a graham cracker crust.
If you order from the entrée menu, dinner for two here with beer or wine is likely to run around $70 before tax and tip. Appetizers will add a bit more to your tab.
The Riverside Café has a number of attractions beyond food.
No bar on the beach has more big-screen TVs – and simultaneously shows more out-of-town NFL games – than Riverside, and the bar area is generally packed on fall Sundays with die-hard fans.
There also are DJs, bands, contests, and overall, the ambiance is a bit frenetic. The main room looking out over the lagoon is not a place you would seek out for a quiet dinner; the front room, which has regular tables instead of high-tops, is a bit quieter.
Gourmet dining this is not. But as a place to grab a casual dinner – perhaps a wrap, nachos, or a couple of appetizers (and don’t forget the bang-bang shrimp) – the Riverside Café is an option to consider.
I welcome your comments, and encourage you to send feedback to me at tina@verobeach32963.com.
The reviewer is a beachside resident who dines anonymously at restaurants at the expense of Vero Beach 32963.