The Bistro at the River

My girlfriend and I went in tonight, March 4^th, just past 8pm and ordered the chicken parmesan. When we received our meal and cut through the chicken, it was completely raw for both us. Not a bit pink, but completely raw uncooked.
We then requested a different meal, which was the Reuben. When we received that, the sandwich was completely cold to the point we decided to just take it home and reheat it.
We were comped only our appetizer. No formal apology from the cook, as we were the only people in the restaurant, this is completely unacceptable by all means.
Rightfully so, we will not return ever again, which is too bad as we were repeat customers.

stopped into the bistro for a quick warm alcoholly coffee pick me up (a wram yummy b52 for $ 8 topped woth deliciously fattening whip cream.) i had a great experience compared to my initial review of not being served for 10 minutes to the point of me leaving the restaurant. this time the waitress was very helpful, friendly and quite on the ball with service especially for being the only waitstaff /​bartender on thr floor during lunch hour. the food looked and smelled good. maybe i will put this place back on my visitation list

Disappointing — food was bland and unimaginative despite a spectacular setting. Received the flatbread for free for checking in — was uninteresting (and unhealthy). Service was friendly and moderately attentive though had to push a bit to get a water refill and my check. Sadly, would not recommend.

Excellent location! The food was very good for a reasonable price. The staff was friendly.

Bistro at the River is a nicer ended place that overlooks the beautiful Detroit-​Windsor riverside. One of the more underrated views in the city, the restaurant capitalizes on it as it is located with a perfect view and a pretty sick patio to boot. The interior is very clean and cool just in case it is too humid or hot to be outside.
The food was a bit underwhelming for such a nice location, but decent nonetheless. We ordered crab cakes, shrimp fettucine, and mango chicken. Excellent plating as the food definitely looked very good. The crab cakes were OK, but I wasn’t too fond of the flavor and thought it to be a bit bland. The mango chicken had a bit of the same issue, but the mango salsa was done very nicely and accentuated with some spices. The chicken breast needed more seasoning but it was a larger meal too. The best dish was probably the shrimp fettucine as the shrimp were rather large and meaty. Tossed with alfredo and red peppers, the pasta dish was very good.
A bit expensive for the food, but I can imagine it is with regards to the view as well. Parking is located right in front of the restaurant so no pain there. Definitely worth a stop for a nice little relaxing lunch, but don’t expect to be wowed by the food so much as the view.

I was on a work trip and we were looking for a place to dine for lunch, we came upon The Bistro at the River as we were walking and decided to try it. We walked in with a group… we were seated within about ten minutes, once we sat down the service seemed a lil scattered and sometimes harsh, but was pleasant enough. There was a variety of appetizers and entrees ordered at the table to dine on and try. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food.
The atmosphere of the restaurant is very pleasant– offers a great view of the river and the Detroit skyline!

Quick note before my review: There was a «Yelp Check-​in Offer» here that I missed out on because I checked in after I ate and was already stuffed by then, it was for a free Bistro Bruschetta. So just check your Unilocal Mobile for Check-​in Offers before you order :)! Now for the review:
As a visitor to the Detroit/​Windsor area I was happy to have lunch at The Bistro at the River. Located just steps from Riverfront Trail it’s the perfect place to take in the river and Detroit Skyline. They have a good sized patio as well that would be pretty ideal for a warm day, but unfortunately it was a rainy day so we headed inside. Inside is fairly small but feels open and quaint. The décor is pretty basic but still on the classier side. It was quiet on our visit, but on other occasions availability might be tougher. As this is located right on the Riverwalk you will have to pay for parking in the adjacent parking lot.
The menu is a decent size and has a good selection of items including sandwiches, wraps, burgers, pizza, pasta and entrees. The Pasta and Entrees are only served during evening hours (I believe it was past 5:00pm). Drink menu was a bit on the smaller end but still adequate. Prices are very affordable but can range a little higher on a couple entrees. I went with the Buffalo Caesar Wrap with Fries and my Fiancée had the Penne Ultimate Mac & Cheese with a side salad. Although her item was from the evening menu, our server checked with the kitchen who went ahead and made it anyways since they weren’t busy, a nice courtesy that I had to note! The wrap was very salty which made it a bit off-​putting, fries were good. The side salad was a bit heavy on the Balsamic but the Penne Mac & Cheese was good and the winner at the table, very happy they made the exception. The garlic bread with it didn’t add much and was dry.
Food was average, prices were good, service was good and the view was great. Decent experience, I’d go again, preferably on a warm day. Something about being there on a dreary day made it less inviting.

This place was extremely disappointing. I would never go back and never recommend this place to anyone. I have been wanting to try it for some time and decided to take my girlfriend on a nice day to enjoy the patio. The waitress seemed like she didn’t have much experience. They had limited beverage options because apparently they were out of stock. I ordered a Corona and they didn’t serve it with a lime. Instead they brought a mill street organic glass out with the corona which should have been the first sign that this place was going to be horrible. I ordered the perch and rice and my girlfriend the chicken parmesan. Both dishes tasted like nothing. It was literally the most bland food I have ever ordered from any restaurant. I would have been more satisfied getting a hotdog from a street vendor. It came with rice and seasoned vegetables, both which tasted awful. There was nothing redeeming about the food. I rarely go to a restaurant and not eat the entire dish, but this experience I had them throw most of the meal away. It was a complete waste of $ 70 for two meals and three drinks.
Please be advised that the food and service was pretty bad. So bad that I was compelled to create an account on this site to voice my opinion. Avoid this place if you can. The only good thing was the view of the riverfront. But if that’s what your looking for you would be better off at The Keg. The management should be ashamed of the food and lack of service they provide there. If I was running the place the chefs would be immediately fired. WORST FOOD IN WINDSOR.

I’ve always had mixed feelings about this place, but have had good experiences in the past. Unfortunately it’s under new management and it has brought this place down.
The location is great, down town on the river, with a large patio to enjoy the view in the summer.
While the service was friendly, it was really slow. We sat ourselves despite the «please wait to be seated» sign b/​c no one even gave us a nod or said «I’ll be right with you» as they kept walking by us while we waited to the entrance of the patio. (This has happened on other occasions I’ve been there too). Food comes out pretty slow too. We had to get our own ketchup and mustard from their prep stand b/​c it was never brought to the table.
The last time I was there there was a homeless man hanging out just on the other side of the patio yelling and screaming. It turns out this is a common occurrence and they often have to call the police since he doesn’t often listen when they ask him to leave. It’s an unfortunate situation, but kind of ruins the atmosphere.
There were some tasty unique things on the old men, but the menu has now changed. The food wasn’t very good, my wrap was soggy and not very flavourful. The portions were good but a nice size portion of bad food isn’t really worth it. I had a glass of sangria, which was essentially cranberry juice with a bit of wine. It was so bad I didn’t even finish it.
It’d be nice if it went under new management again and they fixed this place up. It’s too bad b/​c it’s such a great location.

The atmosphere of this place is pretty much unbeatable. It’s right by the riverwalk. The food was good. The service was better. We really liked the sweet and spicy calamari. If I was ever in this area of Canada again, I’d stop by.

I’m actually surprised by the reviews on here. I just visited tonight for dinner and had a great experience! I hadn’t been for years so I was curious to see how things had changed and I’m glad I checked it out! I sat on the patio with 3 other guests and besides the fact that the view of the Detroit skyline is beautiful, the service is great, the food is incredible and the portions are hearty. I ordered the linguine vegetarian (minus mushrooms) and I was blown away! Olives, roasted red peppers, zucchini and feta cheese with a beautiful Chardonnay sauce. For $ 17 I got a huge bowl of pasta and a large side salad with their house honey balsamic dressing. Absolutely no complaints from me! I’ll be going back again soon.

So from the mixed reviews on here, we decided to try it. Horrible lol, I don’t know what else to say. It wasn’t busy at all. They had three waitresses. Our drinks were empty during dinner. My salad came with hardly any dressing and it took forever to ask for more and when I did the waitress decided to do other tasks in the middle. Salad became warm and eventually the food came out. Which reminds me, the food took foreverrrr. I swear the ships passing by were going faster. And there were like only 4 other tables. The waitresses were both visiting their friends or guests. One guy was seen every couple minutes while we were left to wait. The food was nothing special either. Left hungry actually. The sandwiches use processed meats so there ya go. It’s fun eating by the river but this place was horrible. Won’t go back. Listen to the other reviews. I could totally change this place and make it amazing right by the river front. It’s unfortunate. Chef Ramsey would be pissed. Lol.

Utterly disappointing experience for a place that is supposed to be at a landmark location in Windsor! all empty tables were either uncleared from previous visitors or the one table that we assumed would be good was reserved by staff — they did so by leaving the dishwasher tray on the table!!!
As we waited for our waitress to clear a dirty table, we intended to order coffee and some dessert from the «bistro» — waitress takes our order then comes to tell is that the coffee maker is out of order our only option is dinner ?!. In addition to that the way the service was provided made us feel like we had to order dinner to stay, if we don’t, our service will be hindered — and that’s what happened. The place is very Underprepared and waitstaff lack the foundation of good Customer service and common courtesies.

Purchased a groupon. Went to eat lunch there and we tried to order several items from the menu, and everything we asked for was unavailable. Pretty much half of the entire menu was not available. Come on, you run an establishment and don’t have the items you offer? Wife was extremely disappointed. Portion sizes were decent but found food to be very bland and flavourless. Would not go back.

I had bought a groupon for this place so my expectations were quite neutral going in. In fact, I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had hit me with the «fine print» restrictions and made us wait too long for our meal (especially since we don’t drink, so no hope they’d make money from us that way). Surprisingly, the service was great, the food delicious and the overall experience a well deserved ⁸⁄₁₀!