Riverbank Cafe

eeh. when in Hamilton… It has a great location, but you can’t eat location. If you’re not from here, and you’re just looking for a place to eat, then look elsewhere. That’s my review. (I’ve eaten here three times and am not even inspired to write a bad review. It’s just middling, middle-​American, basic bar/​Italian/​American not done very well).

The food has never really blown me away. I always leave wishing I had ordered something different. The straw fries are yummy at least.

I waited for drinks to arrive after ordering them 15 minutes before. They had a large table and all staff attention seemed to be focused on that. No wait staff stopped
to check in on us as we sat at our empty for our drinks. I finally stopped a waiter and ask” did you forget about us?” He said he was waiting on the bar. Five minutes or so later drinks arrived and I quickly tried to put in our order since we had some attention. I ordered the sweet potato fries (the reason we came because my son loves them) but was told «we just ran out». Ow mind you this is 12:45 in the afternoon and they are already out of menu items. The large table is finishing and now the waiter is stopping at our small table with an order that we settled for. Over all not a great experience. The kit ken or staff seems overwhelmed with one large table. I haven’t had a chance to try my sandwich since I’ve been busy writing this review. Too bad riverbank. I liked you last year when I came back home from DC to visit my family.
I hope you figure it out.

Horrible horrible horrible!!!
got food poisining this past weekend

Perfect…
–service
–atmosphere
–food…shrimp and grits were outstanding. My partner also recommends the pulled pork sandwich.
— beer– Blue Moon on tap… yum
Everything I could ask for equals FIVE STARS!

I have visit Riverbank Café on two separate occasions. Both times I was pleased with what I had ordered. They have a decent menu selection that most people can find something they will definitely enjoy. One of the weekends when I visited in the past they had live music. If you are near by you should check it out.

My favorite restaurant in west Cinci! Just had the shrimp & grits, best meal I have had in awhile. Nice people, cool family ambience. Coming back next time I’m in town, without a doubt. The owner, Dennis, is also a Hamilton believer… made me feel good about patronizing the local economy. Thanks!

I’m not normally one to leave poor reviews, but this place has disappointed me multiple times. The first time we visited, the food was very slow and mediocre. There is NOTHING for vegetarians on the menu to enjoy other than a salad… oh yeah, and grilled cheese and french fries which are fried with their other non-​veggie friendly items. I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and try again a few months later on a Sunday afternoon. They were not busy at all. We waited for 15 minutes for someone to notice that we were there, and never ordered our beverages. Needless to say after 15 minutes, we left. Maybe that was a bad day, right? We recently decided to try one more time (I really wanted to enjoy this place!) but much the same, we were able to order our beverages but never received them, but this time we waited 30 minutes before leaving. There are other restaurants in the area that are far more attentive to their clients and more accommodating to those of us that only want to eat vegetables (and no, grilled cheese and french fries are not vegetables). I really wish I could enjoy this place as it’s close to our home and in a central location to meet up with friends.

My friends asked me if I wanted goetta. I was puzzled. I thought we were going to a afterhours David Guetta party. But once they tried to explain it was a greater-​cincinnati dish and couldn’t really describe it besides «a flat sausage dish», I was on-​board! Whenever someone can’t really explain a dish and it’s unique to the area, that peaks my inner Curious George. If someone said a dish tasted like cyanide mixed in with hash and unique to Youngstown, I just might try it!
Anyways, the Goetta tasted like an ecstasy laden rave party mixed in with some soda pop vocals. Actually, you know what it kinda reminds me of? It reminds me of haggis I had in Scotland. Forget the corned beef and hash. I want some goetta and hash every Sunday, SUNday, SUNDAY!
Also the blueberries mixed into the batter, instead of lazily tossed on, deserves a pat on the back. I grant you 3.5 stars.
BTW: I don’t condone the use of E, cyanide, or THC. If for whatever reason you are going to use it, then limit to use in the armpit of OH. Don’t be bringin that in my hood! The only thing that should be trafficked is goetta and hash.

I don’t go out to dinner much these days being on a super tight budget, but when a certain band I follow plays in Hamilton at the Riverbank Café, I go there. I sit in the main dining room area where the band plays but there is a bar area to the side. The pulled pork sandwich is good & the draft beer always cold.
On my last visit on a Friday night on the 16^th of March, I decided to try their fried Cod Fish Sandwich. It was the best fish sandwich I’ve ever eaten! Not the least bit greasy & if you didn’t know better, it had been baked. I was surprised. It was about $ 9 but a band member buys my dinner (so it tasted even better)
My server was great & always smiling. Some friends came and got the Greek Salad & enjoyed it as well. Our water was refreshed often without being hovered over. We took up the tables for 2 hours due to the music by Lagniappe.
Eveyrbody is always nice at Riverbank Café & other family members have always liked food they’ve gotten there.
The ONLY reason I do not give it 5 stars is due to the LOUD DIN NOISE of diners on a crowded or even not so crowded night. They have 15 foot in ceilings that are gorgeous to look at but hard on the ears due to lack of sound absorption. It is a restored building over 100 yrs old and I give credit to owner Dennis Kurlas for opening this location.
I recommend this place if you are in Hamilton or even within a 20 minute drive. If you get the corner table by the front with the group of 8 or so, you have a nice view of the bridge lights & Soldiers/​Sailors Monument building.
PS The ladies room has a self cleaning toilet which can be a bit disconcerting. When you stand up it rotates & cleans the seat! :)

I love Riverbank Café. I’ve only gone there for brunch and sandwiches, but it’s always yummy. It’s an airy, moderately priced restaurant with always freshly cooked food and fresh coffee. I wish there were more places like it in Hamilton.

We make is a priority to stop at Riverbank Café when we are in Hamilton and looking for a friendly place to relax and grab a drink. The staff has always been fast and friendly at Riverbank. The drinks are well made, and the food is delicious. I made it a point to try the Kentucky Hot Brown on this last visit, and I was not disappointed. The portions sizes are large, and I can always count on having enough leftovers for lunch the next day. Even though we only stop in every couple of months, we are always remembered and treated like old friends.
I did have a chance to speak with the owners this time about their zombie escape plan if zombies should attack during our visit. They said the safety of their customers was a priority and that they are actively working on their escape plan. You can never be too prepared. I will check with them again next time I stop by and update with the escape plan status.

This place has great food and a pretty good atmosphere. It’s pricey ($ 12 for a salad with a few pieces of chicken on top). But the food makes it worth it; one of Hamilton’s best restaurants, hands down. The soups with grilled cheese are great. The burgers though, are what make me go to this place. The Big Greek burger with lamb, feta, and tzatziki sauce is the BEST. They have more unique dishes than any average-​type restaurant, i.e. goetta pizza. i really want to try this place for breakfast next.

I had my first fried pickles here some time ago. Probably going on two years now. They were perfect and spurred another pickle obsession (I was already pickle crazy, so these just made it worse!).
Recently, the boy and I ventured out on a Sunday morning for some breakfast. I’ll admit it was his second choice (I’m not from the area, so it was up to him to decide where we go), but I’m glad the first was closed! The blueberry pancakes are fabulous! Real blueberries tossed into light fluffy pancakes?! YES PLEASE. He had the hippie hash, which was delightful in a different way. The flavors were amazing and the feta was certainly piled high.
I think we were pleased with our breakfast – the only strange thing had nothing to do with the restaurant, but the people. A couple sat on the other side of the place on the same side of the table, which happened to be facing us; they basically watched us eat as they ate. Yay.

We took our father there for Fathers day and couldn’t have had a better meal. Both my dad and myself tried the BLT soup and both found it to be good and quite nice ramped up tomato soup. My sister had the fried pickles and found them very tasty. For dinner I had the Kentucky Brown which was great and very filling, while dad went with the chicken livers which were not deep fried. He found the pan cooked livers to really be great and even searched out the cook to compliment him on the different way of preparing them. Sis went with the chicken sandwhich and again was very pleased. Our servers were pleasent and always around. My only complaint would be that we had just gotten our soup/​pickles and about a minute or so later the meals arrived, leaving very little time to eat the appataizers. But overall a wonderful meal, great staff and a nice place to dine on fathers day.

Attractive place, but the service is so bad you better have plenty of time to waste. The food is what you would expect, but if they happen to have bean soup as soup of the day it’s the best thing on the menu. Not a place I would go often, just to slow.

So inviting from the outside, but not as amazing as we had hoped! Service was polite but lacking — especially in speed of any sort. Food was pretty tasty, but wish the fried pickles were smaller than whole spears and that the sweet potato fries came with a savory (like garlic aioli) sauce instead of a sweet one. Staff were really nice, but it felt as tho there might be one guy running the whole kitchen.
Really would like this place to get a bit more polish — faster service and slightly better food — but definitely a good place to catch a game and a burger!

Many things others have said about the riverbank café are true with a few glaring exceptions. Mostly i brought a group of four coworkers for lunch and have never been so disappointed in my life. 2 tragic things ruined my first and last experience at the café. Firstly ordered the chili and was served a cup of cold man-​which mix. the second being i had to track down and stand in front of the «owner /​server» to get it microwaved up to room temperature. This was the theme for the remainder of my first and last visit. While the open faced sandwich was simply incredible as well as the other entrees I will not be treated like dirt and pay for the privilege.
Sadly they were not understaffed or busy to even use as an excuse

We became regulars at this restaurant very quickly after our first visit. The owners are personable and present on most Friday and Saturday nights. We are always greeted warmly upon entering the restaurant, and seating usually is immediately available. Fridays and Saturdays usually bring live music from a variety of genres and performers. Service has always been excellent to outstanding, even on busy nights and holidays.
The food at Riverbank is always good and a great value to boot. Agree with the previous reviewer on the quality of the fried pickles, though the BBQ nachos and meatball martini are also outstanding. Of all of the different items we have ordered off the menu, we have never once found an item that was not well prepared, tasted great, and good quality ingredients. Our favorites are often the daily specials, like the BBQ porkchop, cajun chicken carbonara, and the occasional steak.
This review would not be complete without touching on the topic of dessert. We have tried probably 10 – 15 of the regular dessert items, as well as several special items. Our favorites have been the chocolate strawberry cheesecake and the Bailey’s cheesecake, but the chocolate turtle cake and the white chocolate raspberry cake are good alternatives. Well worth the additional cost to finish off the evening, and they are always happy to pack them in «to go» boxes for us for later if we want.

Riverbank Café has a scrolling LED marquee that is sure to catch your eye when driving on Main Street through downtown Hamilton. It caught mine, and so my wife and I decided to try it one day after church. Upon entering, my wife and I were greeted with a delicious looking specials menu and a gracious manager who made us feel like we had been best friends with him our entire life.
Seated in a very busy dining room, my wife and I perused the menu and settled upon our respective choices. The fish dinner I got was great. The fish wasn’t anything outstanding, but it was just really really good, with great sides. My wife’s meal was to her satisfaction, and we left satisfied customers.
I’ve since met with friends there and had good experiences as well. I HIGHLY recommend the fried pickles if you like food that tastes good.
You might not, though.