The Riata Diner & Tavern

Everyone said you were good…
…this is why we don’t listen to everyone! I should have listened when my parents warned me about following the crowd. After our first day at a soccer tournament, the locals suggested this spot for soccer, food, and the option for booze.
I will say that we all left full, but I didn’t leave satisfied.
Walking in, the door almost looks like it’s the door to a quick stop. But then you walk-​in and it’s like a museum of old cowboy stuff. Dirty, old cowboy stuff. Walking in, the place never quite feels clean. When you walk in you see the kitchen window (space, not an actual window) and a hostess stand that is deserted. Then there is a sign asking you to wait to be seated. We slowly made our way toward the noise and a nice gentleman asked us how many. We told him we wanted to watch soccer, so he sat us perfectly near one of their TVs.
Who knew this was the hang out spot for Saturday 2PM raging by Livermorian’s! They were loud and drunk! Good for them, a little annoying for us. I was actually surprised to see so many people crowded at the bar and the bar tops, but not many in the actual restaurant part — which are all in the same area, not to be confused.
Finding the bathroom was an adventure in itself. I thought it was toward the back door by the bar, but no. Then I noticed a partition covering some doors and realized the bathrooms were behind here. They were decent, just hard to find.
Word of mouth and a little Unilocal sleuthing brought us here. We did notice that if you check-​in you get a free appetizer. This threw our server for a loop, she had never seen it before, but graciously gave us our free order of Potato Skins. These were good. They didn’t kill the flavor game, but they were good, fattening, and cured our hunger.
The menu has a decent a mount of options to chose from. I decided to go with the Lisa Burger — blue cheese encrusted and avocado, with extra crispy french fries. J went for the Meatloaf Sandwich and garlic fries. The Lil Sis ordered the Beef Dip with onion rings. The kidlet had the chicken strips and french fries. Our other friends ordered a Beef Dip and the Club sandwich.
Lisa Burger — Decent burger, but nothing to write home about. When I read encrusted, I thought they would grill the bleu cheese on the outside of the burger, not just throw some bleu cheese on the patty. The avo was fresh and you I’m pretty sure it was half of an avo, which was cool.
The Meatloaf Sandwich — Boring and dry. I don’t understand how they don’t service this with cheese and/​or BBQ sauce?!? It was so dry and bland if you tried it the way they served it. We added BBQ sauce, but I wish we would have ordered it with cheese too. It is decent sized, but lacks flavor.
Garlic Fries — Fail! It’s like they just threw raw garlic on a batch of french fries. Nothing less, nothing more. They could use improvement.
Beef Dip — Both people had to ask for ajus, I feel like this should already come with it.
Onion Rings — These were good, not too much batter. Loved all the various sizes.
Kids Chicken strips — three decent sized pieces, came out very hot. I had to break them apart so they could cool off. Good portion size for a kids meal.
The bar had a handful of $ 5 selections, but the server couldn’t remember them all. They are true to their reviews and pour with a heavy hand around here. Not a problem with us at all. I ordered a Blueberry Stoli and Sprite. The table also ordered a Georgia Peach (special), Lagunitas IPA on tap, Margarita on the rocks, and a Bloody Mary. The table was equally happy with their drinks.
It wasn’t a bad experience at all, the company was more fun than the environment. Even if we didn’t have a kidlet with us, they loud drunk people at the bar would have still been annoying. I’m not one to rain on anyone’s parade, I just know not to come back here at this time on a Saturday. The service was okay, since they weren’t really that busy. We were attended too and served all the ranch our little hearts could desire!
Fully fed, but left feeling unsatisfied…

This is our go to breakfast place! Best bloody marys and breakfast burritos in the bay, and breakfast shots are on point. Also great for a burger and beer on the patio on a summer day.

Beef Dip was the best. Paired with garlic fries even better. Great cowboy décor and plenty of other menu choices. Noise level is a bit high, but hey, if you want quiet, go to the library.

I think The Riata is the best breakfast place in downtown livermore. We came here for the first time a few weekends ago. There aren’t many breakfast places in downtown livermore but I’m pretty sure we’ve tried them all and The Riata is at the top! Everyone in our group thought it was great food and the service was good too, busy place on a Saturday morning, but we didn’t have to wait long at all. Definitely our new «go to» breakfast spot.

This place is great for family or to
Grab a drink or two. I hear the bloody Mary’s are the best in town (I’m not a fb of tomato juice so I don’t know) the service is fast, food is good also had a outdoor area to eat out side

best breakfast food ever!!!
whenever I visit home, this is my go to!

Amazing! First, I have to say I LOVE any restaurant that represents a diner. I had the crab melt and my husband had the Philly cheesesteak. The sweet potato fries were awesome, and I would go back for the crab melt every day if I could. My husband love the Philly cheesesteak and had zero complaints. My one and only issue is that the ice tea was old and had an awful taste.
The previous reviewers mentioned the service being poor. We didn’t have that issue, but that could have been because we went at 1:00 on a Friday afternoon. The staff was helpful, I wouldn’t say they were overly friendly, but I was there for food, not friends.
I actually really liked the ambiance of the restaurant, it is fun in a cowboy/​old school diner way.
We had a great experience and will definitely return the next time we are in Livermore.

I’ve been to the Riata a few times and always enjoy their food. I love their breakfast. Unfortunately I haven’t tried any of their lunch or dinner options but it all looks great.
They are usually slammed on weekends for brunch. It’s a great sign, right? It’s completely casual and really loud inside.
Servers are friendly and attentive but when they are super busy, service can get a little slow.
Today I had their Eggs Benedict. I’m never disappointed. Delicious. My friend had the Tri Tip Salad. The Tri Tip was fantastic. One of my kids had French Toast (delicious!) and the other had a cheeseburger and fries (again, delicious!).
There is patio seating should you want to enjoy the sunshine and people watch or just get out of the noisy restaurant.
Overall a great little Livermore gem that keeps pulling me back.

After trying to go to another local establishment for dinner that was SLAMMED, my friend said, lets go for a walk around the corner. So this is where we went. He had been here before, however this was my first time!
As we walked in, I didn’t know what to expect. But as my father taught me, looks can be deceiving. Boy does father know best!
While sitting at the bar having a drink, we ordered our dinner at the bar. I must have asked a stupid question on how good there tri-​tip was. A few locals that are in there all the time laughed and said it is the best around. So I ordered the tri tip as I don’t eat much red meat anymore and it sounded good.
I must say, it was one of the best cooked pieces of meat I have had (other than my own BBQ) in a very long time. Cooked perfectly (medium rare), seasoned great, and very tender. It was also reasonably priced as well.
The bartender was very friendly and helped us the whole time, even striking up non sense conversation with us!
I will be coming back here again for sure!

We stumbled across this place dropping off my daughter. Looking for a parking spot. Well we decided to try it and Glad we did great food. Nice servers will be back…

Horrible service. Sat at counter for 20 minutes before I was even acknowledged. The cook came out and took my order. The servers left my pancales sitting on the counter until they were cold then brought them to me.

The food here is quite good. The place is always so short staffed you can’t get help. You can frequently stand there waiting for as much as ½ hour before being acknowledged. It is sad. I no longer bother.
Maybe this Unilocal review will get the owner’s attention?

Happy hour is decent on Thursdays. But the fried avacadoes are the bomb. Burgers just okay, breakfast is decent. Staff is friendly and attentive

We’ve been dining here for a few years and the food is generally good and the drinks strong. But, in the last year or so, the service has been headed downhill fast. Our most recent experience was the nail in the coffin as far as I’m concerned.
We were seated and our server got our drinks relatively quickly. Then we placed our order and waited. And waited. And waited. Approximately 45 minutes later, a busser or some other person who we hadn’t seen before brought our food out. Mumbling, he asked if we needed anything else. Yes, silverware. And off he went never to be seen again. I ended up going and getting the silverware myself. The server came by to ask if we needed anything and we asked for ketchup. We never got any and we didn’t see him again until the end of the meal when he brought our check.
We’ve had similar experiences with slow service before, but never to this degree. Either way, that was the last straw and we will not be back. Hopefully, management can figure it out before they run their business into the ground.

Umm, yeah first impressions are everything. Too bad it was a busy Saturday morning and it just sucks they were short staffed.
So, I was told an excellent Bloody Mary would be made here, so I gave this place a try for breakfast. No issue finding street parking, as it’s always a pleasure walking through downtown Livermore. We arrive at 9:15am, and no one was really around to greet us. The place was packed, so understandable that no one could seat us; sarcastically speaking ‘uh yeah’. They don’t take reservations for parties of two (as I had called before coming), so big deal.
The inside dining had an old country bar look to it, but just seemed dirty to me. We finally talked to the hostess, and opted to eat outside in the patio area since it was a nice day. Waiting, waiting 10 – 15 mins later our drink order was taken. We got a Kahlua and coffee ($ 7) which didn’t really taste like there was any Kahlua in it. Oh yeah, and the famous Bloody Mary ($ 8) everyone raves about. Bleh, didn’t care for it, overrated. A guy at a table next to us ordered a second one shouting «with extra Tabasco». HA, stupid! It’s bad enough mine had too much pepper in it. OK, I thought it sucked. I can make a better one.
As we waited for our breakfast, I kept an eye out on the clock at a bank across the street. We were starving, and the food didn’t arrive until 10:20am. Lag, no excuses. Here’s what we ordered:
~ Chicken Fried Steak & Eggs ($ 11.99), now this was actually pretty decent. The gravy was a little bland, but CFS was in general was good. Though, I’d rather have a bigfoot CFS from Black Bear Diner than this one. Hash browns and eggs included, nothing special about it.
~ Eggs Benedict ($ 12.99) with country potatoes. Eh, our over-​hard eggs were nice and runny. That just ruined it. The slices of ham were small, and not proportioned to the muffin. This whole plate was a waste.
Our server was nice, it was just slow service all together. And like I had mentioned before, they were short staffed. I did feel sorry for the hostess that seemed flustered with guests, and my waiter that busted his arse, but hey there’s gotta be better flow here. $ 50 total including tip. Yep, that was my breakfast for two. I’ll pass next time.

I’m still trying to remember this place to be honest.
I remember the Cowboy «bling» on the walls and ceilings.
I remember they had decent smoked BBQ sliders…
Oh, now I remember, it is harder than heck to get decent service, even if they are not especially busy…
Well, to be fair, we got our cocktails quickly, but try to get a glass of water later, not so easy!
We also had to call the waitress back twice to get her to remember to bring us our menus, so we could order food! It was not crazy busy either, so I’m still a bit dazed over the whole forgot the menu thing.
Will we be back?
Umm, probably not, but if we are in the area, we will certainly consider it, and hope to change that 3 Stars to 4 Stars!

Best Bloody Mary and red beers in town. I appreciated the casual atmosphere when I lived in town. Plus they serve a great Mexican benedict and posole on the weekends.

Ordered the Bbbq Pulled Pork Sandwich, also came with french fries and cole slaw. The pork it self was good, lightly sweet, and a mild spice, on a french roll. Overall I liked it. I was only able to eat half of it (theh put a nice hefty amount.of.meat on there). Cole slaw was average (I’m just super picky with my slaw).
I have had the beef dip sandwich in the past, and that was also good! Good place to. come when on a budget and want to feel full!

I had breakfast with a friend yesterday at the Riata, and it was pretty empty so we got a nice, quiet atmosphere to enjoy our food. It’s on Second Street, but it’s super close to first street, which makes it easier to get to. We ended up getting great parking right out front.
This place really goes with the whole country theme. There are cowboy hats on the walls, an animal skin rug on the ceiling, and various horse-​riding equipment on the walls as well. A very Olde Livermore vibe to it, which is nice! I’ve grown up in Livermore for 21 years, and remember back in the day when it used to be a little more country than it was now.
The menu was a little more expensive than what I was expecting, but it’s NOT IHOP, so you must keep that in mind. But the $ 2.50 for a side of fruit? I thought that was a little TOO steep.
I got the two eggs option, as did my friend. Came with hash browns, bacon, and toast. Not bad, and pretty delicious. The food here really fills you up, so you probably won’t be hungry until 5 – 6 hours later! (at least, I wasn’t until dinner time haha).
Cheryl was our waitress, and she was pretty cool. Attentive, filled our waters, and asked us how our food was. Can’t ask for much more in terms of service :-) I may come back, but I’m sure there are other breakfast places I would like to try first.

I’ve seen this place so many times while looking for parking for Panama Red. I kept saying to myself, «Oh, how cute, I should totally go here.» But we never did…
UNTIL TODAY.
The Riata is clearly one of those places meant to appeal to Old Skool Livermorons. The décor is cowboy/​rodeo influenced, kind of like Cattleman’s, and more than one of the gentlemen inside were wearing cowboy boots and cowboy hats. It’s kitsch, but it’s not a dive, either.
We went for dinner on a Friday night, so it was REALLY busy but the waiter was still very solicitous in spite of that. As per usual, I had to customize my order because of my food allergies, which led to the usual volley of questions: «Do you know what’s in your bread? Is your cheese fresh sliced or processed?» You know, basically being everyone’s favorite customer. *cough*
I ended up ordering my burger wrapped in lettuce, protein style, and the look the waiter gave me was priceless. I guess the cowboys aren’t exactly clamoring for verdantly wrapped beef. That kind of made my day. The lettuce he wrapped it in was a little too thin, but it was fresh, and, as I ate my deliciously well done burger, quite tasty with the cheddar and bacon.
I have to say, though, that for the quality, the food here is very affordable. Burgers are about $ 9.99 which isn’t bad for restaurant prices. Mine was a little more because I did the «build a burger» option, but I think it was only a few dollars more. My friend ordered the hot wings appetizer, which was the size of a meal, and her basket of fries was only a few dollars and it was much bigger than the serving of fries that came with my burger. Very good deal!
I got a bottle of Angry Orchard cider for $ 4. R Place is cheaper, but I don’t like the ambiance there as much, so I guess you’re paying for the environment as much as anything else. Hard to go wrong with Angry Orchard, and it tasted very good with the burger.
Bathrooms here are clean. I think the building is a little old, but it’s not dirty, and I found it really pleasant. The smells coming from the kitchen were AMAZEBALLS although one of the patrons ordered something that was absolutely drowning in garlic. It’s fun to people watch. Would definitely come back here again — although next time I do, I may dress down.