CJ disappointed with River House

[Robin Garr]

Three stars, though.

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/en ... /85189588/

Here's our one and only experience with River House. And I'll preface my comments by saying that we love Varanese. We have experienced consistently good-to-great food and service there. My apologies in advance for the rant.

We decided to try River House for my wife's birthday in mid-April. I made a reservation (in person, we happened to be in the neighborhood). I told the hostess who took my information that it was my wife's birthday and I asked for a table for two with a river view, if possible. She told me that, while she couldn't promise anything, they would do their best to accommodate our request. I totally understand that. We did have to settle for an 8PM reservation rather than the 7PM that we (and pretty much every other diner in Louisville, it seems) wanted.

We arrived maybe 10 minutes early and were told that our table wasn't ready. No problem. At about 8:30 we were finally seated - at a two-top with an unobstructed view of....the valet station and the parking lot. And the deal is, my wife noticed when we arrived at 7:50 that table was empty. It remained empty until we were seated 40 minutes later.

We expressed our displeasure to the hostess who seated us. She basically said "sorry" so we left. We ended up at Porcini and enjoyed a very nice dinner.

When we got home I sent an email to River House and, to their credit, the GM replied later that evening. He offered to ensure a good table on our next visit, but that hasn't happened yet and may not happen at all.

It's the Curse of the Ohio River.

[Robin Garr]

I think it's a corollary to the tall-building phenomenon: Never eat at a restaurant where the main draw is the view.

I think it's a corollary to the tall-building phenomenon: Never eat at a restaurant where the main draw is the view.

Yeah, our view of the parking lot and Ms. Miller's views of the fire extinguisher and the wall were pretty special.

And let me reiterate - what really ticked us off was that we could have been seated at that crappy two-top 40 MINUTES before we were actually seated. I understand the fact that not all tables in a venue like that have great views, and I also understand that they can't promise anything when they accept reservations - but the 40-minute delay is inexcusable and indefensible.

[Robin Garr]

Yeah, our view of the parking lot and Ms. Miller's views of the fire extinguisher and the wall were pretty special.

Yes, I think we got the same table you did, Mike. End table near the door on the parking lot side, with a good view of the valet table. It was crowded, though, and I don't generally react badly when I don't get a red carpet. I thought Ms. Miller making it the lead to the story and giving several paragraphs to it betrayed a sense of entitlement that would be funny if it weren't so pitiful.

I sought to sum it up non-judgementally this way:

The former yacht storage showroom is spacious, and its floor-to-ceiling window walls afford excellent views of the Mighty Ohio for those at the long, double-sided bar and the favored tables along the north-side windows.

And let me reiterate - what really ticked us off was that we could have been seated at that crappy two-top 40 MINUTES before we were actually seated. I understand the fact that not all tables in a venue like that have great views, and I also understand that they can't promise anything when they accept reservations - but the 40-minute delay is inexcusable and indefensible.

No dog in the fight, but is it possible the servers were snowed under? In my restaurant days I held off seating servers who were clearly in the weeds.

One thing we can say for sure ... she was not recognized by the staff or it would not have happened.

...its floor-to-ceiling window walls afford excellent views of the Mighty Ohio for those at the long, double-sided bar and the favored tables along the north-side windows.

careful what you wish for! viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24156

[Robin Garr]

careful what you wish for! viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24156

...the GM replied later that evening. He offered to ensure a good table on our next visit,

seems like this is getting to be his modus operandi?! viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24156

First off, you never wait 40 minutes for a table if you made reservations. That's absurd and should NEVER happen. I would have been taking to a manager after 15 minutes. You should have demanded a better table. Especially after you made a reservation AND had to wait an inexcusably amount of time. Sounds like Doc Cantina's 2.0.

The seating snafu sounds like poor front door training. They get the property, the right chef, a good food supplier, experienced bar tenders, servers with at least SOME experience but the first person a patron meets in the restaurant is often the worst trained if trained at all. Why do they repeatedly make the same mistake thinking all they need is a warm body with an attractive face? Host/hostesses are your first impression and control the whole flow of the restaurant setting the rhythm. Instead the training is more along the lines of "one bottom per chair ASAP before they start to complain."

I have long been a HUGE fan of John Varanese, and was totally thrilled when he shared is vision for River House. However, there have been some inherent issues that are not exclusive this River House that I've been made aware of by some of the staff that I've known from other establishments as well as Varanese. These include:

1) Lack of quality/properly trained (not green off the street) folks applying for jobs. It does take great time and effort to get someone up to the high quality demanded by both houses.

2) Even though River House is known for it's wonderful river view, that view only makes up 1/3 to 1/2 of the seating area. This can tend to be disappointing when one has made reservations, however, I've found that if I add "a river view please", they will do their best to accommodate.

3) The front of house staff, in my opinion, is some of the best and brightest that I've dealt with. Adrianne, Mackenzie, and the rest of the staff is attentive, pleasant, and will bend over backwards to accommodate the guest and their needs.

4) The places is HUGE! The menu is intense! They have issues getting the right people for the job at hand! Stuff is going to happen.

Are these points going to keep me from going? NO! And it shouldn't stop you either.

Rome wasn't built in a day....River House, in my estimation (biased as it may be), will rise to be one Louisville premier houses!

Bill, I agree with most of your comments but events don't follow your thinking for some others. In Mike's case he specifically asked for a table with a view for specific event, he even made the request in person, yet he was seated a terrible table after a long wait! That certainly doesn't demonstrate an effective front of house staff. Now I will say that when we visited we ended up with a wonderful table right by the Windows even though we had requested a window view when making a reservation. Granted, it was a Monday evening but we were there at the prime dining hour so maybe it's just the luck of the draw where you get seated!

As far as the menu goes, I think it's lacking in some areas and overcrowded in others. IMO there are too many appetizers on the menu but not enough variety on the entrées. This supposed to be a fish restaurant yet there are only 2 true fish dishes on the menu, Ahi Tuna and Salmon both of which are very common and nothing special for restaurant of this caliber. The items we had when we visited were outstanding but I just expected more variety.

Louisville is certainly lucky to have this restaurant and it's a wonderful location. Hopefully it will evolve and become a true dining destination for food, not only view!