March 22, 2007

REVIEW

River City Tavern is not very much to write home about
Emily C. Siders and Christiana Hilditch
siderse@marietta.edu and hilditcc@marietta.edu

Atmosphere:

The town of Marietta takes pride in being located on the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers. The carefree ebb and flow of the river transforms into the laid-back, carefree attitude of town and the residents. Unfortunately, landlocked River City Tavern and Grill fails to capture the essence and quaintness of the town. The restaurant is located inside of the Comfort Inn, and even though paintings of boats and archive photographs of Marietta adorn the walls, the place still has the feel of a typical hotel restaurant.  There is a vast dining area as well as a large bar.  In the bar section where we were seated, there was a strong aroma of cigarettes even months after the smoking ban has been in place. There is also another location in Vienna, which appears to be setup like a more traditional restaurant.  

Service:

The hostess was polite and seated us immediately upon our arrival.  Our waitress was friendly and prompt with taking our drink and food orders, yet did not come back to refill our drinks.  When our food did come out, she seriously asked if we needed any more butter, despite the fact we already had a huge tub.            

Food:

The River City Tavern and Grill offers many steakhouse items including ribs, steaks, poultry dishes, sandwiches, soups, and salads.  We opted for a French dip sub with au jus and onion rings as well as the portabella mushroom sandwich and a side of mashed sweet potatoes.  The sub lacked flavor and was composed of too much bread, while the portabella burger was too rubbery and was covered with strange-tasting lettuce.  Surprisingly, the onion rings and sweet potatoes were the best parts of our meals.  The quality of food for the price was simply not satisfactory.

Overall:

While River City’s motto is “always casual, always fun,” we happened to only agree with the casual part.  We were unimpressed with the mediocre food and okay service.  The dim lighting made it difficult to read the menu and the lingering odor of stale cigarettes was unappetizing.  Further, ridiculous 80’s music was blasting which made it difficult for anyone to carry on a conversation at a normal volume level.  If you’re going out to eat with someone you don’t really want to look at or are trying to dump, then River City Tavern and Grill is the perfect place. 

 

Views expressed in this column are those of the writers.