The riverside, south shields in South Tyneside

Lovely food, especially the tapas!

Great place great food. Staff wonderful.

I wouldn't let animals in a restaurant were people are eating as its unhygienic, plus the food they was lack of flavour and veg was not cooked properly and the crackering was just abit of fat when complained the waiter said its a new chef which that's no excuses as I don't go out often and I don't pay good money for tasteless food. Went 3years ago the food just melted in u mouth and u got more for u money and the taste was lush and got plenty meat as that was when the old owner had it the big man , but since then it's gone downhill I would not be going bk

The staff are lovely and great selection for food/ tapas.......im always disappointed upstairs isn't open though , it has a great view of the riverside.

Very busy a little understaffed but would revisit.

Popped in for Tapas before we went to the Custom House. It made a lovely night. Food good and service was spot on. Quite busy too. 👍

Lovely food and drink, always busy which speaks for itself. Didn't give 5 stars as one time we waited 45 minutes for food then had to cancel as we had a show at the customs house, and it can be quite cold near the door.

Lovely atmosphere and food. Thanks for staying open on an extremely cold Monday night.

Nice meal, nice atmosphere would recommend.

Very nice food, we had the spanish meat & cheese board which comes with olives, peppers, pickled onions, bread and a mayo with a hint of garlic. Also ordered pastas bravas and kiev pizza. Shared between two and could not finish it. Pizza dough is very good. Well worth a visiy. If going on a weekend it is best to book.

We had not booked but the staff were super friendly and although they were busy managed to find us a table for two. I had the roast beef and my husband had the special of savoury mince and dumplings. Everything came nicely presented and piping hot, good selection of vegetables and home made Yorkshire pudding. We finished with homemade sticky toffee pudding served with clotted cream and a rich toffee sauce. Not posh but well cooked fresh food , I would definitely visit again.

Fabulous food at great prices- lovely friendly staff-nice and clean-couldn't fault it👍👍👍

Staff lovely, food lovely, very child friendly.

Food wait for Sunday lunch was 40-50 minutes, but was piping hot and beautiful once served. I went for the chef's mixed meat special and it did not disappoint.

Friendly pub, nice atmosphere, didn't have a meal but the meals being served looked nice

Love this place for food , pizzas are unreal .recommend booking as get busy for food.

Lovely location, fantastic views, food spot on, friendly staff, very helpful

Lovely place and the food was amazing!!!

Peaceful, goodmenu and good food. We were well looked after.

Good food and good value, never disappointed

Very nice place. Lovely staff and the food is wonderful. Very well priced too.

Valentines night, and the food was amazing,, staff lovely, couldn't fault anything, can't wait to go back again x

Excellent food reasonably priced friendly staff

Good food nice atmosphere and staff

Got some time off from work.. lovely lunch on Monday with my friend. Been again today with my younger sisters and my niece.. lovely food great service. Thank you I may even bring the hubby along this week.. 3 times in a week... watch this space 🙂

Cliff and Claire make you feel very welcome. Les the chef is amazing

Great food, will be going again . Staff were brilliant

Food was amazing... food flavours and presentation delicious thank you

Drinks n food is excellent, service is brilliant. Would definitely visit again.

First visit to this pub, very clean and inviting. Food was excellent and freshly made

Really nice place good atmosphere. Staff are very friendly polite and professional. Very popular Good choice of drinks and although I didn't have food it look lovely. Has sky sports so ideal if you fancy a pint taking in a game. There was a live band on which were excellent. Couldn't fault this place, very clean throughout and staff working very hard cleaning tables and serving customers. I'll definitely go back and would highly recommend this place.

Excellent - lunch was beautiful and very tasty. I had potted crab from Tapas menu - very substantial- more like a main course. Would definitely recommend x

Great place with very nice food at reasonable prices, the staff and management are friendly welcoming and accomodating. Highly recommended.

What a place, an absolutely brilliant place. Fantastic Sunday lunch, both in quality, quantity, price and service.

Fantastic food, service and atmosphere, can't wait to go back .

Food was outstanding. I ordered some Tapas and could not fault any of them.

Took the ferry over from N.Shields after hearing great things about the Sunday lunch and Tapas menu and was pleased we did. The Sunday lunch was excellent and a huge portion the service was spot on and the staff were friendly and welcoming.The pub itself looks recently re-furbished and the upstairs area has a lovely outside area and great river views.We'll definately be going back again soon.👍

Great venue, lovely food and atmosphere

Visited today for a works lunch hour, 9 of us, pre-ordered some time ago, arrived at 12noon, food served at 12.35pm, we were told delay had been due to someone ordering steak at another table?? My prawn and avocado sandwich was as pictured, if you look closely you may spot the slither of avocado, the prawns were in short supply obviously & I had to scrape an inch of marg off the bread. Put this exact post on their FB page and it was deleted. Would have visited again had they not deleted my honest factual feedback - at £5.50 it was pure extortion.

Great service staff and owner so warm and welcoming, fish and chips do die for and a great selection of drinks highly recommend to anyone who wants a great evening or night out will be back.

Arrived after checking was open with daughter and grandson who was really looking forward to having nice meal even phoned newcastle branch to ask why in darkness but they tried but could not answer ended up taking grandson to woodhave but he was so looking forward to smoked burgers ECT what a wasted night

On this fine winter’s day, we decided to try Longhorns in South Shields. Little did we know that it would be a decision we would later regret for the rest of our days.First of all, on arrival the building appeared derelict - with no signs of life source detected. This was at...12.08pm, the building had been advertised to be open at 12. I can only assume that there had been a colossal emergency for this mistake to have occurred (eg. Ran out of watered-down Pepsi).On sitting down at the table, we were asked what drinks we would like which, in hindsight, was a pointless question as the only soft drink they served was a Pepsi max...in a Carling glass. As I sipped upon my Pepsi max, which had a generous 3 straws, I gazed upon the menu - this is where it truly went wrong.I decided that the Memphis Hog Butt sounded like the meal for me, however I was surprised to learn that absolutely nothing came with the burger besides slaw. I asked the ‘waitress’ if it would be possible to swap my slaw for fries. She looked at me as though I had just spat on her new-born child. Nevertheless, she spoke to the one-and-only member of the kitchen staff and came back to give me the happy news that “No you cannot do that” - top notch customer service right there. After we had ordered, I waited for the same length of time as you would expect a good cheese to mature. Then the food arrived. I use the term food very loosely. Please see the attached picture. That meal cost me 6 GBP. Upon paying I found that, yes I could pay by card, but it would need to be read allowed for everyone to here by the waitress to a stranger over the phone. It’s safe to say that I am mortified at the entire experience and will never return.

Terrible, disorganised staff, food was shocking, ribs were dry and lime eating leather 2 meals 2 drinks £37 , never again

Called in at lunchtime today and we were told pub has ceased trading. :( Looked like beer pumps were being removed although I can't find anything online saying it has closed.

We arrived having had previous excellent experience to find staff have changed and to be honest I found the staff liking in enthusiasm, didn't know the cocktail menu having had three 'zombies' all consisting of different ingredients due to lack of produce or lack of knowledge, I asked to speak to manager who was the most arrogant and obnoxious individual who basically smirked in my face and shrugged his shoulders, I obviously recommended a decent customer service school of which he laughed again. I will never again visit this place and spend good and hard earned money

Visitamos el río anoche. Uno de los empleados del bar elegido para limpiar las luces de la barra durante el comercio. El director tocada en el uno, el otro bandido armados miembros del personal elegido ser aquí en vez de teléfono móvil servirnos. Cuando no te sirven (director todavía en el bandido y luces siendo limpiada) nos cobraron £4:00 una pinta. Nunca más. Si quieres experimentar un peor servicio visite la Gruta Marsden, que es propiedad de la misma empresa. Bien merece una visita si te gusta sentarse en las mesas llenas de vasos y la izquierda más sin recaudar alimentos.

Visited the riverside with two other couples - we were told it's now under new management- well needs to be "managed " big time - the bar staff plainly do not have any idea on cocktails - I ordered , what is now a commonly made mojito - they were shocking - staff explained that they have never been shown how to make this cocktail - a pretty basic requirement in a cocktail bar !!! - do I think we'll be back , erm not to sure , did the management accept they were wrong - NO - but the girl who knew how to make them did sort - but the poor lass is working with staff who really need more training

Fuimos allí, ya que estaba cerca de la casa de la aduana, tomamos unas copas y pedimos algo de comida. Pedimos 2 de "bandejas" sin saber qué esperar. Cuando llegó me sorprendió la cantidad, los ojos más grandes que el estómago viene a la mente.No hace falta decir que toda la comida había terminado, ya que era excelente y la cerveza era buena, agradable lugar para salir por la noche.

Visitamos el sábado por la noche antes de ir a casa de la aduana.Por £8.95 ordenados de Tapas. Gran relación calidad-precio. Hay suficiente espacio para dos personas para compartir si si no evitar. Sirve comida caliente y muy rápidamente.Las bebidas son un poco carostengo que admitir que el cóctel de Jaffa tarta estaba un poco bienvale la pena una visita en nuestra opinión.

El bar es precioso, perfecto para una bebida. Pero no por la comida. Intentamos tomar tapas y una pizza y me dijeron que no había pizza y que la mitad de las tapas no estaba disponible. Nuestras tapas dieron dumping sobre la mesa 10 minutos más tarde, sin placas laterales, no cubiertos y no hay servilletas. Sólo 8,95 por 5 platos, así que en realidad no debería haber esperado tanto! Verdadera decepción

Metimos en una copa rápida y decidimos probar el 8.95 menú de tapas. No nos decepcionó. Y todo 5 para 8,95 eran deliciosos y bien presentados, todos ellos vinieron en diminutas sartén que añadieron al encanto. El sabor era fantástica, especialmente cuando la esposa no como queso suave y lucharon por la última pieza. Pruébalo, decepcionado de que usted es.

Celebramos un bebé ducha aquí y todo el mundo pidió comida tailandesa y nadie, incluso el más exigente (nosotros) disfrutamos de cada bocanada. Recomiendo

Llamé para una comida con mis hijos última noche de sábado. Las cervezas eran buenas, nos las arreglamos para conseguir una mesa bien aunque estaba muy concurrido.

Visited today for tapas, long wait due to poor communication between management and kitchen staff.However, food arrived, generous portions for three people, sausages, Brie and sundried tomatoes,flat bread,peppers stuffed with cheese and chicken skewers. Cocktails reasonably priced too.Lovely decor.clean and well presented. Let down by hand dryer in the toilets not working and peasants leaving trails of toilet paper for drying hands of whatever on.Lovely place, good food, value for money, will defiantly return even to just try to hand made pizza's we saw coming out from the kitchen.Give the poor Chef a bell instead of shouting service, in a full pub I doubt he would be heard

Went for tapas and drinks before concert at custom house the tapas was pathetic got 3 prawns for 2 of us !!! Chicken on sticks about the size of peas so not to good but worst of all was the music AV been at quieter Motörhead concerts !! When I asked if they could turn it down the barman says he would but to no avail , I won't be back ! Do yourself a favour go to the steamboat (proper pub , and cheaper drinks)

Surprisingly generous portions for tapas, and great quality. Not too bad price wise (£8.95 for 5 dishes). Staff very friendly, nice decor.

Looks nice & welcoming from outside - we went in to look and were welcomed by staff, it was just as welcoming once you were in, we were going to have a drink and decided to take advantage of the tapas menu - which was delicious, for around £10, lovely choice and plenty for two. They did fail us on the desserts - they'd run out! We have been back since though and had other food and dessert.

I was really looking forward to trying tapas at the Riverside but it was very disappointing. Very oily and processed. The chorizo was like rubber in a very strange tasting oil, the prawns were luke warm, the humous was okay, the potato wedges appeared to be cooked from frozen and the sweet chilli sauce came from a plastic bottle. My friend's burger was average. No garnish, and served with the same potato wedges. The place itself had the potential to be nice but was a bit grubby and worn. That was my first and definitely my last visit I'm afraid.

Went for afternoon tea and tapas and it was amazing!!! Brilliant value for money beautifully presented and tasty food! Service was brilliant and the place had a lovely welcoming atmosphere! I had mocktails which were so nice and my friends had prosecco and cocktails which they said were lush! Couldn't recommend enough and will Deffo be back!

Wanted somewhere nice for a treat and decided on The Riverside and we were not disappointed. A nice warm welcome and a lovely table in an immaculate setting. Anyone that knows me will tell you I like clean! Special on for 5 tapas and a bottle of wine for £12.95, total bargain and we also ordered a further 5 tapas for £8.95. We were served by Natasha at the bar and she took our order swiftly, she has only been here a couple of shifts so is learning the ropes and what a lovely young lady. About 15 minutes later our food was brought over and wow it looked amazing. I do like food to be presented nicely and this just looked the part. We chose camembert, king prawns, meatballs, chicken skewers and garlic mushrooms, this came with some gorgeous bread. Natasha came over to ask us if everything was ok and I can say it most definitely was. We had desserts of panna cotta and carrot cake, again both lovely. If you are looking for a gorgeous place with really good food and lovely staff then The Riverside is for you. We absolutely loved our chilled evening.

We booked a table last night with friends for 19:30. When we arrived, we received a warm welcome from the bar staff and advised where our reserved table was situatedThe 4 of us decided we would go for 5 tapas for £8.95. The was a good variety to chose from approx 20 dishes. You order your food and drinks at the bar and we waited approximately 15/20 mins for food which was fine as you could see the chef preparing from scratch in the open kitchen and the smells were wonderful. When the food arrived it was lovely and tasted as good as it smelled. Staff came and checked onus on a few occasions to make sure we were okay and if we needed anything which was great as this doesn't happens in many eateries. We all enjoy the food and drinks and we will definitely be back again

Came here with family to try the new menu must say a lot better than the last one great food and service will be back.

Really nice place for a drink .Good selection of beers and wines .Nice clean place good facilities and seating .Never tried the food but the kitchen is On view and looked very clean . And menu looked canny .Cheers

Went to the Riverside last night, where do I start. Not too sure what's happening with this pub but it's in a pretty bad place :( and it's a shame as I used to love this place. We had our VIP xmas and summer parties here last year. Tapas menu, terrible - very little choice. In fact vegetarians can have a stuffed pepper. We ordered food, horrible. Lager, we ordered stella, flat, watery so the next round was Peroni . Exactly the same. But this time it went back.Toilets, unhygienic, no toilet roll. No hand dryers. Blocked sinks.This once lovely pub needs to be sorted out quickly and back to how it was.

We arrived at the restaurant at around about 5pm as we were going to the customs house which is close by!We booked weeks in advance and arrived to a pathetic little table in the corner! We asked to move so we did and then after 30 mins ordered food. We didn't have much time as performance started at 7.30 so we ordered some bread just to munch on before dinner. That never arrived but we're charged for it! Then an hour later at 7.10 out food arrived. Had to rush it cause of the time it took. Overall excuse after excuse you can see the kitchen the food was alright but just can't cope with multiple bookings at all or a large party! We go annually but next time we're off else where not good!

Visited here for a friends birthday and it was 241 on all cocktails which was incredible- managed to get extremely drunk extremely quick! Only downside of this place is miserable staff- they look as if they wanna be anywhere but behind the bar. Shame because I love the lakeside for staff they are always happy and helpful

Firstly, the bar person called me "hun" then Sweetheart!!!! Tried to order tapas but was told no olives, no stuffed peppers and no garlic bread available. Asked what red wine was available - only 1 merlot. Sharing tower arrived and waitress asked if we needed anything else - my reply - plates and cutlery would be nice!!!!! Totally unimpressed.!

Basically we came in here on our way home from beamish for tea at about 5pm , I brought my 7 month old baby too in his pram which seemed fine it had other children there and seemed like a family friendly place to eat, The place is lovely inside and the food was fab and reasonably priced. At 5.45 however the manager came over and told me we would have to be out by 6 with the baby which was fine but maybe I should have been told that before I sat down , I think id be starting to tell people at 5 or indeed not allowing people to bring kids at all in the evening! However what bothered me more was that the music was then cranked up to the point It was uncomfortable while I was trying to finish my food & it made my baby get upset (I can't blame him on this one) they should have just waited until 6pm or not let me in at all. I thought it was a family friendly quiet pub we could get some tea. If that isn't what it is then fine but I think they shouldn't try & be both. I would say if they want to serve family's and nice food the music shouldn't be turned up til 9 once everyone has finished eating. I enjoyed my food and it's a nice place but I won't be going back with my family

Came here Saturday afternoon for food and cocktails ordered pizza and cocktails. Great food and fantastic service. Nice atmosphere and very clean

We go here mainly for the cocktails although occasionally tapas too. Not keen on new menu but cocktails still look great However visited on the Tuesday and it seemed like every cocktail we asked for they didn't have the ingredients for so we ended up with second and third choices. Also the toilets were disgusting One was full to the rim with excrement and rather than locking the door and putting it out of use they chose to put a VIP rope in front of it which people obv moved not realising the state of the toilet. The other two had problems with the paper so forced to go into the dirty loo to get paper out to use Visited last night and two days later toilet still the same. Disgusting. Also same again with cocktails and even ordinary drinks. Massive lack of ingredients for cocktails and we couldn't even get a g and t as they had no slimline tonic or ordinary tonic. Another party there asked for red wine and was told there was no red wine. Laughable in a wine bar. Will be giving this a wide berth for a while so they can stock up on basic ingredients and sort the toilet out

Been twice recently, once for drinks and once for food at lunchtime. The pub is cosy and warm, outdoor seating area for the summer or if you need some 'fresh air', food excellent and tasty at lunchtime and very reasonably priced - £20 for the 3 of us for 2 burgers and a hot dog with sides. Cocktail menu is extensive although not tried as yet. If passing will definitely pop in and worth a visit if you're in the area.

Popped in during restaurant week. Amazing choice of tapas and food was divine! Piggin dog was good too but would rather it without chillies or to be told it comes with chillies! Overall fab - would def come back for more!

I've visited this restaurant/bar on five occasions and each time it's been a worse experience than the last. The last two experiences (a Thursday and Saturday evening) I was told that they'd run out of chicken and pizza dough (it was approximately 5pm on both of these days) They had also ran out of a number of tapas options, meaning my colleagues were struggling to complete their orders. The pasta is tasteless and the salads are cut into such small portions that you barely bite into anything with taste. On the occasions that I did eat a pizza I must say it was very nice - but if you're going to make the effort to go there then be prepared that they may not have the ingredients for your meal and that they won't tell you UNTIL you go to the bar to order. With a bit more effort and organisation this place could be the best eatery in the Mill dam area, as there's next to no competition but, in future, I'd actually rather walk into town to find somewhere where I'm not going to be left frustrated.

Popped in Friday with some work colleagues tapa s very nice and great service manager was very friendly def return thanks

A friend recommended this place to me, saying the tapas and cocktails were amazing so me and some friends thought we'd give it a try. Really glad we did, the cocktails are delicious and such a wide variety to choose from, with happy hour allowing us to get 2 for £7 which we thought really good value for what we got. We shared 10 tapas between 3 of us as well as a garlic bread which was all delicious! Lots to choose from and 5 dishes for £10 seemed like a bargain. So glad we gave this place a try! Very impressed and will definitely be returning soon.

I have just recently moved to the area and decided to visit the riverside last Saturday! Cocktails and tapas where gorgeous and very well presented, there staff were well presented and very polite and the manager of the bar was welcoming and really friendly and recommended us the strawberry daiquiri what we couldn't get enough off! We will be defiantly be visiting the riverside again this weekend!

we called in for a few drinks one sunny Saturday afternoon about 5pm, the staff (manager) was VERY UNWELCOMING the drinks were almost thrown at us. We sat down only to be told that the table was being reserved and that we could go upstairs. We headed up only to be in what seemed to be a rave, the music that from the early 90's blasting so loud and at 43 year old I was the youngest in there!!!!!! Such as shame what started out as the place to be in South Shields has turned in to a unwelcoming afternoon. We drank up and moved on immediately and I've not been back since

A quick tea before a visit to the local theatre. We chose the 10 tapas and a bottle of house wine £27:95 very good value. Unfortunately there was no squid or mussels which was a disappointment and the patatas bravas were poor. But everything else was good. Good service and tasty food. Will definitely return

Went in for tapas and a few beers with my mates ended up staying all night, tapas was lovely we ordered 20 between us and was on the table within 15 mins not too bad considering it was busy, then had a few cocktails and they were class will definitely be returning this weekend best in shields by far wouldn't listen to too many of the comments on here it's clearly not a restaurant so I'm not sure why people are expecting ala carte standard when it's a tapas bar?? Excellent

We popped in here today for lunch and the place was virtually empty so finding a table was not difficult but finding a clean one was! There was also a revolting spillage at the entrance to the place which surely you would clean away.When we did sit down we had to get the menus ourselves as no one was really bothered about helping us. The menus were so dirty and sticky inside. Awful music was blaring from a speaker above our heads so there was sadly only one thing for it.........We upped and left! I would totally begrudge giving my money to a place like this! Sort yourself out Riverside!

Imagine everything that could be bad, then double it. It was so bad I thought we were being filmed for Channel 5 documentary. We arranged a group booking from work along with partners and children before we all left on summer hols.Firstly half the pumps for the beer were not working. For the others i wish i hadn't bothered. £4.30 a pint! £2.50 for J2O. Plus the poor girl on the bar was hopelessly overwhelmed by the 3 people queueing for drinks.Food service was unbelievably slow. Glaciers are faster. The restaurant did say that due to size of the kitchen food wouldn't be brought altogether but they started at 1.50pm and when we had finally had enough at 3.05pm there were still 5 of our group of 16 to be served. We left because another person ordered pasta and they didn't have enough sauce meaning my child had been waiting 75 minutes to discover they couldn't have anything to eat. (We pre - ordered by the way). This was after they dropped my wife's garlic bread on the floor, gave her remains and then offered to "scrape" (their words) some sauce together for pasta.All this could have been forgiven had someone had the common decency to apologise properly but I got the feeling we were just an inconvenience.It's a real shame because it has a nice look about it and a decent atmosphere but the whole experience spoiled what should have been a a good afternoon with friends and the ones who did get food said it wasn't too bad.There were lot of other little things too numerous too mention as well. We have had a laugh about it as it was so bad but we are furious. Maybe they were having a bad day but there is a lot of restaurant competition in Shields so I will not be going back to check!

What an excellent place to chil lovely atmosphere great food great prices and two happy hours what more can I say other than give them a try.

A group of us from work booked the private room at at The Riverside for a retirement party for colleagues who were leaving. We had booked for 46 people and paid £300 for a hot buffet and nibbles. What we got was far from what we expected! Burger buns with hot beef, which was like leather, a couple of pizzas, a bowl of olives, potato wedges and some pistachio nuts. On complaining we were told the manager who'd been in charge when we'd booked had since left - not sure of how that was relevant?? They agreed to bring more food out as some of our party hadn't eaten due to all food being gone, they replenished the buffet with more leather beef, potato wedges and a couple of pizzas. It was diabolical and embarrassing for the people who had suggested booking this venue - and we learned never to use it again for any future work related celebrations, and I'm sure it put people off for private family functions too.

I met with some friends for some tapas and drinks on a Sunday afternoon. Nice place to relax and chill out. Food tasty and drinks enjoyable. Friendly, helpful staff and nice surroundings. Would recommend a visit here.

I came here with 3 of my friends from work to try the cocktails and tapas. So glad we did not listen to some of the negative reviews on here. We were more than impressed with the whole menu, and will be sure to return.

Friday night The Riverside was buzzing - really entertained with all the pre cocktails that everyone was enjoying. We ordered 5 tapas each and at £10 great value - mine was whitebait, pork, chorizo, wedges and Rosemary & salt bread - it was hot...it was delicious. Well done The Riverside great meal.

Having enjoyed drinks there in the past I was disappointed with the food provided. OK, for £5 I wasn't expecting a 14 inch top-notch pizza, what I did expect was the food to match the menu description. The pizza Diavala was basically a Margherita with a couple of sliced peppers scattered randomly, no sign of chilli or anything resembling "meat". Hopefully we caght the place on an "off" day but won't be rushing back.

what the heck has gone wrong with this place.... Have been here a couple of times although it's just been for a drink with the girls. Last weekend four of us (2 couples) came for a meal. We ordered tapas and a kebab after waiting for more than 40 mins and by the way not may people in having food it was cold well warmish, but tasted very salty and oily we complained to some jerk of a waiter who had no communication skills and said he would tell the chef but nothing happened we left most of it and left as the older couple we were with didn't want to us to make a scene. They need to have training days for staff and whoever is the head chef he needs to be reviewed and check on his qualifications because he's certainly not up to the standard according to other reviews on here.

on a very quiet thursday evening my sisters and I took our 3 neices to celebrate their birthdays what a big mistake! out of 6 drinks 2 were wrong the waitress needs training and some of the food inedable will not be going backwaited 45 mins for food and the place was empty felt sorry for the chef he had to serve our food himself

Went here on Friday evening, had a couple of drinks and decided to have something to eat. Ordered and paid for a selection of tapas and 2 side dishes. After a wait of 45mins no food had arrived, check with staff revealed .... that our food had been given to someone else!!! and that the kitchen was now CLOSED!!! We were given a full refund and a selection of cold tapas, which were nice, but the point being someone got a free meal as there is nothing in place to link you to your food order, no receipt/table number/raffle ticket etc. etc come on Riverside sort it out, you have a nice setting but you're letting yourselves down, and looking at other reviews there seems to be a few reviews regarding the standards of the food and service.

Very poor drinks, flat, and even worse tapas. Tapas was oily deep fried rather than clean tasting. Staff what a joke, the two main tables were taken by either a staff management meeting or lounging staff waiting to come on/go, this added nothing to the look of the place or the availability of seating. On visiting the toilet the upstairs area looked great and ideal for private bookings? Maybe staff should lounge up there or maybe assist colleagues in cleaning what was a manly bar area covered in dirty glasses and food soiled plates, overall very poor!

A group of 13 of us went to The Riverside on a Friday Night We did the bronze VIP Package abd felt we got good value for money We sat at the VIP table on the ground floor, our host was Jake who looked after us very well. It couldn't have been easy pleasing 13 fussy females.Jake showed us how to serve a Bellini and let us pour our own. The cocktails were amazing, with lots of choice.We didn't get to choose our own tapas dishes, a selection was provided. The food was nice but they were tiny portions especially for 13 of us! Luckily we ordered extra at extra cost. We would totally recommend the cocktails and tapas deal, the drinks are amazing, the food good and the customer service excellent, especially if you are lucky enough to have Jake as your host!

Visited on a Friday afternoon - was advised wait for food would be at least 40 minutes although not full. Wish we hadn't bothered - tapas served wasn't as good as Iceland £1 party food- was burnt, over salted and inedible!Cocktails good but do not go if you want to eat - we won't be back!

We visited on Easter Monday, we sat upstairs as there was a large group of us. We had to ask if they could open upstairs to accommodate for us. we could have probably sat downstairs, but one of the staff was taking up a full table with his laptop. We ordered food, my husband and i ordered first, 2 tapas selections and a meat platter. our food arrived last out of the group & the meat board was nowhere to be seen. We mentioned this to the gentleman who brought the food out & he had no idea what we were on about. he eventually came back and refunded us. We were not actually given the option to still have the platter... The food for the rest of the group was sub standard, salty & the service was terrible. We spoke to a gentleman with Glasses on, but he obviously has no skills dealing with a customer complaint. in all, it was a poor show from the riverside, drink orders were wrong, food delayed or forgotten about and 4 young lads running the show who basically couldn't give a dam about the customers.

Visited the riverside with a few friends after work, we got in sat down and had a couple of drinks, after about an hour I was starving so I ordered a mixed tapas and cheesy garlic bread, I was really looking forward to it and after about a half hour wait my tapas arrived the spicy prawns where like rubber and almost burn, the calamari was like rubber a friends agreed as he tried a bit, I ordered cheesy chips as one option but got given beetroot which I wasn't happy about but I was to hungry to ask for it to be changed, the chorizo was delicious, I was half way through the tapas when I asked how long my garlic bread would be and the guy behind the bar said I'll find out for you and get it sent over, I waited another 10 minutes before asking a young girl about it and she said the same thing, but this time I was asked about 5 minutes later the girl asked me if I had received it yet and I hadn't so she went to the kitchen and 5 minutes later she appeared with me garlic bread and it's fair to say the tapas was long gone by this point, I had to cut up the garlic bread with a plastic knife from the cutlery tray as I couldn't find a metal one, once I took my first bit I wish I had never ordered it the bottom was burnt, not charred, burnt and the taste was vile it was like biting into a bulb of garlic it was taste of pure raw garlic so after all that it's fair to say I won't be rushing back for anything to eat.

Couldn't book on a Saturday night for food turned up and everyone was drinking sitting down so no place to dine totally ridiculous

Visited here last Sunday evening, for cocktails and tapas.It was our first visit have something to eat and it didnt disappoint, all the food served looked amazing, and the cocktails were great (happy hour 6-7pm)I can personally reccommend the tapas selection which is 5 dished for £10, (salt n pepper quid was fantastic)See you soon!

Myself and a friend visited for the first time last night and was looking forward to it. We had been talking to a friend prior to ordering food who had said avoid the tapas as it was salty so we opted for the chicken kebabs which again were very salty, almost to the point of being inedible!

I visited on a weekday lunchtime and it was quite busy with many of the tables occupued, however this wasn't helped by there being one till in use and one member of staff taking the orders at the tll, so we had to queue for 15-20 minutes to put in our food and drinks order. We then waited an hour for a sandwich and wedges, and pizza and garlic bread. The food was just above average, but the wait really was ridiculous and more infuriatingly no one came over to explain or to tell us know either the reason for the delay, or when our meals would be arriving.The Riverside is really nicely furnished, and it is a nice homely atmosphere but an hour and a half for a quick mid-week lunch is just far too long.

Visited here for tapas and cocktails the staff were friendly and it had a great atmosphere. The prices were pretty reasonable. The tapas were served fast and tasted great.