River Bend Cafe

Good morning. Bright, bright sunshiney day. Ah yes. If you're an oldhead like me, you know the rest.. I can see clearly now.. the rain is gone... it's truly that bright sunshiney day. I love it.So out for a drive, top is down, wind whispering by at 45 mph. I'm just enjoying life. I'm not really starving, just peckish. There's a nice brunch spot local to me. It's in a mixed corporate, industrial area. The vibe is airy, fresh, and modern. The food is truly what you would expect in an uptown Dallas, trendy upscale location, but right here in Richland Hills with the pricing is Richland Hills reasonable. It's the kind of place that makes me wish I wasn't a great cook because I would be here daily. I love this spot. They make it happen.

Their hours in Google and Yelp are incorrect and no one picks up the phone to confirm if they're open. Online it says they close at 3pm. We got here at 2:15 and they came outside to say they were closed and that they closed at 2. I told them we tried to call to confirm if they were open 45mins prior and no one answered the phone. So we assumed (and why wouldn't we?) that they were open according to the online listings. No apology or understanding from the employee. No attempt to get us an order to go at least, due to their mistake. This is awful business practices and terrible customer service. We'll never be back.

First time here today and the food was delicious. It took about twenty minutes for our order to come out, but everything was fresh and hot. The side salad was delicious and more than we expected. Calm, quiet atmosphere with reasonable prices. Would definitely recommend!

They are back open for breakfast and lunch and even though they have a limited menu everything is really good especially the daily specials.

If I could give zero stars, I would. I am suspicious that any of the other reviews came from actual patrons. My family visited River Bend today for lunch for the first time. There was a table of people finishing their meals and one other table waiting on their food. Despite the restaurant being mostly empty, most of the empty tables were dirty. We placed an order for our food...a grilled cheese with fruit for our daughter, beef tacos, and fish tacos. 30 minutes later, we still had no food. We saw the one other table return their food when it finally arrived, so we knew we were in trouble. My fish tacos looked like someone took the catfish and minced it then poured it on the taco with sauce and piled it with spring mix. There was less than an ounce of fish, but it looked so disgusting that I refused to even taste it. The cilantro lime rice was plain white rice, and they were out of the black beans to go with it, even though it was the start of the lunch shift. Even though my mom ordered the same thing as me, her food arrived 30 minutes after mine arrived, which was an entire HOUR after she ordered. The waitress did not make her pay for it. In fact, 45 minutes after ordering the waitress asked if we needed anything to which my husband replied, "Yes! Our food!" His taco had meat, cheese, lettuce, and tomato with no seasoning on the meat. He said it was inedible. My daughter could not even chew her grilled cheese because the bread was so stale and hard. Her orange slices were dry on the inside. We threw it all away. I was hesitant to write this review, but I wish we would have known before going to this place. Don't trust the reviews. Notice the perfectly plated food and pics in an empty restaurant.

After reading the review and since we live 10 minutes away it was time to give River Bend Cafe a try. It was Saturday morning and we had errands to run so off we went to River Bend for breakfast. We love eating out for breakfast on the weekend. We had high hopes and still do after our visit.We arrived right after they opened; there were two other tables occupied. You order at the counter and they bring your food to you at your table. My wife ordered the French toast and I ordered the short stack pancake breakfast with a side of sausage and grits. I wanted to try the pancakes after reading all the reviews on Yelp.The decor of the restaurant is stark but appealing especially for the industrial area it's located in. I was very impressed with how clean the dining room was. Shortly our breakfast entrees were brought to our table. Both of our breakfast platters were "picture perfect." We had both gotten coffee which was freshly brewed and wonderful.My wife said her French toast was very good. My platter definitely had some issues. I had ordered my eggs over-easy and they came out over well-done, way overcooked. I love it when the yoke runs out and I can soak it up with my pancakes. The pancakes were a bit tough and a knife had to be used to cut them. They were nicely cooked all the way through. Neither one us cared for the grits, they were a little too thick for our tastes. Overall it was an OK breakfast.We did take a look at the lunch menu and definitely want to come back and try some additional items. We'll definitely come back again real soon.

I went here a while back with a group of cooks and foodies and we would all have to respectfully disagree with the positive reviews. This place is serving up 90% premade frozen food. Which is unfortunate because some of the dish ideas they want to bring to Fort Worth are ones that Fort Worth NEEDS to be eating! Escargot, cioppino, roast duck, bouillabaisse, coq au vin, etc. Refreshing to see a kitchen that wants to cook something other than BBQ and steaks in this town... but the execution leaves MUCH to be desired.Our 7 top table was all underwhelmed by the food. We ordered a variety of items, including escargot, a burger, fried chicken and grits, a roast beef panini, and cioppino. The escargot was some kind of "snails on a shingle" situation but it was edible. The burger was a frozen, premade patty with plasticky cheese. The fried chicken and grits were the laughing stock of the night. Three guests ordered this and all three of the plates came out at different times, looking completely different. The grits were dry as was the chicken, and the chicken was definitely a frozen chicken strip. Like what you'd find in a fry basket on a kid's menu. The roast beef was not made in house, and the panini was not pressed. The cioppino was edible but it desperately needed lemon and salt. Honestly, ALL of the food needed salt.Out of all the plates we shared, the ones from the dinner specials menu were the only ones close to good - Escargot and cioppino. Imagine how much BETTER they could be if the kitchen weren't having to focus on stocking up and cooking all that premade stuff? Their menu is WAY too large for everything on it to be done well. It seems like they're trying to keep too many people happy by offering something for *literally* everyone. Focus in, cook to the kitchen's strengths, and make a manageable menu that can be prepared from scratch. Then they can 86 the Sysco burger patties and stop using frozen chicken strips on adult entree plates.The service was also awful. You order at the counter but they bring you your food. But then you still don't have a server. So if you need silverware, or a bottle opener, or a corkscrew, or wine glasses, you had to go back up to the counter. Twice I asked for forks for the table and twice was forgotten. There's a galley that would be the obvious place for a server station, but it's meant for customers to go into a help themselves to plastic cups, napkins, ice, and soda. But then there's a line for "tip" when you sign your receipt after placing your order. What am I tipping for? I gave them a couple of bucks with the intention of tipping more in cash if they had helped us out. I did not leave an additional tip.The entire staff was overwhelmed by a 7 top. Literally wide-eyed. If they changed up the service style and actually had servers for the tables and took reservations then they would have been prepared for our group. I arrived early and explained that it would be at least 6 people and asked if we could all sit at one large table, but they didn't really have a plan for that.I will say that the dining room was at least very clean. The galley was not.

This restaurant was a pleasant surprise. We almost didn't go in as the location is in an industrial area and lacks ambience. However, we were pleasantly impressed with both the food and the service. We had a po boy and IDK salad. Both were made fresh to order and were delicious. Wish I would have known you can bring your own wine and cocktails to enjoy with your meal. Definitely worth a visit!

Orange Chicken was amazing! One of the best orange chicken I've ever had. Staff was on point and the grilled chicken tacos were good as well.

Highly recommend this place! The reviews are a bit out dated but take this recent one as your sign to go and try! You will not be disappointed! :D I went for a work luncheon and it was incredible, everyone was satisfied in our group!