Rick's On the River

I found Rick's on the river back in August and have been back over 10x since, and I don't even live in Tampa! It is honestly my favorite restaurant of all time and it makes me just so happy to be there. Sitting outside is an absolute must to observe the beautiful Hillsborough river and people watch. I typically sit at the bar if I'm by myself but when I bring my friends sitting right next to the river at a table is never a bad time. I've literally never had a bad experience with service the people are always so nice and the food comes out so quick! My only request is to please bring back the coconut chalices I absolutely love that souvenir cup and need to add more to my collection. As for the food, the oysters are an absolute must. Top 10 oysters I've ever had in my entire life and it's actually the only thing I ever order. You cannot beat a dozen oysters, a side of fries, and 2 whiskey diets for under $40. I always drag my friends here and they never regret it, some great feedback I got was from the burger, fish dip, and loaded fries so you truly cannot go wrong here. We went for the first time on a Friday night so we got to hear the live music this time which I've been wanting to do for a while now. Ricks on the river I'm genuinely your biggest fan I love you and never change please!!

Go for the drinks and river view not for the food.The drinks are good and reasonable in price. The service is friendly and quick.It's nice to sit on the river on a pleasant day and watch the boat traffic.But eat before you get there. The food is boring low end bar food. The burger tasted like a bubba burger. The oysters are never fresh, they just look old and brown. If you have to eat get the wings. Wings are hard to screw up.Enjoy the view drink the drinks.

Enjoyed a pina colada here. Good service on a week night. My guy friend loved it here. You can bring your boat up if you have one. Sometimes they have live music

It was a beautiful Saturday, arrived via the boat docks, came in for a snack and a beer. We got the last slip and the place was packed. End up getting some food and no I did not take any pictures, forgot to. The staff is very friendly and everybody was having a great time. Stay just over an hour and then we drove off. Definitely come in if you have time it's always fun to be here!

Not likely to return.We've lunch there yesterday - Saturday.The location is great, on the Hillsborough River, with plenty boat slips at 1:30pm.It has indoor and covered outdoor areas. We sat out. All tables are for max 8 people, benches with no back support.The service is slow, both drinks and food - got our food exactly an hour later. Our girl is gracious and lovely. The few waiting staff I saw, are young girls who wear tight outfit (not unifform). I would expect them to be sporty but instead, I feel lifeless. I yielded to a tall girl after bathroom. She opened the door and just left. Ok, maybe she was juggling two drinks on the tray ... I would use my body to hold the door for the next person IF my hands are occupied ...The foods: average bar food. I've Little Neck clams, the two pieces of toast are delicious. Chicken wrap is good.As we were leaving, a band came to set it up. One member wore a Brookly NY leather jacket honoring the fallen heroes on Veterans Dat. I asked him if he was from Bly and he replied a big YES -:). Then asked me if I'm from Thailand or Philippine. I replied, Africa."Really?"Really sir.Thanks for these who have served.

First time here and the did was great. I like oysters and had six that were really yummy. The service was really friendly and attentive and the ambiance was really casual. Really enjoyed the experience and will be back

A perfect dive bar on the river! Great location. Lots of space. If you're looking for a place to hang out at in the water come here!!!Good food, good drinks. A full bar and plenty of staff to help out. We stopped in after I got back from my work trip for some Friday evening fun. Some cold beers and appetizers. Very busy for an early Friday evening. Diverse crowd and a band setting yo to play for the night. Check this place out if you haven't already. If you have come back and enjoy this place!

It's a good location if you like the water and boats. It's a dive bar more then a restaurant. Unique inside and large outdoor patio seating area.Menu is ok nothing stands out as a wow. The oysters were decent size but the main meal was lackluster and the onion rings and fries lukewarm.Not a great experience at all.Service was good after they finally noticed us sitting at the table.

I deleted my original review thinking Gary the manager would rectify it but I see his white pride was too much for him to admit when he was wrong. I'm a frequent patron at ricks simply because they are affordable. But affordability is not even enough to deal with blatant discrimination. Twice in the past week I've dealt with dismissive attitudes from not only Gary but the other manager a large white man with gray hair. The first time I mentioned waiting for a waitress for to long I was told I sat at a dirty table. Today after waiting for almost 10 minutes and being ignored by all the hollister looking employees, I was finally approached by someone who was told that I just got there to which she was able to call BS. She said she had saw me sitting at the table and saw me being ignored. She confidently suggested I speaker to Gary the manager who would be able to correct the situation but he had the most dismissive passive aggressive attitude that I could only expect from a white man in today's climate. He asked me what did I want him to do about people walking past me and being ignored and if I wanted him to go back in time to fix it. Because my child was with me and Gary was all but threatening to trespass me I left it alone. Only to be told by our waitress that Gary was reviewing the tapes to see if we were ignored and not once did he come address it once he saw he was wrong. Instead I was given a 2.50 discount on my $61 tab. The reviews themselves show that black people are treated differently here unfortunately Gary has no problem letting Tampa know he doesn't need black money and there's plenty of money in the area to support him. Also, the waitresses don't charge the same prices for drinks. A drink I paid $8 for on Friday night was $12 today.

What a beautiful restaurant to come and have lunch or dinner , the food is awesome. You can come by car or boat there is always plenty of dock space I've never had a problem