River City Grill

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CLOSED NOW - Opens at 11:00am

In a few words: great service, great food, nice selection of wine to accompany the delicious dishes. Being from France, I would like to describe this place as full of savoir vivre and savoir faire. It means that the staff knows exactly what to do to make us feel good when we go there:) We have vacationed here 6 times so far, and River City Grill is always a must stop. My favorite, the stuffed grouper:)

I've eaten here for both lunch and dinner and found both meals to be seriously underwhelming for the price. Lunch was a portion of salmon that was under-seasoned and overcooked. My mom had a salad that was really expensive and not very good.



The last time I ate at River City was a few weeks ago with a friend I just ordered a salad and an appetizer. The caesar salad had WAY too much dressing- so much that I actually choked a little on the vinegar. The lettuce had obviously sat in the dressing for some time as it was wilted and saturated. I asked for anchovies (as I like them in the dressing for the added bite) and instead of tossing them in with the salad, there was a lump of them on top. My appetizer was the Mussels Fra Diavolo. The sauce as described was to be a spicy tomato sauce...not so. The sauce was merely diced tomatoes and onions with way too much raw garlic, there was no spice at all, not even salt and pepper. The mussels were obviously frozen as they tasted a little freezer burned and they were really overcooked to the point where they were tough and mealy. I couldn't finish them. My friend that came with me never turns down a meal and always eats his food and whatever's left of mine. He ordered the Pasta with shredded chicken and sausage. Keep in mind that this pasta was $17. The pasta came out and it was just plopped in a large bowl. The chicken tasted like it was just plain boiled and the sausage had the same freezer burned flavor as the mussels. The pasta itself was undercooked. There wasn't really a sauce on the pasta and it was just really inedible. We were gracious and told the waitress what was wrong with the dinner but it was such a horrible experience we just left instead of having something else.



Unfortunately the bad food overshadows the cool bar atmospher and the great little bands they have on the weekend. The sad part is that people will continue to eat at this place because there's really nothing else in Punta Gorda. I only wish their kitchen staff cared more about the food they served their patrons, they sure do charge enough to send out better quality.

Excellent fun and a nice bar. Right in the heart of downtown.