We have eaten at this place many years ago and it was one of the best places to eat. However this wasn't the case today. The server we had was new I will give her a curve on that. The service was slow and the food we ordered was Lukewarm when we got it. Never got the cornbread that they give out to all table. The server didn't have a clue what was on the menu and I blame the manager for this read more

We really wanted to like this based on the reviews but unfortunately not one person in our large party liked it. We left a lot of food because we just could not make ourselves eat the $185 meal. Sadly several members had a very unpleasant evening in the bathroom. We will not be returning and hope to find a good authentic place to eat on this vacation before returning home. Very disappointing. read more

Check the dates on these reviews before you read them. If it is not 2015 forget it. My wife and I ate here 5/2/2015. Everything was terrible. The flounder was from Canada, the shrimp from Louisiana, and the rest a mystery to our waiter. This place is walking distance from a large shrimp and fishing fleet and does not have Texas sourced sea food. The shrimp were very small, I guess 25 to a pound. The corn bread was made of mostly flour and was sweet. Good Texas corn bread is 100% corn meal and does not have sugar. Nothing about our visit was good. The wine list has Woodbridge Chardonnay but the wine that was served was not it. It was a very watery poor excuse for a chard. I challenged the waiter and he took it off the bill. This is a do not try place. They did not offer comp fried pickles so I can't comment on them. read more

Thank you Batman for taking such great care of our party of 12 ! You made the evening even more satisfying to go along with the excellent fried oysters, perfectly prepared Ribeye and delicately fried shrimp. Everything we all ordered was delicious! The mustard greens were excellent as were the hushpuppies plus can't forget all the appetizers. An amazing evening made all the more special with such prompt attentive service from the bar and Batman! Thank you ALL for sharing in our festivities and enjoying our humor!! read more

This is a great restaurant for some good ol' down home cooking. I absolutely love their cornbread and cole slaw. Hard to beat! The fried dill pickles and jalapeños are great. We also had the seafood platter, chicken fried steak and grilled fish. All were delicious. One of the best restaurant in the Brazosport area. Highly recommended. read more

We really enjoyed our visit & will definitely return in the near future. Service was great, food was hot & fresh, & everything was delicious. The fried pickles were perfectly seasoned & piping hot. Husband really enjoyed his Cajun shrimp & my chicken fried steak was wonderful. I would definitely recommend this restaurant. And a BIG shout-out to our server, Christina. She did an awesome job!! read more

Best fried pickles ever! Had the Super Platter and everything was delicious! Great service too.

If I could give zero stars, that's what I'd do tonight. My committee meets there once a month for meetings and never had I been ignored the way we were ignored tonight. We've been meeting for about 3 years in the same location enigma free. However, tonight we weren't even offered water. Everyone sitting around us were waited on in a normal fashion and were served refill after refill, including full meals. My husband and I were actively ignored the entire hour as if we weren't even there. We were wearing camouflage so maybe they honestly didn't see us, but we were and are always the only 2 people of color there as well. So, if anyone was seen...we were. We drive an hour one way to attend our meeting and would love to at least be offered a glass of water or iced tea. I'm really ashamed that this is still taking place in 2018. On The River Cafe, you must do people at providing service for all of your guest. read more

I'm a local event planner and I love working with On The River! Their food is consistently delicious, their hard-working wait staff is always friendly and attentive, and their managers are always ready to go the extra mile to make my clients happy! Did i mention they make great REAL Cajun food? Highly recommended! read more

I came here for lunch and the food was great. I had a grilled shirmp salad with a cup of soup. The shirmp was freshly prepared with a good seasoning. The salad was also fresh with good veggie selections. I recommend this place for lunch and dinner. read more

This was a really great place! We had terrific service both times we went during our beach weekend. The first time I got a chicken fried steak which was delicious, as were the mashed potatoes. Hubby got a combo plate with fried catfish and fried shrimp, plus hush puppies and garlic mashed potatoes. The catfish was average, shrimp's breading was pretty good, and the hush puppies were terrific. The garlic mashed potatoes were very flavorful. I have never liked coleslaw or fried pickles but tried them both here and loved them. The second time I got a bacon cheeseburger with fries and it was pretty good! Not the best I've ever had but definitely good enough to order again sometime. read more

So I'll start this review by saying that I left my phone at the room an wasn't able to take pictures of the food . So sorry..... we ordered the fried pickles an they were good they had slices of deep fried jalapeño with them that adds a bit of spice. Next was the white cornbread it was a little sweet for my taste but good crumble an airy like a cake. For main entree was the old Brazos special I think 2 catfish 6 shrimp with your choice of salad or coldslaw. Not the worst an not the best. I ate it all cause I was hungry so it wasn't bad in my opinion. The tarter sauce is homemade. If i lived here is probably eat here agian to try something else on the menu. Wait staff was kind an attentive. read more

Everything is pretty good here. Fried pickles and ranch are to die for. Cornbread is the best hands down I have ever eaten. Some of the items may be a little tad overpriced for what you get, but still good food. The catfish and shrimp are pretty hard to beat. Hamburger steak and chicken fried steak are not bad, but have had better. Really seafood is what to get if you like it. read more

Good fried seafood and catfish. Veggies were good, fried stuff was light and crispy. We'll go back, for sure.

We were just passing through the area and stopped for lunch. I had the chicken fried chicken and the garlic mashed potatoes. It was pretty good. Our waitress (Becca) was really friendly and took great care of us. read more

I went to this place late at the end of my mini road trip Saturday evening. The fried pickles and the cornbread are amazing. The rest of our meal was good. I would say better than most seafood places. Perhaps my meal and service would have been better earlier in the day. The service was very nice but slow. Even though the server was nice and kept apologizing, at the end of a mini 60 mile road trip, you just want to enjoy a meal and get on your way. I will say the mixed drinks look very appealing and I would have tried some had I not had a 60 mile drive a head of me. I will definitely be coming back the next time and try something else on the menu. read more

Me and my family has a lovely lunch here. The fried pickles were delicious!!! We all had fried catfish and shrimp which was great, the coleslaw is to die for, and the peach cobbler was the ace in the hole. You HAVE to have pickles and cobbler if you go. Our waiter Freddy also provided great service! Great experience all around! read more

Loved it! No regrets coming here. I really enjoyed my server, wish i remembered her name. Got the fried catfish, salad, mashed potatoes, greens (okay), hush puppies (over cooked) and their cocktail of the day. read more

The food was wonderful! Batman,our server, did a great job while keeping us entertained.

This is the best place I have eaten in Texas. It has a real old fashioned charm. The food is excellent, and the staff was terrific. I thoroughly recommend the coleslaw and fried pickles. I will definitely eat here whenever I pass through again. read more

Great. Corn bread and pickled onions were awesome. Fried Jalepenos appetizer was spectacular and HUGE for a half order. Chicken fried steak was great. Batter stayed with the meat when cut and I went with the mustard greens instead of potato and was very pleased with my choice. Service was ludicrously quick as well. I'll be back. read more

Yummy food great environment. The food is hit or miss depends what time of the day you go.

Had a wonderful lunch with my husband today the steak sandwich , slaw and the best peach cobbler I think I haver eaten ! The service was great . We will be going back to try something different for sure . read more

We are new to the area and found this place on Yelp, the fried pickles are awesome!! The service was great and if you leave here hungry it is your fault lol, everything was cooked to perfection, I had the blackened catfish and my husband had a steak with shrimp. read more

Jill is awesome. I'm from out of town. She was so helpful and we enjoyed our experience. Thank you.

This was our first time coming here. We came on a Saturday during lunch time. We've been trying to find a good seafood place in Brazoria County for a long time as we finally found it! This place was excellent. We loved all of our food and our server was great. We can't wait to come back! read more

Great little spot right off the Brazos River. Wait staff is always smiling and very friendly.

Good fresh food, good friendly service . Convenient and consistent. Gets crowded at lunch, just get there early

Five star cornbread. Coleslaw was off tasting, Fat Tire was cool at best. Catfish was done right. Tartar sauce was bland & not appealing at all. Grilled veggies were oily. Hush puppies were over cooked. Fried shrimp was ok but shrimp brochettes was flavorless. Overall, we give this place a 'meh'. read more

me and my man kelly were looking for a place to eat some fried oysters. located just blocks from where we live and i have been a county resident since birth knew of on the river restaurant, though it had been years since i had eaten there, and was a little leery looking at some reviews on the internet. not like you are risking your life , but eating out and getting it the way you like to eat it, sometimes or most of the times is a challenge and disappointment. and i guess you could be risking your life, stuff like food poisioning. i can say none of that happened, still living. and i can say the fried oysters were perfect and melted in your mouth. i ate the seafood platter, so along with the oysters, it came with fried shrimp, fried catfish, hushpuppies, crab au gratin, bake potato, and small cup of gumbo...plus on the river are known for their coleslaw and cornbread they give prior to your meal,, kind of like at a mexican restaurant you get chips and salsa, but not all you can eat. lol.the four stars is really just because we were first served cornbread you could break some teeth on, but once we told the newly hired waitress of 3 days, it was corrected and the cornbread was moist, tasty. the gumbo was just okay, not much there to eat, but it was just lacking the gumbo taste i love.. and others might like it like the way it was prepared.. so if you are looking for excellent fried oysters, pleasant attentive staff, and great prices try on the river. read more

Awesome Place. Ask for Devin. He was our server - a great server. The shrimp/catfish combo is the way to go. Love the way the catfish is lightly breaded. And the individual serving of cornbread in an iron skillet is a nice touch. We will be keeping On The River on our radar. read more

I'm from Dallas and this is probably the best seafood I've ever had. Service was amazing! Atmosphere was spectacular. Last but, not least the food was AMAZING!! 200% would recommend! read more

We moved to Lake Jackson from SC about 2 months ago. I was wanting some good seafood. We came across this restaurant and so glad we did. Food was great and so was the service. Highly recommend this place read more

Way to pricey for the food portion and taste. Fried catfish and shrimp is hit and miss. Good and friendly service.

Always want to try local places when visiting towns but will not be returning to this place. My fried pickles slices were bigger than my fried oysters. Everything is heavily battered with no flavor, just greasy. Even the hush puppies weren't good as they were hard as a rock due to being overly fried. Not everything was bad, my waitress was extremely friendly and the portions are large. Don't let the good reviews from the past push you to try it as they did for me and wasted my money. read more

THE FRIED PICKLES ARE AMAZING!!!! Get a half order because it is a huge portion! Would definitely come here again

I love the fried pickles and cole slaw. We had fried shrimp and fries for our meal. You can really tell the difference between Gulf shrimp and imported shrimp. Thanks for a great meal. read more

Perfect stop before heading home from a full day on Surfside Beach with friends! Will definitely be back. The grilled flounder was fabulous and the hush puppies quite yummy! read more

i had never been to the restaurant but i am a volunteer for military moms and wives of brazoria county and yesterday was our mail out of over 2100 packages to our heroes serving over seas. a wonderful lunch of chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans and home made yeast rolls and a very nice salad with a very tasty raspberry vinagrette dressing was donated to our group from "on the river". it was all delicious and i am eager to go to the restaurant in freeport. it was such a kind and generous offer from this restaurant and was greatly appreciated by all of the volunteers and the post office staff. this is what being a good member of the community is all about. read more

My girlfriends and I all had the buffet from On the River the other day. All 10 of us raved about how great the shrimp,catfish and crawfish ettoufee where, not to mention how awesome the frog legs, cornbread and coleslaw where. read more