We come to Wilkes Barre for vacation to hit up the casino. Found this place by accident. Came here 2 nights in a row (second time was for my bday dinner). Excellent food, service and atmosphere. Will be returning everytime we come on vacay. I also had the buffalo chicken ceasear salad. Chicken is amazing!! read more

See all

The place to be on friday & saturday nights! they have the famous river deck with a sweeping view of the river. this place has excellent food, plentiful drinks, excellent atmosphere, free parking, and is very easy to find. prices are very agreeable. We met the owners, who are wonderfully nice! This establishment is jammed starting around 10 pm sat nights with the best looking and most stylish of the young folks of Wilkes-Barre. This is definitely the weekend place to be. read more

Came for brunch on a Sunday while visiting some friends in the area. The drink menu for Sunday brunch I have to admit was pretty creative. I had the apple cider mimosa which was very good and I was surprised at the drink sizes. Definitely got your moneys worth and the bartender that day had a heavy hand. I got the Wake and Bake and the mac and cheese was truly the best I've had in a long time - very creamy! My friend had a burger and raves about it. Now for the lack of stars - the tables were way too close for comfort during these times and I didn't see any sanitizing while I was there. The bathrooms were really gross. I get that this place is a bar with a huge night life crowd but for the love of god please make sure last nights throw up is cleaned from the bathroom in time for brunch. Overall the restaurant lacked cleanliness read more

Amazing food, kind and quick service! Will definitely be visiting again soon. We were sat outside the view was very nice.

Wow, it's like we're invisible. At a high top in bar area. Bartender walked away while my husband was still ordering his drink. Didn't hear to add Stoli. Never asked us if we wanted another drink. Had to go to bar and then flag him down. Had to ask waitress for our check. Terrible service. Too busy talking to a girl in the corner. No one should ever be left in a bar with an empty glass. read more

Fantastic experience! There was no seats available outside which was a bummer, so I sat at the bar and had a wonderful bartender! She had a great attitude and fast service! Food tasted great!( I got the Nashville chicken sandwich) and the beer was ice cold! Will definitely recommend coming to this place! read more

Absolutely love the grill! I've never had anything bad there and the service was excellent. They aim to please which Apparent at the service, quality of food, presentation, and excellent prices. I enjoy watching Sunday football there and it's even better between the hours of three and 6...most drinks are half price! Best burger ever! read more

I've been here for brunch, lunch and dinner and have always left satisfied. For brunch they have a build your own Bloody Mary bar (I'm not sure if this is still a thing during Covid) which has a huge selection of toppings. Their sandwiches are all amazing. There is also seating that looks over the river which is really nice. read more

We choose this place because they served food until 1am. On walking in at 12am, we noticed a sign which has an dress code. There were tables in the front area giving it a sit down eating vibe while the back area had a bar/club like environment with high table bars and an outdoor dancing area with a live DJ. CRAB FRIES: Overkill. Basically a heaping amount of home fries with a topping of a chunky crab sauce, causing the lower layers of fries to get soggy in under 5 minutes. Ended up stopping 1/3rd in. STEAK HOUSE QUESADILLA: Sirloin with caramelized onions, mushrooms and cheese. Enough for 2 people. Good combination of flavors. Will definitely return just to have this! Note: It is even delicious as cold leftovers! THE HANGOVER SANDWICH: Beef. Eggs. Bacon. On texas toast. 'Nuff said?? But be careful if you have TMJ issues, this 'wich is ridiculously tall! SHORTY BURGER: Braised rib with a Thai twist! If you enjoy the sesame and soy sauce taste, then you will definitely enjoy this creation! The food was surprisingly delicious for a bar like restaurant. Minus 1 star for the soggy appetizer and no clear directions on waiting to be seated. [The Waiter commented on this] read more

This restaurant is one of my favorites! The food, especially the Buffalo bites, are delicious! Servers are always really friendly and attentive. read more

Awesome new find!!! I've heard about this place for many years and I try my best to avoid it late on weekends because it brings a wide array of "interesting" people, but if you're looking for a relaxing dinner M-F before 9pm, this is the place to go. I'm a sweet potato french fry addict and their fries and maple dipping sauce is the BEST I've ever had in this area. They have a ton of items off the menu and the scenery of the passing trains and river is great as well. read more

Great brunch spot. The best in the Wilkes barre area in my opinion. I personally recommend "The Tower" for the full River Grille brunch experience. read more

Food was not too appealing for the price. Staff was not friendly. I ordered a lemonade & a handheld chicken sandwich & although the size was so large I couldn't hold it, it was mostly fatty meat. My lemonade just tasted like water with a lemon squeezed in it. VERY disappointed, you will never see me here again. read more

Excellent service food was cooked to perfection. Favorite summer place on the deck. Never disappointed My fav place especially in the summer. The deck and view are fabulous. Food is always a 10. read more

Great drink Menu. Good atmosphere and great view. Come one, come all. You will never have a regret here. read more

See all

I ate here for the first time last week on the deck by the water during sunset. The seating on the deck is first come first serve, no reservations, and we were told it would be about an hour to wait. It ended up being only about 15 minutes. I had a long island iced tea at the bar, and ordered swordfish for my entrée. Both were delicious. All of the staff seemed very attentive and professional. I instantly fell in love with this place, and would highly recommend eating by the water. It's beautiful. read more

River Grille - River Grille dinner at sunset. - American Near Me - Plains, Pennsylvania

Excellent. This place was packed on a Sunday night, I can't imagine what Friday and Saturday look like. Beautiful view. Drinks were phenomenal and half off from 3-6. Food was perfect. Cheese curds definitely didn't come out of the freezer. Lobster Mac and Cheese was to die for. I had brisket sandwich, pretty darn good. Hubby had steak and cleaned his plate. Wish we lived closer! read more

Don't get any better than this when you want a great sport bar , great food choices , drinks along the river front!!! read more

See all

Most of our food was decent, but the service for us today was terrible. Appetizers of calamari and fried cheese were good. The first problem occurred when the steak was delivered. It was a hanger steak that was supposed to be cooked medium rare. The steak came out precut, and it was clearly medium well to well done. When mentioned to the waitress her response was, "Oh ok." Not exactly the response expected. She didn't apologize, but did ask if I wanted a new one. I said yes. After everyone else was finished with their meals, 15-20 minutes later, the steak arrived without any side dishes. The steak was very rare, not something requiring that much cook time, and I had the pleasure of eating my $17.95 steak out of a small bowl. Again, no apology, no manager, no offer to get fresh sides for the steak. Throughout the meal I was enjoying a rum bucket, but when I got to the bottom I noticed there was something black stuck on the bottom. I put my finger to it, and it came out with black sludge on it. We came to the conclusion it was old ink from a broken pen. When the waitress came back, we mentioned there was something at the bottom of the drink, and she told us that they throw pens in those buckets. Again no apology. She then asked the wrong person at the table if they wanted another and said she would take the drink off the bill. She didn't. Additionally, we noticed one pint glass was chipped with food stuck at the top, and another was cracked almost top to bottom - highly unsanitary. Some of the food was good, but having a waitress that doesn't care, questionable sanitation practices, and no one ever apologizing for anything made us angry. At some point she should have sent a manager or attempted to compensate somehow. I doubt we'll ever go back. read more

See all

So disappointed to have to rate our meal this low. We had a good breakfast here last year and decided we were dying to try their lobster rolls, since I have been know to travel pretty far to find a real New England Lobster Roll! At $35 for a lobster roll dinner we really had our hopes set high. First off, the appetizers were only OK. The Cheese Curds appetizers were so chewy they were sort of hard to eat. It was actually the same with the Buffalo Wing bites. Not tender at all. And the Buffalo Egg rolls didn't have much taste to them. We ended up leaving most of those. I really wouldn't have cared if my Lobster roll turned out good but the meat was very chewy and hard to eat as well. Not sure why this was an issue with all the food? The taste was good and it was done the way it was supposed to be done on the bun grilled in butter, but overly chewy. The most disappointing meal of the night was the Lobster Mac and Cheese. I wish we wouldv'e taken a photo to share but didn't think about it. A $27 bowl of mac and cheese with 2 tiny bits of lobster that were actually VERY hard to find, was definitely NOT worth $27. Overall, I have to say I wouldn't come back here unless it was for drinks and maybe a burger. read more

Great food! Also there's some rather large praying mantises there so that was extra cool (: thanks Lauren for the good food and great service read more

River Grille - a person holding a plate of food - American Near Me - Plains, Pennsylvania

Found flies on the lamps. Sat for 10 minutes waiting for a drink. Then when i asked the server for a shot of her choice she told me no. Shitty people that work here. Gave them 2 stars. One for the drinks and one for the food. read more

River Grille - Found flies on the lamps. - American Near Me - Plains, Pennsylvania

Visited the River Grille last week and was pleasantly surprised to hear ALL types of music. The staff as always is amazing and the food is delicious. We were pleasantly surprised to see they have SLUSHIES!!!! They are great. So happy to have a safe fun place to eat and drink and DANCE with friends read more

All the food is really good here from the appetizers to the entrees to the desert... the bartenders make really good drinks and the service is great... all the prices are very reasonable.. read more

River Grille - Steak Caprese salad amazing! - American Near Me - Plains, Pennsylvania

They were super busy the waitress was nice the food was good it took about 45 minutes to get the food .The waitress that sat my family down was moody and put us in a crowded area. There was a fight outside,a bunch of drunk people and if you don't like that influence on your kids I wouldn't recommend them coming. Good for a date maybe. read more

Had my Bridal shower at River Grille yesterday. Excellent excellent job on their part. The room was set up with extra tables for my decor. The Barmaids were perfect personalities that went above and beyond taking the drink orders. They kept my fiance stocked and they were super helpful when I realized I had forgotten to bring a pair of scissors and found me one. The drinks were hard and delicious and the food was excellent . They did mess up on my desert choice but no one even noticed of cared because everything else was so wonderful. I will definitely recommend River Grille or use them again if I have the opportunity for a large party. We used the covered deck and the view of the River was spectacular. Also they are very kid friendly. We had one of the little girls break a glass by accident and the staff were super about it and very courteous. Can't say enough. Also last but not least the coordinator was a pleasure to work with, Kristina!! Thank you all so much! read more

Well... the food was decent. I was jealous of the waitress since she was so hungover, so she must of had a better night then me. She forgot my Bloody Mary but I stayed on top of that and just asked a different waitress for one. I'll try it again but... it was a let down. read more

Very pricey , noisey unfriendly bar tender (women) and the burger only fair. I believe Burger king would be better. No return here.

This was a pretty good place. The food was good, the servers were friendly. My son wanted a smoothie, and despite not seeing one on the menu, they were still able to make him one. We had a very large booth which was able to fit 3 adults, 2 children and an infant very comfortably. We arrived on a Tuesday around lunch hour and it was quiet. The food took a little longer to come out than I would expect for lunch, but we were not in a rush. Our water was being refilled and we were enjoying the atmosphere. The view was pretty as well. If I was in the area I would eat here again. read more

I've noticed that there is never any tp for my bunghole here which almost resulted in me getting caught with my pants down. Came for lunch very hungover and hoping to drink lots of coke. It took forever for someone to acknowledge our existence which I realize now was probably because our waitress was on bath salts. The coke was flat and warm so I told her to get it the f off my bill and she did so one star for that and also because of rogue gatherings of future business d bags. Food is gross too read more

I want to give this place a higher rating, but because of the experiences I've had here, they have some work to do. I agree with Ryan W.'s comments about how the River Grille has a lot of potential. The have the largest deck i've ever seen at a restaurant/bar over looking the river. It's an awesome view. They have a covered and non-covered section with patio umbrellas. During the summer months this place is a great location to spend your time outside having a good time with friends. The menu changed since the last time I've been here. Since it was Wednesday, it was Mexican night. The chicken fajitas and enchiladas were great. Wish the enchiladas were served with a side though because it wasn't filling enough. Unfortunately, if we got out appetizer, it would have been enough. Overall, the service needs more attention. I'll probably be back again. Give it another go around. read more

I think this place has a lot of potential. I was back in my home town recently and about to head to the woodlands for a drink when my friend said "don't go there, you will probably get stabbed!" So i guess in the past year or so the crime has gotten pretty bad, instead he suggested the River Grille! Definitely a good spot right on the river to eat or drink outside! Surprisingly cheap, big blue moons were only $2.50 and the food was also rather inexpensive. Great setting lots of space (if its daytime, you will bake on at the table with the umbrellas in the sun so sit at one of the tables closer to the outdoor bar with the fans to stay cool! The inside is well decorated its a pretty cool spot! i could see myself hanging out here a bit more if I still lived in the area. Downfalls included the food was just so so... We got some cheese fries and it was a giant plate of just decent fries covered in what looked like a about a tablespoon full of cheese that managed to cover about 3 or 4 fries... fail... Also when you are on the balcony you can look down over a big courtyard that you know gets packed at night and would be a great spot to drink and mingle only to find out you cant even go down there, its only for banquets / parties... Fail #2... All in all - very good setting inside and out, surprisingly cheap, food is decent, not too bad! read more

Delicious food. Horrible service. Our second time here and our waitress was incredibly dismissive of us. We had to ask twice for a few things. We watched her hug and fawn over customers that she knew so it isn't her general disposition to be ignorant, which means it's intentional. Worst part is, she was training another server. Hopefully her rude attitude doesn't rub off on her trainee. We both really enjoyed the food so would like to return but that poor treatment will cause us to reconsider. River Grill- you better keep an eye on this! With better service, I would have given a higher rating. It's all the server's fault!!! read more

Took our mother for brunch and it turned in lunch then dinner. Was seared for 1 hour and 25 minutes before we got food got nine people. Some of the food was cold. Coffe was cold and burnt. Our waitress got lost for about 25 minutes in the wait. To boot, a 20% gratuity was add to the check hence the poor service. Left hungry!! We won't be coming back! read more

This restaurant is located on the river and has a wonderful view. I was on vacation and my sister suggested we go there for a nice meal. We decided to take my daughter and my niece with us and have a girl's night out. We ordered our drinks and the kids ordered rootbeer. Our drinks were very good but both rootbeers had a funny taste. The kids would not drink them. I tried it and it tasted like butterscotch not rootbeer. Not sure what they were drinking and not wanting to complain I ordered the girls water. Both girls ordered macaroni with parmesan and butter on it. My daughter's came out first. It tasted good (I tried it). As she ate it she noticed that some of the macaroni was not cooked all the way through and was hard. Again not wanting to complain I told her to just pick those pieces out and put them to the side. My niece's macaroni came out and there were two very long and very blonde hairs in the macaroni. The waitress had not even put the plate down on the table when we noticed it. We immediately sent it back. A short time later someone came back out with a new serving. He apologized twice for the hair being in the food. My niece was so grossed out she didnt want to eat there anymore. She did try to eat the new plate they brought out because it had good flavor but mostly picked her way through it. My sister and I had the steak caprese, ordered medium well. The presentation was beautiful. The steak, however was not cooked properly. My sister's steak was so raw she could taste the blood. My steak was over cooked on the edges and purely raw and cold in the middle. Instead of having a thin line of pink the entire middle was raw. Trying to make the best of it we ate what we could, paid our bill and left. This is not someplace we would ever try again. read more

River Grille - American Near Me - Plains, Pennsylvania

Went as a party of 8, drinks were good. Wing bites were very dry and the southwest salad was just okay...we waited a long time for our waitress to come over to us each time and she never checked in on us to see if we needed anything. Asked for more waters and never got any until we were done eating. read more

We ate here as a fun date! The view was beautiful! The staff was so kind & friendly. It did take our server almost 10 minutes to greet us, but that's no big deal. I was a waitress before, you get overwhelmed & busy. She was so sweet & kind. As well as the manager. We had an issue with our steak. My husband ordered a filet which is $26 so I told him we had the right to send it back. He wanted it medium & it came out medium well. That happens, it's okay! 20 minutes later the new steak came out... Still a little medium well but we weren't going to be "those guests." The sides were wonderful & so were the drinks. But I'm only giving 3 stars because of our steak experience. read more

Wait staff was super nice with prompt service. We had the calamari appetizer which was very good. My husband enjoyed the hulk burger and the lobster Mac and cheese is phenomenal. My favorite restaurant Mac and cheese! read more

River Grille - Lobster Mac and cheese. Yummm - American Near Me - Plains, Pennsylvania

The staff here sucks. The owner needs to clean house! Door staff, waiters/waitresses and bartenders are terrible. A lot of idiots hang out here on the patio. Nice location, lame establishment. read more

It's ok. Nice environment. Food was pretty good but lacked some detail. My special lacked the guacamole, a friend was charged 40 cents for mayo. The up side is you get 20% off when you check in which could make up for it. A lot of potential. read more