I have been living on elk lake for 25 years, never any negative reviews, despite the traffic on Saturday nights. After waiting to be seated, Angela made our Saturday night a thousand times better. Her hospitality and friendliness during these times made us completely forget about the negativity we are dealing in the world today. Anyone coming to Northern Michigan I highly recommend swinging by Riverwalk for a nice evening on one of the nicest lakes in the US read more

I ordered the Avocado salad, and what they served was insulting. A plate full of iceberg lettuce with very few bits of corn and red pepper, and 3 hard slices of avocado on the side. It was a joke for $12.00. We also watched them try to deliver an appetizer to 2 different tables who said they hadn't ordered it, and then were told to take it in the back because they could probably sell it to someone. With covid still around, I found it unsanitary that they would place food on tables and then take it back for somebody else. I give them 1 star because the server was nice and polite. read more

We've tried Riverwalk for many years, but always leave disappointed. Our last visit we were told 38 minute wait. We were finally seated after 1 1/2 hours. We then ordered at table drinks & food at same time. Took 45 mins for drinks to arrive. Table next to us seated after us but got drinks & food before us. Small, overpriced portions. Sadly, we've scratched Riverwalk off our list. You should instead visit Pearls (and Pearls takes reservations and seats you when they promise). read more

I ate here twice while visiting the area for work and enjoyed both the outdoor seating and the fare. I sampled the local beers and the local fish both were good. The service was good and the weather could have not have been better. We ate there once for lunch and once for supper and I would recommend either. read more

Riverwalk Grill - Seafood Near Me - Elk Rapids, Michigan

See all

Great Smoked whitefish dip and a good tequila sunrise! very nice ambience on the water. Will be back with the boat!!! read more

See all

I give this place bonus points for excellent service and of course riverside dining to watch the boats come in and out while you dine outdoors (suggested) just steps from the water. The food was OK with a couple of stand out menu items. Their smoked fish dip is a good option, but the fried pita chips make it exceptional. Their version of bang bang shrimp is also very good. I like the slightly larger than average shrimp that they use. The real star and the reason to come back is there lobster roll. Not your traditional lobster roll, served on Shibata with melted cheese. I would get this again and again. Also shared a couple pizzas they were... meh. Great service and overall a lovely evening. read more

See all

I forgot how slow service can be in Michigan. This place "takes the cake". Oh wait, we never got it. My butt is getting sore from waiting on these hard chairs. Not happy. Waited over an hour and still no food. When we finally got the food it was cold and tasted terrible. read more

I really WANTED to like this place, especially since it was new and different than what was there prior. Definitely not a reflection of the others (in its restaurant family). So incredibly disappointed :( To summarize: TGI Fridays style food at best, with a ridiculous price tag. I'm not afraid to spend a good amount of money on great food (especially with TCs foodie scene growing). Such a bummer. read more

Great location with beautiful views and wonderful, pleasant service. A good place for families in the afternoon. You must try the meatball cupcakes! read more

Riverwalk Grill - Seafood Near Me - Elk Rapids, Michigan

Interesting now reading recent reviews. We came here based on previous reviews and enjoyed the outdoor lower level seating which hostess suggested-I ordered Parmesan encrusted white fish which was tasty although a bit salty. I'd return -waitress was friendly we were served right away. read more

Food was cold. Microwaved not fresh. Shrimp was old seemed microwaved as well. Service is very good. Need fresh food. Out of many items.

Showed up at 750 pm on a Monday, restaurant closed at 9. We were told they were no longer seating outside, inside was a 40 minute wait despite multiple open tables. Fine, assumed they were short staffed, elected to wait at the bar. Mentioned to the hostess the sign outside still read "immediate seating available". Things happen, no big deal. 5-10 minutes later, we are now told that the chef is gone, and the cook left for the day and they are no longer serving food. I've never had this happen at a restaurant before. We left as we had planned to eat dinner, ideally to enjoy the view outside. Might be nice if you get the chance to eat there, but apparently the closing time is more of a suggestion! 0/5, would not attempt again read more

This place is fantastic. You can count on them to stay open to let you finish your dinner. Good service. Let you have large groups for "parties". Love it read more

Such a great time and the food was delicious! Not to mention the view of elk river. 10 out of 10 would recommend. read more

Riverwalk Grill - Seafood Near Me - Elk Rapids, Michigan

Want Fees With That? The dinner menu at Riverwalk Grill and Taproom is grossly overpriced. Also, this is the only restaurant on the planet that has the audacity to add a 3% Credit Card Fee (based on the post-tax amount) onto the bill - by surprise - at the end of the meal. This is for anyone who pays with a credit or debit card. Nobody, including our server, mentioned this hidden charge before the bill came. There was also no written mention of it anywhere (e.g., not posted on the front door, not printed anywhere on the menu, etc.). As a customer, I already cover the majority of the restaurant owner's payroll expenses by tipping their server who only makes $3.67/hour as a tipped employee. Now the restaurant owner wants me to also cover their ancillary business expenses including credit/debit card transaction fees typically charged to the business owner by the credit/debit card companies. This is a routine cost of doing business for ALL retail merchants including restaurants. What's next, does the cheap restaurant owner want me to cover their gas, electric, water bill, and property taxes as individual line items at the bottom of my bill? To be clear, the server does not benefit in any way from the cheapness of their boss. The 3% Credit Card Fee serves the sole purpose of offsetting the business owner's routine business expenses while giving nothing extra to the server. If anything, the server has to suffer the displaced anger of customers who punish them for their boss' cheapness by reducing the tip they leave by exactly 3%. I did not reduce the tip I left, but the temptation was strong. This restaurant also overcharged for their already overpriced tiny bread loaves by $1.00/loaf. The menu states $2.50/loaf, but they charged $3.50/loaf. The cheap restaurant owner needs to stop shifting the burden of their business expenses onto their customers and servers. Also, the price printed on the menu for any given item should be the price listed on the bill. Our server was polite and our view of the water was pleasant. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * UPDATE: After initially posting my own review, I read many of the other reviews posted by previous customers of this establishment. With the exception of a handful of positive or lukewarm reviews, an overwhelming percentage of the other reviews are consistent about how poorly this business is run and how little the owner(s) value their customers. I have come to the conclusion that the business model of the owner(s) of this establishment is simply to "turn-and-burn" as many 1-time customers as possible. This is commonly known as "transactional business" and is the opposite of "relational business" which is focused on encouraging return/repeat customer patronage. My observation is that they are able to milk enough profit out of numerous 1-time customers over any 365-day period (especially May, June, July, and August) that there is no need for them to improve their pricing, service, quality, or any other aspect of their business. Reviews on social media basically mean nothing to the owner(s) because the profit just keeps rolling in, no matter how poorly they treat their customers. Sadly, I am confident that this horribly dysfunctional business will still be thriving twenty years from now. They have an excellent location and four solid months of hand-over-fist pure profit to artificially float them for the rest of the year. Purchasing that particularly well-positioned piece of real estate was the best business decision they ever made. Everything after that (e.g., value, service, quality, etc.) is merely an irrelevant academic discussion. I will not personally return until the "Under New Management" sign is prominently posted. However, I realize that they need me and my return/repeat customer patronage about as much as a beach needs another grain of sand. Fortunately, the feeling is mutual. read more

We had dinner and it was yummy!! We order the Carolina wing they were really good. To drink the golden mule was great and for dinner I ate the chicken and my daughter had the ribs both were fanatic. read more

Great location and ambiance. We were inside near a window with a great view. Unfortunately, the food left a lot to be desired. The fish pate was simply cream cheese and dill. We didn't see fish in the pate at all. When the food arrived 4 out of 5 dishes were cold. My mom returned her shrimp and they did get her a new one immediately. However, the shrimp was completely covered in what seemed to be Old Bay spice and it was over cooked. The bbq brisket was dry. The only dish we liked was the Parmesan crusted white fish. The fries were awesome, but our dishes were supposed to be served with rice. The silverware was dirty. I will tell you that they did comp the shrimp dinner. read more

Not a big fan of Yelp but seeing 3 stars is probably the result of super-entitled tourists. My family had a fantastic lunch on its lovely patio after pulling up dockside. The pulled pork nachos were a great app to split and the sandwiches were all plentiful and delicious. Our server Kendra was super friendly, attentive, and helpful with our questions. If I come back to Elk Rapids, I'm definitely coming back here to try more of their food! read more

Great food, not so great service. Having worked in food service for 5+ years, I am able to notice when I am set as a low priority table. Our waitress did not bother to write our order down. As expected, I had to remind her that I ordered a beer, and my burger was missing 2 toppings. I also noticed she visited a table 5 times between my table because I could only assume she figured they would tip her better because they were older and "looked wealthy" Being in food service has taught me alot and has certainly taught me about the importance of tips on a servers wage. However, if you decide to ignore me and profile me as a lower priority, I do not appreciate this. Food was good, once it finally got to me. read more

We came to Riverwalk on Friday afternoon after a long drive from the Upper Peninsula. Alyssa was our server, she was "real". She was definitely funny and has a really big heart. Give this girl a bonus! The food was great, and came to the table hot. Thank you! We will be back.. read more

If you at all care about covid regulations don't bother going. We went in the afternoon, all was good. By happy hour the bartender had her mask off and was serving people breathing over our shoulder. Barstools were socially distanced but staff was happy to serve people elbowing up to the bar next to you. Highly disappointed in this restaurant's dedication to keeping people healthy and our economy going. read more

Loving the outdoor Michigan life while enjoying some of the local brews! Great pulled pork nachos marinated in local Oberon beer. Enjoy the live music too. Pull up your boat and dock for the sunset. read more

Horrible service, drinks spilled all over, and lied about the long wait. So unorganized. Get a larger staff and learn how to run a business.

Undercooked burger. War beer and undercooked fries. They didn't give me the right cheese on my burger and it took 45 mins for the food. OverAll terrible experience read more

A gorgeous location with some major staffing issues. Our party of 6 arrived and the one frazzled hostess took about 10-15 minutes to seat us. Once seated it took another 10 minutes for our waitress to get here. She was super nice but not knowledgeable. We placed our drink order and ordered for our children. They were obviously understaffed as our drinks took an additional 15-20 minutes to come. We walked our three drinks back up to the bar to have them fix it. The appetizers came out after a wait and they were delicious, bang bang shrimp and the white fish dip. Our children's food took a long time to come out and when it did it was grossly over cooked. After a while our food eventually came. The lobster bisque was amazing, but the Parmesan crusted whitefish had obviously sat in the window for a long time. I'm not sure if it's lack of staff or lack of management but our experience could've been so much better. Tables sat around us with dirty dishes on them and no busboy on site. It took another long wait for Check to come. It's such a shame, such a gorgeous location and a beautiful restaurant with very good food but run so poorly. One waitress sat at one of the dirty tables texting on her phone for a good 10-15 minutes. Not a good use of her time. There was obviously not a manager working because he or she should have and able to view the situation and try to make corrections. read more

Nice atmosphere. Busy, but got a table right away. Great brisket. Yummy perch. Awesome French fries. Looking forward to going back.

Slow slow slow slow. Waited almost an hour for food and found out after 30 mins that they were out of ribs. We are about to walk out. Not happy. I dont even care at this point if its the best dinner of my life. Update: got out food. NOT worth waiting 15 mins for, let alone an hour. Do NOT be sucked in to the atmosphere. read more

Stopped on for a couple beers. Good beer selection--traditional beers (Miller Lite, Bud, Labatt) and a really good selection of Michigan micro brews. This is a good place to check out when you are in the Elk Rapids area. Enjoy! read more

Riverwalk Grill - Bar Area - Seafood Near Me - Elk Rapids, Michigan

Location and setting nice. Food was ok but nothing special. Service was not good at all. My husbands appetizer never ended up making it to the table. My sons pizza was delivered 15 mins after the rest of the food because apparently the kitchen messed it up and the waitress didn't want to deliver the first one made. Took 45 mins to get our food. The 2 tables next to us received their food ahead of ours. We were a table of 5. read more

The only reason this establishment exists is because kind and unsuspecting tourists stumble in and give it a try. It is consistently very not good. Stopped in to have two small plates: caprese salad and calamari. Waited 45 minutes for the rubbery calamari to arrive with what appeared to be 1000 island dressing. No plates. No waitress checking to see that we had no drinks or plates. Waited another 15 minutes. Waitress stops by and says she can't believe the expediter forgot the salad. 10 more minutes. Three slices of unripe tomatoes arrive with cheese and balsamic. No basil. Still no plates. We flag down waitress and ask for basil. 10 more minutes. We ask for check and that the incomplete caprese be taken off the check. Bottom line: 90 minutes, 6 pieces of bland calamari, 4-ingedient dish missing one ingredient= no tip and one star review. At most, it's got a lovely view. Even an incredibly untalented staff couldnt figure out a way to mess that up. read more

The food was just ok...the best thing this place has going for it is the location on the water with tons of awesome outdoor seating. The second best thing is the fries which are excellent. Otherwise the burgers are dry and very processed, the tuna was not nice and the bang bang shrimp was lacking in flavor. read more

This is a nicely decorated place, but the food is very average. I had the Parmesan white fish and it was very "fishy" and asked them to remove it from the bill, which they did. I would recommend the chicken wings or hamburgers. read more

Stumbled upon the Riverwalk and glad we did! Great service and menu options. I would recommend the pulled pork nachos-- so delicious!

We went for dinner and Angela was our server. She was fantastic! Went above and beyond and was the best service we have had while up north on vacation! Excellent pork nachos! Thanks Angela!! read more

I would like to rate 0 stars, but that is not an option. The first 30 seconds reflected our entire experience. Terrible customer service, poor food, and after expressing our concerns we were told to go basically go home. We were a group on vacation.....find another place to go FOR SURE!!! read more

Very poor service. I expected to have a little wait on a Friday, but once we were seated, we waited another 10 minutes and a server never came or even acknowledged our party. After watching 2 others servers wait on tables around us without even looking, we got up and left. read more

Great place to spend the afternoon dining on the water. Angela, on the deck was fantastic!

The view isn't worth it. Ordered a basic grill item for two: nachos. Was a salad over chips. The chips were nearly swimming in queso sauce; bottom layers were soaked. Pork was nearly taste-free. Requested BBQ sauce from the waitress; didn't see her again until she brought the bill. Couldn't even attract her attention to request drink refills. Riverwalk has competitors in Elk Rapids. Try them instead. read more

The positive, the place is very cute with a very nice deck on the lake. Neil the waiter was great. That being said, we started outside, beautiful deck. Two waitresses, neither came with menus or acknowledged us. One finally acknowledged us, but still neither one claimed us. Finally the other one came and said she didn't realize no one was helping us. She took our drink order, brought drinks and said she'd be back soon to take our order. That was the end of her. While we waited we watched other diners looking anxiously for their food. One table told the waitress they would need to have their food in carry out boxes because they couldn't wait any longer. Afrer 25 minutes, we decided we should move inside. That was a good choice because Neil greeted us quickly and took our order. The food took 35 minutes, not forever, but it was luke warm. It was fair, nothing we would go back for. We were given the choice of mashed potatoes or corn soufflés. The one that ordered the corn received gross looking rice instead. When we asked we were told they ran out of the corn. That's fine, but we were not given a choice, they sent the rice. Neil was quick to fix the problem. He gave other options and returned quickly with French fries. They were the best and hottest part of the meal. Sadly we won't be back. read more

Believe all the 1 star reviews. Literally Gordon Food Service quality...half of what you eat here is canned,from the corn souflee to the fish pate(aye). The meats are smoked in-house and most of them get seasoning on top immediately before being served to you(ruins flavor). The workplace is unorganized and unsanitary,half the servers are too lazy to make sure the silverware gets properly cleaned,the owner and managers don't take the place seriously. The inside atmosphere is nice and the outside is lively but without a complete change,this place isn't even worth the 1 star. Feel free to try Smoke and Porter,Mama Lu's,Calypso Grill or other restaurants in the surrounding area. read more