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I went to Riva the other day for a late lunch. My boyfriend and I were seated right away and the servers were very attentive, and I mean ALL the servers... not just the one that was assigned to our table. The view is amazing, and it's a nice casual place that isn't too expensive.
The calamari here was good, though the pieces are a little too big for my taste. I ordered the fish and chips which was excellent and huge! There were 3 pieces of fish and I could only manage 1 piece. The fries were nice and crispy.
Be forewarned though... the fried food is FRIED, so if you don't like really greasy food, order something else off of the menu.
Riva's is where all the locals go for a Reason. It is good honest food and a good price. It isn't fancy, they don't even take credit cards.
But My Mom, the local, turned me onto this place. She goes no where else for Seafood in Santa Cruz.
The View is Gorgeous. Do get a window table if possible.
And the food is Good and Consistent and Always Tasty. Do check out the Specials Listings, that is where they put the best stuff.
Note - I'm allergic to Chili Peppers, and a lot of their sauces contain it. :( But I can usually find something wonderful to eat.
While adventuring in Santa Cruz with my boyfriend for our anniversary, we decided to eat a seafood restaurant. I took out my handy dandy cell phone and yelped up some local seafood places...and this place popped up.
The main thing I like about the place is the view. It's right in the middle of the wharf, so you get a great scenic view. The hostess sat us where you can see the light house from afar. We came during the sunset hour, which made the view and our day romantic.
Service was great. If you drink ALOT of water, be prepared to ask for a pitcher. The cups for water are really small (coffee mug size glass), so I asked them for another cup of water so they don't have to come back to fill my coup every 5 seconds. It was nice of them give me a pitcher instead. They also checked in on us every now and then, so A+ for service.
Food: I ordered the Grilled Prawns with rice pilaf and my boyfriend got the Tilapia filet with rice pilaf. Both were pretty good. The rice was pretty dry, but the fried zucchini made up for it. We also started off with the clam chowder with a bread bowl. I never had clam chowder with lemon before, which at first thought was weird, but tasted pretty damn good. The lemon added a little zest kick to it. And there was a lot of potatoes in it too if you're a sucker for potatoes. I love chunky clam chowder!
OH YEAH...MAKE SURE YOU BRING CASH, BECAUSE THEY DON'T TAKE CREDIT CARDS.
We've been to Santa Cruz a few times before but have avoided the pier. But this time we walked down and had dinner at Riva's. Considering the view of the ocean from our table, we would have expected prices to be higher. The prices were surprisingly (and pleasantly) reasonable. Our kids liked to look out the window and see the seagulls, egrets, and pelicans come and go. That said, on this particular night kids were few and far between and it was mostly adults out for a dinner. Still though, the kids blended in and it was still enough ambient noise that I didn't have to tell the kids to quiet down all the time.
Foodwise, it was good though certainly not the best we've ever had. I had the Fisherman's Platter which was okay though a bit small on the portions of the tartar sauce given the quantity of food. Wife had oysters on the half shells and she said they weren't quite as tasty as she had hoped. Kids had the pasta and it is hard to go wrong with pasta.
Servicewise, our waiter was incredibly attentive. I had ordered hot tea (since it was a cold day in Santa Cruz) and as my cup was brewing he somehow managed to refill my spare hot water without me even noticing!
Overall, a nice place that isn't too stuffy and certainly reasonably priced considering other SC restaurants around that area.
I don't really understand all the stellar reviews for this place...
We stopped in on a Friday around 8, and were told the wait would be 20 minutes. No biggie, we took a walk down the boardwalk, which was very pleasant:)
After returning from our walk, we still had to wait. We were then told it would be 20 minutes more. I found this odd since that's what we told 20 minutes ago........We decided to squeeze in at the bar and have a drink and order some oysters.
The bartender was cool, and I did like the gingery concoction I had. Not to sweet, just the right balance.
We ended up eating our oysters at our table, since we were seated before they came out. We waited quite awhile for someone to take our orders, but oddly, not very long to get our food.
I had the firecracker salmon, (grilled salmon with a soy based glaze.) It wasn't as spicy as our server had told me, but it was prepared rare as requested. The rice it came with was overcooked,so I chose to leave most of it on my plate.
I shared my sweetie's fries, and they were crispy, (as ordered.)
Anyone who knows me, knows the one fried food I have a weakness for is a good french fry, and these fit the bill:)
Getting refills was more of a chore than it should have been...
I was also really disappointed that although we came to the ocean for fish, most of it is brought in from faraway locations....What's up with that?
We decided to split a small gelato, (since we were having a mini, early b-day celebration.) The servers brought it out, and sang to me, which i could have done without. It was nice of them, but it's not my thing.
The gelato was really good, but no one could tell us where it came from, (just that it wasn't made in-house.)
I was surprised they didn't comp the dessert, but oh well.
Prices were pretty reasonable, (but be warned, they charge for any extras!)
Unfortunately, nothing blew me away. Next time I'm in the area, I'll be trying someplace else.
Fishing expedition #1 ended with a meal here, because I caught no fish!
I came here many times with family in my college years. Back then, I ate fried food with reckless abandon. I also thought Domino's Pizza was prettty good, and frequented Burger King often.
Now that I'm an adult, let me say: the food here...is just not very tasty. A lot of the fried stuff is overfried (calamari and zucchini), pastas are not great, and fish dish I had was odd, meaning it was a little dry and in a not so tasty salsa.
The burger is good, but it's on sliced baguette; if you feel as I do, that a burger bun needs to be easy to bite into, this isn't the burger for you.
That having been said, this is one of the cheapest places to have dinner on the wharf, with an inoffensive menu (burgers, pasta, seafood, sandwiches, teriyaki). It ain't Gary Danko, but it ain't supposed to be.
Good for a large group. Killer view. Come during the day and watch the surfers run each other down at Cowells.
I'm not understanding why there are so many 4 stars for this restaurant. I don't give out 4 stars very easily, and I am definitely stingy with my 5 stars, so perhaps I am starting off very critical to begin with, but I was somewhat dissappointed with this place.
A group of us visited this place after a day on the beach, and we came very hungry. I had the tilapia, which was cooked over charcoal. It was cooked very plainly, and came out " Just OK" and served with rice pilaf. Plating was standard, nothing special.. The nice thing is that it did come with a single fried Zuchini strip... again.. nothing special, no dipping sauce for it.. I did get to try out my daughters fish/chips. Honestly I've had better at Long John Silvers. I also had the Oyster shot (it tasted like store bought cocktail sauce over an oyster served in a shot glass, that's it quite simply put.. nothing special)
Because of all the high ratings on this place, I suspect I expected more and was dissappointed when it fell quite bit short. But I do know GOOD seafood when I taste it, and when I really enjoy a place I always come back for more.
Riva's: I can pretty much "take it or leave it"
funny experience to share.
My cousin mentioned a delicious gelato place on the wharf so we went looking for it for years. He also mentioned it was attached to a restaurant. The day before I yelped up Riva Fish House for dinner so we passed by and decided we'd come there later. We walk down the whole wharf and see Marini's and guess that it's the gelato place. There was a blackout at Santa Cruz so they said some of their machines weren't working. I ask them is there still gelato and they say no. Embarrassingly enough I notice it is ice cream. Anyways fast forward three hours, we walk into Riva Fish House and look around and there is the gelato. Holy cow how embarrassing it was right there in front of our faces.
Anyways we were awed by the amazing view and got a window seat. Woohoo! The menu looked so delicious but the "special weekly" menu was even better. I decided to get the mahi mahi with orange sauce ($14.95) which was delicious. The restaurant was so nice yet the attire was just casual as were how the waiters were dressed. The mahi came with a fried zucchini which was delicious and pilaf rice. The mahi mahi was so good. Me and citrus have a way. The waiters were pretty nice though they probably were tired having to refill our water a zillion times. Not our fault your cups are so small!
For dessert I had the raspberry and rice pudding gelato. This was such a home run. Amazing gelato. I love rice pudding so the chunks of rice pudding were great. Overall for three people ordering food and dessert, the total came out to be only 55 bucks. That was a pretty great deal and best of all we spent way less than forty dollars a day! Take that rachel ray
RIVA'S is for locals. That's the most important thing to remember about this restaurant, so it can get super crowded most nights. Every time we're in Santa Cruz and feel like a nice dinner on the wharf, we end up at Riva's. Their calamari fritti is as good as it gets. As other people here have said, the view is beautiful and many tables are at the large windows looking out over Monterey Bay. They also serve great sourdough bread. I'd say your best bet is to stick with the fish dishes and skip the pastas. BTW they have homemade gelato for dessert so it's a great way to end a pleasant meal.
If you have just one evening to go out for dinner in Santa Cruz, RIVA'S would be a good choice for sure.
Ok, so our Summer 2009 Road Trip continues, as does the Month of Yelp!
We stopped in Santa Cruz on the way from Monterey to San Francisco. We wanted to enjoy the beautiful weather at the Santa Cruz wharf and amusement park.
First of all, it was a Saturday and traffic and parking was a female dog. A mean female dog. A mean female dog in heat. We ended up finding parking a few blocks from the pier and hoofed it down to the waterfront.
We started with the pier and found ourselves a little hungry. We Yelped all the places we came across on the pier using the iPhone Yelp app. Riva was the big wiener for this stop so we decided to grab a quick bowl of clam chowder to go.
The first bummer was that this place doesn't take anything but cash. C'mon! It's 2009... what's up with any place in even a semi metropolitan area not taking credit cards?
The second bummer was the chowder. We ate a pretty good amount of clam chowder during this road trip. The clam chowder at this place was rather bland with strong peppery overtones. Out of all the spoonfuls of clam chowder I ate, only one had a piece of clam in it. Altogether, there was only about 6 spoonfuls out of a large to go bowl. The third and final bummer for this place.
As I said, this only applies to the clam chowder ordered at the outside to go snack bar area.
Hit Riva up for Tuesday local's night. Had only been here for a drink previously. Tried a couple things from the specials menu and one from the regular. The menu sounds great reading it with all of the things they are adding into the sauces listed.
We went for an appetizer of the Guacamole Oysters. They were top notch with a very tasty spicy guac sauce on the half shell oyster, topped with pepper jack cheese and blasted in the broiler.
Ubiquitous (for this area) sourdough bread is offered pre-meal. Once in a while I would die for some plain old french bread or a nice whole wheat or honey wheat, but I digress.
For entrees we went with the Chipotle Prawns and Scallops off the main menu and the Seafood Borracho on the specials. Both dishes had excellent seafood, though the dungeness crab in the borracho special were obviously frozen as they are out of season around here.
The sauce on the Chipotle dish was very good and quite spicy as advertised. The Seafood borracho sauce had OK flavor, but was on the thin side and had none of the spiciness advertised. It was more like a basic cioppino dish than anything else.
Drinks were reasonable and they had Santa Cruz Mountain Ale on draft. Views from many tables are very good and unobstructed.
Woudl definitely recommend this place. Has a bit more pizazz and flavor than Gilda's without the tourist trap ambience of Stagnaro Bros. Definitely a better spot for the locals.
Oh, and like others said, remember it's cash only.
Oh my gosh this place is amazing! I always have to stop in here when I come for a visit to the west coast.
The sour dough clam chowder bowl is blow your socks off!
This place has the BEST calamari EVER!!!!!!!
I have been coming here since I was young with the folks and we ALWAYS get the calamari. It's big steak chunk instead of rings with the beer batter. So Good! We always get a window table and never have to wait too long to be sat, even if we do wait, we sit at the bar and have one of their spicy bloody marys. The oysters salsa verde and oysters Guac are so good. I don't care for a few of their main entrees, I swear they tend to kinda all have the same flavor profile, sort of southwestern seafood. The Clam chowder is good in the bread bowl. Oh side note, you have to pay for bread, they don't just give it to you.
If you are in Santa Cruz, this is the place for good not over-priced seafood. They don't accept cards though, so hit that AM by the door.
I really enjoyed this place! The food selection was good, the views and seating was great, and the service was not that bad.
The prawns and fish florentine was pretty good! I loved dipping pieces of the fishermen's platter pieces into my sauce. It mixed puuurrrfectly with the fried goodness of the other platter. Huge pieces of prawns and fish mixed deliciously with the entire entree. I do wish the potatoes were good fully, and seasoned though..that was disappointing.
I'd definitely go back!!
This place was nice and clean with a great view. The waitress sat us right by the beach and was pleasant enough although one of the busboys seemed like a hippie type and didn't know what he was talking about. He was friendly though and got someone who knew (we were asking about something we saw on the menu) the answer to our question instead of being unhelpful. So that's what brought the rating up.
The food was good. Greasy! BUT that's what i wanted- ordered: the fisherman's sampler, the fish and calamari dish, the clam chowder bowl, some mussels and a crab and shrimp sandwich.
The fried stuff came pretty standard. Good, deep fried, american batter. I really liked the fries and probably had a few too many which I will really feel when I can't fit into my jeans properly tomorrow! The mussels were hit and miss. Some had a stench to them and others tasted nice and fresh. The sandwich was a bit weird- it came with shrimp on one half and crab on the other (i imagined it'd come mixed)! I definitely liked the shrimp half more and will be ordering the full shrimp sandwich next time. Clam chowder was a little too thick :( so that was a bit disappointing. All in all though, great food. Good atmosphere. Gorgeous view. Oh yah, and the sourdough service bread is yummy.
Mediocre oysters served up with an amazing view.
No happy hour, no credit cards. Meh.
Myself and my friends (who are sisters) went out to lunch with their mother and her best friend. The three of us are vegans but their mother really really wanted seafood. So we found ourselves on the wharf, sitting at a table with a gorgeous water view, looking at menus that had maybe five viable options (and actually probably less because I have no doubt the vegetables were sauteed in butter, but sometimes you just have to avoid being difficult).
One of us got a vegetable plate (that was apparently quite good), and myself and the other split the garden burger and the spinach salad. We opted for avocado instead of cheese which was a $1.75 charge per dish. Kinda lame, but I wasn't expecting much accommodation from a joint that probably makes its money on tourists who don't know any better. At least the avo was a pretty decent one.
The food itself was eh. The ladies got clam chowder, mussels and a snapper dish. They liked it, but didn't rave over the food. Service was slllooowww but the servers were all nice so I didn't mind too much. I would have given the place three stars, but seriously, cash only? Who does that anymore aside from cafes and bars? Certainly not a restaurant that charges $15+ for some of its entrees. Ohh wait, wrong.
I went to school at UC Santa Cruz and must have eaten at Riva once a week throughout my entire junior and senior years ... my friends and I pretty much knew every server here and it was a Santa Cruz favorite for sure.
My usual orders always toggled between two items, the clam chowder in a bread bowl, or the open-faced shrimp and crab sandwich. Either one should always be preceded by the fried beer-battered calamari, which I still maintain is the best calamari I've ever had (not those chintzy little rings you get most places ... these are big, meaty pieces).
If you're looking for atmosphere, the tables at the window have some of the coolest views in a Santa Cruz restaurant ... and if you don't want to wait, a simple inside table, bar seat, or even bench on the wharf will do just fine.
If you still have room at the end, the gelato hits the spot as well ... solid all-around spot on the wharf, no doubt.
We had the fish and chips, about $9. It comes with 3 large pieces of fish, more than enough food. The fish is fresh and flaky. The batter was a bit thick, I like a thin batter myself. Great view of course, being on the pier.
So I only had a cocktail and fries..
But those fries were the bomb!
Tasted and looked like real fries, double fried the way they ought o be made!
I still wonder at Yelpers that rave about steak cut fries, that are OBVIOUSLY ORE-IDA fries fried!(?!)
Don't get it.
They are purchased thru either Sysco, or Ameri-serve, or suck (ha, I meant such)purveyors of the chain restarants( Chili's, Applebees, Izzy's),& even not chain, like... Val's, etc...
Fries need to be DOUBLE fried people, fresh! Not like In-n-out...
Any way I digress.
Their fries were "money" as Guy would say, and Bobby would certainly approve, I know!
Hey I approved, and I make bomb-ass fries, double fried- OF COURSE!
And their ranch, was stellar.
We AL know ranchis packaged goodness in a package, but some times it is in the mix of what you use,
This is like what I make- buttermilk, add pepper.
Perfect blend of ranch, tart, creamy, tangy.
Hella good.
Only beef I had was, that the Bartender could'nt suggest something fruity but not too sweet with rum(?) Lindsey btw..
Even told me she was afraid to suggest something.
When they have a "speciality drink" menu?
WTF?
So, I had an OK, Maitai, without the 151 or Myers rum float and no lime....
Hmm, their bartenders need to go to school OR SOMETHIN!
And A bit pricey at $7.50
For a tiny glass...
Mike the local was very informative, and the fries were great, so that is the main reason , along with being open late on a Monday night, for 4 stars, otherwise more like 2....
This place gets 2 stars only because of the great view.
My review is a bit biased since all I ordered were oyster shooters and a clam chowder bread bowl. I didn't get a chance to try anything else, but after eating that clam chowder, I don't think I will. The clam chowder itself was very bland. The only thing saving it was the sourdough bread bowl it was in. And to top off my very mediocre experience, the service was slow and the place only takes cash.
A very nice and casual place to grab some great seafood.
My husband and I came here before the Jake Shimabukuro performance at the Rio. We were seated right away. The service was prompt, friendly and helpful. I always have trouble deciding on what to get when everything on the menu looks so good.
Our waitress was good about making suggestions, (for example, instead of oyster shooters getting the half dozen order.)
We got the fisherman's platter. While everything was good in the appetizer, my husband loved the scallops the best, I loved the calamari.
I got the Mahi Mahi and my husband got a prawn fish florentine dish.
They were both good, but between the oysters and the appetizers we were already getting full.
We had a window seat right along the wharf, so it was really nice. The weather was a bit cloudy and rainy, but it was still a great view. It made for a nice conversation as we watched the surfers and the waves on the beach.
Overall, I really like this place. The food was good, the portion sizes were large and the pricing was reasonable. I'll have to make a trip back and try one of their pastas. They looked so good as I was looking around at what other people were eating on our way out of the restaurant.
I searched for a decent seafood place in Santa Cruz for this weekend's outing to Santa Cruz and found this place on Yelp.
Last night, I came here with 3 friends to sample their fresh seafood and the view.
--- decor: the view by the window is *superb*, unfortunately we didn't get a table directly by the window because the wait is quite long for those. Otherwise this is a simple diner with a clean bar section, but the view of the bay makes it totally *awesome*.
-- service: a little slow, it took them a while to come around to get our order, nobody came to check up on the water decanter(they gave us a self-refill decanter), and the final food order came out after a pretty long wait.
-- food:
we ordered the following:
- crab sandwich $10.95, looks awesome! a decent amount of crab salad on top of the bread, and the fries are crisp and well made.
- Fisherman's sampler platter $12.95, fried fish, squid, scallops, and prawns... my friend said it was decent, not too much flavour but decent.
- scallop dish(??) $14.95 - capers made it taste interestingly flavourful, a bit sour in addition to the flavour. I liked it. Mine came with rice pilaf (not that great), but the overall dish is pretty good. I'd probably get the fries next time.
- scallop and fish Florentine ($14.95) with fries, a bit blend, rich and creamy with cheese baked in.
overall, the food is somewhere 3.5-4 stars, the view is definitely 4 stars if you can get one of those seats! I will probably drop in again next time I am in the neighborhood. ^_^
Oh, PS: this place takes CASH ONLY... strange for a fairly big establishment... Oh, well, trying to cut the cost down I guess.
p.p.s.: no reservation apparently, I think I read that on some reviews.
So when you're in Santa Cruz, what's the one thing you just HAVE to have?
A great bowl of clam chowder!! DUH!
Clam chowder and seafood lovers alike! Welcome to the Riva Fish House! Located next to the Boardwalk on the pier. There may seem like there's no parking here, but trust me. Don't try to park outside and just suck it up and pay to park on the pier. The walk from the entrance of the pier to the restaurants is a GOOD walk. Especially hard after a long day at the Boardwalk.
A nice, casual restaurant to finish your day off. Can be packed during peak hours, but at least there's a full bar there to keep you entertained. WARNING: THIS PLACE IS CASH ONLY. So no bar tabs for you!
The clam chowder here is pretty darned good. Very tasty! I haven't been disappointed with the food here. Their pasta dishes aren't bad. Their cream pasta dishes are surprisingly not heavy. And my friends claim that the raw oysters here are SUPER fresh and GREAT. I came here before I learned to appreciate raw oysters (took some time for me to get over the texture). I want to come back next time I'm in Santa Cruz to give these raw oysters a try!
This place is surprisingly affordable. A nice casual restaurant. And the view of the ocean is great! Sometimes the pelicans will sit on the perch and watch you eat though. They're just jealous! =)
If you've got one shot at the local "best fish n chips", avoid Riva Fish House. It's not BAD - but it isn't great either, in fact, our meal hovered somewhere around "marginal".
Our trio started with an appetizer of some kind of egg roll - shrimp were mentioned but I don't recall seeing many of them in the eggroll. In spite of this, the accompanying ginger sauce was quite good as the eggroll was pretty tasteless. Desiring a cross-section of the best the sea has to offer, I chose the Fisherman's Platter; a standard combo of fish, prawns, scallops and calamari. Everything but the calamari was overcooked. They use a thick batter type of breading - not so golden brown as a "left in the hot oil too long" brown. But hey, the fries were good! Our waiter was attentive and the service efficient - and who can resist watching those adorable, barking sea lions and a great ocean view? - which is how this place got three stars instead of two.
There are a number of seafood joints out on the wharf. I suggest fish-craving travelers try one of them.
The view's about the only thing good here. Very disappointed by the wonderful food reviews this place has received thus, misguiding us to try this place. We've tried Stagnaro's at the end of the wharf and even 'tho their food's not great either, at least the chowder was better.
My shrimp salad looked like something the Jr. Yelpers would've thrown together if momma told them they have to make dinner. Greens and tomato on the bottom, lots of shrimp sprinkled all over (at least the shrimp was fresh and big) and a 5 inch long, 2 inch wide slice of carrot thrown on top of all this. Like the view of a driftwood being tossed around the ocean. Prices were not reasonable either.
Hubby had the Fisherman's Platter - fried fish, lge prawns, fries, scallops (he tried to pass those on to me!), calamari. He was especially disappointed w/the calamari, expecting tentacles, which there were none.
Jr. Yelper #1, a New England Clam Chowder connoisseur, had the chowder in a bread bowl. The remark was, "It's OK, not great." Jr. Yelper #2 had the fried calamari, didn't like the cole slaw that came with it. Bath room is near where the servers work, a small toilet with sink, like being in confined quarters on a small cruise ship.
CASH ONLY.
My favorite spot of all in Santa Cruz.
I'm definitely a fan of their seafood and their pasta's. I usually got their regular pasta with the house sauce. The best tomato sauce I've ever tasted, and it was spiced perfectly. French fries are awesome because of the crispness and non-oily factorm and service is outstanding. They're really friendly, and consistently check on you--customer attentiveness is always great.
I really miss this place!
Review based purely on my bar experience!
Awesome Awesome Awesome!!
The food menu looked very appetizing though and the prices seemed extremely affordable. I glanced over at my neighbors plate and the portions were very generous!
I must say, their Sangria is a strong contender for being my fav ever. It goes down nice and smooth and has the perfect balance of flavors. Only $5 bucks.
Their Spiced Pear Cider with a cinnamon sugar rimmed glass was also a winner. It was so delicious I sipped on it hoping it would last forever & ever. Kinda like the ever-lasting-gobstopper! Only $5 bucks.
Even on a busy Sat. night the service is prompt and extra friendly. It's a very casual environment. The staff treats you as if you're a regular even if you're not. Come here at sunset and you'll enjoy the yummy seafood and delicious drinks along with a picturesque view. Does it get any better than that? I think not.
Be prepared to pay cash. For your convenience there is a cash machine right when you walk in.
The bartenders weren't so bad to look at too! Thanks boys- I will be returning!
After spending the day at Moss Landing, Seascape in Aptos and Santa Cruz's Boardwalk, we were getting hungry. My friend and I had spent the day shooting photos and we're at the wharf in Santa Cruz. Most of the restaurants were dead, but Riva seemed to be the only place that was hopping. I figured this place must be good.
The best thing about Riva is the view and after some confusion by the hostess, we were finally seated by the window, just in time for the the sunset. Great view seeing the surfers and lighthouse as the sun went down.
Started off with the calamari and was mostly impressed. It was fresh and not chewy at all considering how thick the pieces were. My only complaints is that if seemed as if the oil it was fried in was on it's last legs and you could taste the burnt flavor. Also, they were a bit skimpy on the cocktail and tartar sauce. I'm sure I could have asked for more.
For the main course, I got the Shrimp and Scallops in a chipotle sauce with rice( fries are another option). My impression of chipotle is a mild smoked pepper used to add flavor. Well, the sauce on this was super hot, closer to cajun hot than a smokey spicy flavor.
My friend got the shrimp and pasta and he said it was only alright.
Riva Fish house is OK, but I think it would be best to order their battered and fried stuff as opposed to anything else. Riva is good for getting appetizers and drinks and enjoying the view as opposed to going out and getting a nice dinner.
Came here for some clam chowder since we were right by the ocean and was craving some seafood goodness.
This restaurant is located on the municipal pier. There is plenty of parking on the pier and it goes quite a ways in so I wouldn't recommend parking on the street before the pier. Plus the first 30 minutes are free and its $2.00 per hour or something like that after, not too bad.
Since we needed to wait wait for friends to arrive back at the house, we decided to just order to go. We ordered 3 bowls of clam chowder to go at $4.50 each. Overall the clam chowder was not bad. My fave clam chowder is still the one at Pismo Beach, Splash cafe, but the nice big clams in this one made it very tasty. Overall not bad and the menu definitely looked interesting so I'd be willing to go back and check out some other items on the menu. Oyster guacamole? Sounds interesting..
This place is CASH ONLY so bring some $$.
Recommended by: My Cowboy
Location: On the Santa Cruz Wharf, a ahop skip and jump away from the rides
Crowded: Definitely
Notes: Cash only, but they have an onsite ATM
My Texan was going to take me here the day after he asked me to be his girlfriend, but because this place was under renovation, he opted for Shadowbrook instead.
We went here for Sunday Brunch since it was already around 12 noon. The place was packed so instead of waiting for a table we sat at the bar.
The Cowboy ordered the Eggroll appetizer for me
I ordered the calamari appetizer for him
He ordered the Fried Seafood sampler which comes with fish, shrimp, calamari, and fries
I ordered the shrimp fettucini with the cream sauce with mushrooms.
I have to admit that the food here is excellent. Their batter is what makes the fried items delicious. It was really busy.
The food was so so. The amount and flavor above average but it really wasn't all that great. There wasn't a Ciopinno but a version that I can't believe the waiter said was even close lol. My g/f ordered it and there was more potatos in it then there was fish. My order the fisherman''s basket was so so. the calamari was cool the fish batter a bit heavy made for an overall decent meal but wasn't that exciting as I would've assumed. Oh and the service was cool. The people were nice too.
The view is wonderful. However,
1) They only accept cash.
2) I think they nickel and dime you, and I hate that. Two examples. First, for fish & chips you get a choice of chips or cole slaw but not both. Just throw some slaw on the plate already. Second, you get one refill on your soda. I'm surprised they don't charge you for toilet paper.
3) They don't validate parking (unless it's Tuesday).
There was nothing memorable about the food. As another reviewer posted, the fried food was definitely over-fried, and everything else was a little tasteless.
Only 1 star pretty view and for their gelato martini! Get your "O" face on w/ that! I ordered the hazelnut gelato martini and it was so freaking good, i'm craving it now as I type this. :p yum!
Anyway, on to the FOOD details. Since everyone was raving about the calamari, we had to try it. Disgusting! Hard, chewy, brown in color (perhaps the fying oil had not been changed in a few days) and no flavor. Calamari, atleast FRESH calamari should be soft. It should pretty much melt in your mouth. Not here. Also, they weren't the normal rings and legs kind. I think it was just part of a huge squid cut in squares. When they serve it to you, it's a bunch of curled up chewy squares w/ no flavor. Yuk! My boyfriend and I ate half a bite and moved the whole basket of them to the end our our table.
Entrees: We were feeling kinda healthy and tried the Grilled Trout and Grilled Mahi Mahi. We get it and to our surprise there was a fried hot dog looking thing on it. I guess I had a crazed look on my face cuz our waiter said " that's just a fried zucchini" Um. Oh..kay.. why the F would I want a fried zucchini all up on my grilled fish?! Isn't that the point of ordering healthy? Unbelievable! My boyfriend and I looked at eachother grossed out. i don't mind fried food and I do eat them sometimes and I have had fried zucchinis before but this was something special. It was about 6 inches of dark, (from the dirty oil) heavily breaded zucchini and apparently it came on about every order! We ended up placing that right into the basket of calamari at the end of the table. The trout my bf ordred did not tast like trout, it tasted more earthy like Tilapia and mine was just drenched in sauce - to which the waiter had told me there would be no glaze and they didn't cook the fish in it. That was a lie. You could totally tell the grilled fish was marinated and cooked in it. Suffice to say, don't come here for the food.
Oh yeah, the restroom. Conveniently located 3 feet directly across the kitchen and small as hell! I could barely get into it without touching the toilet seat w/ my legs. It really does feel like a cruise ship bathroom.
My girlfriend and I stopped in here after a full day of sunbathing and were suprised they offer a "Happy Hour" on the weekend from 2-6 PM! The drinks were 4 bucks and the appetizers were 3! I had a classic margarita and a basket of Calamari for my appetizer. She had a beer and a Veggie Tempura. We also had 2 baskets of warm sourdough rolls. We got full and had a perfect window view all for less than 20 bucks! The attire was casual. We were still in our bathing suits with tanks, shorts and flip flops and nobody seemed to notice ^^ Oh and our server was super cool! Gave us advice for the kayaking they do out there.
Surprisingly cheap and good seafood restaurant on the pier at the wharf.
I've had numerous locals recommend Rivas to me and I now understand why. It's not gourmet, but the prices are great, the fish is good, and the portions are ample.
I've heard great things about the shark and tilapia, but I just seem to order the same fish and chips every time. If memory serves me correctly, here it is $8.95 compared with $11.95, $12.95, or more in nearby restaurants for lesser quality on the pier. No wonder the locals eat here. Okay, so it's not like Fish (restaurant) in Sausalito, but it's not $21 like there either. Jeez, that's expensive for fish and chips.
The little asian waitress that my buddy and I had was really sweet and helpful too. As always, I over-tipped.
Cash only (just like Fish in Sausalito...LOL), but there's an ATM inside. Decent bar too.
Sunday, 8/24/08
+ awesome, affordable, FRESH, flavorful seafood
we ordered: garlic bread ($3), clam chowder ($4.50 bowl), fried calamari ($)10, fried prawns and scallops($13), Cioppino ($16+2 pasta)
total came to about $58, which is a very good price for all this local seafood!
Cippino was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YUMMY!!!
It had clams, anaheims, scallops, fish and a huge crab!
in a spicy tomato sauce with lots of great herbs. Next time I come, I will definitely get this again. LOVE IT totally recommend!!
+ great service (at least our server was, I think he was the manager), refill even w/out my asking!
+ view is amazing. make sure to get a seat by the window!
- don't take reservations (30 min wait for table w/ a view)
- very small cups! water cups are like shotglasses. (only 1 refill for sodas! grr)
- very small sauce cups (tartar sauce is yummy though)
- shortage of employees! I felt busy and frustrated just looking at the servers sprinting and multitasking everywhere!!
food: A+
service: A-
ambiance: A
First trip to Santa Cruz! Little did I know that the boardwalk is pretty much tourist trap hell. After walking all the way down looking for a corndog, we finally sat down here to partake in some delicious fried food.
And I have to say that the fish/calamari plate is the way to go. Large portions, good flavor, nice price, etc.
Also our waiter was total surfer hotness and a friend in my group had the following conversation:
Clueless Gay Boy: So are you from here?
Total Surfer Hotness: No, I just moved here from New York a few months ago.
CBG: Oh, we're visiting from San Francisco and were wondering what there is to do around here...
TSH: ....uh, like nightlife? I usually spend most of my time at the beach.
CBG: Oh ok. So why'd you come here from New York? That seems pretty random.
TSH: ....
Rest of the table: *awkward stares and nervous laughter*
So 4 stars to Riva for putting up with four 'mos in a hybrid on a quest for sandy beaches and cold beers. You win.
i wish they have crab yesterday. hehe..
waitress is nice...food is not bad...portion is big enough.....price is reasonable...
little bit slow...not many seafood choices for me...(maybe it is not the season). no credit card (WTF??)
well, over all is not bad....at least it is not the bad one in that area .
Riva is one of the better places on the wharf.
Good: Food, Views, Service, Prices, Gelato, and Bar.
Cash Only!
Note: Clams strips are not as good as other places on the Wharf
Santa Cruz, CA
Category: Seafood
Santa Cruz, CA
Category: Seafood
Santa Cruz, CA
Category: Restaurants
Santa Cruz, CA
Category: Seafood Markets
Santa Cruz, CA
Category: Seafood
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