- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
River Barrel Cafe
Rating Details »
Category: American (New) [Edit]
Neighborhood: Greenpoint160 Franklin St
(between Java St & Kent St)
Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 389-8881
- Nearest Transit:
-
Greenpoint Ave (G)
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Brunch, Late Night
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
27 reviews for River Barrel Cafe
so i was in brooklyn shopping for my wife and the Dalaga staff suggested this place to eat.
my goal while traveling in nyc--to not eat at places that look commercial or like everything else.
river barrel is definitely the opposite of that!
i ordered the river burger with avocado and blue cheese.
good selection of food; i ordered the burger out of convenience--good variety of menu items.
staff were friendly, food came out quickly, nice ambiance.
overall perfect experience for me being from out of town.
This place is always crowded but I'm not sure why. Overpriced, mediocre food. Don't bother.
To clarify, and perhaps to be more constructive, the word 'jerk', as in 'jerk chicken', has an actual meaning. You can't just serve whatever (in this case grilled chicken with bruschetta) and call it 'jerk'.
Also $10, while perhaps the going rate for a burger in a decent NY restaurant, is a lot for a burger, especially a forgettable one.
I didn't think this place was awful, but a little more effort on the part of certain staff members really could have improved my experience.
They could have closed the wall-sized windows, considering it was cold and windy outside, and thus inside as well.
The waitress sucked. Did not inform my shell fish allergic friend that her Fra Diavolo pasta contained mussels, clams, and shrimp. Other than that, she just wasn't good at her job:
Waitress: can I get you any thing else?
Me: some more water would be nice.
Waitress: Oh, I meant mustard or mayonnaise or something.
Me: No, just water please.
No water ...
As for the food, the burger was simply falling apart.
Simply sloppy.
I stumbled upon River Barrel when I couldn't get a table at Brooklyn Label (also a great place to eat) but I have to say, I now choose this place over others in the neighborhood because the service is good and the food is delicious. I like the artichoke dip. There are usually fun specials and they don't mind if you come in with a laptop and do work while eating dinner. It's quiet on weeknights and can get pretty crowded on the weekends but there's usually a table. The staff is really sweet here.
I was not told there was shellfish when the special was given to me. Low and behold when it arrives it was full of it. My companion traded, however the burger was sloppy and soggy. Never again.
The food here is good, don't overlook this place based on the negative reviews. Get the Jerk Chicken, duck spring rolls, all good.
Plus there's a big bar, relaxed atmosphere, friendly people and wait staff.
But they can play some pretty lame music.
3.5 stars.
I think Liz N.'s review is pretty accurate. The food is good, but $8 for an iceberg lettuce wedge and some slices of tomato? Granted, the wedge (comes with blue cheese and bacon) is a wonderful appetizer of a hot summer day, but $8?!
But, before you go thinking that I'm a cheap bastard (that would depend on who you ask, I suppose), their burger (with fries or greens) is priced perfectly at $9. And, it's delicious! So, I think they should look into tweaking the menu a little.
Our waitress was handling the whole restaurant, and it was moderately busy. Still, she managed to do it pretty efficiently and with a good attitude.
There are few places in the city where you can experience wide, open spaces and a quiet moment of contemplation. Unfortunately for River Barrel, it seems to be one of them.
This place has been so pathetically empty during weekday lunchtimes that I just stopped in for a sympathy meal. It was selfish, too, because I really want new restaurants to succeed in Greenpoint, but River Barrel definitely has a little work to do. If anything, they need to find a way to lower their prices just a tad. The food was good, but the menu is really nothing special. A couple places down the street have extremely similar options for a smidge cheaper and let's face it...in this economy, every few bucks counts.
That's a pretty general piece of feedback so I'll get specific: we spent $32 total on a weekday afternoon for one vegetarian sandwich with fries, one meal-sized salad, and one cup of coffee. A sandwich, a salad, and a coffee for $32?! That's just not going to fly in Greenpoint right now.
Granted, the crispy duck salad and the roasted veg sandwich were both delicious, so the question is: can River Barrel figure out how to shave a few bucks off of their prices without sacrificing the quality of their meals? I hope so.
getting better...every visit brings better service and quality...that makes me happy.
the only thing i would change is the soundtrack on certain days...i do NOT...EVER want to hear the Jonas brothers while im eating again lol.
River Barrel, I am so torn about you. I'd give you 2 stars because the service is always so slow it is like being tortured but I give you 3 because the food is good. So, you get a 2.5...
This neighborhood needs a place with good food. I've had the burger twice, each time it was cooked the way I wanted, and have tried a few bites of the short rib (when it was on the menu a couple weeks ago...) and that was very good. Their pickles are really good, so are the fries. What bugs me most is that they "revamped" their menu which was already fine, and left a ton of spelling errors on the menu. (Anal, I know, but come on, spelling errors on the menu of a recently opened restaurant?! It is not that difficult to check for spelling errors, and to me says a lot about what is important to the people running the place.)
The beer is good, a solid selection, but they tend to push the stuff that's brought in as a "seasonal" item, which would be totally fine if those beers were actually really good beers. Every time I've had a "seasonal" suggestion, I've woken up with a killer headache (I think that you shouldn't wake up with a headache after two beers... even if you are a lightweight like me. I mean, after eating a burger and fries, NO ONE should have a headache from two beers...)
All in all, I will keep returning, but will have to give their standard table service a try - have been sitting at the bar but think that is not a smart choice for good service here.
Will update in the future, hopefully the review will go up from 2.5 to 3 or more...
Dear God, I almost don't want to write a review because I feel like I'm entering some weird fake-yelp fight. There are awful and amazing reviews by many new yelpers, which screams that this is just some petty bullshit, that should be taken off of yelp.
Now I feel obligated to mention that I don't live in Greenpoint but I do work there. Therefore, I do frequent the places here but have no emotional bias. If I don't like something, I'll move on.
Having said that, I really liked Liz, the bartender. Having heard that this is a new gastropub, I decided to check it out SANS FOOD because I needed to check out the beer first. Bad beer at a supposed gastropub is sheer disaster.
Note my 4 stars. THEY HAVE PALM ON TAP. I fell in love with Palm in Europe - it was the beer that made me love beer. And if you know me, you know I love me beer. They also have other fantastic tap and bottle selections, including Kelso Pilsner, and some other delicious domestic beers.
I will be back to eat.
If you want to read my review for Brooklyn Label, here it is: http://www.yelp.com/bi...
And no offense, brunch isn't innovative (not even green eggs, sorry). It's a good way for restaurants to make a ton of money on a cheap meal.
I would just like to make it clear that the owners have since taken over complete control of the restaurant, the former chef and manager is no longer in the picture and the place has been deteriorating rapidly since this occurred some time last week.
My burger had a stale, chewy bun and the salad that accompanied it was blah and barely dressed. My friend's tuna tartare (which, okay, his bad for ordering ambitiously at a restaurant with so many open outdoor tables on such a gorgeous night) tasted "like deli sushi, cut up." The service was friendly but slow and a little too pushily optimistic on the 'you're gonna order some more drinks, right?' front. Man. I'm glad I don't live in Greenpoint anymore. You just get the sense that these places on Franklin don't even feel like they have to try. They don't, I guess: children in little straw hats and skintight jeans will spend their parents' money wherevs.
I wasn't able to make it to New Years Day brunch but our group of five made it the next day. We had similar problems as the others. A long wait for silverware, food, etc. No salt and pepper, ketchup or other basic things already in place. The waitstaff was pleasant but not experienced. The biggest problem was the temperature of the food. The home fries were downright cold and the rest of the food, room temperature at best. We all ordered basic eggs any style with varying differences. None of the eggs were cooked correctly - over hard was over easy, over easy was just over, scrambled was runny, etc.
I am giving them two stars to start out with and hoping that they get their act together quickly because I do like the space and was happy with the kindness of the staff. I see potential and I will definitely try them again in the next few weeks.
Ate there for the first time last night after hearing some friends rave about the brunches they've had there. I believe that brunch could be good, but dinner was awful. The menu is random and overly ambitious - the place should just stick to a bar menu and skip the weird selections of pastas, risotto, steaks and jerk chicken.
The service was not very good and very slow - there was only one waiter and he appeared to be slammed, but I think the real problem was that the place is poorly managed and staff is inexperienced. It took us 20 minutes to get our glass of wine and beer, and took an hour to get our food.
I got the Cobb Salad, which I chose b/c it is pretty hard to mess up. However, the lettuce was soggy, the dressing was oily, and it didn't have an avocados. Also - the portion was tiny. It was the size of a side salad and cost $10.
My friend got the wedge salad, which was really good. She also got the appetizer pasta dish, which was fine, but we decided it was the equivalent of something your boyfriend would throw together with stuff he had around the house as a surprise and you'd be like "Oh wow, thanks, this is really good." and you would mean it, but it wouldn't be something you'd pay for at a restaurant.
My other friend got the Magical Chickpea Burger and I think she really enjoyed that one - I had some of her fries and those were good too.
The space is nice and I want it to be good so I hope someone else takes control of managing the place. I won't be back unless that happens. They need to go on an episode of Kitchen Nightmares and have Chef Gordon Ramsey to come in knock them around a little bit.
I live literally down the street from River Barrel and was delighted to see it open as I eagerly await the return of Paloma.
Have eaten here a couple of times for dinner and once for brunch. The crispy duck salad was a hit first time I tried it if a bit over saturated with dressing. Fries are good. Brunch I had was an egg burrito, fine but nothing memorable. A friend had a variation of eggs benedict on an English muffin style bread that was nearly hard as a rock.
Service is spotty, there are some lovely, sweet servers, but in general they aren't attentive, and seem very inexperienced at running the restaurant. Even my brunch which I and two friends had at the bar stools - was substandard when it came to service, this when there was no one else sitting at the bar.
I'm hoping they improve the the offerings as well as the service. As other reviewers have noted, the place is decorated nicely - and outdoor seating promises to be another lure for the place once weather improves. But until then, I'll probably abstain.
I gave River Barrel a second chance this weekend, because the first time I had gone they had just opened. The first time I went, I was really excited about the breakfast burrito, but it was tasteless and undercooked. The servers were attentive, but I think this was because they weren't too busy yet.
The service was awful this weekend. No one ever came to refill our coffees, we were given french fries instead of home fries, the oatmeal was dry and also tasteless, and once we had gotten our brunch, the staff completely ignored us.
I'll try to give River Barrel the benefit of the doubt. It seems that they are inexperienced about seating and serving, but hopefully they will get it together because their menu seems to have good potential. The atmosphere is nice, minus the group of 5 kids who kept running in and out of the restaurant through the open windows while we were there. Between the mother and the owner, that probably also should have been nipped in the bud. I probably won't go back for another few months.
Update: I'm addicted to their bleu cheese and bacon burgers. Order it medium if you want a perfect medium rare. They also recently got a fancy bottle of shiraz that happens to be very delicious. Am liking this place more and more... even though the staff still seems pretty confused.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
1/24/2009
I was a little put off by the dissatisfied comments about the River Barrel Cafe, but decided to give… Read more »
**Updated from 1/24/09***
As planned, I gave River Barrel another try after they had been open for business several weeks. I went with three friends for dinner on a cold Saturday night. In short, our experience was mostly good. Two of the group had the chickpea burgers (both declared successes) and myself and one other had the River Barrel burgers, one with bleu cheese, and me with smoked gouda. Definitely success. The smoked gouda was amazing. Our group also ordered the pita plate to share. This came with hummus, babaganoush and spicy red pepper dip. All three absolutely delicious: I normally don't like red pepper but River Barrel's dip was spicy enough to complement the sweet red pepper taste. Babaganoush was smoky and chunky. Hummus smooth and contrasted nicely with the strong flavors of the other two dips. Pita triangles were grilled with olive oil, hot and and thickly cut.
Portion sizes are odd: the side order of fries are on the skimpy side and they did not give us much pita in proportion to the dippers. However, our request for more pita triangles was easily met. The size of the burger made up for the skimpy side of fries, so perhaps not such a bad thing. Service is still a bit slow but this time, to be fair, it was one waitress for the entire room. She did her best and was extremely pleasant and accommodating with refills, extra pita triangles, etc. If River Barrel continues to fill up, I hope they hire another waitress like her. The bartender was equally pleasant so it looks like the staffer that made people feel unwelcome is not around. No problem with drinks whatsoever. I had a few glasses of Malbec, my friends ordered Bloody Mary's and whiskey sours respectively. Burgers were reasonably priced, for what you're ordering, the rest of the entrees are a tad on the expensive side. Salads appear overpriced; however the group next to us ordered some and they are enormous. I'll keep going. After only three weeks, things seem to be improving. Would like to try their bar menu some evening.
River Barrel held their grand opening on New Year's Day, for brunch. They've got some stiff competition in the forms of Brooklyn Label, Greenpoint Coffee House and Casa Mon Amour, all of which are within a 4-block radius of River Barrel, which is in the former Two Flags location. However, my friend and I did enjoy the open, airy but cozy setting. There's a bar in the center and lots of tables cleverly placed around the area, without overcrowding. Lots of windows, good for people-watching and sunlight.
Menu-wise, several ideas were stolen from Brooklyn Label (green eggs, vegetable root hash, sausage gravy). The prices were about the same as BK Label/Greenpoint Coffeehouse, with some things a little cheaper: the brunch entrees ran from $7-$14. Mimosas and Bloody Mary's are $5 as opposed to the Coffeehouse's $6 and $7 drinks. So far, Lokal is still the cheapest with brunch drinks at $3.
I ordered the Greenpoint Omelet: green eggs, cheddar and smoked kielbasa. The omelet (a bit dry) came with red peppers (not mentioned in the menu), which I'm not a huge fan of. I probably would not have ordered it if I had known. Cheddar and kielbasa divine, though. My friend ordered the root vegetable hash which included two poached eggs. Both items came with hash browns and toast. The hash was REALLY good, despite being a little oily. We tasted turnips, parsnips, butternut squash, carrots among others. The eggs sat on top, with a bit of hollendaise sauce. Yum. Other items included smoked salmon and latkes, pork sausage biscuits and gravy, waffles, granola...word of warning to vegetarians: there are not a whole lot of options. No idea if that will change in future. A few other cons were watery coffee and the homefries on the dry side. Also, the very noisy young child a few tables over made conversation difficult. Ideally, not a great place for kids because there is not much room to maneuver strollers.The service was a little slow but it was the first day and I'm not holding this against River Barrel. Our waitress made a point of keeping us updated and asking for our patience. The waitstaff were friendly, helpful and informative, making for a pleasant experience.
I asked our waitress about their other menus and she said that starting next week, there should be some dinner and lunch menus, plus a bar menu that runs til 1am. She described River Barrel as being a restaurant-bar combo, where you can come to have a sit-down dinner or sit at the bar for drinks and perhaps a little snacking.
While not outstandingly different from the above-mentioned competitors, it appears to be a cute, cozy little spot within easy reach of my apartment. I'd like to try this place again in a week or two. I also like the idea that it can be for a meal or just drinks. It'll be interesting to see how River Barrel holds its own in Greenpoint.
it was great then awful now great again - they had a crazy chef they ditched and got a new guy he's Jamaican i think and does some nice jerk chicken - bt the basics are very nice - the skinny little English gal is nice and the owners are sweethearts - brunch is solid and dinner is good - not Paloma standards yet but they will get there and i love the light fixture! it's a b+ that could be an A... but go drink and watch the sunset.
Pretty good drinks and brunch but the service is, not bad, kind of stupid? Like, they're friendly and nice but they forget to seat people or ask if they want coffee or sometimes by accident eat their own napkins. It's just kind of weird.
I was originally going to Brooklyn Label but it was too crowded so my parents, roommate, and I ended up here. The server was super nice and attentive. My omelette was delish and the burger that my dad got was huge and good. Nice beers on draft and good coffee. This is strange but the pickles that were on the burger were fucking yummy. We asked the server and she said that the cook makes them himself. Anyway, my roommate's fritata was a little wack but that was the only downside to this meal. I would def go back. My parents loved it.
Let me first welcome my neighbors to the lovely dining scene of Franklin Street and wish them well!!!
I visited on opening night, where the lady at the bar was friendly and got a chance to check the work they did on the place, a place that holds many good memories for me... The lighting is excellent, there are some interesting touches here and there, but a bit to much varnish on everything, time should dull all of it nicely. The bathroom is lovely and much improved from what it used to be (LOL)
I went for Brunch with a couple of friends on their second day, it was late into the day and a bit disappointing.... Burrito was terrible, the smoked salmon plate was good, but too much salmon and not enough potato pancake, and my burger first came overdone, and the second time underdone and oily with soggy french fries. I was a bit disappointed but thought that they will work out the kinks. The brunch menu puzzles me as well, do we really need an identical menu from BL and if so make sure the quality is superior. Prices were a bit cheaper which is always good.
Went back for dinner a couple of weeks later with three friends and it was excellent, Our salad and shrimp tempura were tasty and unusual, and my hanger steak was cooked to perfection.
So it's 2 out of 3 and I will try the brunch again, I found out that they changed some of the staff . Give them a chance!
i haven't gone for brunch because there is nothing my vegan husband can eat. but the veggie burger is good (a little too mushy in the middle sometimes), fries are great, and hubby loves the split pea soup!
also, their beer selection is awesome! the kelso is soo good! and when they were out of the beer we wanted the other night the waitress came across as very knowledgeable in suggesting a similar beer and then checking to make sure we liked it.
we'll definitley be going back, though we'd go back sooner with a few more veggie options.
I'm a fan of this new dining option in Greenpoint. I thought the food was good and had some interesting choices on the menu - which made a decision hard. I really liked my burger, the biscuits and the burrito.
No issues with the service. Everyone there seemed really sweet, which is a plus.
What I also liked was the booze! You could tell their mimosas had fresh squeezed juice and the bloody marys were just spicy enough. For dinner - they have fun cocktail options including something I think was called a Green Eyed Monster - or something like that. YUM. Recommended. Everyone I was with all enjoyed their drinks as well.
This place is the pits!!!! My BF and I went for a pre-valentine's day brunch, and were subjected to some of the WORST service I've ever experienced. It's like..how long has this place been open?! The servers didn't acknowledge our initial presence, some dopey guy took 10 minutes to set our table after they finally did "seat" us, the three servers were literally running into each other in the back, and the bartender was the one that kept popping from behind the bar to take our order/run our food. On top of all of this, I had to send my burger back on account of it dripping with blood when I'd asked for it medium well and then was made to feel like a giant weirdo for doing so. I'm not usually one of those picky restaurant goers, but seriously....this place has no rhythm. Our water glasses were never refilled, and it took a bajillion years to get our food and there were no salt and pepper shakers!! Um hello?!? Furthermore, what kind of servers wear heels to work in?! Skip this joint.
i love this place and want them to succeed but they are over priced. the breakfast burrito is huge and delish but it's $13 and you don't get hash browns or anything. and i got it without the chorizo and they should have taken off like two bucks or something b/c it was beans, eggs and cheese for 13 bones. not cool. the service is slow but always friendly, which i really appreciate. the bloody marys are great but they should be 6 bucks instead of 7. everything is great but one or two or three dollars over priced. their magical chickpea burger is sooo good.
