River Cafe

I had the prime rib dinner. It was very good for $18.99 but unfortunately I missed the early bird special price. There was a wait to get in and i attribute this to a busy weekend and probably a shortage of cleaning staff for the tables. Our waitress was pleasant and fast. Back to the prime rib: I've paid more for something of less quality. It was too big to finish. My girlfriend ordered an end cut and it was huge and delicious. I had a baked potato and vegetables and no way could I finish those either. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars was the wait to be seated.

It was yummy. I had the prime rib special, lots of fat, needed salt, and the corn was horrible, maybe it was green peppers cooked with it but it was left untouched after the first bite. Also my lemonade tasted watered down. Wait staff said the nozzle was not working correctly. But the rolls and french fries were perfect.

Lunch was good and the service was good as well. 2 am was kind of ridiculous took over an hour waiting in line to even be seated. Understaffed during the late night/early mornings. But they still did a decent job considering it was 2 people running the whole Cafe in my opinion. Next time I will just goto bed instead of trying the 2 am thing!

The food is good. The only thing I didn't like was the waitress. She brought my food and my ticket same time dropped it off and never came back. Usually the staff will come around and ask you how is it and ask you if you want a refill. This waitress did not. I understand if the place was crouded and very busy but it wasn't. I'm sure she had her reason. Also I by myself so no one was with me so no rude people. I wasn't rude. I was polite said please and thank you. But the food was still good I just wanted more water to drink that's all.

Food is always good, but I'm rather disappointed with the takeout service. First, you cannot phone in an order - no, you must present yourself in person. In a small town like Mesquite, it would be nice to phone ahead so you can grab and go (and not be subjected to an extended wait in the cigarette lounge). Second, there is a mysterious $1 per entree "take-out" charge. Apparently, you get to pay for the packaging, plastic utensils, and condiments. Who knows why, because if you eat in-house these are all free - including a take-out box for leftovers.

Apparently, if you enter during the graveyard shift, you run the risk of the cafe shutting down for their "break". Yeah, the entire cafe come to halt when the hostess is on break. Just wondering if the cooks take a nap back in the kitchen during these "breaks". So much for their open "24 hours" claim. They even ordered a nice sign that reads "Closed for break". From the reviews I've read here, I might have just lucked out!