TLDR: The River Rat is an overall good experience, but the food ranged from amazing to mediocre. The place itself was relatively lively and cozy. The servers were attentive to our needs. The dishes I ate will be rated separately because of their range in quality. Bread Basket: 4/5 The bread basket that came with the prime rib that I ordered was better than most. It came with multiple freshly baked dinner rolls with some char on them and crispy breadsticks, complemented by a garlicky butter. Soup of the Day (Seafood Bisque): 5/5 This soup was the best dish of all that I had ordered. Despite being a side dish for the prime rib, its rich flavor overshadowed everything else I ate for the evening. House Salad: 2.5/5 The salad is a standard salad that you can skip. Nothing special. Louisiana Lemon Pepper Walleye: 4/5 The walleye was the second best dish. It was a well seasoned, large filet that had a great tartar sauce to go with it. This is a dish I would order again if I came back. Prime Rib: 3/5 The prime rib was surprisingly underwhelming. The edges of the prime were a little tougher than I'd like, and the prime rib itself came out a little cold. The au jus could have been reduced to be a little more concentrated as well. Overall, if I were to come back I would choose to order some different menu items, apart from the soup. read more

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River Rat has a lot of potential, but right now it feels very dated and in need of a serious refresh. The interior and overall atmosphere come across as old, grungy, and worn down, and the space could really benefit from a facelift. This doesn't feel like a place locals would regularly come to hang out for drinks or drink specials. It seems much more like a lunch or dinner stop than a true neighborhood gathering place. With stronger management, more creativity, better promotions, and an updated atmosphere, I think this place could become much more appealing. The food was okay, but nothing especially memorable. Overall, the experience was pretty forgettable. There's definitely potential here, but it needs some attention and a new direction to really stand out. read more

UPDATE after revisiting: Unfortunately, my opinion of this place hasn't changed. The restaurant feels extremely dated, the service was below average, and the food was below average as well. What makes it frustrating is that this place has so much potential, but the overall operation feels stale and stuck in the past. There seems to be very little culture or energy among the staff. Some employees give the impression that they've been doing the same thing for 10 years and are simply going through the motions. Nothing feels fresh, exciting or particularly memorable. The biggest missed opportunity is the evening and weekend business. After 8 PM, there should be a reason for people to stay here for drinks--an interesting cocktail program, better bar atmosphere, music, events, late-night specials or something that creates energy. Instead, people looking for that experience are going elsewhere. That's a huge amount of potential business walking out the door. This feels like an upper-management problem more than anything else. The location and foundation are already here. What it needs is fresh leadership with a clear vision for the food, service, bar program, employee culture and overall guest experience. With the right operator, I genuinely think this could become one of the most popular restaurants in the area. Right now, though, everything feels like it's running on autopilot. Ownership needs to recognize how much potential is being left on the table and bring in leadership capable of taking this place to the next level. read more

River Rat Restaurant - Run away from this place! - American Near Me - Harrison Township, Michigan

Called to place an order of cheese BREAD for take out, was told stop by in about 10 minutes. Arrived and saw many staff who were all chatting with each other. No directions as to where to go and no one bothered to acknowledge me so I waited at the end of the bar. Bartenders took a couple minutes to come by, when she arrived I explained I was here to pick up my cheese BREAD take out order. Her response was pointing to the hostess stand that was empty. I went and stood at the hostess stand, few minutes of listening to the employees giggle around the corner and a girl walking by ask how many. I advised I was there to get a pickup order so she ducked back around the corner for a moment then walked away. Few more minutes pass and a third employee shows up to ask why I am there. I am announce that I placed a take out order and provided my name. She went looking for a piece of paper and asked what my order was. I stated cheese BREAD, she explained with ALL her teenage attitude while rolling her eyes that she needs to check because it's often wrong ...mmmkay Next she takes my money and heads into the kitchen. She leaves the kitchen moments later with a plastic bag then waits at the bar for change from the bartender for 5 minutes while she is holding my HOT food that was getting cold. Finally I got my 45 cents & cold Mozzarella cheese STICKS. Best part about this experience was leaving their restaurant. read more

River Rat Restaurant - It's is not the cheese BREAD I ordered - American Near Me - Harrison Township, Michigan

Met friends for dinner. The food was great! Great Mac and Cheese. Ribs were awesome they offer two types of bbq sauce. My husband loved his burger. A friend always orders the salmon. Steak bites made right. Win win read more

So...we went for dinner last night. Ordered Chicken Alfredo and Cajun Alfredo, Prime Rib Dipper. Food came. My Alfredo was chewy and cold. Grainy from the fact that they seriously used a powder sauce to make the Alfredo sauce. I nicely told the waitress about the issue (which is always awkward because your damned if you do and damned if you don't because you'll have your food spit in if you piss the chef off and send it back) for for $30 I wasn't eating powdered Alfredo cold sauce. The waitress seriously asked me if I wanted her to microwave the Alfredo! Omg! I calmy replied are you serious? Is this really happening? Long story long...Food was expensive and all cheap crap. Never again! Unfortunate because it used to be good. It wasn't busy on the Friday night before Valentine's Day either so now we know why. Don't waste you hard earned cash here. read more

New years Eve. I had baked spaghetti. Not known for Italian food it was perfection. SIL liked the manicotti. Husband had fish and chips. He enjoyed his dinner. Good service. read more

Food is good and the service was good most of the time. Part of the restaurant has a bar and the other part is a dinning area.

River Rat Has been an institution in Harrison Township for decades, with good reason. Do you know what you're going to get when you come here. The drinks are large, reasonably priced, and strong. The food portions are substantial, and there are a number of solid offerings. The coleslaw is good if you like the creamy type. But, after my wife said she wanted fries with her meal, the waitress assumed I wanted the same thing. It's a $6 up charge for coleslaw and fries. It would've been nice if she would've asked, and told us how much it cost. Having said that, the fries are crispy and tasty. And, there are plenty of them to share. If you have two people getting sandwiches, you really only need one up charge. We decide to get a lemon rice soup, which was good. May 24 ounce beer was only $8, and it was a high quality beer (from Bell's). The Moscow Mule was good, too. The chicken sandwich was nicely grilled, but it was on just a plain bun. One stand out was the River Rat Dipper, a perfectly executed French dip. There's a massive amount of meat. The French roll with a hard crust is just right for taste and sturdiness: it stands up to all warm, the salty jus you want to dunk it in. Soak it up! Not surprisingly, prices are a bit higher than they were 2 years ago. The food I described cost us $80 before tip. It's a solid dining experience, and there's nothing wrong with that. But, at that price, I have to think about going to eat here again. read more

River Rat Restaurant - If you like creamy coleslaw, this is right up your alley. - American Near Me - Harrison Township, Michigan

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First time here. Staff were very attentive and nice. You don't see that level of kindness often these days. The food was ok to solid. The prices don't make sense though. If you want a sandwich and fries that's an extra 7 bucks for fries and coleslaw. I never eat the coleslaw anywhere. So 7 bucks for a side of fries. Potatoes are cheap so what's going on? Another restaurant tried to charge me 8 bucks for a baked potato yesterday, but mashed for no extra charge. I'm seriously irritated with this potato price issue. Anyway. So a sandwich meal would be over 22 bucks. A full dinner with salad and 2 sides for about the same. The decor is ok. Seating is comfortable. Not sure why it was constructed the way it was. Odd layout. The chicken on the pasta was boring, but the chicken was prepared well in the parm. Use that preparation for the pasta dishes. Cut back on salt too. Salad was very fresh. read more

The name of the restaurant is very deceiving and uninviting to me, however, this is such an amazing restaurant and is ALWAYS busy. It's also very clean and the staff is exceptional anytime I've ever been here. This past visit I got the fettuccine Alfredo and we split the appetizer calamari. The fettuccine Alfredo was seriously so creamy and the portion was huge - I had left overs for days. The calamari *chefs kiss* is literally amazing, it's in this cream sauce that is literally to die for. Other people in our group got: crab cakes, pizza, ribeye and ribs and everyone was so satisfied and impressed with the food! Way to go, River Rat! read more

River Rat Restaurant - Fettuccine Alfredo - American Near Me - Harrison Township, Michigan

All the food was great, loved the cheeseburger pizza, got a lot of food for a good price. Will definitely go back. The place was nice and clean too and updated. read more

This was our first time visiting the River Rat. Decent Reviews and close to home. The parking lot was full when we arrived, usually a good sign. We were promptly seated in the dining room. The bar seemed to be playing music for a younger crowd that can be heard in the dining room. The restaurant appeared clean and we thought we may have found a good place to go for dinner. The waitress was very attentive and made suggestions for us. Unfortunately, the glass of wine fell off her tray and sprayed my mother and my purse. My mothers white shirt and white undershirt were destroyed. The undershirt and the shirt in price were higher end items. Not only did it hit her shirts, it also hit her white north face coat on the chair. My purse was the least of the worry. We were served dinner and another glass of wine to replace the one spilled. Still shocked how one glass of wine could destroy so much. I will say this again... The waitress was GREAT. Accidents happen. However what happened next is what I want all of you to read and take in. The owner of this establishment has no customer service and is doing illegal practices in this business. We were shocked the whole night, we saw no manager presence in the dinning room or bar. During rush, no one was around. I stopped a busser and asked if I could speak with a manager. I saw some side talking with staff going on, and the waitress next to my waitress section approached us. She said "Are you the table asking for a manager?" As if she could not tell with all the wine all over my Mother's clothes. we of course said yes. I asked her again if she was the manager, she said yes, her boss was on the phone because he had lost his work partner. They have to call him to come up there for issues.... ??????? SO FINALLY this BOSS arrives at my table non-schalantly, non concerned, etc. Didn't even ask how was your dinner tonight which I feel is the first thing you ask when approaching a table with a problem. He listened to what we had said regarding the clothing being ruined and how great our waitress had been. He said "Well she is going to have to pay for this meal" I stopped him to clarify and he said "You want a white shirt I'll buy you one pick it up tomorrow." No size, no who made it, on top of being a terrible manager. DO NOT GIVE YOUR MONEY TO THIS PLACE, THEY TREAT THEIR STAFF TERRIBLE AND ARE AN ILLEGAL PRACTICES COMPANY. The waitress should sue him. Sad story for a place that has real potential. Also makes you wonde4r how fresh is this food really if it is ran by people like this. read more

We stopped for a drink after having dinner nearby. We sat at the bar and enjoyed the live music. The bartender was excellent. We will be back to try the menu. read more

Went with friends last night, sat in the dining area and we all had a nice time. We liked our waitress and the food was really good. The house salad is a very nice size. What we had for dinner: Walleye, perch and seafood fettuccini. The Greek salad is large and filling and they don't use pickled beets, which is a plus for me! read more

We stopped in here for a late lunch when they opened up at 3pm (really wish they opened earlier). We were promptly greeted by a very friendly server who explained they were not allowed to touch the menu so she asked to grab some and seated us at a booth. We were one of 2 tables in the entire place. All employees wore a mask and hand sanitizer was observed to be being used regularly. Our server was very friendly and said she'd been a waitress for 50 years, she knew her stuff. My husband ordered a quesadilla and I had the antipasto salad. The food was pretty good, my salad was huge and easily two meals for me. My only gripe was that it was 90% iceberg lettuce which should really never be served at a restaurant that's nice than fast food. I would like to come back for dinner some time if I'm in the areas, they had some meals that sounded interesting. read more

Overall the presentation was good. I felt that the chicken parm should've had panko bread crumbs. The spaghetti needs work. The sauce over all tasty it needs a tad bit of spice not for flavor maybe some heat to make people wanna have a better over all experience instead of the same old version of chicken parm. Overall if an alphabetical grade I'd give it a b-. read more

River Rat Restaurant - Chicken parm - American Near Me - Harrison Township, Michigan

What's not to like about the River Rat? Great location, outdoor seating, large bar, nice atmosphere and great food! Seafood is a mainstay here but they also have a large selection of other options. The portions are large for the cost and the quality is on point. Staff is friendly and helpful and very welcoming. We enjoyed the French onion soup (which is one of the best in the area), Fish and Chips, and the Pub Meatloaf.l and everything was awesome. Can't wait to return! read more

River Rat Restaurant - Pub Meatloaf with mushroom gravy and crispy onions. So good!! - American Near Me - Harrison Township, Michigan

Food and service went downhill. My wife and I used to love this place, we won't be back. Our waitress looked and acted annoyed towards us, my wife's food tasted like they dumped a pound of salt on it, and she never came back to check on us. I'm still waiting for the beer I ordered. No bueno...stay away!! read more

We ordered carryout for my husband's birthday. We ordered a fish and chips dinner and a walleye dinner; each comes with 2 sides - we ordered fries and coleslaw, and santa anna potatoes and clam chowder (on the phone I was told that was ok if I paid the difference, which was $1 more than soup of the day). When I got there the area by the door was packed with a group saying they were waiting to be seated. It was very loud, with blaring old 1950s "surf" music. I waded through and found an employee, and asked where to go to pickup a carryout order. She didn't know, and said ask another employee. I asked another, and she pointed at the host station, said, "ask her". No one was there, but when someone came up I asked, and she said she'd go see if my order was ready. The total was over $40. Actuallly, it was $47, which means they charged the full price for the clam chowder that replaced another side, which the person taking the order said it was $1 more, and also we didn't get that side that was replaced. But it gets worse from here. At the car, my husband said he wanted to try the fries before we left. Bad move. They were rubberized cardboard-texture pieces of oversalted brown things that, if you could chew them, tasted like they were cooked in old oil several times and then microwaved into hardness. We didn't even think to go back and ask for a replacement - they were that ridiculously horrid: why would we want more of bad? So we left, hoping the fish and coleslaw would be edible. At home we unpacked the bag. The coleslaw was also inedible - because there wasn't any. Since each meal was supposed to come with 2 sides, we should have had 4 sides, and also, we had paid for FIVE sides because they charged full price for the chowder she said I could pay the $1 extra for instead of soup of the day. In reality, we paid for five sides, and got 2 sides that were edible: the clamless "clam chowder" (a potato soup, with maybe clam juice in it?) that was tasty but not clam chowder, and the overly salty santa ana potatoes, which were just four thin slices of potato cooked with a thin layer of Parm on top. The Walleye was good and cooked just right. Good thin dusting of crumbs, fried but not greasy: good job. So we each had a bit of that. Whoever cooked that walleye should be given a promotion for doing the one thing that was right out of that kitchen. The cod had suffered, though, by being put in a very thick coating of heavy dough, and fried until it was so crunchy it was hard to eat. The fish had disappeared in that hard flavorless coating. These were very strange small slices of cod hiding in that dough. I did call and speak with the manager. I wanted her to know what was going on in that kitchen. She offered to replace the fries, and provide the missing coleslaw, but my husband and I had already decided we'd never be back, and couldn't imagine what they'd do differently. This was like food from an outback diner where they see 3 customers a week and reheat old food they stashed in the freezer. No, we didn't want to see what they could do to coleslaw, and wouldn't touch their version of fries even though we'd already paid for both and didn't get either coleslaw or edible fries. The only upside is that the RIver Rat food was, overall, so bad that neither of us ate much, so we broke into the cherry pie I made this morning with fresh-made icecream. And that made up for the awful experience at RIver Rat. Wish we'd just forgot about ordering out in the first place, and and stuck with dessert for dinner. read more

Food was excellent. First time visiting this restaurant, been living near here over 4 years . My boyfriend got the fish n chips and I got the burger. Reason I gave it a 4 is, service we waited a awhile to take our order . I wound definitely return. Place was packed when we went . read more

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My family of five dined at River Rat last night for Mother's Day. We had no idea where we wanted to go and we knew there would be a wait whatever we went. My Mom called ahead and they were more than accommodating and told us there would be a 30 minute wait and they added our name right to the waiting list. We arrived and waited just a few short minutes for our table to be put together. The restaurant was fairly busy but staff was making sure everyone had everything they needed. We started off with an order of the cheese sticks. Now these aren't your average box of frozen cheese sticks. These were actually hand breaded and you could definitely tell. Not greasy and not overly crispy. I ordered the fish and chips, which you can have pick from any two sides and also comes with the bread basket (fresh rolls and crunchy breadsticks! Yum!) I loved that you didn't have to get French fries or cole slaw with your meal. Although I did end up ordering fries, I also ordered fresh vegetable. The vegetable of the day was fresh green beans, loved the crunch! Fries were crispy and the fish..wow the fresh cod was lightly breaded and not overly fried. My meal came with three huge pieces of fish and a large portion of fries and green beans. The fish had a good ratio of fish and fried breading. Breading wasn't overkill. Everyone in my party loved the food. Portions were huge and we all left with leftovers. We will definitely be back again soon! read more

River Rat Restaurant - Fish and Chips. Look at the size of the fish! - American Near Me - Harrison Township, Michigan

Tired of the chain restaurant so decided to try something different. I was pleasantly surprised. The food and the service was great. What a hidden gem. We has fish and chips, walleye, and the Michigan salad. Next time we'll take pictures. read more

Good service, good food, good ambiance and huge food portion sizes for meal entrees! I would recommend to try. I had a spaghetti & meatballs entree and it was a meal for 2. I'll definitely try again and sample another dish. My boyfriend had prime rib and said it was good enough haha! Very family friendly atmosphere and several menu options with fair value for the price. Enjoy read more

Waitress Michelle was great and oh so friendly! Dinner started with delicious rolls and garlic butter. French Onion soup was very flavorful and delicious with robust beef flavor. Clam chowder was not so great, not sure if it's usually better as this was our first time here. Shrimp scampi very good. Tony's Trio was pretty good, no complaints. Overall a good experience! read more

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The salads are super fresh The portions are good sized Service has always been good only issue is they close on Tuesdays and that's the night I take my family out to dinner because I'm off work read more

Nice ambience. Service is good. Portions are huge. Everything we have tried is good and the prices are fair. Try the shrimp scampi.. you will thank me later. read more

Went with a group of people. Great food and even better atmosphere! Service was also too notch.

Wonderful family business, always excellent service and the food is great too! Highly recommended!

Well I was sorely disappointed for the first time going here and have been many times, that being said; we had 2 orders of the Tony's combo platter. It took quite along time to come which is unusual. Both of our combos were ice cold, so much so the lasagna was actually hard. So we sent the dishes back. We got them back and mine was still cold, asked for the manager and he took it back and when it came back to the table the dish mysteriously shrunk in size. It was about half as much as the previous two dishes. We received the bill an no money was taken off, we asked if they would take some off the bill because we came to dine together not separately. My Mom was with us as well and her dish was fine. The owner said no money off because we ate are food. I'm not going to be going back to River Rat anytime soon which is ashame because I like it there. read more

Food and service is always great! Definitely somewhere we love going. Prime Rib was wonderful huge and very tasty.

The best drinks and food in town! Love going here after a day on the lake or even a night out with my hubby! The staff is fast and friendly. They always make you feel at home read more

We've been to the River Rat half a dozen times and the food is ok. The real draw is the Harrison Township vibe, and the nostalgia of Shannon's Steak House. Again, the food is just ok. Tonight we went there with our son. I had a dinner special, our son a French dip, and my husband eggplant Parmigiana. Everything was ok until my husband said that he couldn't eat another bite because the eggplant was so greasy. It turned out to be DEEP FRIED. We know how eggplant parmigiana should be prepared, and it was not. We called the waitress over to let her know and she took the dish away. We waited for her to come back for awhile, and when she finally did it was to drop off the check, and to our surprise the eggplant dinner was still on it. We pointed it out to her, she said she was told to keep it on the bill. Pressed, she returned to the kitchen only to return back with a half off offer. We asked for the manager who let us know there was nothing she could do about it, as she was told by the OWNER that it would not be taken off the bill. Btw, she admitted that the eggplant was no good. Finally, after a ridiculous back and forth, the manager finally took it off the check, BUT CHARGED FOR THE SALAD. Tacky, tacky, tacky. So if you read this owner man, your unprofessional nickel and diming response to what should be a simple customer service 101 courtesy made us decide that we will never return. Too many good competitors in the area. We should have gone to Luigi's like I wanted to. read more

The food isn't all that great but if there's nothing opened I guess it will do. Pizza is pretty good.

Food was outstanding! Delivered quickly, fresh, and hot. Service was very attentive!

Service was okay just chefs don't know how to cook they brought my food out 25 minutes before my girlfriend's then asked if they wanted to put my food under a light yo heat it back up read more

Terrible customer service over the phone. The first time I call, no answer. The second time, I call and say "Hello?" and I get hung up on. Absoulutely sickening. You will not have my business again. read more

Not bad, but not worth the money I paid, sorry to say. Don't be deceived by the steak by the ($1.25) the ounce. It's a la carte, so if you're going to order or want the standard two sides, you're going to spend another five bucks at least for salad, and potato. The food was good, service was ok (our server didn't seem to like his job). Again, decent place, but no "wow" factor for me. They do make a decent martini, though. read more

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5th grade Grad celebration! Monday special at the Rat- Pizza 3 topping, pasta and salad for under $25. Enough to feed 5 works. Pizza crust is very interesting and tasty Pasta was a bit too acidic for my liking however the salad was perfect! read more

River Rat Restaurant - American Near Me - Harrison Township, Michigan

Diners Beware! DO NOT ORDER THE "RIP-OFF" PERCH SANDWICH! Cost: $14! Sandwich ONLY FOR $14! It came with a HUGE seeded hamburger bun, a ton of shredded lettuce, 2 tomatoes, a pickle, and a tiny container of Tartar Sauce. The kicker was the 4 tiny pieces of "Perch Filets "! They were the size of my PINKIE finger! Really?!!! For $14!! I spoke to my waitress who brought the manager over. The manager gave me 1/2 Off the price! That's the best she could do! I hope the owner of The River Rat reads this! That is a shame that his Cook let that sandwich go out to a customer!! I can get a better sandwich at Travis! It's a RIp-OFF! The manager should have a course in Customer Service!! read more