The Rivers Bend Grill

13283 Rivers Bend Boulevard  

Chester, VA 23836

http://www.riversbendgrill.com/

                 After every party Amanda and I throw we always go out to eat for lunch.  This time our lunch crew was smaller than usual, just Amanda, Beans, Theron, Esther and myself.  We try to always go somewhere different, this time I decided on somewhere that even I have never been to, The Rivers Bend Grill. Just like All in One Subs, I pass by the place every day on my way to work but have never stopped to try it out.

                Online the place looks awesome. The food looks great and it appeared to have a lively atmosphere. It may have been the time we went, 11:30 on a Sunday morning, but the place was dead. You could have heard a pin drop at the other end of the restaurant. It was sparsely decorated and had little to no character. It looked like every other cookie cutter “grill” out there. The waitresses were all very friendly but a little on the slow side.  Amanda and I started out with an order of fried green beans.  They came out quickly and where piping hot and extremely delicious. They were nice and crispy on the outside but soft and tender on the inside.  I love fried beans and these ones were very good. It came with a Creole style sauce that was good but not the best I’ve ever had with green bean fries. 

                After looking at the menu online, I had set my mind on ordering the “Big Daddy” burger.  It really wasn’t anything too special but for some reason, even after looking at other great sounding things on the menu, I had to get the “Big Daddy”  for $7.99.  It was burger with two types of cheese, bacon, fried onion petals and their signature Creole sauce.  It came with your choice of chips, fries, or vegetables.  In an effort to try to be semi-healthy I ordered it with vegetables, the California blend a mix of broccoli cauliflower, carrots and onions. By the time we had finished our green bean fries our meals were ready. My burger was decent sized but not exactly what I would call a “big daddy.” It did have a good amount of cheese and two huge strips of bacon but it was a little skimpy on the onion petals and the Creole sauce. The burger was ok but definitely not spectacular. I have had much better burgers at plenty of different places for the same price or less. To make it worse, the vegetables, which I only ordered to appear healthy, were anything but. They were over cooked making them limp and soggy.

                Overall, The Rivers Bend Grill was a non-event. Even the great company I had with me could not revive it. To date, it is my least favorite place that we have ever gone for an after party lunch.  It was not actually bad;  but it also was not anything special.  The menu was very typical of most restaurants burgers, sandwiches, ribs, chicken, ect.  More likely than not I will not be going back to the River’s Bend Grill; not because I hated it but because there are other places that are just like it but better.