Rita’s on the River

So, it was Saturday night and we were looking for something new to do. We were hungry for some dinner and knew that it was too nice out to NOT find some outdoor seating. Ryan went to work researching places to go on Yelp, while Rob and I contemplated our drink of choice for the evening. Before picking up Rob, Ryan and I narrowed down the choices to three and made Rob make the final choice. His options were Samba Room, Rick’s on The River, or Grillsmith. He quickly chose Rick’s, seeing that he has been to Grillsmith and wasn’t in the mood for tapas at Samba Room.

After being concerned for our well being as we drove through the ghetto, passed the projects (being scanned by the cops), we made it to Rick’s On The River! We were all surprised of the location, but once we found a parking spot and made our way inside, we knew we were going to enjoy the laid back atmosphere.

There was live music, boats pulled up at the dock and plenty of families with kids enjoying a quick meal. We found a table in the crowd of madness and took a seat. We quickly realized that the table next to our was filled with a bunch of girlfriends that were enjoying some oysters and beer. They told us about the flag system that Rick’s uses (if you need help, you flip the red side up and if you are good, you flip the green side up). We ordered up a pitcher of margaritas and 10 dry-rubbed wings as an app. While we waited, we surveyed the marina and commented on how crowded it was (this was another sign that it must be delicious if it was this crowded). It was a bit colder than we had predicted (since it was on the water), so we tried to get the drinks flowing to warm us up 🙂

The margaritas weren’t anything fancy, a standard bottled mix with a bit of Jose Cuervo. The wings came out after the margaritas, and they were AWESOME! The dry rub used was the perfect combination and when you added a bit of buttermilk ranch, they fell off the bone.  We ordered up our meals and chatted about our plans for later in the night.

The food came out pretty quick. I order the lemon pepper grilled chicken wrap. The chicken had great flavor, it was juicy, and the cole slaw was chopped to perfection. I was pleasantly surprised at my meal, as were Rob and Ry. Rob ordered a standard BLT with fries and Ryan got the lemon pepper chicken sandwich with fries. All in all, there weren’t any complaints (food wise). I would say, if you are not the family restaurant type person, this MAY NOT be the place for you. There were children crawling around our table, running through the dining area and wreaking havoc throughout the restaurant. It didn’t bother us, so just beware!

After we finished our food, we discussed our later plans, finished the margaritas and got out check. All in all, we liked Rick’s and agreed we would have to go back so Allison could enjoy it with us. Although Hula Bay would probably be our first choice for a drink on the water, Rick’s on The River was a nice change of pace from our normal SOHO Saturday night. So, grab a friend and grab some wings at Rick’s on The River! ENJOY!

– Nicholas