River City Diner

What can I say? I travel quite a bit and am always on the lookout for a good diner. Top notch service (from SOFIA) and even better food.
Crab cake breakfast = excellent.

I am a sucker for diner food and live in Shockoe so naturally I’ve been to River City Diner a bunch and have never had a bad experience. The food is always decent and the service is good. I usually get the Chicken Fried Steak, a personal favorite, which they make very well. They have some pretty good specials two. On Tuesday or Thursday they have a date night special with two entrees and a bottle of wine for a reduced price. They also have a decent bar that serves cold cheap beer and can make decent cocktails especially bloody Mary’s.
I recommend this place to any fans of classic diner cuisine and cold cheap beer. If you’re around the area and looking for all day breakfast check them out.

Worst customer service ever! My server got my order wrong and got an attitude with me and snatched my menu out of my hand because I said something to her about it :-/​Then when I asked for a manger she said there wasn’t a manager on duty??? Craziness. Never going back.

Food was good. The order came back quickly but i felt rushed to be out of the diner (by the server). I dont know if it was a busy day or it is normally like that. The fried potatoes are good side. I took the veggie omlette it was little raw. I like my eggs welldone. I guess that was the only reason this place gets a 3from me. Overall good experience. I didnt like being rushed.

Great place late night as open until 3am at this location in Friday and Saturday nights (not as late other nights). Serving late night breakfast and dinner. How can it go wrong.

Overall rating 3.2
Food: 3, service: 2.5, price:3
I’ve been to River City Diner a few times for breakfast and had late night desert. Overall it’s a nice atmosphere and food is diner quality with most items not being prepared fresh like at other breakfast places in Richmond. For example, «fried apples» from a can, gravy from a large processed bag that they just heat up. However, if you are hungry and on a budget you can leave satisfied on a full stomach. Pecan banana pancakes are two thumbs up as well as country fried steak. Home fries are less than par. Service can be hit or miss. The hostess is a regular and she is great however waitresses are iffy. The one today was slow, never refilled my water, and I watched her moved home fries on someone’s plate with her hand before bringing the plate up the stairs to serve to a customer. Gross! I watched her like a hawk with my food… no touchy there. They have great specials for dinner offered during the week and happy hour deals are good too. However, if you are coming downtown to splurge on brunch I suggest you check out another establishment nearby.

Not stoked that this place is shutting down nights and my favorite bartender that’s been here for 7 years is not getting helped out with any shifts. I am loosing my Wednesday/​Thursday night hang out spot and it pretty much sucks.

Barely adequate diner food. Average price. Reasonably prompt and helpful service. A convenient location but you’re probably better off just getting some fruit from the market.

food is literaly just OK. went twice only because i had a groupon voucher and i was not really impressed either time. the crab cakes were super sloppy and the chicken tenders were awful. probably wont be returning

On July 12, 2015 I stopped in River city diner to get something to eat, it was about 8:15am. I walked in greeted everyone with a smile. The waitress the one with the black rim glasses and the cook just stared at me. So I said it again good morning, no respond. This time the waitress looked backed at the cook still no greeting. I felt the need say I would like to get something to eat. The first thing the waitress said to me «you taking this to go» wtf I am a paying customer I thought to myself I am a paying customer I don’t have a options. This place is Whack!!! To judge a person by the way a person is dressed is not cool! I work in a restaurant so I know how I was being treated!!! Disrespectful!!!

I’ve eaten here several times since moving to RIC. The food is generally good and the wait staff decent. Won’t be going back however due to the rude owner.

Overall Rating: 3.5
Food: 4 Coffee: 2.5 Ambiance: 4.5 Service: 3 Price: 3 ($ 16 per/​person)
River City Diner embodies all that you would expect from a classic-​type diner. The décor and ambiance were great, the walls themselves were unique and were lined with dive-​ish art, the music playing in the background was a great mixture of 70s and 80s tunes at a perfect volume level. There is an upper floor with two rows of seating and a lower floor that has booths the run the length of the kitchen. The kitchen is just visible and open enough to make you feel like there are no secrets kept in flipping your eggs and the openness also allows the smell of deliciousness to waft into the dining area. Our waitress was from New York as was obvious from her accent (and confirmed by her). She was attentive but when we tried to joke with her she didn’t have an easy time playing along, although she acknowledged it outright and we all had a good laugh about it. The sun was shining directly in Alo’s face for the first part of our meal but they were able to close the blinds partially so he wasn’t blinded by the light. Our only other comment about the physical space was that while we loved the roomy booths the benches were a little hard and felt uncomfortable after a while.
The coffee was bland (perhaps it was weak?) It lacked it’s own unique flavor, although it was hard for us to put our finger on exactly what was wrong with it. The coffee definitely seemed to be an afterthought or checked box on the list of things to have ready for breakfast. I ordered the crab omelet, which I was super excited to see on the menu, and while I expected bits of crab, I was pleasantly pleased with the sheer amount of hunks of crab in every bite. It thought it was a fantastic omelet. Alo ordered eggs (over medium, which ended up being a bit overdone) and pancakes, to which he added butter pecan and banana flavor, that were also delicious. The presentation of both dishes was fantastic, but we thought the food was a little overpriced for a diner-​style breakfast.
To hear more about the rest of my experience:

Thank you Groupon for introducing me to yet another establishment. I like the décor of the place and the music was a hit! We sat on the upper level and out waiter came to take our drink orders right away. It was around 5pm on a Friday. I went with the fish and chips. It came with fries and slaw and a generous portion of tartar sauce. I had five succulent pieces of fish. My husband had the crab cake sandwich and really enjoyed it. He had the potato salad, which has big pieces of potatoes — both he and I would have preferred smaller pieces. Both of us really liked this place and I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the food. They even serve breakfast all day! I’m glad RVA has so many options to choose from to eat and enjoy a hot hot date!

Awesome crab cake breakfast, lots of daily specials on the board. Looks like a cool bar/​night spot.

Just your run of the mill diner. Nothing spectacular about this place. We made the mistake of going right after the 10k and they couldn’t handle the influx of traffic.

I don’t understand why this place doesn’t have more stars. The Bloody Marys were great and breakfast was awesome, friendly service as well.

Wasn’t expecting much — just a quick bite on a Saturday ‘noon — and that’s exactly what we got. Main complaint — inattentive waitress didn’t bring cokes out until after our food came. If I’m paying three dollars for a coke I want to guzzle down as many as possible while there. Second and third complaint in no particular order: food lackluster and restaurant freezing #itsjanuary.

Good food. Basic diner fare. There aren’t any dishes that would «wow» you but good food and consistent. They have crayons for the kids! That is a win for me! :)

Terrible! Seriously just terrible. The food that is.
I was hoping to try Julep’s for the first time after an appointment down the street. Found a parking spot, then found it closed. Already parked, I took a stroll and ended up here. Worst decision I’ve made in a long time — and I’m not known for making good decisions — I had a child out of wedlock.
I ordered the meatloaf sandwich on Texas toast with mashed potatoes and a side of broccoli. The broccoli is brown. The toast — just that — white bread out of the toaster. I can’t tell if it was buttered or if my meatloaf just secreted a little fat. The potatoes are from a box. When the waitress asked how the food was I gave a sound of displeasure with a sad face. She responded with a shrug and «well» then walked away.
Never again!

Our class sponsored a post-​test lunch here, so I stopped by. The diner itself isn’t too large, but it definitely feels like a diner! The menu was pretty extensive, so I had a hard time deciding what to order.
I ended up ordering the beer battered cod and a cup of crab soup. The soup was good, albeit a little salty for me and there were a few pieces of shell. The cod came as one HUGE triangular piece (about the length a entire whole fish would be), and it was fried well. My dish came with coleslaw, potato salad, and cornbread. The potato salad and cornbread were not bad, but the coleslaw was a bit off and not really very tasty.
Our server was nice, and all the employees are pretty chill. River City Diner is overall just an ok place for me.