Riva Fish House

Love this place! We’ve had the fried zucchini, calamari, scallops ravigote and the snapper florentine. Everything was excellent. My husband is a sort of calamari aficionado and he said it was the best he’s ever had. The service was good, prices were reasonable and we didn’t have to wait for a table.

This is my goto place every time I drop by Santa Cruz.
The fried food here is AMAZING.
Hands down the best Fish&chips, calamari, shrimp, and zucchini I’ve every had.
The fisherman’s plate is a must try.
Oh yeah, the service is always on point as well.

Definitely a fan of Riva Fish House!
But my last visit is why am finally leaving a review after all this time!
The food is always great, but service is always subpar. Maybe I am coming at the wrong times but I feel this is the home for «after school/​weekend jobs.»
TORRENT gave the BEST service I have EVER had at Riva, and we are here at least 4 times a month. Just a great attitude, so helpful and just a super cool dude. I think the wait staff should take notes from this guy, because he knows how to deliver great service! I just wish service was always this top notch EVERYTIME I visited Riva.
Food worth trying:
1. The shooters are fantastic
2. The oysters are great. I am beyond picky about oysters and I have never had shell pieces in these.
3. Calamari is BOMB
4. Philly Cheese Steak is good

I only stopped by here to try their gelato so I can’t comment on their food, but from what I’ve heard from my friends and other Unilocal reviewers I’m sure you won’t be disappointed if you do decide to eat here. The woman who helped us with our gelato order was really nice and let me have as many samples as I wanted. I think I paid 5 dollars (?? Don’t quote me on this) for a small cup, 2 flavors and it was soooo good! Best gelato I’ve had for a while, really amazing I never knew about this place til recently. Riva, you have my heart.

Great seafood restaurant on the pier in Santa Cruz. You can’t go wrong with the clam chowder or fish tacos. Both are some of the best I have had.
Do yourself a favor and walk past the first few restaurants on the pier and go here where the locals go.
Friendly hostess and wait staff is the icing on the cake.
Only con is that the restrooms are very small.

I’m usually not a huge fan of restaurants by the wharf as it often spells a handsome price tag on the menu for mediocre food. HOWEVER, I did enjoy my visit the Riva Fish house. The venue was lively, servers are nice, and foods are served in timely manner.
The entrees at the Riva Fish are reasonably priced. If you don’t get distracted by the appetizers, you’ll be able to walk away feeling like you didn’t pay through the roof for a meal. Be warned that there is a reason why there’s such a price differential between their «shrimp» cocktail and their «prawn» cocktail. The shrimp cocktail comes with shrimp that are roughly the size of your thumbnail. I’ve had the chance to have a taste of their prawns and snapper florentine and crab sandwich. The florentine did not phase me. I did, however, fall in love with the sandwich.
Overall, my impression from my initial visit of this location is fair neutral. It’s not somewhere I will be overly excited about, but i will definitely make future visits to satisfy my crab sandwich cravings.
— not overly pricey for something on the wharf
— nice energetic vibe
— awesome staffs

Came here today for lunch and loved it! Such a beautiful view with superb food and great service! Clam chowder was really good and fresh tasting, especially with a touch of lemon juice. Crab cakes were the best I’ve ever had! Service was attentive and friendly; what more can you ask for?!

If you like oysters
If you like clam chowder
If you like watching the fattest seagulls I have ever seen in my entire life…
Service was good, view was awesome. The bathrooms were the size and shape of airplane bathrooms. Which I find hilarious but someone larger might find annoying. All in all its a pretty solid experience.

First time eating here and the service was impeccable! The server was on top of it and fulfilled any of our needs. The food was exceptional! We had prawn tacos with a chipotle aioli sauce and for an appetizer we had the dozen pawns. We will definitely go back!

We weren’t satisfied with their food. Ordered a piña colada and it tastes like it was watered down, asked to make it sweeter but it still tastes the same. The food was too spicy and it was bland! I wouldn’t recommend this place to eat. With exception their clam chowder was really good but the portion was small! They really deserve a one star but the clam chowder made it a two star!

I wrote a review in November after the worst service ever experienced but you didn’t post it.
Guess I’ll try again.
The waitress was so rude that we asked to see the manager and he was actually worse!!!
All we did was complain about the «rice pilaf» which is nothing more than very dry, bland rice.
We wanted to get some fries instead but the waitress just stormed away when we said we didn’t care for the rice. The «Manager» pretty much told us to leave if we didn’t like their
food.
We live in Santa Cruz and will never set foot in Riva again!!!
Go to Firefish!!! Much better food and the staff is actually nice!!!

This place has AMAZING food but the hostess was really bad.
I’m giving 5 stars because I don’t feel the restaurant should have a lower Unilocal rating based on hostess service. She was really cute but really rude (the tiny brunette with beautiful eyes). Not even a ‘hello’ out of her but … I’ll leave it to management to realize they should probably replace her with someone who has more customer service experience.
Beth made the experience better by her kindness and helpfulness. Nick was also extremely friendly and polite when he helped take dishes.
I appreciate even just a smile but I feel that half the wait staff were very dry and, like, bored.
Regarding the food:
The oyster shooters were so fresh and served at the perfect temperature with amazing dressing.
The calamari was incredible — the batter and texture was perfect in my opinion.
The clam chowder was so savory and tasty and the sourdough bowl it was served in was so soft and delicious.
I will definitely return the next time I’m visiting this area, even if I won’t be greeted right away — the food quality and flavor are worth it.

The one star is for the view but I did not enjoy the food, the wait staff was just ok and it was overpriced.

Overall, a really good seafood place in a great location for a great price. I saw what others were praising and condemning here, and needed to try out these talked-​about dishes for myself.
The clam chowder was fine, with decent flavour. It’s what you’d expect from a seafood shop’s clam chowder. The oysters were fine too, and unlike some of the other reviews, my batch was nice and fresh. They used Blue Point oysters too, which were big and meaty and a great deal at 12 for $ 20.
I can see why people are of mixed opinions, regarding the calamari. It’s not the traditional ring-​shaped, light-​and-​crispy calamari that some might expect. It’s heavy and crispy, with the squid cut into chunks instead of rings. Still good, but not for people who like dainty, just-​cooked calamari. The fish too was unexpected, using cod instead of the cheaper halibut or haddock fillets. It was also breaded instead of battered, which isn’t what I expect from fish and chips, but helped the light and tasty cod stand out more.
As for the atmosphere, the view over the ocean was lovely. And while my server was fine and efficient, my highlight was Orizio. I was in town for business and was sitting by myself, but he was attentive and kind, and helped keep me company that was. Really made my day :)

This was my first time to Santa Cruz, and my cousin and I decided to walk the wharf and grab some lunch. It was a sunny Monday afternoon (Columbus Day).
Although we weren’t right next to the window, we were across from it and still had an amazing view of the ocean.
Service was excellent! Our waitress was super friendly, and our drinks were constantly refilled. We were both very impressed.
I ordered the clam chowder in a bread bowl. The sour dough was delicious as well as the clam chowder. The soup came out nice and hot, and the flavor was great! My cousin had the fish and chips, and he said the fish was tasty and crispy.
We had a wonderful meal!

Bloop. Walked along the municipal pier that is just a few minutes walk from Boardwalk. There are a few seafood joints along the strip but we chose this one. Got seated near the window so we could see the water and sunset which was nice. Service was quite slow and not attentive for ordering but water supply was constant. The calamari was not my fave. There was too much meat and the fried crispy party was no Bueno. Pass. Clam chowder was ok but nothing special so I would pass unless you crave. Oyster shooters were 2.50 each and the sauce was too sour ish and the oyster not as fresh. Finally the pasta special with the clams, mussels and shrimp with some veggies in pesto was ok. Reminded me one of my favorite microwave dinners. I admit this is one of the cheaper seafood restaurants along the strip so I could expect a ton.

Had our (late) lunch here since the hubs wanted us to dine by the seafront. Went to Unilocal prior to checkout which places have good reviews and Riva somehow was on the top of the list.
Seafront location, check.
Wait time — about 5 — 7 minutes.
Romantic seating, meh (seated on the corner next to where they stack the dirty dishes.
Food service — great! (we got a very attentive server who got our orders perfect to the last detail)
Food:
Calamari — awesome preparation! crunchy exterior yet soft and tender in the inside (we should have ordered this more and have it as entrée)
Prawn and fish Florentine with pillaf — the fish is overcooked and the cream eventually made me nauseous. The saving grace was the pillaf and the fried zucchini stick.
Prawn cooked in zucchini with pillaf — my daughter didnt touch the zucchini, ate the prawn sparingly and didnt finish her pillaf.
Basically the sauce base for the dishes was eventually the same for both dishes.
Steak fajitas was for the hubs. He liked the heat but the the meat to veggie ratio wasn’t at par. He said it was tasty.
Clam chowder — now this is worth ordering. Taste wise it was well balanced with that heat at the end. The creamy consistency is just perfect except for the 2 bay leaves that were in my small bowl. Seriously?
The family eventually got their fill and enjoyed the scenery. We have our left overs and gave a handsome tip to our server since she was so nice to us. Would I come back? For the clam chowder and calamari… yes! But that’s about it.

We’ve come by here on multiple occasions before, but this review will be for a recent visit on Friday, July 3^rd. The pier and beach were packed but there was no line at the Riva take out window. Chick at the window was helpful, patient and friendly.
We ordered an order of clam chowder, 3 double burgers with fries and an order of fish and calamari with rice pilaf. Clam chowder is a must! So filling, hearty, warm and delicious. Throw some oyster crackers in there and I’m set! Double burgers on sourdough bread was good and fries were perfect amount of crunchy. I liked the breaded and fried calamari, but the fish wasn’t very tasty. Rice pilaf was ok too. Between the 4 of us there was a ton of left over Clam chowder, burgers and fries untouched and fish and rice.
All in all I would recommend Riva highlighting the Clam chowder. My family likes this spot and usually us not too busy so I know we’ll be coming back.

Nothing special. Nice view.
Wasn’t bad. Just will try another wharf location next time. Waitress was friendly and attentive.

Decided to call and ask if they were open on Labor Day and they were — yes!
What made my boyfriend and I come here is when I Unilocaled «raw oysters» in Santa Cruz and this place happened to have it. We were both craving for some after walking up and down the boardwalk!
From what it seemed, it looked like it was busy in there. The place isn’t very big at all and it’s located on the Municipal Wharf. We were seated by the window, overlooking the ocean. If you choose to sit here, be prepared for the loud seagulls! So if you get easily annoyed, don’t sit here because they crack the windows on the bottom a little.
Since there was a menu outside the restaurant, we looked at what we wanted as we were waiting for our name to get called. Our server was very nice and since we already knew what we were going to order, it was pretty quick. We were really hungry! We ordered a dozen raw oysters, steamed mussels, chipotle shrimps and scallops, and 2 clam chowders. While you’re waiting for your food, you also get sourdough bread with whipped butter.
1) Raw oysters — delicious! I’ve honestly never eaten oysters with those mini forks and thanks to this place, I have finally tried it. I don’t eat my oysters with the marinara sauce though, so I always ask for a bottle of Tabasco.
2) Steamed mussels — VERY small. Between the both of my boyfriend and I, we scarfed these down extremely quick. The broth they steam it in is great.
3) Chipotle shrimps/​scallops — eh. Didn’t like this dish at all. Tasted very bland and we only picked out the shrimps, scallops, mushrooms, and potatoes. This dish has an option to come with rice or french fries. We ate all the fries.
4) Clam chowder — yum! Who doesn’t love chowder? This is mandatory. Gotta add extra pepper and Tabasco in mine always.
Overall, this place is very good. It could get cramped and warm in there though.