The River and Rail Restaurant

2201 Crystal Spring Ave SW, Roanoke
(540) 400-6830

Recent Reviews

Jeff Williamson

We went here for my Mom's birthday dinner in March 2024. We arrived to a card on the table signed by all the staff, an amazing touch. Jess was our waitress and BEYOND phenomenal! We had an incredible celebration of an evening.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Grilled Octopus

Brent Williams

From start to finish, this place was phenomenal. I was impressed with every bit of it from the service to everything I tasted or ordered. Definitely a must.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Kaitlin Tolson

This is the kind of place you’d find in a bigger city! There are very few other restaurants in Roanoke at this caliber. Top 3 in the area for sure. Definitely recommend calling in for a reservation ahead of time - they don’t have long hours and fill up quickly. Cocktails are creative, and typically on point. I absolutely LOVE their Chicken Liver Mousse and my husband said the Oyster Rockefeller some of the best he’s ever had. The small plates are alright, but the entrees and dessert definitely don’t disappoint!! Love the cozy, intimate vibe - great for special occasions and date nights ❤️

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Mz Nugent

Husband took me out for a date and we were pleasantly surprised. The kitchen was small, but the food was flying out. Small intimate setting with dim lights and beautiful music playing. The food was superb, and the service was excellent. Definitely plan to go back. 10/10 recommend.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Dee M.

Very nice place to eat! Grab a great meal. Great for a date night. Or mid day meal. Great service and great food.

Robin Greaves

Incredible dinner date experience. The staff are engaging and kind, the food is so wonderful, and the atmosphere provides the space for you to enjoy someone else's company! Definitely go for their suggestions!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

P& B

This is by far one of the best restaurants I have been in. I was eating food I normally do not eat and loving it. The ribs are sweet and so tender. The rinds with dip omg was so good! The desert was even more tasty if that's possible. It's heaven to the taste buds!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Herschel B.

Our entrees were supposed to be tomahawk pork chops. No bone served. Both were terrible, overcooked, dry, and tough as wood. Positive reviews are undeserved. The pate was delicious, but that doesn't matter if he entree, the star of the dish would s awful!

Kendall Schaffner

Just bland. This was hyped to us as one of the best restaurants in Roanoke and I can assure you it is not. While everything was technically cooked perfectly, it was lacking in seasoning, creativity, and flavor. There was nothing offensive, but it seems quite expensive for what it is. Maybe if you're a local you love this place- if you're new to the area like us it's likely you won't be impressed.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 3

Service: 5

Anonymous

Awesome food, great atmosphere can’t wait to go back! Hidden gem.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Don Halterman

Such a great experience..Tyler and his staff do not disappoint.Great variety in food and beverage selection served in aprofessional manner. The best in Roanoke.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Cat Huston

Absolutely loved the hanger steals cooked perfect from the butcher shop and all the fresh veg and fruits were perfect but.my fathers and my favorite was the chicken liver pate it was amazing smoth decant ,And.the.brown.butter cake.was lite as air it was lovelyDietary restrictions: Since.eveything.we.orded.was.fresh. the were.easy and.kind if you can't.have.a.certain.veggie.or.wducatex enough.if.asked

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Scallops, Ice Cream Sampler, Dry Aged Pekin Duck Breast, Hanger Steak, Salad, Grilled Spanish Octopus

Justin Shields

It pains me to write this review, because I was really looking forward to dining here, but I have to say our experience was painfully just "ok". We came here for an anniversary dinner, and everything was fine, but I mean that in the most average way possible.We started with a couple drinks, which tasted ok and were decently alcoholic so we didn't feel cheated, but weren't especially memorable. We started with a shared beet root salad, which again tasted fine but the beets were harder than expected (which ended up being a preview of the night's veggies in general). My main was the hanger steak which also tasted fine, but as with the beets earlier all the veggies (carrots and fingerling potatoes) were slightly undercooked and a bit hard. My wife had duck breast and was the strangest duck breast we've ever seen. We eat this quite a bit and I cook it at home occasionally, so we're familiar with duck, but this one was a strange light pink in color, almost like a ham. It's possible it's just a different breed of duck than we're used to, and it did taste fine, just something to note.The best thing to note was the service was great, and our waitress was super attentive and friendly.At this price point, I would expect the food to at least be among the best in Roanoke, and the other reviews raised my expectations. Maybe we landed on a bad day, but none of the flavors were especially notable and paired with the undercooked vegetables made the meal average at best and underwhelming at worst. I want to reiterate, I'm not saying it was a bad experience or meal, just kind of mid.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 5

Ethan Brannan

Had a small celebration for my mother’s birthday. Random Tuesday evening and the atmosphere was still great. We were there just over 2 hours with several shared dishes and multiple bottles of wine. A manager (i think) had good recommendations for wine & cocktails. Also our server (Ivy) was knowledgeable of the food menu and did not disappoint!Everything is clean, there’s options for small and regular portions, food was great and had a tasteful presentation, bartender did well on the drinks and dessert ended our night on a great note.I will our table of 4 all agreed that we would not order the filet again. It was cooked & seasoned well but we felt the quality of the cut could’ve been better. It was chewy through most of the, i think 8oz? Definitely nothing to complain about, and we will surely be back for a 3rd dinner with R&R.We spent right at $100 per person including wine and a couple cocktails, well worth it! We shared all of our dishes among the table.~Definitely try the chicken liver Mousse~Thanks for a 5star experience, again.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Scallops, Ice Cream Sampler, Banana Pudding, Hanger Steak, Chicken Liver Mousse

karyn sigmon

First time there with friends. Our server Alexia was phenomenal. Very knowledgeable about the whole menu and made great recommendations. Appetizers and drinks excellent. I tried duck for the first time, nice presentation. Loved the bread pudding and veggies that came with it. Would not get duck again, but glad I tried, just not living the flavor, that's on me.we tried there homemade pumpkin ice cream, orange sherbet and buttermilk ice cream. All very good. Will definitely go again. Thanks.Dietary restrictions: Friend has alpha gal plus chicken allergy, very accommodating and helpful

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Ice Cream Sampler

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