Riviera Hills Restaurant & Lounge

This restaurant has always been hit or miss.
There is a new chef and the food is really good. However, we were disappointed in the French onion soup which arrived without the traditional bread and melted cheese topping, we thought it was an oversight. Turns out the chef has chosen to omit that topping from the soup.. Service is consistently slow. After waiting 20 minutes finally had to flag someone down to place a drink order. The view is great, the food is good.

Finally a place with exCELLENT FOOD and service… if your looking for something that’s just out of this world then Riviera Hills Restaurant is your ticket. We had a few items from the appetizer menu the Clams are to die for., I will be taking my husband next week to try some more of the items can’t wait.

My oh my where do I start! When my husband and I had first reached the doors of the riviera hills restaurant we were politely greeted by a young lady. Without hesitation we were given a table by the window as we had arranged prior to our arrival lucky us! It was a busy night and the courses came out at a reasonable time, we had the chance to meet our lovely waitress Victoria who not only served us attentively, but also made sure our drinks were taken care of as well. Such a sweetheart she is! Our glasses were always full as the bus boys did so. This was our first time dinning at the riviera hills restaurant & lounge and boy oh boy we will surely be back for more! Such a wonderful environment.

After reading the past reviews I’m ready to keep it 100 and give the REAL break down of this establishment.
The scene: We arrive a little after 7pm Friday, Labor Day weekend. The bar and dining room are packed. A positive sign of good business.
A few things I can agree with per the previous Unilocal reviews:
1. The staff is young (But I don’t find that to be a negative quality).
2. We did have to wait 10 minutes to be seated even though there was an open table.
3. Some people could argue that service is slow in between courses.
However, I disagree with some of the previous reviews for two major reasons:
1. Both our waiter and busboy were incredibly attentive despite the large dinner crowd.
2. Though the garlic mashed potatoes were not extraordinary, the presentation was. Furthermore, I can say with certainty the mashed potatoes are not instant. You can tell by the texture and taste. Moreover, it would cost the restaurant more money to buy and prepare instant mash than fresh.
Don’t get me wrong. The food is more like 3 — 3 ½ stars. Being from San Francisco I truly know quality food. However, I’ve been coming to my lake house in Clearlake since I am two weeks old. I’m all about Clearlake. I love Clearlake and I love the view from this location.
We’re seated in a large, private room in front of the spectacular view. We’re immediately brought fresh house made bread with simple compound butter. We instantly receive water without having to ask. The waiter swiftly takes our drink order and we receive all cocktails within five minutes.
We started with the pancetta wrapped prawn appetizer. Three large prawns abed a warm cabbage, onion and bacon salad. Very good.
Two of us ordered the coconut prawn dinner. One person ordered the steak dinner. All dinners come with either soup or salad. All dinners also come with two side dishes out of six choices. Each dinner was around $ 20 – 25. The price is right!
The salad was served cold. It tasted fresh and came with an array of vegetables — radish, beets, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. Very tasty. As was the eggplant soup of the day.
There was a nice amount of breathing room in between the appetizer, salad and entrée. It allowed us to enjoy the sunset, and our cocktails.
The coconut prawns were good. Not the best I’ve ever had but for Clearlake «fine dining» I was happy. My mashed potatoes were good as were the sautéed snap peas and mushrooms. The steak on the other hand was not the best. The steak was cooked fine but was not top quality. Pass on the beef. This isn’t Morton’s. Order smart.
The outdoor patio is large, well lit, has fire pits, and the most exquisite vantage point of the lake. This establishment is ADA accessible and features a large parking lot. The sunset is magnificent. The grounds and landscaping are well maintained and enhance the lake’s inspiring, panoramic view. This is an excellent wedding venue.
The bar is separate from the dining area. Cool place to meet friends for drinks or enjoy their live music. The restaurant has a cool floor plan with good flow. The interior has been updated while maintaining its traditional charm. Definitely worth a visit just for the experience.
I look forward to coming back and trying the champagne brunch. Though the main attraction is the view.

The view from the dining room is spectacular. The outdoor patio is large, has a nice dance floor and room for a small band. The parking lot is nice and large. Unfortunately, I am unable to comment on the food. We arrived at the restaurant around 8:00pm There were about 25 people seated outside on the patio, most had already finished their meals and were drinking and dancing.
There was no host/​hostess in the restaurant so we had to find someone to seat us. We noticed someone working at a desk in the entryway to the dining room and asked if we could be seated. The woman looked at us and said «You want to have dinner?» We said yes and she seated us at a lovely table by the window and given menus. The busboy gave us water and bread. Other than the busboy who kept our water glasses full, no one else ever came by our table. The woman who seated us, asked the two other prople in the dining room how their meal was, but after seating us, never interacted with us again. So after drinking 3 glasses of water and waiting over half an hour for a server to stop by and take our order we left. Too bad, it looked like a lovely location for dinner.

Awesome place old e to go swimming I’ve bought a pool pass now for the last 5years and it is width every penny. And they’re tennis court will help you work up a sweat so you can’t wait to jump in.

Food was great service was slow and waited to be seated for 10 + minute’s. We decided to give it a try again and was great but not consistent! PROBLEM have people under the age of 21 serving alcohol and even seen giving to friends that where clearly underage. Have found that on Sundays call for reservation and also gives idea in that is service going to be good. The people under age 21 at this place seem to not pay attention to service and whom they give alcohol to was given a Hermosa by mistake did not want alcohol what if I was a recovery alcoholic whom would be in terrible!
Owner needs to look at State Laws and have people serve alcohol that 21 and older.
We will think about going back!!!

Food was delicious. View was breathtaking. Service was charming and prompt. Complimentary Champaign with brunch was a nice touch. Our new favorite spot to bring guests.

EXCElLENT!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!
I have had their Sunday champagne brunch several times while in the area.
We travel quite a bit so I have many opportunities for champagne brunch.
I must say, this is the best brunch of any, ever. Regardless of price, higher or lower, none comes close to the Riviera Hills.
The service is great. The sweetest, most humble, efficient waiter and waitress’s. Ricardo, Taly, Sandy and everyone! Just great people who do their jobs with pride and have a great work ethic. Love these people. So kind to us, always, regardless of how busy or rushed, they always make us feel welcome and important.
Now, to the food. Wow! Did I say wow!!! This chef is awesome! The best eggs Benedict I’ve ever tasted, the hollandaise, supreme! Several varieties to choose from. The hash browns, just divine, several versions of potatoes to choose from also.
We recently went there for their Easter buffet brunch, Oh my goodness, I can’t even think of words to describe how delicious EVERYTHING was. Everything homemade. A very large selection of many different items! From tri tip to lamb to salmon, breakfast and lunch items, scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, eggs Benedict and much more. The desert table was really unbelievable, so many different homemade desserts. Chocolate covered strawberries, cheesecake with blueberry sauce, real chocolate mousse and many more. I actually tasted these three and they were divine! All homemade, no frozen stuff here. They kept our champagne glasses full with a smile. They are very, very reasonable in the price department too, a great value especially for all you get. This restaurant far exceeds my expectations every time. That’s why we keep coming back. It is also very, very beautiful overlooking the lake and green rolling hills. It’s quite breathtaking. What more can I say, We HIGHLY recommend this restaurant.

I love this place. We are so lucky to have a nice, clean, safe place to drink, eat and socialize. The drinks are strong and the prices are right. Oh, and the service is great! Really, I never have to wait for anything. They have live music on the weekends. If I want to hang later they stay open. Without being pushy or rude.

Went here last night to give it a try, it has had a rep of less than good food for years now but hey, it’s close. Two of our party showed up 8 min before me and my husband showed up, and they were really rushed into just ordering before we got there, they didn’t, they waited for us, we arrived and sat, ordered 4 cocktails and water. 20 min later we received our cocktails, no water. The waitress took our order not asking us the correct options (wasn’t a big deal at this point but obvious she didn’t know the menu nor the beers they had there since she had to leave in the middle of taking our order to go ask) anyways, we got our salads in a timely manor, they looked tasty but lettuce and dressing was warm, so that ruined it. Then we waited 1 hour 15 min for the entrees to arrive! When they did, she put a slab of salmon in front of me with nothing else, just salmon. Not just that, I had ordered the Sole! My friends raviolis had the most watery nasty «sauce» I had ever seen or tasted, she couldn’t eat it. My husband and my brother ordered the «Prime» Rib (if you can call it that) and it came tough, along side a BURNT piece of squash and INSTANT potatoes. That’s right people, INSTANT! For $ 23 you can’t give people REAL potatoes?! Needless to say, we will NOT be returning.

The experience my friends and I had at Riviera Hills restaurant was by far the worst I can remember. The server was horrible. She didn’t know anything about the menu or the alcohol selection. We asked her for water three times and she still never brought it. We had to ask another server to bring us some. We waited an hour and a half for our food, which two of our four orders were the wrong dish!!! The other two were dry, tasteless, most likely microwaved cuts of prime rib. So bad that we couldn’t eat it. They even serve instant mashed potatoes. Come on, even the small diners around lake county serve real mashed potatoes. The table next to us had to send one of their meals back as well. This is the first time I’ve been to this restaurant in over ten years and it was most certainly the last time. I strongly advise you to save your money and avoid this restaurant.

Riviera Hills is just short of 5 stars. The food was outstanding. I had the red snapper with king crab beurre blanc, while hubby had the most delicious filet mignon I have ever tasted. The baked potatoes were cooked perfectly, and the swiss chard side vegetable was elegantly presented and delicious. The service, while friendly, needs to step up to the level of the restaurant itself. Our server was sweet and attentive, but she just missed a couple opportunities to add to the bill. She asked if I wanted a glass of wine with my fish when I was half finished eating. If she had asked when she first set the plate down, I would have said yes. She also never asked us if we wanted dessert — she just brought us the check. We also would have loved if she had offered fresh ground pepper for both our salads as well as our main courses. The table salt and pepper shakers were quite useless (you couldn’t even see if the seasoning was coming out of the tiny holes). We love having fresh ground pepper offered when we eat out, and could definitely have used some tonight.
Prices are very reasonable: $ 6 for top-​shelf cocktails, and $ 22 for dinner including soup or salad and two sides. We will definitely be back.

I have lived in the Riviera for three years now and just ordered some food to go for the first time. I just want to say the food was outstanding, fresh, and all together delightful! I would absolutely recommend this restaurant to everyone I know. Thank you.

Friendly and helpful staff. Thanks to Ricardo, Tali and Maria for making our Sunday Brunch so delicious and enjoyable.
Wonderful to sit with a lakeside view. And we thoroughly enjoyed our brunch meal.