01/25/09

Awesome food, drinks, experience, Everything!!

by travelmomma215

We had an amazing night here. The food was AWESOME! The drinks were great, service was OUTSTANDING! We asked friends in this area where we should go for a good meal and great time and they all said COOL RIVER is top on their list!!! We made reservations but didn't need them on this Saturday night because the dining area side of the restaurant had very few people. Our waitress was extremely nice. In the middle of the restaurant in between the dining area and the bar is a Cognac Lounge with huge comfy couches. If you are a smoker it's the perfect place to step away for a moment without having to go outside. Our waitress held our food for a few minutes keeping it warm while we stepped into the lounge. From inside there is a glass wall facing the bar so you can check out what is going on in there and see how crowded it is or isn't. AFter dinner we went into the bar which is larger than I expected with a full bar. They don't make speciality or fancy drinks just normal anything you can conjur up drinks which is always fun too. The music from the band was a bit loud for our tastes but it was fun after being in the quiet peaceful elegant side of the place in the dining room. I liked the way the place was set up. Within a min. of sitting at our bar table another waitress came to order a drink for us...again, awesome wait staff. It is definitely a place for upper 20's and on up age group. It was wonderful though to see a bunch of people our age and older having a good time. Anyway, we would defnitely go back, especially for the food. I had the shrimp pasta, the shrimp was cooked and seasoned so well you could hardly tell it was shellfish (which sometimes tastes fishy, this didn't) and my hubby had the ribs which were so tender they fell right of the bone and he didn't even have to use his hands at all! We also ordered grey goose dirty martini's...ooohhhh...SO good!! And the calamari was excellent too! You should give this place a try!

10/07/08

So close yet so far

by Jesse5050

I won't go into details on the food part of the experience except to say I am a fan of ribeye and have eaten it in many places and what I had there was nothing to write home about. Not bad, not great, just okay. I am a regular in the club and hope management reads these. The bands are usually very good. Dance space is limited and they have tables ON THE DANCE FLOOR. This makes no sense on a Thursday or Saturday. My other complaint is with the smoking in the bar area. I realize they somehow have special permission to allow smoking, but you really need to ban cigars from the area since you spent all the money on having a CIGAR ROOM to smoke in. There is nothing more offensive than a Arnold wannabe pretending to smoke his cheap stogie in a crowded room. If they address these two issues, its a great place for the 30 to 45 crowd..

• Pros: good bands, good atmosphere, good location
• Cons: cigar smoke, chairs and tables on the dance floor

08/29/08

Best prime rib ever, great customer service

by marysauer

I am a gourmet cook, and am very critical when dining out. Cool River Cafe exceeded my expectations. I have never written a review before, but feel compelled to rave about my experience there. We reserved a private dining room for our group of 11 and were treated like royalty. Our waitress was very attentive and fulfilled every request. Everyone was pleased with the quality of the food. My 22 ounce aged prime rib was the best I've ever eaten; very tender and absolutely delicious. Be prepared to pay a lot for this outstanding food and service. The bill was almost $100 per person including tax and tip; alcoholic beverages comprising half the bill. Entrees cost more than $30 each, and our wine ranged between $40 (mediocre) and $80 (good) per bottle. We felt we had made a good choice by going here for a special occasion. The only complaints I heard were: it was a little noisy (probably partially the fault of our happy group!), and the chocolate cake wasn't chocolatey enough.

• Pros: parking, service, food quality
• Cons: noisy

04/27/08

Impressive steaks. No charge for the cigar smoke

by hughgainey

'We looked forward to returning to this place because I recalled they had very good steaks. When I arrived, I was surprised to smell cigarette and cigar smoke. The folks kindly explained they had separate A/C systems and it wouldn't be a problem. I guess some folks don't have a very sensitive nose. This is Austin. Where are the smoke nannies?

The very professional and gracious waitress explained we needed to order our steaks one degree more done than usual, as they cook them rarer than most places. So I ordered medium. What I got was well done, but I took a bite and it was nevertheless very good - tender and tasty. The watchful waitress noticed and insisted on taking it back. I felt it was perfectly edible, even if it wasn't what I ordered, but she took it away, and while my friend ate, I waited. In a few minutes, out came another steak, this time accompanied with a manger and a flashlight to examine the cut steak. It was rare by any standards. Not my preference, but I accepted it. The glass of wine was not so good at $11, but ok. I paid my bill, which came to almost $70with tip. What I discovered later was that it included a 28% tip before I added more! They had included a tip for both steaks, which I guess is logical since she served me two steaks, right? As I walked to my car, the fragrance in the parking lot was not that wonderful smell of steaks cooking. It was cigar smoke. Thumbs down.

• Pros: good steaks, beautiful place, gracious service
• Cons: strong smell of smoke, pricey, On average they got it right - one too done and one too rare

04/05/08

Excellent steakhouse on the Northside!!!

by rpayneaustin

There service is always top notch. Once you have been, they always greet you by name. There food is always fresh and they provide a very diverse menu and specials! Try their prime rib!!!

01/29/08

The eighties band was fun, but...

by comeon1234

We sat at a table in the back of the bar which might explain why our server never came. Finally, I started a tab with the bar. The bill was way too high for the food and drinks, but since I don't get out much, I let it go. I'm still waiting for all the"other" charges to come off my account, since the bill that I signed has cleared the bank. The food was good. The ceasar salad caliente was good, but the chicken was bland. I shouldn't have added it. The ribs were great! The calamari with banana peppers was good. I don't think I'll be back.

12/14/07

Not worth the time or money!

by amp07

As a last minute decision ,and being somewhat hungry for Good food ,and due to hearing that this was a great place decided Ok let me try. A big mistake huge---(As from Pretty Woman)--My friend and I opted for eating in the Bar area,as we were hungry and didnt want to wait on table etc.

After plowing through males/and females in the mating ritual we found a small area which had table we could use to eat.

We ordered the Crab cakes /and Bruscetta-tenderloin- pricey but what the heck. I have eaten Crab cakes in Baltimore so I now a Crab cake when I see one--these resemble those frozen fish cakes I had as a child all filler no fish --same here all filler no Crab---Tasty but not worth the price.

Then my friend tried to bite into the Bruscetta -almost lost her tooth--the Bread was stale--the bar guy tried to tell me thats how they made them Ok but stale bread is stale bread.I am european so I do now what consistency a good artisan bread is like ..this is not it. We returned the Bruscetta-replaced with the Calamari- again ok its fried cant mess that up much .

We left shortly after,and we were not happy,so I decided to call them today.Perhaps they would at least offer to make things right,the manager CHRIS MARTIN took my complaint but made no offer to extend any courtesy to us if we made another trip to them . At least CHRIS MARTIN should have offered that we give them another try on them. But obviously they feel they dont need too.Well I have told many friends already and word of mouth has a huge effect ,so people go to the Domain every Restaurant so far I have been to there is wonderful. And the prices are better.

02/15/07

For a special occassion, this place is fantastic

by irishindc71

My wife and I tried out the Cool River Cafe. Overall impressions..... it was *packed* on Thursday night, the day after Valentine's Day. A large number of waitstaff ensured that guests were very well attended to. The service was excellent on a scale I've not seen often. The steak was, to quote my non- beef eating wife...."aMAZing." THe Tuna was delicious, and much larger than I expected. All told, it was a wonderful occassion.

• Pros: Waitstaff was great, food was delicious.... price is a bit high, but well worth it.. parking

02/15/07

C R A P River Cafe

by csh1122

We go to C R A P River Cafe about once a month needless to say I will try to stay away as much as possible. The last time we went to this establishment we had to wait 45 minutes for our food. The server never came and told us anything about how long the wait was or to even check up on us. To be objective, the food is good and the ambiance is great but if you like waiting close to an hour for your food come on a FULL stomach cause you will be waiting without anyone telling you what is going on.

• Pros: Food was great and ambiance was nice
• Cons: They no nothing about service

High-caliber meat and seafood served in an extremely spacious restaurant.

by Contributor

In Short
Patrons can eat among the clacking billiard balls in the noisy bar or in the quieter main dining room with high ceilings, dark wood and white tablecloths. Afterward they can retire for a cognac and cigar in the smoking room. The smoked chop entree, which has a mesquite taste and mushroom-and-pepper stuffing, is tasty, though the honey glaze needs more pepper to cut the sweetness.