The Riverside Café

Nice place to have breakfast enroute to or from Bar Harbor.
Waitress was courteous and very attentive, food was good and nice portions and price was not tourist traps.
Coffee could have been stronger but other than that, all good.
Check it out!

The atmosphere was quite pleasant and they serve a pretty decent amount of food. I ordered pancakes while my husband ordered an omelette. Both were satisfying and yummy. The homefries were good enough I stole quite a few off of his plate. I will be going back.

Worth checking out! The brunch we had was great and they had a handful of unique vegetarian options. Anything from Vegan French Toast to a Veggie Breakfast Burrito, prices were a little high for breakfast (hence the ⁴⁄₅ stars) otherwise it was awesome!

Cute and yummy breakfast spot! I went with a family group of 6, and everyone’s food came out perfect and quick. I had eggs over hard, which were actually cooked over hard (often I get mildly runny eggs), with rye toast, which tasted homemade and were not overly buttered. My breakfast was simple, but others got the crab benedict, the crab quiche, egg sandwich, and veg omelet. Everyone loved their food, it came out hot, and the servers were super attentive and nice. My only complaint is that the chairs were pretty dirty. should be an easy fix. Otherwise food and service were superb. Thanks for such a great last meal in Maine, Riverside!

I eat breakfast here at least once/​week. The atmosphere is good, the food is good, the waitresses are fantastic! I almost always order eggs cooked over medium and have never, not even once, gotten over medium eggs (good thing I’ll also eat them over easy!!!). Good place for a breakfast with friends!

Before we lived in the area, the Riverside Café used to be a must-​stop restaurant on our visits to Maine. Sadly, they have gone way downhill in recent years. It’s too bad, because we don’t have many options in Ellsworth, and the ambiance is really nice. Went there for breakfast this morning, to give it one more try after a couple mediocre breakfasts in recent years. Sadly, it was more of the same. My boyfriend’s eggs benedict were just OK. My spinach, mushroom, onion, and swiss omelet was kind of a disaster. The eggs were fine, but they put totally RAW veggies in it. Raw spinach at least wilts a little when you put it in a hot omelet (although it was still pretty darn raw), but mushrooms and onions don’t cook AT ALL. The raw onions were so sharp that I had to open up my omelet and scrape them all off. It was 8am on a weekday, so they definitely weren’t busy. Failing to cook the veggies for the omelet felt like just sheer laziness! (And it’s not like you have to do them on the spot — any decent restaurant would already have them in their mise en place so all the cook had to do was toss them in to rewarm). The homefries were lousy, too. They’re just cubes of potato that have been deep-​fried! No onions or garlic or anything. And to top it off, the staff wasn’t very welcoming and our waitress disappeared while we were waiting for our check. Sadly, this was the last chance we’re giving Riverside.

Varied menu and the food was homemade and delicious. They had gluten free bread and made the kids GF French toast which earned them a special place in my heart.

Stopped here for basic breakfast… not outstanding but very solid. Eggs done as requested (one over easy, one medium), good home fries, and very decent homemade toast (oat, raisin both good). One person had a breakfast burrito… again decent and they were quick to make minor changes. Nice ambience for a small town restaurant… had a counter for those so inclined. Booths and tables nicely spaced. Service was quick. One of our go-​to places for basic breakfast in Ellsworth.

This is a nice diner right on Main Street it was clean and seemed welled organized. The service pretty good not great but Ok. We had omelets that were pretty good and the usually breakfast stuff. I rally can’t complain about anything it was all fine nothing outstanding but good breakfast. Not one of my better reviews maybe the coffee was decaf and I have not been jolted awake yet

It was my first time in Maine and I came to this spot with my boyfriend’s family. I kept it simple and ordered the pancakes with a side of bacon. I also split an order of eggs benedict which was also good!
Service overall was just okay. The ambience was peaceful and definitely a place I could go back to.

The service on a Sunday morning was excellent. The waitress was attentive and friendly. The crab quiche was served with a large mixed fruit bowl and home fries. The quiche was very good as was the fruit. The home fries were average. My partner had the breakfast meat sandwich which was tender and fresh. The breakfasts of those around us looked equally tasty.

Had breakfast here on a cold morning: spinach, artichoke and mushroom quiche, eggs Benedict — a blast! The best Hollandaise sauce I’ve ever had: creamy and lemony. Their home potatoes are crunchy and tasty. Oh, and the cinnamon roll is perfect.

Very accommodating staff for a large party for breakfast. Great selection of dishes, and everyone was happy with their food. I had the tofu scramble (a little heavy on the turmeric), great home fries, and a huge side of fresh fruit that they substituted for my toast. Will definitely visit again!

All we wanted were bagels. There were nine in our group, just wanting something quick for the drive home.
We were made to wait more than 20 minutes. Then there was some confusion from the cashier about what we ordered. Some were bagels w/​butter others w/​cream cheese. The cream cheese was given in a container so we asked for knives to put it on.
These turned out to be the worst bagels ever. Mine was stale, partly soggy, and didn’t taste it had any butter on it. I threw it out after a couple bites. Others in my group had similar complaints.
On a positive note, the cashier was very apologetic about the confusion and the long wait. My hubby said his bagel w/​egg and bacon was okay.
We regretted not going to Dunkin Donuts after going to this place.

Absolute Chaos. I «tried» to eat there on July 5^th. One would think they would have extra staff on hand for a busy morning that repeats EVERY year!
Not so, it was a a crowded chaos all the way outside which is as far as I got. NO ONE was taking names (my wife went in and checked). not taking names? are they high? Actually there were SO many people waiting on the sidewalk they SHOULD have had a host/​ess out there taking names and bringing out free coffee. wait, that would only be the case if they knew how to run a restaurant, they clearly don’t.
My advice, stay clear of this place. My advice to the owners, close down. move to another country and change your names. Thank you.

We came in for coffee and hot chocolate, both were watery and tasteless. Should have checked Unilocal first :(

Slow, inattentive service. Breakfast took over 30 minutes to arrive and then the muffin and corned beef hash arrived burnt. Hash browns were dark and soggy. This used to be a such a great place for breakfast or lunch.

This place wins as the best breakfast we had during our recent travels in Maine. So good in fact we came back a second time.
On the first visit I had a most delicious sausage and cheese omelette.

Like any number of seemingly simple dishes, a perfect omelette in reality is difficult to achieve and takes a lot of practice.
I can attest that whoever is doing the cooking in this kitchen has mastered the omelette. Mine was light, fluffy, and perfectly packed with delicious filling.
Similarly my husband’s ham, spinach and cheese omelette had him exclaiming.
On our next visit for breakfast I tried the Sunday Brunch Fritatta.
This was incredibly interesting and tasty and I would order it again in a heartbeat. If you visit on a Sunday, be sure to try this.
It was like no fritatta I have ever had as it was at least 2 inches tall. I am guessing they pour the batter into a mold to achieve the perfect shape. It contained avocado, blue cheese and bacon and was lip-​smacking good.
My husband ordered the same sausage and cheese omelette I’d had on the first visit. He was practically swooning.
Portion sizes are enormous and with both visits we had leftover food.
The coffee was quite good., very well-​balanced and smooth. I rarely go beyond one cup but it was so good that I had a second cup.
We saw pancakes going by to other tables and while we are not pancake eaters, they looked quite good and were amazingly huge; plate-​sized actually.
Service was prompt and very friendly. The bathrooms were clean but on one visit there was quite a wait to get in as there are only two and this place is pretty big.
Prices are very reasonable.
Arrive early for breakfast on a weekend because the place fills up fast and a queue forms out the door.

Just bad
If driving thru. Keep driving
Ordered ground beef nachos
Not sure why the cheese seems to be at the bottom of the plate or missing.
The ground beef in some pieces was pink — under cooked
The daughter had bow tie pasta the sauce was thick and looked and tasted straight out of a can
The son had French toast. Passable.
The hubby had pastrami sandwich. Ate half and had no problem letting kids share other half. Not passable and not redeemable.
Waitress nowhere to be found. They’re all doing double duty.

Went for lunch but was craving breakfast. Ordered bagel & lox and it was done just right: capers, onions, tomatoes, lettuce plus tons of smoked salmon on an everything bagel, What more can I say?

I went for breakfast and had a two-​egg Main Street omelet with homefries, homemade whole wheat toast, and coffee.
Their omelets are usually made with three eggs, but you can request them be made smaller with two eggs (for $ 1 less). Their toast is usually made with standard bread, but you can have homemade bread for $ 1 more.
Although I had my omelet «downsized» it was still good sized. The filling — ham, onions, green peppers, and American cheese — was plentiful. This was an awesome omelet — one of the best I’ve had!
The home fries were equally awesome. They were small chunks of potatoes, nicely browned and perfectly cooked. They even the skins left on!
This was without question one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had! Throw in the quaint old-​timey look of the place, and they earned the full five stars!