Wow... I was blown away by the awesome views, great beer selection and general atmosphere.
The food had its high and lows.
High points:
The wings were very tasty. I got the river sauce and it was freakin awesome, I could get it again for sure!
The Crab Pretzel thing... very good and it is large, def could be a meal.
Low points:
The crab burger was super dry. The meat patties were dry, there was no sauce on the burger at all. One would think there would be. The patties looked like they were frozen in shape and only cost 4.99 for 3 dozen and where purchased at Sam's Club.
The service was mediocre at best. They do not take reservations, and they couldn't tell you how long the wait would be. Not even a general idea, like 15-25 min, or and hour or so... nothing. I have never been in a restaurant who couldn't tell you that... Not even an idea.
There were about 10 of us and 3 showed up early to put our name down, the rest of the group showed up about 15 min later. After about 40 min after the first group showed up their pager went off and we all thought we were going to be seated. Nope. They just wanted to confirm everyone was here so now we could be put in line for a table. About an hour later we were seated. Kinda ridiculous.
Very disappointing. Â Given this place 3-4 chances, purely because of the view of the city and deck, but will not go back. Â The drinks are absolutely terrible. Â The mojito, G&T, mango margarita and normal margaritas all tasted sooo watered down. Â Besides that, the mint and garnishes they use are flippin disgusting. Â Exactly what I want in my mojito, a disgusting, entirely black stem of mint...
The food is all very heavy and mostly fried. Â The crabby fries are really good, we get them every time. Â The crab pretzel was also really, really good. Â Its a shame, the place just has a boring menu, terrible drinks, and its like the bartenders know the drinks suck.
I want to know how a place can be known for their burgers when (to begin with) they don't even use hand-formed patties? All their gourmet burgers have two 1/4-pound patties. Looks like glorified Burger King. (This is from what I could tell. I could be wrong.)
Skip the seasoned/spicy fries. They taste like jack-in-the-box curly fries. Get the regular ones instead.
The burgers are big enough to share if you're not a big eater, which you should do so you can eat again somewhere else that's better.
Plus for the deck with a view of the water.
My friends got the Philly cheesesteak and chicken cheesesteak. Both looked gross.
Horrible service- Â we waited about 15 minutes before the waitress showed up to order our drinks. Â Waited another 20 minutes to get the drinks. Â Then after telling us 3 times that our food was "just about ready", we ended up waiting 30 minutes after the last time before it actually came out. Â Although, the food was tasty, but the soft drinks were flat or watered down. Â I do hope it was just a one time bad instance with the bad service because it is a cool place to dine.
Review Source:We had dinner at Duke's for my birthday, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised after reading some of the negative reviews. We called ahead and made reservations for our party of 12. When we arrived, the table was ready, our server promptly took our drink order, and brought our beverages. She gave me recommendations on the menu items when I asked and the food came out pretty quickly for as big as our party was. I got the 2 pound rib dinner and they were phenomenal. Â I wound up taking half of the meal home to have another meal. The burgers are huge and the homemade buns are great. Everyone was very satisfied with their food. The service was also very good. Our server kept up with dink and beer refills and handled the chaos that comes along with a party of 12 very well. The menu prices seemed to be a little high, but after I saw the portions of food that everyone received, I was glad to pay what they were asking. This was my first dining experience at Dukes and it will not be my last.
Review Source:I've been to Duke's a few times before and it's always been a great time. They have good food at very good prices and good beer as well. Their sandwiches and burgers are great and are very filling. For appetizers, I would highly suggest their Old Bay seasoned french fries with Boom Boom sauce. I have no idea what Boom Boom sauce is but it was delicious and I would definitely get it again (just make sure you split them with at least 2 others, they give you a lot of food).
Overall - very good food at great prices and great service. I will definitely be coming back again.
I wish I found this place sooner before moving back home. Â Duke's has great food for the kind of place it is. Â The food has always been fresh the times we have been there and the atmosphere is hard to beat in around here. Â There is a nice mix of a social and sit-down feeling here where you can mingle but stil enjoy a nice dinner right on the river. Â The food has been hot and tasty, I recommend trying any of the soups. Â Sandwichs are fresh and good sized. Â Crab dip with bread is one of the best I ever had. Â Service was mixed, the waitresses are friendly but depending on the time and day, it can be a little slow. Â That doesn't matter too much because you can enjoy a drink on the river and kind of pass the time easily. Â We always go back here if we want something consistently good with a nice surrounding. Â Great find, good food and reasonably priced!
Review Source:After leaving Rock Bass Grill and being ignored there for over 30 minutes (see that reveiw) - I was pleased that upon sitting at the bar I actually was waited on within a minute. Â As it turns out the bartender was from Woburn, MA. Â Turns out I should have asked her what to order because the fish and chips was too greasy and coating too thick. Â The Fries nothing special. Â Still - just for the good and friendly service I'll give this place the benefit of the doubt. Â I had not checked the yelper reviews prior to the visit and had I done so I'm sure the dish I would have selected would have been better.
Review Source:I used to frequent this place when it was known as Riverside G-man. Â Never had any complaints about the food. Â The crab dip and chicken quesadilla were the bomb. Â
So I went there yesterday for an early dinner with some co-workers. Â I ordered the usual chicken quesadilla and it was horrible. Â Hardly any filling and the chicken I believe was pre-packaged. Â Appetizers came out and within 2 minutes so did our entrees. Â It's unfortunate this place has gone down hill. Â Also, our server advised she wasn't sick as she wiped her nose. Â Perhaps she just needed to eat a cheeseburger or five....
For vegetarians, this place is a full 2 thumbs down. There's 1 vegetarian sandwich option, a cheese pizza, and a side salad that are "vegetarian". Granted, you can opt to have items removed from a menu item but who really wants to do that to your server when s/he is busy and you're hungry?
Went in on a Senator's game night to grab a bite. It was packed. The 2 of us grabbed a seat at the outside bar, waited a good while to be acknowledged by the bartender. Beers beside us, we had to flag her down again to make our food order. Food came promptly but wasn't tasteful. I had the side salad (standard) & 1/2 a cheese pizza - 1 good comment is that the pizza (which is huge) can be made 1/2 plain & 1/2 meat. The pizza sauced tasted just like it came out of a can, the cheese wasn't melted properly, and it was overly crusty. To make it that much more unpleasant, the outside deck is smoker-friendly so I was inhaling that, too.The beer was the best part of my dining experience.
For a non-smoking, vegetarian, health-conscious indvidual, Duke's will not be on my return list.
We enjoy Duke's on more than one occassion! Last night was no different! We went in around 8pm and it  being Saturday night it was a tad busy 30 minute was the average wait but we only waited between 15-20 minutes. The place was packed but the rotation was fast. Our waitress came and got our drink orders and brought them back quickly. Nothing like cold Beer to get the appetite stimulated. I Had the BBQ Ribs they were tender spicy and for the money to much to eat. My wife had one of the MT. Meatloaf Platters it was on special but they sure didn't specialize the size it did look like a mountain it was huge. Both meals came with 2 sides and mine also came with Baked Beans they were to sweet for my taste but my wife loved them.
The service was good better than expected for how busy they were. So if you like River View the Bar atmosphere and big Portions you won't go wrong at Duke's.
The restaurant overall isn't that exciting (similar to a chain restaurant like Ruby Tuesdays or Fridays), but it is on the river, with lots of large windows to let in the view, and a big outdoor patio that I'm sure is wonderful in the summer. Â Our food took a while to come out, but the server was great - very helpful, kept checking on us, etc. Â The food was pretty good, and they give you large portions for the price. Â I got a steak salad that was almost too big to finish. Â The steak was a little tough/overcooked, however I can't remember if I specified "medium" when I ordered it. Â I tried some of my friend's crab quesadilla and it was packed full of lots of crab meat and cheese. Â My friends and I shared a brownie sundae for desesrt, and it was delicious. Â The brownie was warm and fudgy, and there were at least 2 brownies in the bowl - it was tough to tell under all that melty ice cream and chocolate sauce.
Review Source:Not a fan of the food. I've never had a meal here that I liked. Instead I've had stale bread, luke warm soup and dry bland chicken. Still, not a bad place to grab a drink in nice weather. The deck is nice.
If you want to "bar hop" a bit, grab a drink here, then walk to nearby Dockside Willie's for a nice casual meal or to Rockbass Grill for something more upscale.
Give yourself time to find a parking place. The lot (shared by all three restaurants) gets full.
My husband and I and our  friends always stop by Dukes every time we're in the area. The food is always good and abundant. The chili and tomato bisque are to die for! We haven't ever had a bad meal there. The views are awesome and the wait staff go out of their way to serve.
Go off hours because the place is so good that they get busy real fast.
This place is like a 2.5 but they get the round down because of the audacity in the service.
Met up with some friends here one night. Â I was a first timer, so my friends were giving me suggestions. Â I was a little wary (shame on me) and I decided on the burger I think. Â Burger was fine. The problem was the french fries. Â They were left out all night or from another order or something because the first and only one I had was hard, old, and stone cold.
The rest of my party was still eating away and I have nothing but a heap of cold fries on my plate and the same waiter takes the plate. Â I jot him a look like 'wtf?' and he looked right back like 'yea, I shouldn't have served those.' Â Didn't even ask me if I wanted to take it home or anything because he knew he was wrong; just took the plate of fries and was probably going to serve it to someone else.
What kind of poop head knowingly serves bad/old food? Â
Won't be going back there.
I went to Duke's midday during the week and ordered a steak. It was one of the juiciest steaks I have had in a while and I was very impressed. The reviews I see here are lower than expected.
The other person I was with ordered a sausage sandwich or sub, but was not impressed. So who knows? But going off my meal, I was very pleased.
I went back to Duke's on a Thursday evening very recently with my family but the wait was said to be over an hour so we went somewhere else. Ill be sure to update this if I visit again.
I was here once many moons ago with a medium-large group. Â
I recall the food being decent bar/pub fare. Â But it took AGES for it to come out! Â And don't get me twisted. Â I'm ok with things coming out slowly when dining with a large group. Â But some people in our party received and finished their meals before others even received their appetizer.
Maybe it has changed over the years. Â I hope so because Duke's had/has a lot of potential. Â But I wasn't impressed, have never been back, and would have to see a plethera of really good reviews before even considering giving them return business.
I'd give this place a solid B.
Despite being told they were too full to take our reservation for 10, we got a table with no problem when we arrived. Â The service was mediocre, and our server unenthusiastic, but no one was in a hurry. Â
They had pints on special for $2.50, which was nice, and the house wine was decent. Â The long island was weak, even after we sent it back, but the food was quite excellent. Â I got the tomato florentine soup and a panini with seasoned fries. Â I loved it all, though I could only eat half--the other half was taken care of by a particularly ravenous friend.
A friend's 10 year class reunion was taking place upstairs, and I'm not sure if it was the fault of the organizers or Duke's, but it sucked... Â Cash bar and one lonely appetizer for the whole group.
Hmm...seems several Yelpers have had a less than good experience here. Â Bummer. Â I'm not one of em.
Had dinner here on Friday night with about 20 friends. Â We prepped Duke's ahead of time even though they don't take reservations.
Even had a guest arrive early and put our name on their list. Â Once the group arrived (around 6:30 pm), we were seated immediately. Â This will help all those groups out there as to how to get it done. Â Alert the restaurant, and then confirm with someone in person.
The food? Â Was pretty good. Â Had part of a friend's crab pretzel....and while it wasn't the "best" crab anything I'd ever had, it was tasty.
For dinner, I had the Buffalo Chicken sandwich, seasoned fries and some diet pepsi. Â A bit different on the buffalo chicken theme as the buffalo crust flavor had it throughout the crust, not just on top. Â Fries were tasty.
Service? Â Very good considering we had 2 waitresses during a very busy time for the place. Â Outdoor patio was PACKED.
Prices? Â Nice.
Parking appears tight, but in fact is plentiful, except that it's all across the street....so you get to enjoy crossing Front St.
View of the river? Â Excellent!
I was pulled into this restaurant because of the view of the Susquehanna River and City Island.  It has a sports bar feel and I thought it would be a good place to visit prior to going to the Harrisburg Auto show.  Even though it was the dumb hours, about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, I figured what do I have to lose.  Well I had the Garganzola Apple Walnut chicken salad with the raspberry vinaigrette dressing.  Lettuce was mostly iceberg so that was a let down.  Not bad but nothing to write home about.  My buddy Jeff  had the Maryland crab cakes and thought it was so bad he sent it back.  He  traded it in for a chicken wrap which was okay. Olivia was the wait person and did an adequate job but it was not crowded so we expected to be taken care of.  She worked with what she had.  Fun location but lets just say they need to examine the quality of the product here. It needs work.
Review Source:This place is a greasy spoon, and the name and ownership has changed more times than I've changed my underwear; the place has definitely went downhill since the days it used be known as the "Gingerbread Man." Â I seriously do not know how this place stays in business. Â While the waitstaff is friendly and professional, it's always dead in here. Â The menu choices are what you'd find at a typical diner or at a TGIF. Â The portions are way too large, and there are few healthy options on the menu. Â I DEFINATELY won't order food here again.
The only redeeming quality about Dukes is the large deck that overlooks the river, though it's pretty useless in the late fall and winter. Â The deck is VERY big, and it's never jam packed. Â They also have an outdoor bar, so if you're to hang out with a large group of friends on a warm summer night, this is probably the place to go - but just stick to the beer.
I come here for the Tomato Florentine Soup, and their Crab Pretzel. Anything else can take a flying leap into the Susquehanna River for being a tad overpriced for what you get (yes I realize the pretzel is expensive, that's why I only get it once a decade). That, and their system of seating yourself after 8PM only causes people to be left sitting waiting for their server to take notice one of their tables now has a soul in it. Which btw doesn't always happen. Â Their drinks are way too expensive and are mostly ice in the glass. However since I no longer come here to get my drink on, this review is based solely on the 2 food items I now get and the experience I have while eating there. During the day/lunch hour, the staff is very attentive and knows you are there. However, try coming here for a late night drink or snack and just hope you get a server who doesn't hate their job.
Review Source:I wish I could give this place zero stars, but it does get one star for having a great view.
The service is terrible. Â The food is putrid, if not disease-ridden. Â The establishment if filled with West Shore trash that watches Oprah and shops at Kohls. Â Unfortunately, that crowd will continue to frequent this "restaurant" (and I use that term loosely). Â Otherwise, this place would thankfully go out of business and a new owner could take advantage of the nice setting.
Ugh...
Ughhhh, I can't believe people are actually giving this place good reviews. I guess the only redeeming point could lie in the fact that there's a deck and you can sit and look over the water & Harrisburg skyline. The food is basically terrible, nothing but a huge menu of mostly glorified bar food. I had a chicken salad, which looked like it was made from bagged mix; iceberg lettuce, tiny shreds of carrot, etc. French onion soup was nothing special, just overly salty. My eating companions had the coconut shrimp salad (the shrimp was okay, the rest of the salad was the same colorless iceberg mix) and a prime rib sandwich. The sandwich portion was huge and looked appetizing, but I didn't try it so I can't accurately tell. The inside of the restaurant seems dark and depressing.
Huge portions of boring food. Not worth your time or money.
7/26/08 4:30pm
Awful. Â Empty tables everywhere, yet we waited for 10 minutes to be seated. Â Then our server never came - we had to speak to the hostess to address the problem. Â
Overall, the food at my table of 7 was ok to good, but my fish & chips was poor - overly breaded cheap fish. Â The coleslaw was gross and they brought me potato wedges instead of the french fries I asked for. Â
Inasmuch as this was a non-alcoholic family function, I was not distracted from the abysmal service by my alcohol intake, I had to suffer through each agonizing moment unmedicated. Â
An awful dining experience, one of the worst in months.
Food is awesome.....Service could be a little faster though. Â Steaks and pasta dishes are awesome......portions are huge! i eat alot and had 2 whole meals worth of food! Â Prices are good too! Â Love the atmosphere.....it's a shame Harrisburg doesn't have a prettier river to look at! :-)
Review Source:If this were England and I had the power to demote those of British nobility, Duke's would immediately be renamed Knight's, but even THAT would be too nice since nothing about my dining experience here was of royal quality.
... not the slower than a snail service.
... not the so-called chicken caesar salad.
... not the old and slightly browning lettuce in the salad.
... not the tasteless or rubbery chicken either.
... not the incredibly scarce amount of dressing.
... not the roll of indigestible "garlic bread" that hardly had any taste of garlic.
... not the fact that I was still hungry after eating the salad that I only ate because I was absolutely starving... but I did not eat the roll. It simply was not possible to eat the roll, nor did I want to find out how that roll would have felt exiting my body, ekh.
So, why is it then that this place is worthy of even two stars?
It was because of my fabulous dining companion, my partner-in-crime, the infamous Harrisburg Yelper, miss Mia K. She was there for me through it all... holding my hand as I digested my meal... making me laugh by making fun of the gallery of mullets around us... and even letting me nibble off her plate of coconut shrimp salad which was actually quite lovely with the sun-dried tomato vinaigrette dressing. Now that is true BFF4EVAR love! But that's beside the point.
The point is that if I had the power to also promote people into British nobility, I'd make myself Grand Princess because then I could marry the absolutely beautiful and charming Prince William and we would make lots of babies or at least do a lot of baby-making and live happily ever after. The end.
Who would have thought that I, Mia, would give an American Restaurant/Sports Bar 4 stars? Â Shh... Don't tell anyone.
Duke's Riverside isn't *JUST* an American Restaurant and Sports Bar. Â At least not according to my taste buds; it's so much more.
I first encountered Duke's when it was still Gingerbread Man back in '04. Â After one lunch I was hooked. Â I ordered the Coconut Shrimp Salad, and I haven't ordered anything else since. Â It's amazing. Â I really can't say anything about any of the other food (except that my friends continue to go back with me, so it must be decent) because I've never tried anything else. Â Coconut Shrimp Salad with Sun dried tomato vinaigrette (yeah I can't spell that and I'm lazy so yeah) is my FAVORITE food ever.
That being said, for you LUSHES - they offer a huge menu of specialty cocktails and beers. Â In the summer you can enjoy them on the outdoor deck overlooking the Susquehanna and the bridge with the piece missing. Â If you squint your eyes, spray some tropical perfume and spin around 3 times it's ALMOST like you're in a tropical paradise.
So why not 5 stars?  Well, I've rarely had a good server.  They usually  take too long and aren't very nice.  So, come for the Coconut Shrimp Salad, stay because no one has brought your check.
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,607 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,970 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,306 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,904 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,983 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
