McCarthy's on the Riverwalk

My mom and I came here for lunch while I was home, and the food wasnt all that great...at all. The place was EMPTY besides us and one other table, indication number one something might be off. Our waitress was wonderful though so two stars for the service. The food was terrible. I ordered a salad called the "Seafood Avocado Salad" expecting to have plenty of Avocado and plenty of Seafood. Well, if you consider two tiny slices of avocado, two small shrimp, two small scallops and no crab meat a Seafood Avocado Salad then you are sorely mistaken. I noticed there was no crab meat so we asked the waitress and she checked with the kitchen and they were currently out of crab meat and she had no idea. Why would the kitchen NOT inform her that a major ingredient of the salad is missing? For $14, you better be packing on the seafood and avocado. My mom got the Irish Cottage Salad with fruit, steak, etc. and that was much better than mine. The lettuce on both salads seemed to be out of a grocery store pre-mixed lettuce bag. It just wasnt good.

The next time I am home, I will definitely NOT be coming back here to dine. There are plenty of other favorites that I will be returning to.

The only reason this does not have three or four stars is because I was very disappointed with the quality of food. The service was great, we had a large group & they handle us very well. That being said, they are a bit pricy for the quality of food preparation, my veal was very rubbery & fatty, which I thought was impossible with veal & the steaks on my wife's kabobs were extremely undercooked, to the point of still being red & lukewarm in the middle. I am not a fan of giving bad reviews but I was a bit disappointed.

This is my second visit to this popular hangout of Elkhart's movers and shakers. The first time was a 5-star, tonight was a 3... So, I post a 4-star rating.

The feel and atmosphere are fantastic - its warm and inviting and has great lighting. The furniture, the decor and even the floor make for a good eating and drinking mood.

And the food is very good, too, for the most part.

On my first dinner visit - a double date - we all had different dishes: the lamb, the pork, salmon, and a pasta. Everyone enjoyed their meal. I had the lamb and loved it. Took a bite of the pork and loved it. The salmon was tasty though a little salty for the ladies. We ate the delicious crab cakes, too.

This time around I had a small cut filet but wasn't as "wowed." However, my teen son and step dad loved the burgers!? Yes, the burgers. My step-dad said the Big Irish Burger was quite possibly the best burger he has ever tasted - although when he ordered it off the menu the server had never heard of it before. On the other hand, my wife, who loves a good crab cake wasn't very impressed this visit.

Still a good stop. Food is good. And the atmosphere is great.