The food is only average, not bad and not spectacular.
Hostess was fine, but the server was only OK. He never came back to refill drinks, he was not very attentive during the meal. I wanted something Irish but the shepherds pie did not sound appealing (based on the menu description) so I went with fish and chips. I'm no fan of "mushy peas" so I asked to substitute coleslaw.
The chips - great
The fish - good, very large serving. Breading was good, crispy. I wanted some malt vinegar, none offered. None at the table and by the time the server came by I forgot I wanted it.
Coleslaw - no thank you. Did not enjoy.
This was an uninspiring visit.
Just took the office out for our quarterly lunch. Â While we did have 12 people there were only 2 other customers in the whole place. Â We were served 45 minutes after ordering which is about the norm. Â Waitstaff are very nice, food is OK. Â If you go, go when you have some time to kill.
Review Source:The food was great... when we finally got it. Waited only about 5 minutes for a table on a Friday night, but waited about an hour for our food. My Guinness BBQ burger was perfect, a lovely medium rare with great flavour and a delicious sauce. The sundried tomato pesto mash was rich and tasty, but I think I would have liked garlic better. My friend's stew and salad disappeared quickly, so I think it was probably pretty tasty. I've had it in the past and enjoyed it.
Overall, though, it was a little silly how long we waited for food. It was busy, but not overly so. The service was fine. Not exceptional or terrible, just fine. I don't know that I'll make a point of going back in the future.
Definitely my favorite Irish style bar in Burlington. Food is good. With a few occasional exceptions it is nothing special but  it has always been good. The Guinness has tasted fresh every time I was there and they mix their drinks well. Overall it may not be a 'stand out good' but it just feels overall more comfortable than pretty much all the other bars down there.
Review Source:We've been to Ri Ra's twice and neither time was anything special. We went on Wednesday, which is their half priced burger day and still left feeling like we spent too much money. The lamb burger was small and frizzled out. I don't see myself returning to this establishment in the future.
Review Source:I really like ri ra BUT a major complaint is that in the past year or so on multiple occasions I have bitten into little hard things in the burgers. If you grind your own meat you need to grind it with a less coarse setting, because it is not pleasant to bite into something hard in the middle of your burger, and definitely not more than once!!! If you buy it ground, you need to get better quality meat. Seriously guys. Take this to heart.
Review Source:This place has gone downhill. Â We used to visit Ri Ra's monthly but stopped going last year after two back-to-back poor experiences with awful meals and rude service. Â We stopped in for a couple pints and some appetizers last week only to be under impressed. Â
Good for drinks; bad for food.
Under Staffed and Over Worked! Â
The service was horrible and slow. Â And with the exception of one server, no one was cheerful let alone smiled. Â They truly seemed not to care about the customer. Â On the one positive note, the the sliders and spinach dip were very good.
This review is for Sunday, November 11 at 5pm
David Kelly--is this what you want in your restaurant?
Their Guinness BBQ burger was pure goodness. Maybe it was the sauce that held everything together, but it was definitely the battered onion rings between the buns that stole the show.
On the downside (nothing's perfect, right?), service was a tad slow and it wasn't even busy when I was there, although our server was very friendly. Overall, thumbs up!
At first glance this looks like a totally trap like many of the other places right on Church St. That said I'm sure it can be, but that hasn't been my experience.
They have a good beer selection and know how to pour a black and tan which most places fail at. The bartenders are friendly and provide quick service even when the place is very crowded.
The best part about this place is the live music. The stage is small and the audience is super close to the bands. They also seem to have pretty interesting local bands play on a regular basis.
3 stars for food that's ok but overpriced plus 0 stars for some of the worst service I've ever had anywhere comes out to about 2 stars although that feels like it's on the generous side.
I used to come here for 1/2 off burger night on Wednesdays and the burgers are actually pretty good. But more often than not the service was terrible. They forgot to put our order in on 3 different occasions. So either I'm really unlucky or their staff is really incapable. Decide for yourself what's more likely. I've also had a few experiences where the pressure on their taps wasn't adjusted right and the bartender gave me attitude when I said something about it.
I have since discovered the Scuffer has half-off burger night on Wednesdays too and I never looked back. Don't waste your time here.
While walking around Church Street on a beautiful summer evening, bar hopping with the girlfriend, we decided to grab a drink at Ri Ra after walking by it and noticing their nice terrace. It was on a Sunday night, in the late evening and the place was fairly busy.
From the outside, one could notice the glow from the various televisions inside which were playing baseball games - it was loud and we wanted to be outside. That turned out to be a good decision as it was much nicer out, much quieter and much more romantic.
On our table was a lit candle and with little alternative source of lighting, reading the drinks menu was a bit difficult. Enter the iPhone and a flashlight app and we were all set. We ordered a bunch of cocktails which cost around $8 a pop. They came rather slowly and tasted okay. A bit watery.
All in all, this is a pretty generic place, and part of a 12-location, Irish-inspired chain. Much like you'd see in the chain, their focus seems to be on volume over quality. The waiter was friendly but all-too-quick to be attentive. We waited for everything, even to pay. This is an affordable, reliable but very average alternative to other bars in the area.
I would give this place 3.5 stars, but can't so I'm letting them linger at 4. We went here twice in one day when in Vermont for work so I guess we liked it.
I preferred the lunch to the nightlife, but I think I'm getting old.
For lunch we were able to dine outside and enjoy the last remnants of nice weather. We were told to expect a twenty minute wait for a seat outside, but once we got to the bar to get our beer our buzzer rang.
The beer selection was pretty fabulous according to my Irish beer loving man, but I was disappointed they didn't have Magic Hat number 9. No worries, I was pretty happy with my second choice. (And there was a LOT to choose from.)
Lunch was slow going, I think we waited about 45-50 minutes for our food. I certainly didn't mind because people watching on Church St. is hilarious. And if you don't want to people watch, you can dog watch... I think one in five groups had a puppy or two along for the ride.
I ordered a portabella mushroom sandwich and the soup of the day. The soup was TO DIE FOR. I wanted to lick the bowl but that isn't good manners. The mushroom sandwich was AOK but nothing to write home about. My second drink was a Bloddy Mary titled the Howzza Mary. I was not a fan, but that could have been because of the delicious soup.
We came back to the bar later that night around 11:00pm since it appeared to be the most hopping place around without a queue. It was pretty crowded and the crowd was interesting. It was a mix of college students and thirty somethings. My favorite was the cowboy who could tango dance. Excellent people watching. The band was pretty awful, but I wasn't drunk... and there wasn't a cover so what do you expect? We stayed for about an hour and had a decent time.
Having spent many weekends at RiRa's in my earlier college days - going back as an adult i was pleased to see it was still there! Â A group of us head to Burlington for a weekend every February - and we always make sure to stop at RiRa's. Â We being a bit older now - head out a bit earlier then back when we were in college - but we usually head to RiRa's around 5 - get a few drinks - get a table - get some apps sometimes dinner - get some more drinks and then hang around for the live band/ Â We usually call it a nite around 11-12 so its before things get too crazy - but we ALWAYS have a great time. Â
The service is sometimes a little slower then we like - but we just remind ourselves we are on vacation - and order another drink. Â The bar staff is always friendly and outgoing as is the wait staff. Â The hostess staff could use a little refresher course in customer service - but for the 5 minutes you have to interact with them its easy to forget.
Even though there are multiple locations and there is a RiRa's about 25 mins from us at home - we only go to the one in Burlington!
I've had the Luxury of being to both their Burlington and Atlantic City locations, and both were lovely!
My brother and I both had stints overseas, and Ri Ra has so far been the closest to whisking us back to the pubs we visited in England and Ireland.
The decor is really dark, usually with typical Irish music playing in the background. (Totally rocked out  Shane MacGowan at Burlington...chyeah).
The food is fair to very good. I usually go for the fish and chips or the Irish breakfast, which is as close to a full English as I've been able to get in the states. (Don't fear the puddings! The  again I'm from PA and grew up on scrapple so I have little-to-no fear.)
They always have some lovely imports on tap and bottled, if beer snobbery is your thing.
The Burlington location is located in the town's beautiful central district, surrounded by restaurants and various shopping locales off a cobblestone walkway. Our personal favorite being the comic book store and the underground record store down the street a bit. There's a parking lot about a block down the street from Ri Ra (the cross street, not the main drag) that charges a pretty low amount, so we usually stay there and wander around for a few hours before grabbing the Burlington Ferry back to NY.
The staff has always been friendly and seating is usually pretty quick. The food is a mix of traditional and experimental fair, and everything I've tried has been quite yummy.
A bit on the touristy side, but a very nice experience at both locations. Burlington's is certainly more picturesque!
Do check out Ri Ra if you're in Burlington, and have some black pudding for me.
No seriously eat it. Don't Google it just eat it.
Visited Burlington a couple weeks ago and stopped in to Ri Ra for a pint and some dinner. Â
I ordered a burger with the sweet potato nuggets (tater tots) and both were ok. Â I actually enjoyed the sweetness of the tater tots quite a bit. Â I ordered the burger medium and it came well done. Â Service staff were rushing around, yet very slow in helping anyone.
It was ok and offered a nice outdoor setting for people watching while waiting for food.
I'll keep it simple. One star for:
- Poor service
- Unbelievably slow food (and no apologies or "It'll just be a few more minutes")
- Mediocre food (the sweet potato tater tots and curry fries were the only redeeming parts of the meal)
- No attempt to make amends after hearing the dining experience was less than satisfactory
The nightlife is better than the lunch hour, but changes need to be made before I ever come back
I was in Burlington last week for a conference and this just one of the spots where I had dinner. Â It's a typical pub with food and beer, but it was a recommendation from our shuttle driver, so me and some fellow conference attendees decided to give it a try.
We sat outside since it was a lovely summer day (though a little cloudy). Â The server was OK and a bit unhappy when we wanted our checks split. Anyway, I appreciated the selection on the menu from corned beef, burgers, Shepard's pie, salads and even all day Irish breakfast. Â I ordered the Guinness BBQ burger which was delish! The other ladies ordered burgers and one ordered the corned beef. We all enjoyed our meals and had a nice time just sitting outside. Â They have beer specials too which was nice.
Solid three stars, good place with good food and a nice beer selection with specials!
My favorite vacation of all time was going to Ireland. Â The look of this place brought back the memories. Â The Guinness Stew is top notch. Â They had live music which my wife and I enjoyed. Â It would have been nice if the music was Irish music, but still, it was great hits from the 90s and today. Â
It was our "date night." The plan was a couple drinks followed by a movie... we didn't make it to the movie. Â To much fun at Ri-Ra's!
Good place for breakfast when all the rest are taken over. Â BUT, there is a reason there isn't a line here...nothing to brag about.
Additionally, I didn't realize until recently this is a franchise. Â Bummer.
As for the nightlife, go across the street if you are looking for dancing. Â Good for pub-quiz and when you have a large group.
I've only eaten dinner here, so no comments about the nightlife. I love Ri Ra's! Their Chicken Pot Pie and Shepherd's Pie have easily become two of my favorite comfort foods in Burlington and I love that the portion sizes always leave me with plenty of leftovers! Their chicken wings are always a hit among my group and the wait staff is always friendly and helpful. Sometimes they take a long time to ring up our check, but it's usually not a problem because we're having fun. We enjoy the live music and will be checking out their trivia night soon.
Overall, while Ri Ra's is not my favorite Burlington restaurant, I would certainly recommend it to someone who was visiting for a more extended period of time beyond a couple of days.
The GF and I went here before this past weekend's brewfest. Â We needed some greasy burgers and fries before drowning ourselves in beer.
We were both promptly seated inside right before dinner rush. Â Ordered burgers, medium rare, and fries. Â It took a little while for the food to come out, but it was prime dinner hours so whatever. Â I got the Guinness BBQ burger with Sweet Potato Fries, and it came back a little overcooked. Â The GF got a regular Pub Burger with Hand Cut Chips that came back a little bit undercooked.
Burger's were fine, nothing special. Â Certainly hit the spot for your basic bar food. Â The fries were perfectly cooked, but lacked seasoning. Â They could definitely add a little bit more S&P to those.
Service was good. Â Food was average. Â Price was about $10 per burger. Â This place isn't trying to be anything it isn't. Â Good place to go if you need a basic bite to eat.
I suffer from this condition called B.R.A.T ok and this condition makes me want what I want when I want it.. now because I am aware of my condition I can try to hide my opinions and feelings about something and give people a bit more time than usual.. but like most new yorkers who have this condition you can not refuse the desire to act on terrible service for long..
I went in here before catching a movie... I didnt want anything however my friend wanted to get some fries to go before the movie.. the waitress came over twice.. and NEVER came back... it took all of 40 minutes to get fries.. and this was ONLY because I went up to another waitress and asked her to get our waitress who had gone MIA.. and then after an additional 10 minutes the 2nd waitress brought out the check and our stuff... of course after waitng 45 minutes for fries.. my friend was still charged.. smh.. shitty ass service... the scene at night is even more annoying..
So I couldn't go to Nectar's (it wasn't open yet). No big deal, I thought. I'll check out that Irish place my friend used to frequent when she worked at St Michael's. I was with my band on a New England tour and all we wanted was a pint and some decent pub food before shoving off to play in Montpelier. Not too hard, right?
Maybe I was just incredibly road-cranky by this point, but the place rubbed me the wrong way thirty seconds after stepping through the door. We were greeted by a shlubby waiter who told us if we wanted to sit at regular table, we would be "stuck with him" (his words, not mine). He seemed very anxious to be somewhere else, we would later find out that he was trying to leave early because of the incoming rainstorm.
So we get tossed in the far back of the place, handed menus, place our beer orders and wait. And wait. I look up and see three Sam Adams sitting on the bar. The band chats about the previous night's show. I look up again and see the same three beers still sitting there. The band chats about the nice guitars we tried out at the music store around the corner. I look up again, in time to see the waiter grab our drinks. More talking. I look up to see he is still holding our drinks on a tray, and chatting with one of the waitresses. This whole process has taken about ten minutes from the pour to tray to the table. Unbelievable.
We get our drinks, and then the waiter decides to tell us about the food specials after we've just spent more than ten minutes looking at the menu. His general attitude is that he can't wait to put us off on some other server so he can get out of there in time for "beer o'clock" (again, his words, not mine).
I order a burger (now that I know all the burgers are half price). I get the burger. I always ask for medium, this is rather rare. I love rarish burgers, I just usually don't ask for them at restaurants. It's a bit too rare for my comfort. My drummer, who ordered medium well, shows me his burger and it's pretty much identical to mine.
Somewhere in here, our useless waiter does in fact get to go home and we are handed over to a very nice, if rather distracted, waitress who takes care of us til the end.
I'm all for a relaxed atmosphere, I'm all for some chit-chat with my server. I've run FOH and BOH for years, and I know how it all goes, and I have nothing but respect and patience for the waitstaff world. But this place just got under my skin and then did very little to redeem itself.
Also, the Irish soda bread was possibly the worst Irish soda bread I have ever put in my mouth. It almost went into a wadded up napkin, and I NEVER do that, in public or in my home.
So if you're looking for a quiet afternoon pint and some food, I would suggest frequenting any of the many other establishments that are along the pedestrian mall in Burlington. I imagine the waitstaff at those establishments can at least feign interest in serving you.
Ri Ra is probably good for food, but not so much the night life. The best thing that ever happened there was that my friend for $20 on the floor in the bathroom. The worst thing that ever happened there was some drunk kid punching my visiting dad in the face.
Some real class acts in that bar. There is a dance floor, that bothers me for a few reasons: 1) It is not that big; 2) it is mostly ladies dancing; and 3) it is flanked by creepy older "gentlemen" that have serious staring issues. There is not enough alcohol in that bar to make me feel comfortable dancing in front of these perverse (and socially awkward) strangers.
My advice would be to not hit this place on a weekend. Oh and if your dad wants to stand up for a young girl being relentlessly hit on who is obviously uncomfortable (not me), he may get punched in the face by an alcohol-saturated imbecile.
Good atmosphere, friendly waitstaff and Tuesday nights are trivia nights. Â It gets a bit loud in here and if you are planning on having a meal, I would recommend eating al fresco -- if the weather cooperates -- especially if plan on having a conversation (they have a side walk cafe just out front).
The beer is wonderful and reasonably priced. Â Their menu has a wide selection of Irish dishes . . . including the ever popular Shepherd's Pie -- which I opted for. Â Quite frankly, I have had better . . . although it was not bad, I did not find it to be truly "authentic" and did not care too much for the sauce or gravy that was on the meat.
Perhaps there are other dishes that are better and I would come back to grab some drinks and participate in the trivia night. Â Perhaps even have some pub grub.
In terms of the night life, I am going to have to say that it is not great. Â This place is very crowed with young bar hoppers and older people who tend to gawk at the younger crowd. Â
There is a tiny dance floor where people can dance, but again older men tend to stand nearby with an eye on the young girls...not so appealing.
When this place first opened, it was pretty good for a drink & a game of chess out back by the fireplace.
After a couple of months, they made the back area into all dining, so no more chess. Food was basic pub fare. The big screen TV had severe burn-in and discoloring but it made watching the Red Sox game different. It wasn't bad at first until it was "discovered" to be a cool place to hang out. Also, all the cool help left.
Within the past year, maybe even within this past spring, they've changed the food slightly. Same old menu but the portions are different - smaller but the taste still is sub-par pub food.
Not a bad place if you're going to watch the game, grab a beer, and either Three Needs or Church St Tavern is too busy to get a good seat.
The thing about Ri Ra is that people in Burlington don't think it's a chain--it is; with locations in places like Providence, R.I. and North Carolina. Â
My review will contain two parts: the dining experience and the nightlife experience. Â
Dining. Â My first Ri Ra experience was a subdued lunch on a weekend. Â Keep in mind it purports itself to be an Irish Pub so don't expect the food to be refined: as expected it's not. Â Lots of bland food, fried or grease grilled to mask its tastelessness. Â
Nightlife: Horrible. Â The crowd here sucks--and crowded it is, to the point where you can barely walk across the room. Â It's a mix of twenty somethings who've bar-hopped in from elsewhere, and 30 and 40 somethings who are re-living their college days. Â If you're a college student, expect to get picked-up on by dirty middle-aged guys. Â
Like Matthew S. I can't even end this nicely; and I even thought the bouncers were dicks.
The first time I went here, I turned around and walked straight out. It was so crowded, I couldn't even see in. This place was waaaaaaaaaay over max occupancy. I don't even know how that many people fit in there in teh first place.
I went for dinner sometime later, and it was not all that crowded and the food was GREAT! Also, as their name would suggest, they have Irish beers (yessssssssssssssssss!).
Awful crowd at a fake Irish Pub. Â I liked it when it first opened, before they deported all of the cool employees. Â Now there is nothing Irish about the place except the beer. Â
The food has never been worth eating, and you usually get a broad selection of pathetic middle-aged men ogling the young ladies who are shakin'-it for free drinks. Â Um...trying to end on a nice note, but it just isn't coming to me... Um the bouncers are usually pretty friendly. Â That's really all I've got.
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