Rick's Cafe Waterfront

A hidden Westside gem! Having heard that the new Rick's had a weekend brunch (11AM-2PM), I thought this would be the perfect place to treat my husband for Fathers Day. The Italian menu was too tempting so we opted for that instead. I had the Chicken Piccata which was perfectly cooked and flavorful. My husband had the Chicken Marsala which he enjoyed. Portions were plentiful and we left with enough food for probably two more meals. Our server, Jennifer, was excellent and very attentive! We were pleased and wished we had tried it sooner- will go back!

Run by the same people of the Boatyard fame, Rick's Cafe Waterfront is a new venture in a really old setting.  The Italian-themed restaurant is located within a late-70's era dining room in a Clarion hotel.  There is a retention pond outside, so I guess you can call it a waterfront.  Anyways, we had a coupon to use and hungry kids to feed, so out we went.

The menu has the same calamari that my family likes at Rick's Boatyard, with the long thin strips rather than the more typical mix of rings and tentacles.  The calamari was nicely prepared and not too chewy.  We also had the baked goat cheese appetizer, which was a huge platter of thin bread slices topped with pesto, and a big fried lump of rich goat cheese sitting in a pool of peppery marinara sauce.  We ate this up pretty quick and I had to hold the kids back from licking the plate; it was very good.

For entrees, the kids each had a lasagna, which is a huge serving of your usual pasta/cheese/crumbled beef strata but is covered with both marinara and alfredo sauce.  The boys really liked it, but I thought it was just average.  Husband had chicken parmesan, a nice and tender chicken breast with cheese and marinara, served on top of a huge pile of fettucine with alfredo sauce.  We both really liked the chicken, but he would have preferred a marinara sauce that wasn't so peppery.  I ordered a tortellini with chicken and madeira sauce, but I received a tortellini with alfredo sauce and veggies.  I was several bites into it before I realized the mistake, but I enjoyed it never the less.  The sauce was creamy with a good hit of garlic.  The cheese tortellini looked to be made on site, with fresh pasta gently folded over light clouds of cheese.  The veggies were a mix of red pepper strips, broccoli, cauliflower and chinese pea pods (??).  The veggies were a perfect al dente and very fresh.  I only finished half of my plate and the waitress asked if I wanted it packed to go, which I did ... unfortunately the last I saw of my food was when she cleared the table.  The waitress already looked to be near tears because she brought me the wrong order (she said it was only her second night, and she was really trying to please us) so I didn't have the heart to say something about the missing leftovers.

Dessert was a piece of tiramisu, which was the most disappointing part of the meal.  It was dense and dry, with a thick slab of mascarpone cheese, not the custardy soft and creamy tiramisu I prefer.  Youngest son also asked for two scoops of the Graeter's chocolate ice cream ... two small scoops for $6!?!  Next time we'll buy the pint at Marsh for $4.99.

In summary: dated decor, not much of a waterfront view, one wrong order and no doggie bag.  But the food was pretty good overall, and the server meant well but made some newbie mistakes.  I don't know if we'll be back; there are far better Italian places, and a few other places with nicer water views .  But if I was spending the night in the hotel and wandered into Rick's Waterfront, I would be pretty pleased with my dining options.