Great view right on the river but our particular experience was an example in how not to serve. I swear our waiter didn't listen to a word we said and it took forever to get much of anything. We were actually seated near the back register and could easily hear our waiter and a waitress complaining about a particular customer/table she had (10.13.13). Ended up leaving w/o our food which I don't recall having EVER done at a restaurant.
Review Source:Our group of 7 ate here mid-afternoon after rafting the river. Â We have eaten here before and enjoyed it. Â But our experience this time was very ho-hum. Â Our server was particularly slow in taking our drink, and then our food orders. Â She also had a bit of an attitude. Â Those of us that ordered burgers were satisfied, but the rest of us were quite disappointed in our meals. Â I ordered the Greek Salad with a Scoop of hummus. Â The salad arrived without the hummus, which was brought later as a side. Â The salad ingredients were not fresh; the feta cheese was tasteless and the tomatoes tasted like they were diced 3 days ago; the hummus tasted old, too. Â The Chicken Sherpa, ordered by 3 in my party, was low on chicken. Â The iced tea was weak, lacking much flavor.
Review Source:We had breakfast here after hearing many compliments about this restaurant. Â The location is awesome and sitting by the window you get a wonderful view of the river. Â Our breakfast was common and nothing I would rave about, however, their lunch menu and dinner might be better. Â It always depends on what you order but I would go somewhere else for breakfast because we love breakfast out and we like fresh flavors with a more diverse menu.
Review Source:Food is ok. Service is terrible. We gave this place 2 chances and both times were bad experiences. On our first visit, our server Mark was rude and my daughter didn't get her Chicken Sherpa until the rest of the table was finished eating. We asked for refills of water and after ten minutes we didn't receive the refills. Got Mark's attention and he rudely said, "Yeah. Water. I KNOW!" The pizza is just below Little Caesar's in quality and the Sherpa dishes are just ok. My daughter said the chicken Sherpa was like "bad Chinese food with cheese on top"
Our second experience started out well with a very friendly host but our waitress wasn't nearly as nice. We explained that we only had a short period to eat because we arrived on he train and were assured that we would have time to eat. Long story short, we had to take our food to go and cancelled our beer order b/c the waitress forgot about it until we were getting ready to leave. As we were cashing out and she realized that her tip was going to be small she gave me an attitude and told me that we were asking for a lot in 30 minutes. I told her that I didn't have time to argue with her because I had to get back on the train (more on that in my GSMR review). I wish I could remember he name so I could call her out on Yelp.
Avoid this place if you value customer service at a sit down restaurant. Take out would be the best option.
Rivers End is a unique joint. Â It's got the perfect food - options that are both hearty and healthy - for the hikers, bikers and water rats that frequent. Â
We ate here twice while vacationing nearby. Â Taking a recommendation from a local, I went with the white chicken chili sherpa (basmati, lentils and barley with the requested add-ins) for dinner. Â I was happy they have Siracha and the Sherpa was plenty to fill me up for dinner and have leftovers the next day. Â I also recommend the trout cake sandwich. Â Their chips were pretty on spot too - deep-fried in-house.
How an establishment takes care of its customers during its busiest moments is one of the things that separates great restaurants from the rest of them. Â Over the past few days while staying at the Nantahala Outdoor Center near Bryson City, NC I've had good experiences at this establishment, and bad. Â I had a breakfast server cop an attitude over my order for breakfast. Â Two servers, Abby and Torney(?) were excellent offering suggestions on the menu and making dinner a nice experience. Â The worst experience came on Saturday evening. Â The restaurant was packed, and I waited nearly an hour as larger parties were seated and tables remained empty because they were reserved for larger groups. Â Two of the empty tables had small 2 person tables that could have been separated out. Â Finally he wanted to seat me clear out on the back porch separated from everyone. Â Perhaps I would have enjoyed this had I been on a date. Â By myself I'd much rather be in the middle of everything. Â On top of all of this their prices are a bit spendy for the food they offer. Â They're obviously lacking good competition on campus.
Review Source:Our first stop in our mini getaway included lunch at River's End Restaurant.  It's a local family friendly casual dining establishment that sits next to the Nantahala river and is in the center of Nantahala Outdoor Center (where you can kayak, whitewater raft, zipline, etc!).  The venue has a staff that is very friendly and everyone who we encountered made us feel welcome and invited us in with so much warmth, it was so nice to start off the trip on such a positive note.  We, per our waitress's rave recommendation, started off with their famous "Mean Bean Dip" and as she justly hyped it up, it did not disappoint.  It just had the right ratio of beans to cheese and the seasoning was addictive, we couldn't help but practically clean out our bowl!  For our entrees my friend got their Veggie Sherpa and I got their Voracious Vegan burger.  The Veggie Sherpa is a plate of rice covered with an assortment of vegetables (broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, onions) and capped with cheddar cheese.  I had a bite of it and it was good, not great.  She threw in some salt and pepper on it to give it more flavor and it did help but it wasn't the best meal of rice and veggies that I've ever had.  My voracious vegan, which seemed authentically hand-pattied, not a heated Boca or Morningstar burger thankfully!, was good however not amazing.  Though I am biased because to me the best vegan burgers are the ones I've had at San Francisco's Plant Café Organic and at Bistro at Biltmore in NC, but I'll say that River's End gets an A for effort.  The burger definitely had substance and they certainly cannot be faulted for skimping on portion size, I truly got my fuel for the rest of the day!  I was also impressed with the decent selection of sides you can choose from and I ended up going with steamed veggies for mine and was pleased with how they came out. Â
All in all if you happen to be in the area and need to get food, I would recommend this place for the service and atmosphere and especially for their mean bean dip, you'll be happy you went!
Fairly good food at a place nicely located right on the river. Â Unfortunately there isn't a lot of dining options to choose from. Â There is a well rounded menu with options to meet most American tastes. Â There's even a decent offering of area beers.
It was a little disappointing to see regular black olives in the greek salad instead of kalamata and that the chili was focused very much on a tomato base... but otherwise food was good.
Note that if you're planning to order burgers (or anything similarly grilled - even a chicken philly), the Burger Basket up the road is 1/2 the price...
parking is limited in front; you'll likely be across the street
We pulled into Rivers End for a late dinner upon arriving into town. We realized that we'd have to hurry and eat at Rivers End if we wanted to have dinner at all, since everything in the area closes pretty early, and they graciously sat us at the last minute.
We opted to try the sherpa dishes (a stir fry with rice, lentils, and other good stuff); I had the veggie sherpa, and my boyfriend had the chili sherpa. It was delicious! It was also huge, and despite that, I ate the WHOLE THING. I think the sherpa dish is a unique menu item for the area... as a veggie lover, I was pleased to see it on the menu.
I also really liked how the window seating was right above the river. It gave a feel of being on a boat. We really enjoyed our experience here.
You can't go wrong with this place.
It doesn't matter what time of year it is, you will always get good service and great food.
I usually take several groups of riders there during the season. No one has ever gotten a bad meal or complained.
This visit was in January and it was everything which I have come to expect.
You must try this place while visiting the Nantahala Gourge.
Do note that in the summer around lunch time it is busy, however, it is well worth the wait.
Try the Onion Rings... They are done perfectly!
I had high hopes for this restaurant after checking out the menu but I was disappointed. Â I opted for their veggie burger and added cheese. Â I was no happy to find that the veggie "burger" was deep fried! Â I want my "burger" veggie or not to have a grilled taste to it. Â My tater tots,onion rings, and french fries can be fried but not my "burger." Â This was not mentioned in the description otherwise I would not be hot about this. Â My husband got the chili sherpa (lentils and chili) which was tasty, and another in the group got a salad that looked tasty and they said it was but no one was raving over their food. Â
The best item that I tried was the hummus, it was a bit mealy but the flavor was excellent! Â The view is also nice and you can sit on the porch if the weather is nice.
We were brought to Rivers End by a friend who highly recommended the place. Â Our server, Â Lindsey was the most horrible server I have seen in years. Â She did not go over menu items, she seemed in a rush all the time...as we would ask a question - she would turn and walk away...as if we were taking up her time!!!
A few of us order chicken sherpa- we did not like it at all! Â The manager came over and did offer if we'd like something else- so we all got burgers instead...She was just as rude as Lindsey the server.
My thoughts are I loved the atmosphere, but when you are treated so badly as a customer- Â there is no need to ever go back. Â I hope that top management sees this so that there can be some changes made. Â It certainly could be a great restaurant.
My tip of the day to (Emily - the Manager) and (Lindsey- the Server), without happy customers returning- you will soon have NO JOB...It is all about keeping customers happy and treating them respectfully- Â There was no respect when we were there on Sunday, July 17th at about 4pm.
We visited at lunchtime on a busy Saturday. The area was recovering from a brutal summer storm/tornado and power had just been restored. However, all the computers were down, messing up their ordering system as well as being short staffed. The place was a near mob scene.
Despite it all, we were seated in good order. Emily promptly took my order for their Wesser Cheeseburger the garden salad that comes with it. The burger was cooked perfectly and tasted terrific. And, it was huge. All this while enjoying antics of white water rafters and boaters fifteen feet below my picture window.
Eavesdropping on other diners (seating is tight) indicated they were as pleased as I was with the food and service.
Two knives up for River's End.
Finding a decent place to eat near Tsali can be tricky if you're trying to avoid Arby's, McDonalds, Subway, etc. in Bryson City, so I'm really happy that River's End exists. Â I had the Chicken Sherpa rice dish, nothing special but tons of carbs and hot after a long day riding mountain bikes. Â Great view of the River, fast service.
Review Source:We were on a group bike (motorcycle) ride through the mountains and the day we were traveling it was raining. Â The whole group of us came in wet and cold. Â The owner was INCREDIBLE. Â He let us put our wet gloves, sweatshirts and clothes (down to our dry stuff) into the dryer as we waited out the rain. Â He was super nice and so great to us. Â They had a great cup of hot cocoa and good sandwiches. Â We were totally blessed by his hospitality and then he turned up the heaters in the outdoor patio where were overran the place. Â I would definitely go here again!
Review Source:I really like the place. I've been coming up here Mtn biking for years and this place just gets better and better. They have a healthy fresh menu which is nice after riding to have real food. Atmosphere goes a long way with me, so sitting right on the river is always great. Â
The last time I was there is what lead me to write this review. I had the Butternut Squash Ravioli in a Maple cream sauce, as recommended by the waiter. Wow was that good. Finish up the meal with a Blackberry cobbler made in it's own crock. I had to reach over and slap my Momma. She had it too so I got slapped back. It was that good!
Nothing special - seems like a place to chill out after a day of fun and adventures.
Food was decent and well-priced. It was nothing special but after some of the food experiences in Bryson City, it felt like an honest experience. Basic, solid food for a decent price.
Locally-made sausage was pretty good. The hashbrowns, covered in vegetables and cheese, seemed like standard food-service fare.
The biscuits and gravy brought more flavor to the meal. Though it is definitely not healthy.
Overall, it's a simple restaurant in a gorgeous location. If I'm there I'm looking to get some food after a fun day. It's not a highlight but a simple place to chill out.
I've only been to River's End once, on my first road trip through the Smoky Mountains.
I've read H.P.'s review and can totally understand what s/he means. Plus, the help wasn't all that helpful.
But I must add that the restaurant on a quiet fall evening was a perfect retreat as it's right on the river. We enjoyed sitting in the screened in porch enjoying the sounds....
River's End used to be a unique place we enjoyed visiting every time we came to Nantahala; a highlight was their herb/onion bread, used on sandwiches, served with a block of cheese, or with soup or chili. It had an emphasis on healthy, hearty food suitable for cold rafters or Appalachian Trail hikers. The only special offering that remains from the original River's End is "sherpa" - an ultra-healthy pile of rice and vegetables.
It's now a generic "Chotchkie's/Friday's" kind of place in many ways, down to the blah graphic design of the menus.
There's some NOC memorabilia on the walls and you have a view of the river, but the food is boring.
River's End remains an acceptable place to get a burger and fries (which is good since there are few other restaurants without driving out of Nantahala Gorge), but there's not much special about the food anymore. Too bad, since it used to be a unique restaurant. Boo to NOC.
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