Rick's on the River

Won't find a more Florida vibe bar than this! Directly on the Hillsborough River with boat access, this makes it the perfect destination to grab drinks or a bite to eat after a day out on the water. The live music makes the atmosphere entertaining yet relaxing. They have a ton of outdoor seating as well as indoor, both including bars. Everything is served in disposable products, making it an easy clean-up. The wings were pretty good, but the service was fantastic. Always had a full drink with a friendly smile. This definitely felt like a place the locals tend to be at consistently, as it's been in business for 30 years. Parking is a little crazy around peak times, but you can find a space. You just might have to walk a little bit.

Just had an appetizer wasn't really impressed. Had to wait for service. The atmosphere is good when the waitress came she was excellent. Wouldn't take anybody there. But if I was just going to sit and drink and look out at the water it'd be good enough

Long time since I’ve been here, but it’s still the same. The neighborhood around is a little more run down than I remembered, but Rick’s is still kicking. Boat slips, the boat club is still next door. I sat at the bar, so my service was super fast. Beer was cold and not super pricey. I saw they had some wheel things on the tables I guess to say when you needed a waitress. Two big tent areas for big parties. Bathroom still sucks lol.

Had an absolutely amazing time! Came here to see the downtown 4th of July fireworks and grab a bite to eat. We ordered the fried oyster basket, grilled mahi mahi with fruit cups, and wings. Everything came out relatively quickly considering the place was packed, and the food was fresh and hot. My only complaint is that the fruit tasted pre-frozen, but I could care less about something so trivial.

Stopped by seated pretty quickly. They have very good prices. Decided on fish sandwiches jerked and fried. Very delicious and well seasoned. Will be back! Menu pictures attached!

The Rick-efeller oysters, the catfish and the Reuben sandwich were good. The Cajun fries needed more Cajun seasoning. The staff is friendly and I like the location of the restaurant. I really recommend this place.

Loved the atmosphere! You can eat inside or outside. At the outside bar area or the patio, looking over the Hillsborough River.

The heartbeat of the river! Great place to motor up. Ice cold water. Had a band Sat afternoon! Saw Rick.

Took my cousin who was visiting to Rick's so we could enjoy the nice weather and views! Even with only two servers for the whole outdoor patio, they were very nice and very attentive! They served with great efficiency and always checked in on us to make sure we didn't need anything else We were really full by the end of dinner! Might have ordered too much food for just 3 people to share. Chicken wings and coconut shrimp were crispyyy. Oysters were small/medium sized but it fulfilled the craving for me. Sandwich would have been better with grouper if they had it available. I think it's seasonal or only sometimes they have the grouper. Catfish was okay but not something that blew my mind. Come for the chill and laid back vibes. Not for bougie, fine dining.

I honestly wasn't expecting it to be this bad. The food was some of the worst I've ever had. I've never had shrimp that tasted freezer-burned until now -- the greasy breading tasted just like cheap fish sticks. I couldn't even eat it and had to send it back. To be fair, the friend who invited us did warn us, saying, "Be warned, this place's food is really bad." We went anyway to celebrate her birthday and keep up her tradition of getting oysters at Rick's on the River. I tried to give it a real chance. Their margarita tasted like straight margarita mix -- no real flavor at all. The fries were completely tasteless. To top it off, they had a high school rock band playing at max volume, so loud you couldn't even talk to the person next to you. Seriously... BE WARNED.

I found Rick's on the river back in August and have been back over 10x since, and I don't even live in Tampa! It is honestly my favorite restaurant of all time and it makes me just so happy to be there. Sitting outside is an absolute must to observe the beautiful Hillsborough river and people watch. I typically sit at the bar if I'm by myself but when I bring my friends sitting right next to the river at a table is never a bad time. I've literally never had a bad experience with service the people are always so nice and the food comes out so quick! My only request is to please bring back the coconut chalices I absolutely love that souvenir cup and need to add more to my collection. As for the food, the oysters are an absolute must. Top 10 oysters I've ever had in my entire life and it's actually the only thing I ever order. You cannot beat a dozen oysters, a side of fries, and 2 whiskey diets for under $40. I always drag my friends here and they never regret it, some great feedback I got was from the burger, fish dip, and loaded fries so you truly cannot go wrong here. We went for the first time on a Friday night so we got to hear the live music this time which I've been wanting to do for a while now. Ricks on the river I'm genuinely your biggest fan I love you and never change please!!

Out in Tampa, how about we dock the boat on a slip and we came to Rick's and it's got like live music three bars oysters everything we're just not here for food just the drinks baby my mai tai did not have the rum. The piña colada did not have even a cherry. This place is though the vibe they have live music that are people dancing so lots of fun just don't go for the drinks you didn't eat so I can't tell you about the food.

Catfish basket was very good & it was a crowd for a Friday right after work but everything was everything!

A perfect river side stop! We enjoyed a quick bite after a boat ride yesterday. The service was prompt and the staff were all friendly. They had live music which was super fun! The coconut shrimp were not the best in the whole world, but they were certainly tasty and the prices were pretty reasonable. The chicken Caesar salad was delicious, and the cheapest I've seen in a while. The blackened chicken was juicy and seasoned excellently. The location is the perfect stop for boaters.

Great for live music on the water on a Friday night. Good service from Rosie made a difference for us too! I recommend.

It's "seat yourself." I walked in sat down then waited 20 minutes for two servers to walk past me and never hand me a menu. As I am writing this it's been 30 minutes now and not one person has approached me or given a menu. If it wasn't for me meeting up with a friend I would have left already. The view of the river is nice though and they play nice house music.

Seafood was great and fresh! I had some of the oysters which was amazing and the shrimp po boy. The po boy was overflowing with popcorn shrimp and so delicious. It was a really big portion for the price as well. Would also definitely recommend getting the Cajun fries. Service was good and had lots of outdoor seating.

Our server was so great! Grouper cheeks were very good. We also liked burger and fish sandwich.

Ordered a fish sandwich and asked for NO tomato or lettuce. The bartender understood and before handing it to me, said, 'they put tomato and lettuce on it so I'll be right back.' And right back she came. CLEARLY they simply took the lettuce and tomato off and sent the sandwich right back out to me. There was even lettuce still on it and ALL OVER the bottom of the basket. Not to mention tomato residue on the roll. I despise tomatoes but I guess they consider that my problem. I was completely turned off. Zero effort to even hide the fact that they were basically saying 'F*ck you' to me. Do not eat here. The sandwich didn't look like it would have blown me away anyway.

Not likely to return. We've lunch there yesterday - Saturday. The location is great, on the Hillsborough River, with plenty boat slips at 1:30pm. It has indoor and covered outdoor areas. We sat out. All tables are for max 8 people, benches with no back support. The service is slow, both drinks and food - got our food exactly an hour later. Our girl is gracious and lovely. The few waiting staff I saw, are young girls who wear tight outfit (not unifform). I would expect them to be sporty but instead, I feel lifeless. I yielded to a tall girl after bathroom. She opened the door and just left. Ok, maybe she was juggling two drinks on the tray ... I would use my body to hold the door for the next person IF my hands are occupied ... The foods: average bar food. I've Little Neck clams, the two pieces of toast are delicious. Chicken wrap is good. As we were leaving, a band came to set it up. One member wore a Brookly NY leather jacket honoring the fallen heroes on Veterans Dat. I asked him if he was from Bly and he replied a big YES -:). Then asked me if I'm from Thailand or Philippine. I replied, Africa. "Really?" Really sir. Thanks for these who have served.

It was a beautiful Saturday, arrived via the boat docks, came in for a snack and a beer. We got the last slip and the place was packed. End up getting some food and no I did not take any pictures, forgot to. The staff is very friendly and everybody was having a great time. Stay just over an hour and then we drove off. Definitely come in if you have time it's always fun to be here!

Go for the drinks and river view not for the food. The drinks are good and reasonable in price. The service is friendly and quick. It's nice to sit on the river on a pleasant day and watch the boat traffic. But eat before you get there. The food is boring low end bar food. The burger tasted like a bubba burger. The oysters are never fresh, they just look old and brown. If you have to eat get the wings. Wings are hard to screw up. Enjoy the view drink the drinks.

A perfect dive bar on the river! Great location. Lots of space. If you're looking for a place to hang out at in the water come here!!! Good food, good drinks. A full bar and plenty of staff to help out. We stopped in after I got back from my work trip for some Friday evening fun. Some cold beers and appetizers. Very busy for an early Friday evening. Diverse crowd and a band setting yo to play for the night. Check this place out if you haven't already. If you have come back and enjoy this place!

my first time to this restaurant and probably will be my last. I ended walking out the restaurant before I even ordered my food. There was a Lack of customers service.

I was from out of town and expecting more from a docking restaurant/bar. Waitress was not attentive, chicken fingers were dry out, Bun for my sandwich crumbly. Over priced food and a kick in the pants they charge you a service charge for water. How is this place still in businea. I could have went to McDonalds and had better food and service.

First time here and the did was great. I like oysters and had six that were really yummy. The service was really friendly and attentive and the ambiance was really casual. Really enjoyed the experience and will be back

It's a good location if you like the water and boats. It's a dive bar more then a restaurant. Unique inside and large outdoor patio seating area. Menu is ok nothing stands out as a wow. The oysters were decent size but the main meal was lackluster and the onion rings and fries lukewarm. Not a great experience at all. Service was good after they finally noticed us sitting at the table.

That fish sandwhich is something special & the live band was Awesome! Great timely service as well with a nice view

It was my first time coming here, while the ambiance was great, there was a disconnect. There was no one in the front to greet or seat us. We had to find our own seats, odd but ok. When we did sat down, our server Madison was amazing, Attentive and sweet. My friends ordered margarita and i had a mojito. Mojito was ok, watered down, didn't really taster the alcohol. We had half dozen Jacked up oysters and half dozen Rick-a-fellar. Jacked up were amazing, spice from jalapeños added a great spice. Overall, it's a fun place to check out at least once.

Fun dockside dive bar vibes with lots of outdoor shaded seating and large bathrooms, we hit this spot after a boat day. Service was a bit slow outside but waitress managed a large group of us well. The frozen drinks didn't taste strong but bar food was tasty, particularly the coconut shrimp and the tots. No frills but a good spot to stop in after a long day on a boat.

I ate here recently with a dining partner. We had a cheesesteak and a salad with blackened fish. Both were excellent. The salad was fresh and the blackened fish was as spiced just right, fresh! The cheesesteak was terrific (for Florida). Fresh roll, tangy provolone, freshly grilled peppers and onions, and delicious fries. The cheesesteak came out piping hot! Service was very good. The view of the river is nice.

Absolutely amazing! Loved the ambiance, very casual and scenic! the food was not bad at all and the service was decent! I would recommend going to Rick's for a casual date night or hang out.

Good Food and amazing service. We sat on the Stools by the bar and our waitress Holly was awesome! She checked on us very often and even helped me choose on a lunch option. Dive Bar feel with great service and good food. Definitely a great recommendation for lunch!

Enjoyed a pina colada here. Good service on a week night. My guy friend loved it here. You can bring your boat up if you have one. Sometimes they have live music

What a beautiful restaurant to come and have lunch or dinner , the food is awesome. You can come by car or boat there is always plenty of dock space I've never had a problem

I had heard about this place from so many people. Granted, it wasn't always regarding the food. Sometimes, it was just the ambiance. It being cool and fun place to be able to get some drinks and the occasional quick bite. Finally made it here, and I wasn't blown away. The service was good. The waitresses were attentive and very nice. They had answers and suggestions, which is nice. It's a cool place to be to hang out and I can see how it would be a great spot for the games too. On this visit we ordered blackened dry rub wings, jalapeño cheddar poppers, and blacked fish sandwich, and blackened fish wrap. Overall total was about $70 including a couple beers. Not horrible, but considering most of the food was bland, it wasn't worth it. The poppers were pickled jalapeños stuffed with some cheddar cheese, the fish tasted like it was frozen and just seasoned with salt and pepper. Bread seemed like it was straight out of store bought version and not the good kind. The wings were decent. Maybe a tad bit overcooked and definitely on the smaller end of wings considering 10 were $17. Everything just kind of lacked some seasoning. Nothing to write home about. Again, the place itself, seems like a cool and fun place to spend an afternoon or a late evening, catch a game, or have a few beers/drinks with friends. Food wise, I would probably respectfully decline another shot.

What's not to love? The food is great and the atmosphere is fantastic. Local spot with great views of the hillsborough river. Family friendly environment. They also have the best bartender in tampa, her name is Jess!!! Go see her!

Where do I begin? The server seemed as if taking our order was a nuisance. Upon ordering our meal, appetizers came last.... Not sure how that goes but I digress. Things that were ordered (fish sandwich, po boy, wings, oysters). The fish sandwich was unseasoned. The po boy was poor in taste and frost bitten. The wings were nasty. The fries... the fries were old! Let me say that again the fries were old and seemed as if they were dipped in the oil again. Here's the best part. After returning our meal, the table behind us seemed perturbed and found a looooooong piece of hair in their oyster. Safe to say we will not be returning. Oh and the manager had the biggest attitude when we complained about our food. That's all folks enter at your own risk. No stars!

-0 Had a great boat day with Coco, we decided to stop in for food. Only to find out she was NOT allowed to sit outside away from the main outside food area! Dogs aren't allowed! Should've stayed at Armature Works instead of trying to help a local business

The waitress admitted the Fish Sandwich was made with frozen fish and we both never heard of the type of fish. She suggested the Mahi tuna sandwich which was fresh.... NOT. It was so dry and horrible, inedible and had to spit my first bite out. Husband ordered the chef salad served with old blackened mushrooms and aged iceberg lettuce. We should have known because we saw another uneaten dish left on the table. Too Bad

OMG this Place is ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE !!! Had the Popcorn Shrimp, that tasted. Like Octopus knee caps. ZERO Flavor at all and SUPER fishy, along side a OLD SOUR Cocktail sauce.. We all laughed about it, and made sure our Waitress knew, we knew it was her fault. Nor at anytime did we even ask for it to be taken off our bill, was just a quick bathroom stop/break while out boat. So hey it is what it's is, but how it was handled was even better. She came back with the bill, an told us she tried to get GARY the Mgr to take it off. But apparently he popped a piece in his mouth, and told her it's the best he's ever had, and wasnt taking it off. Which I guess frozen rancid popcorn shrimp is his style. Now mind you, we never asked, but his attitude about kinda rubbed me the wrong way. So I had Nicely explain to him his food was horrible, while he laughed and said " THEIR POPCORN SHRIMP WAS THE BEST AROUND" !! Well GARY WE definitely will not back, and it's not really about the but YOUR PISS POOR MGR , GARY !!!!

We went by boat for a lovely ride. Floating docks for 30+ boats. Standard bar food, draft beer cold, but no coors light. Nice enough View thru parked cars. Smoking allowed on dining patio was a let down. Our server was extremely friendly and quick with our order.

Very nice place to go and enjoy the view! I like how easy the service method is and the food came in pretty fast Next time, I will like to try the oysters to see if they are good!

Let me start by saying, I absolutely love this place, regardless of my four star rating. The ambiance is a typical dive bar feeling. Patrons can pull up in their boat, enjoy a couple drinks, chow down on a shrimp poboy, and hop back on the water. Cool BIG place. Our server, Kayla, has only been working their six months and works like an absolute pro. Exceptional and expeditious service with a GREAT attitude. The steamed oysters with jalapeños (I'm so sorry I can't remember the name of them) are a smash hit. I was so excited to oyster it up so I got the fried oyster platter. The coleslaw was a 10/10. The "Cajun" fries are ACTUALLY seasoned with Cajun seasoning! Crispy and fresh. The fried oysters. They had so much to live up to. The first one was premium. The second, I bit into a mouthful of grit. I figured it may be a one off. Sadly it was not. I ended up chipping my tooth on one and had to give up after. Otherwise I really love this place!!!

Service was ok, food was ok. Had to drive through the hood to get there. Outside seating was good, but a lot of people smoking. Bands music was very loud. One and done.

Great service at the bar! Bartender very personable and funny! Great casual atmosphere on the water. Good barfood and a great bloody Mary!

Food is good, service is good. Had the clams and was very impressed. Went on a weekday but was informed that Rick's is a place to be on the weekend. Nice drink selection, and a nice place to have a beer and good food.

my favorite local place for seafood. you seat yourself the drinks, food and location is amazing and cheap. it's right on the water and a very relaxed vibe. wear what you want because you can sit inside or outside. the spicy chicken sandwich is also very good

Food is ok, The portions are kids size or should I say smaller. Service was good, didn't get waitress name. Ambiance was decent. Had a live band on the outside

Visiting Tampa and a local suggested we go to ricks for the river view and food. Oysters were fairly large and flavorful - loved the potent horseradish . The catfish and crab ball however weren't so tasty. They were fried hard and lacked identity. Despite the lack of fresh food (ie shrimp cocktail, ceviche, etc), our server Jocelyn was the best and made it experience better. Views of the river were nice and they have large patio outside as well.

After a sunset hike on the downtown riverwalk, we stumbled upon Rick's, just a short ten minute drive from Armature works. It was the perfect spot for a low key, no frills dinner. They have outdoor seating by the water and even had live music. The fish sandwiches were great and the prices are very reasonable. The servers were so friendly. It's a perfect spot for a casual weeknight escape after an outdoor workout or day on the water. They also have an indoor bar but our vote is definitely to grab a table outside and enjoy the breeze.

I really enjoyed the view, food and service. My niece recommended this spot. I ordered the seafood spread and fried oysters basket which was all delicious. My niece ordered the oyster Rockefeller and I kid you not, the best I've ever had and I've been to some really great spots. You must try it if you stop by. I definitely recommend it. Prices wasn't overboard. Our server was on point.

Rick's on the River is a wonderful local place snuggled on the Hillsborough River. It's is a casual environment with live music on the weekends There is indoor seating and an outdoor bar area as well but with views like these and the cool breeze from The river and fans, sit in the outside dining area and enjoy. Table service is provided no matter where you sit. They com to the table frequently to check on you and your drink. They have a full bar. I had the 1/2 Ricks blackened fish sandwich. It's grouper and amazing. Fresh tomato or custom your own. Fries weren't so great. Really over cooked and unsalted made them leave behind worthy. Hubby had Fish Caesar wrap with fresh fruit. He demolished it. Lol. The fruit was nothing special just mixed fruit. All in all, we love coming here to read and have lunch or just drinks. There is a cool water taxi that's stops here as it circles from downtown and back to Ricks again. It also makes for a nice afternoon or evening adventure to see Tampa in a different light!!

Great atmosphere and good service, food is ok. Food: 2.5/5 Service: 4/5 Ambiance: 4.5/5

I really wanted to find a Dive for some happy hour oysters, and some cheap drinks. This was the place. We sat inside because we had been outside all day, but they had a nice outdoor area. The oysters were great. Our waitress was friendly. My boyfriend got the smoked fish spread and coconut shrimp. Both delicious as well. This place is not fancy by any means, but if you just want good food and to relax - 10/10

Great spot for food and drinks. Being on the river the view and ambiance are awesome. Service is great all things considered, will definitely be back.

Who charges for a glass of tap water in a plastic cup? Rick's does. I joined a friend working in the area for lunch. Everything was served on styrofoam plates and disposable cup. The bar had your typical locals hanging out and that's not s bad thing. But they certainly weren't eating. I'm on a no carb diet so I ordered a bun- less hamburger patty and steamed broccoli as the side. I kid you not that the burger was the diameter of one lens of my sunglasses. My friend ordered the fish dip and most of the crackers were stale. Only Pepsi products and the cup is 3/4 full of ice. 2 slurps and you're out. They charge for refills. $28.00 with tip! Out-freakin-ragious. Bye bye Rick's. Pictures as proof.