The Riverside Market Cafe

The Riverside Market CafeThe Riverside Market Cafe
The Riverside Market CafeThe Riverside Market Cafe
Bar, Eatery, Beer-to-go

608 SW 12th Ave
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 33312-2421
United States

(954) 358-8333 | map
theriversidemarket.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.3
Reviews:
21
Ratings:
45
pDev:
12.56%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Jet-Feds_13:
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Rated by Jet-Feds_13 from Florida

3.96/5  rDev -7.9%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.75 | selection: 4.5

Oct 03, 2015
More User Ratings:
Photo of heymikew
Reviewed by heymikew from California

4.43/5  rDev +3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.25
A bit tricky to find it but it can be found and it's worth the effort.
I got there very early, had great personailzed service from a very knowledgeable guy. I found lots of of great local, regional, national and imported offerings. I mostly went with local and got plenty to stock our hotel refrigerator with.

Highly recommended!
Feb 01, 2020
Photo of DKgtr85
Reviewed by DKgtr85 from Florida

4.94/5  rDev +14.9%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.75 | food: 5
This place is absolute FIRE. Definitely worth mentioning that all beer aside, this is the BEST pizza in South FL. The beer selection is very well presented, with different coolers that line the walls, from which anybody can serve themselves. The prices are clearly marked and everyone is encouraged to walk their empties to the front for payment before leaving. Its a great system. They also have a nice draft selection. Beers are rotating and they do a great job stocking seasonal and limited batches from some of the local breweries, as well as other beers from around the nation. The vibe is great, the people are awesome and the atmosphere is perfect for geeking out over beer. However, the pricing on some of the limited brews is a bit too high at times in my honest opinion.
Oct 23, 2017
 
Rated: 4.33 by CPE1704TKS from Florida

Mar 26, 2017
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Reviewed by JandJMD from Maryland

4.53/5  rDev +5.3%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
Perfect spot to stop for an early lunch after the flight and before a trip down to Key West. Everyone in the place was nice and helpful. Coolers full of locals and beer from all over. Just grab and drink and pay on the way out. Taps available but didn't drink draft. Wish I could have stayed longer and drank more. Food was very good. Odd little spot, but definitely stop in if you are in the area.

(Craft Beer Cartel across the street is a good spot to grab a few before getting on the road or setting up in town for a few days. Very helpful staff.)
Dec 17, 2016
 
Rated: 3.84 by Pearlstreetbrewingco from Florida

Aug 21, 2016
Photo of Jaypeajus
Reviewed by Jaypeajus from Indiana

5/5  rDev +16.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
Really cool place. Awesome that u can grab it and drink it and pay for empty. Good smelled good but I had just ate. Out of towners should def seek out this treasure. Use GPS.
May 27, 2016
 
Rated: 4.73 by HeartofMiami from Florida

May 22, 2016
 
Rated: 4.3 by 3-Ball from Georgia

Apr 17, 2016
 
Rated: 4.48 by tribeerguy70_3 from New Jersey

Jan 13, 2016
 
Rated: 4.46 by JamesLeung from Florida

Dec 10, 2015
 
Rated: 4.68 by CBrodbeck from Florida

Sep 05, 2015
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Rated by valrxman from Florida

3.78/5  rDev -12.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.75 | service: 3.75 | selection: 3.75
You have to go if you are in Fort Lauderdale. Cool little place. Beer all around you. Cheers
Jul 19, 2015
Photo of tyjo26
Rated by tyjo26

4.83/5  rDev +12.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.75 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 5
Bad ass spot to chill.
Apr 30, 2015
Photo of djhowell
Reviewed by djhowell from Wisconsin

4.4/5  rDev +2.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4.25
Grab a beer from the cooler, pick a board game to play, order some snacks (the margherita pizza was good), relax. Settle up at the end with your empties.
Apr 28, 2015
 
Rated: 4.81 by nrokh from Illinois

Mar 27, 2015
 
Rated: 4.39 by Paponetti44 from Florida

Mar 06, 2015
Photo of Gourmet2390
Reviewed by Gourmet2390 from Florida

4.08/5  rDev -5.1%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 5 | food: 3
Good local place becoming more & more popular to both locals and tourists with a great mixed crowd. Low key vibe, casual & cool. Awesome beer selection, the best in the area. Has a lot of history, so go check it out.
Feb 05, 2015
 
Rated: 4.28 by Jfishe13313 from Florida

Jan 17, 2015
 
Rated: 4.61 by Agentveba from North Carolina

Jan 16, 2015
 
Rated: 4.36 by Biggcatch from Florida

Nov 06, 2014
 
Rated: 4.47 by Ralphsharp from Florida

Nov 03, 2014
Photo of RyanSoFla
Reviewed by RyanSoFla from Florida

4.5/5  rDev +4.7%
Riverside Market is one of my favorite places in Ft. Lauderdale. The sandwiches are pretty good and the rest of the food is decent, but the beer selection is just excellent. You grab a beer and just bring the bottles to the front when you are done. They have some great Florida beers and other brews from around the country. If you are in the area, you need to stop by.
Nov 03, 2014
Photo of Flounder57
Reviewed by Flounder57 from Massachusetts

4.3/5  rDev 0%
We checked out this place last month when we were down there for the Pats/Dolphins game. It was strange at first, but this place is in a residential neighborhood near the Las Olas Fort Lauderdale are.

Upon walking in, you are mesmorized by the amount of beer stocked there. Over 500 bottle and cans to choose from and 20 rotating draft. The fridges are self serve too. Pick and choose what you want to consume and then bring your empties to the register to pay for them.

You can also take beer from those same fridges to go to be consumed at your hotel and to be packed in a suitcase like we did. Beer drank there is reasonably priced while beer to go is at a premium, but expect that when purchasing singles. 4 packs, 6 packs, 12 packs, and cases can be bought at a normal retail price too.

Food is minimal, but tasty. We enjoyed a salad and a sandwich while drinking local Florida beers from Due South, Miami Brewing, Funky Buddha, Cigar City, Florida Brewing, etc.

Atmosphere is cool with some patio tables outside, couched and high tops inside, and beer signs and everything else beer related inside.

So excite about this place that I went back twice more to make another six pack and get beer to bring back here to Boston. Next time we visit our friends in Hollywood, this will be the first stop from the airport. Well worth it folks. A can't miss if you are in the Fort Lauderdale area.
Oct 29, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by cyrushire from Florida

Aug 27, 2014
 
Rated: 4.2 by Roos from Pennsylvania

Aug 22, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by halo3one from Georgia

Aug 20, 2014
 
Rated: 4.75 by drkastner from Florida

Aug 11, 2014
 
Rated: 5 by brianc629 from Florida

Jul 26, 2014
Photo of JulioH
Reviewed by JulioH from Florida

4.73/5  rDev +10%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 5
Basically, Riverside is a long wall of fridges filled with beer, like WOB. The spin is, you grab your beer, open it, sit down on one of the many sofas or chairs, and chill until it's time to pay and leave. I love that you can browse and grab whatever you want, and it's cold.

Food is also served.
Jun 29, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by eliselaurel from Florida

Apr 11, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by chris1919 from Florida

Mar 08, 2014
Photo of zeff80
Reviewed by zeff80 from Missouri

4.23/5  rDev -1.6%
vibe: 4.25 | quality: 4.25 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4
This is an odd location, tucked away in a neighborhood, but it's a really cool place. A former gas station that has been converted. The have a smallish counter with 8 or so taps. You can order some very tasty food there. The coolest part for me was their bottle selection. Grab one out of the cooler, open it at you table and enjoy. When you are ready to leave take your empties to the counter to pay. You can also take unopened bottles to go.
Jan 24, 2014
Photo of Swadd
Reviewed by Swadd from Florida

2.19/5  rDev -49.1%
vibe: 1 | quality: 1 | service: 1.75 | selection: 5 | food: 1
Absolute nightmare experience. Unless you like food poisoning and racial slurs!
I had the fish tacos and thought that they tasted a bit off. Well I should have listened to my taste buds because they made me very sick. Some more BIG red flags were the fruit flies
(yes plural) that we both found in our draft beers and the dried food stuck to our table. We like hole in the wall joints (and that is what this place is) and our server was nice so we gave it the benefit of the doubt.
But just to top off our experience we over heard the owner or who we thought was the owner (big fat loud mouth) using derogatory insults and making jokes about a former black employee. Well that was enough and this black man payed his over priced bill and walked out of this dump and will not return.
So again if you like dirty, disgusting places that serve bad food, and racist loud mouths then you will love this place. I saw another review from an usatisfied customer and they said it looks like a dirty TGI Fridays and a dirty 7-11 combined. LOL thats about it.
NOT GOOD
Mar 25, 2013
Photo of jcb7472
Reviewed by jcb7472 from Florida

3.83/5  rDev -10.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4.5
Riverside Market is an out-of-the-way market that has an extensive selection of craft beer, but it's also like a cafe where you can get food. If you don't live in this neighborhood or know it well, you will need navigation or Google Maps to find this place. Cool neighborhood, though. The swinging bridge around the corner is something you don't see very often. Once there, right to the left they have a huge selection of bottles in coolers. The employees are nice and kind of let people grab what they want and pay when ready (honor system). Some people may consider this a negative, but I don't. I actually have not tried the food but have been tempted to. At night it kind of turns into a bar where you can grab singles out of the cooler and hang out with friends. During the day it's a lunch spot. The prices are not as good as total wine (figure $2 more per six pack) but as I mentioned, they do have a great selection and you might find something here that they don't have at Total Wine. For example, Total Wine didn't have Lagunitas Sucks the last two times I went. I went to Riverside Market and they had it for $12/six-pack and they would only let me buy one. $2 more than Total Wine charges but they had it when nobody else did. Riverside Market is a nice little market worth checking out for craft beer.
Jan 21, 2013
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Reviewed by Rifugium from North Dakota

2.44/5  rDev -43.3%
vibe: 2.75 | quality: 2 | service: 1.5 | selection: 4.25 | food: 1.25
I was pretty disappointed with this place, I guess mainly based on the higher reviews. But you never know until you experience something for yourself, so I suppose it was just another learning experience.

The place really was off the beaten path, and you'd never know by looking at it from the outside that it was a craft beer venue. Looks like just some random mini mart randomly placed in a small suburban neighborhood. Inside, it's pretty basic, they're not going out to impress anyone with decor, just some scattered breweriana here and there. There's no bar to sit at, but there are a few tables, a few couches, and a few outdoor tables as well. I can see the atmosphere being good for a casual get together, but I really wasn't digging it. Walking in, directly to your right is the tap station, with a good selection of mostly local brew on. To your left is a large, large fridge section. Further ahead and to the right is an extensive collection of out-of-the-fridge bottles. This place definitely had an impressive selection. Unfortunately, that's about all it had.

The service here was extremely awkward. It was a "help yourself" kind of place, which was pretty uncomfortable. There were two employees in sight: one guy bumbling around, who was more of a "hired hand" than a knowledgeable beer server, and a woman back in the kitchen area. Neither greeted us or asked us for our order, so we bounced back and forth ordering beer and food. If you're buying bottles, the policy is apparently: drink now, tally up and pay later. Fair enough, but since there are no prices on anything, you don't know exactly what kind of hole you're digging yourself into.

We did get food here, and it was pretty bad. There weren't very many choices on the menu, and for the price we paid, it was a total rip-off. I got a pastrami sandwich that was like a leftover from an elementary school cafeteria, and the absolute worst fries I've ever had in my life--nasty, floppy, grease sticks that may have been potatoes at some point, but I couldn't tell for sure. Seriously, they should be ashamed of themselves for actually calling those woeful things food and charging money for them. By the end, with the two lone employees nowhere in sight for us to settle our check, I was very tempted to skip it and walk out. But ethics/karma got the best of me, and I waited it out. Zero percent tip was given.

This place gets an emphatic two thumbs down from me. The bottle selection was the one redeeming quality, but with the prices being an unknown factor, I probably wouldn't risk shopping here. Will not be going back ever.
Jan 21, 2013
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Reviewed by eatabagofbooger from Oregon

4.8/5  rDev +11.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | food: 3
I got a gift certificate to this place for Christmas and was excited to check it out, as I am not from around here and love having access to tons of beers that don't get distributed where I live. The atmosphere was very laid back; the selection was great (I found many beers there that I had not seen at any of the other locations I stopped in around town); and, most notably, the fellow who chatted with me and helped me out (I think he may have been the owner) was incredibly friendly and helpful. He struck me as the best sort of BA (stoked about beer and giving advice without being snobby in the slightest). I prodded him extensively with questions and asked for his advice as I hemmed and hawed over the extensive selection before settling on two bombers. After I checked out, as I was about to leave, he walked up to me with a bottle of Brooklyn Monster and asked if I had ever had it. When I told him I hadn't, he handed me the bottle and said "Merry Christmas". Awesome place.

My only complaints have been mentioned by others: the prices are higher than other places in town, and the prices aren't posted on the beers or on the shelves, so you have to ask.

As a final note, I'm giving the food a 3.0 simply because I didn't eat there and have no basis for a rating.
Dec 27, 2012
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Reviewed by SaCkErZ9 from South Carolina

4.51/5  rDev +4.9%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5
I was quite impressed with this place. When I pulled the location up on Google Maps, I thought I had the wrong address because I was directed to a residential neighborhood. This is just a small little market place that seems quaint and reminds me of what things must have been like in days of yore; the local market place within walking distance.

They had a great selection of beers and not one was macro. Everything seemed to be fresh with no dust on the bottles (I'm talking to you Total Wine). The owner, I guess he was the owner, was chatting me up about all of the beers and it was nice to see such an enthusiastic beer connoiseur (sp.) such as myself. My only complaints are twofold: No pricing anywhere and the prices were quite high. It was a little frustrating having to ask the price of everything (this is reflected in the atmosphere score). I have always been of the mindset of "If you have to ask, you cant afford it". So I dont really like asking price because I feel like a haggler at the market in Nassau. Also, the prices were quite steep. A 750ml of Cigar City will run about $20 where others sell for less than $15 and the singles are at least $2 each. There are not really any six packs available as everything is purchased individually, and there is no discount on six pack purchases.

They do serve lunch and dinner and saw people eating some delicious looking thin crust pizzas. So, the place is great, but pricing is high and what pricing there is is not immediately available to the consumer. Great place overall.
Nov 15, 2012
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Reviewed by toofdoc from New Mexico

4.4/5  rDev +2.3%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4
Very impressed! This place seems like it was an old gas station turned deli / Pub. Didn't have much food, just beer. Selection is great. I'm a Hop Head, love IPA, and they did have quite a few, but they all were IPAs that most decent pubs have these days, about 10-12 of them. I'm very seasoned when it comes to IPAs, so that isn't a knock. No matter what your tastes, they will have something for you. Where this place really hits a home run is atmosphere. I've never been here and I'm local. Staff was very friendly, other patrons even more so. One thing i like, but some people may not is that you can bring your dog inside to chill with you while you have a beer! Overall A+, i will be back soon.
Apr 02, 2012
The Riverside Market Cafe in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Place rating: 4.3 out of 5 with 45 ratings