The River Restaurant & Lounge - El Portal (CA)

5 /5 Amie Sarte: 11/27/25 We had a Turkey dinner and it was delicious. The wait is less than 10 minutes. They also serve our food in a good amount of time. The staff are very friendly and nice. 11/29/25 Another yummy dinner after a long day hike. Everything was fresh and filling.

3 /5 Randall Porter: Food was fine, service was good. We were seated right away and waiter and staff were attentive. Alfredo was bland and needed salt and pepper. Marsala flavor was decent, but accompanying veggies were steamed, cold, and no seasoning. There are limited dining options when staying at Yosemite View Lodge and as long as your expectations aren’t too high, this will get the job done.

4 /5 Cha: We stayed at Yosemite View Lodge so this is the closest restaurant we can go to. I was initially hesitant to try it because some of the recent review ratings were low but because were so tired and dont wanna drive we decided to try them out. I ordered Pepper and Blue Ranch Steak while my boyfriend ordered New York Steak. We also got to try their salad bar for appetizer. Their salad bar doesnt have a ton of choices but enough variety (greens, tomatoes, beans, chickpeas, onions, cucumber, beets, and so on) to have a good salad as appetizer. They also got 4 different salad dressings to choose from. Their entree was decent. The steak isnt the best steak I ever had but it was good enough to satisfy my hunger pangs. They cooked it perfectly and it was seasoned well. The service was excellent. I forgot our servers name but he has excellent customer service (I remember him saying he loves rice too because hes from Colombia). My friends had dinner at this place too after we went and they had salmon and ribs and they both enjoyed their meal as well. My suggestion is to not let the negative reviews deter you from trying this place and hope you have a good experience with this restaurant just like we did.

4 /5 Sarika Khanwilkar: Mashed potatoes (which were a side to a trout entree) and pizza (I got a cheese with mushroom and olives added) were a hit. The alfredo didnt have much flavor and the fried ravioli were not great. Went for dinner twice because it was basically the only nearby choice and the service the first night was great but it took way too long the second night. Less staff because of shoulder season. Not recommended but okay.