River rocks

For people who enjoy taking in the beauty of the downtown riverside, there’s a brand new hot-spot to enjoy food, drinks and music. The recently opened Wild River Grille—formerly E.J’s Jazz Club—has been revamped and is ready to rock.I think the new style of this restaurant is much more suited to the downtown crowd. The welcoming environs of Wild River Grille will surely be more popular among those strolling the downtown river.

On Sunday afternoon, I stopped in for a late lunch with my girlfriend, Cherie. The place was remarkably busy, considering that it was 4:30 in the afternoon. The hostess quickly seated us in the beautifully decorated dining room/lounge, and our server, Boyd, arrived shortly after to offer us something to drink. He greeted us as friends. We liked that. Cherie and I had just finished playing 18 holes of golf in 100-degree weather, so the first thing we wanted was water—and plenty of it!

Drinks are Wild River Grille’s specialty. The centerpiece of the dining room is a long bar, and the cocktail menu is just as extensive as the food menu.

Cherie and I were starving, so we started off by ordering two cups of clam chowder ($3.50), which arrived immediately, accompanied by some cheese bread from the House of Bread—one of my all-time favorites. The chowder was pretty good, not too thick and heavy for the hot July weather, and the cheese bread was perfect for dipping in the soup.

For the main dish, I ordered the salmon wrap ($11), and Cherie ordered the portobello cap sandwich ($10). My salmon wrap was small, but tasty. It was loaded with smoked salmon, baby greens, red and green bell peppers and cream cheese, but I couldn’t find the flavor of the raspberry chipotle sauce that the menu advertised.

The salmon wrap came with great homemade potato chips and coleslaw with apples and raisins. The chips were a little dark for my taste—I couldn’t figure out if they were sweet potatoes or russets. The apple coleslaw was full of flavor and a nice pairing for the light, cool salmon wrap. Cherie’s portobello sandwich was equally petite but delicious. It had a whole portobello mushroom with brie cheese and artichokes, but the little Kaiser roll it was served on didn’t really do it justice. Maybe a thick ciabatta roll would have been better. We both agreed that for the price, there could have been a little more girth to the meals.

As we enjoyed our meals, Boyd was attentive and friendly, as he made sure that we had everything we needed. The rest of the staff took turns filling our waters, and we were drinking them as fast as they could pour them.

Wild River Grille is a great addition to the Riverwalk, and I expect it will become a popular hang-out for locals and the theater crowd.