05/04/09

Love the Water Works

by sweetlb

The best part of the Waterworks is the romantic atmosphere on the glass in deck area over looking the river, with the smooth live music playing in the background. It is beautiful on a nice evening with the one you love. And the food was good

• Pros: Most Romantic

02/27/09

Great Brunch

by gmusan

I always wanted to try Water Works so we decided to start with brunch. The selection was very good and fresh. The omlette station was great. The staff is superb in this place, they are professional servers which is nice. There is a free valet for sunday brunch. The water list is huge.

• Pros: staff

02/21/09

had high hopes....but disappointing

by winehooch

We went to Waterworks last night for our 5 year anniversary, from high recommendations. It's a gorgeous spot and I think the interior is lovely but that's about as complimentary as I can be. I say this and please note that I don't frequent high end restaurants often,so I do hold them to a higher standard. So seeing folks go in jeans bothered me a little, since I was stuck wearing panty hose. I may have been slightly peeved that our request for a water view landed us in the dining room, despite making the reservation in advance.

While the water list is impressive and the wine list expansive, we had a $15 Grenache priced at 50 bucks and that was the best part of our meal. We had our food 5 minutes after we ordered it, I had the filet, which was fine, not great. Capital Grille was better than this. My bf had the Delmonico which was extremely fatty. The super mashed potatoes were insanely salty, and since we never got a refill on the tap water we requested, I was displeased. The spinach was tasty, but I think that would be hard to ruin. The bread they serve would be great with butter, but the sweet taste of the roll does not go with olive oil (which was flavorless). It appeared our waiter was having a tiff with on of the other waiters, so after he took our order, we didn't see him again until he brought the bill. We passed on dessert. The bathrooms were a little messy.

I'm sad by this experience, the location is wonderful. I think they are torn by desiring to be a 4 star restaurant with 2 star food quality and 2 star service. We didn't try the bar.

12/08/08

What's The matter With You People??

by MickeyBluEyes

I don't know whats wrong with my fellow reviewers. My experince at Water Works was outstanding! The food was perfectly prepared and the wait staff very friendly and knew the menu like the back of his hand, and the wine suggested paired with my food nicely. I would STRONGLY recomend this restraunt to anyone.

• Pros: HIstoric location, Great food, Great experience
• Cons: I've Got Nothing

10/21/08

What a ripoff

by Dinningkid

When there the other nite and the food was junk, I had the entree meat de jour which cost $50.00 for a 18oz prime rib which burger king whopper taste better the the desset was a let down as will. A place I will never go back.

• Pros: location
• Cons: everything else

10/05/08

Major Need of Repair

by cibo42

Having received a gift for dinner to this very romantic location we were both anticipating an outstanding evening. The day was beautiful; we requested reservations on the terrace - it wasn't too chilly. Instead of terrace dining they moved us to a very nice indoor conservatory room overlooking the river. We would have enjoyed a drink outside before dinner, but it was not offered. From the minute we were seated we felt like we were in a race until we clued our waiter into the fact that we were dining. The food was awful -everything was a fiasco. Being asked every 5 minutes how everything was was annoying. The highly recommended octopus appetizer was inedible. The salad was warm and unbalanced with flavor. The Salmon entree was overcooked, the duck was unbelieveably dreadful. The wine list while good was ridiculously overpriced. We did enjoy our wine and the outstanding view. I felt that our waiter who was changed early upon our displeasure with the sprinter was embarrassed for our obvious disappointment. A good restauranteur could do well here.

• Pros: Absolutely beautiful location, very nicely appointed restaurant, overpriced.
• Cons: Very poor food, wait service needs work.

05/30/08

tragic waste of a beautiful space

by hairoun

Can someone who knows how to run a restaurant take over this place please!? I have gone there four times and it keeps getting worse. The first visit was upon opening and then a month later. Ed Dougherty was running the place and while the food was mediocre at best, we had great service both times. By my next two trips Ed was gone and it showed as the service was downright rude. I vowed I'd never go back after the third time but the weather was so nice last night I thought it would be worth another try...not so.

The valet greeted us with, "That's $10." Not "good evening sir" I thought maybe I was at the WAWA for a moment. We went straight into the bar as the door there was open and we headed to the patio to see if we could get a table for a drink. Things had changed since last year and it appeared to be dining only. As we were trying to figure things out the waiter asked if he could help us...not terribly pleasantly I might add. We said we just wanted to have a few drinks outside. Right in front of the bartender, he said we would have to go to the front to the hostess. So off we went to the hostess who upon telling her we just wanted to have a couple drinks, told us we had to go to the bar to order them and then carry them around the corner. No service for drinks on the patio? No you have to go to the bar. (This was a Thursday evening...not a Monday).

So back we go to the bar to order our drinks...we should have left but at this point. We ordered our $11 drinks and carried them back out the back door and all the way around the corner of the restaurant where they had a couple tables and chairs haphazardly placed. There was a wall between us and the restaurant's outdoor seating. IT felt as though we had been banished to the kids table.

Why not offer service outside for cocktails? Maybe people would enjoy their view so much they would stay for dinner. Actually, why not offer actual service in general.

• Pros: The only pro is the setting
• Cons: Food and Service, it's almost as if their customers are the waiters enemies

05/20/08

Not a place for Steaks

by steakman08

Upon arriving, I was pleased to see they had a valet parking service, although we opted to park in the lot. Next time if I go, I will take advantage of the valet service.

Entering the restaurant, I was greeted by an exceptionally sincere and personable staff. The interior and overall setup was very nice.

Service was excellent, good selection of beers, and a nice ambiance. My only complaint, which is why I only gave 3 stars, is that my steak, nor the rest at the table were cooked to what each individual specified. I ordered a filet mignon rare; what i got was more medium to medium well. A rare steak should "flow red" when cut. The center was barely pink. Two other people at my table ordered a filet medium rare and received steaks that were medium well to well done. And the other person who ordered a filet, ordered it medium and received a steak that was well done and a bit over well done. (i.e. dry)

The seasoning and presentation was excellent, and I tried bites of the other dishes. I will definitely go back and try some other dishes; I won't be ordering a steak though. The chef doing the grilling obviously doesn't know what he or she is doing when it comes to steaks.

Try the fish or a poultry dish if you plan on trying a meat dish at this restaurant.

• Pros: Ambience, Parking, Service, Clean
• Cons: Price

04/13/08

Better off having a lunch basket at the park.

by BobinSWPA

Terrible service, extremely overpriced and so so food made this a no, no. It's a great view and would be great under the proper management and a good chef. As it is now, I'd say you're better off taking a lunch out to the park (over near boat house row) and eating by the river. Your salad might be more crisp and you don't have to wait for water.

Save your money and time. This isn't worth it.

• Pros: the River
• Cons: Every things else

11/02/07

stay away - worst of Philly

by tony_ardmore

when your hostess greets you as "you Guys" - you know what your in for.

STAY AWAY - unless your willing to deal with the absolute worst service and overpriced bad food for the delight of sitting by the river - and that in warm weather only.

Omlet - $14 for less than two eggs with tasteless filling. Salads - warm and wilted with no dressing - read the other reviews - they say the same thing.

Listen to the conversations at the tables around you - they all discuss the same thing - bad food and even worse service, Except for the location, this is the worst in the city - particularly when you think what it could be. Another thorn in why Philadelphia is a third rate major city.

• Pros: the view in warm weather
• Cons: everything else