Big River Restaurant

This place is a shadow of it’s former self. Decided to visit while in town for a OSU basketball game not realizing this restaurant had new ownership. Made a reservation and still had to wait 10-15 mins for a table. The new manager seemed very disorganized and overwhelmed. We were seated and they only had one menu available for my wife and I. Once ordered, it took 45 mins to receive water/drinks. Now I would imagine 2+ hours before a game would be plenty of time to eat and get over to the stadium. I was totally wrong. It came to 30 mins before the game and our meal had not yet come. After speaking with the manager and our meal nowhere in sight, we decided to leave. This place has gone downhill under the new owners. Definitely will not be back after this terrible experience.

How delightful! Arrived 1pm on a friday and Katie was very friendly. We received bread and were served at the bar. The new range of Mazama beers are a super pleasant surprise. I love having these so available! The copper top bar and mirrors make the bar area spacious and inviting. There is an upstairs eating area as well as outside. Food concentrates on local, fresh ingredients and close observation of the kitchen proves they have the skill and food safety to provide an excellent meal. So glad of the new Mazama change. We will be back often!

First time in and will be back. Great selection of brews and very good food.

Outstanding service. Brad, Jennifer and Joan the manager the very best. Had lunch just 2 of us and 9 for dinner on hugely busy graduation night combined with Father's Day weekend.

Service and wine were good and nice atmosphere. The food was subpar.

The pizza here is delicious as is everything else we've tried but what I really want to talk to you about is the coconut macadamia nut tart. It is AMAZING!! I love it so much I want to have it once a week, every week, for the rest of my life!! It's that good! Fantastic service and very pleasant atmosphere. Last but not least, every time I've been in there the temperature is appropriate for the time of year. I appreciate the fact that I can eat my meal without my jacket on!

Waited over an hour before any of our food was served. I ordered a Caesar salad for an appetizer, but it came after my entree. Our waitress was nice, but I'm not sure what was going on in the kitchen. It made for a pretty disappointing experience overall.

Great service. Unique dishes. Fabulous desserts.

Great menu, but I could just go for dessert! So many delicious options, it is difficult to choose just one! Nice seafood dishes and pastas too.

The changes made due to new ownership are strange. The menu is less sophisticated/varied. The atmosphere felt like a diner due to the bright new lighting. The beer selection felt forced as it is all mazama beers. The old big River provided something different in Corvallis however now it is yet another brewery/pizza place. The desserts are still delicious but the portions were noticeable smaller. $9 is a hefty price tag for a piece of cake. The service was decent and ultimately our food tasted good. I guess I just liked the old vibe...

Amazing food, every section of the menu; desert case is filled with deserts that are not only a work of art, they are delicious, presentation of the food is beautiful, servers attentive and helpful; beautiful location across street from the river. More expensive than some restaurants but worth it for being so delicious.

We sat outside on the patio for happy hour. It was really nice. Our server, Pat was very accommodating! Great food and drinks!!

Always has delicious food. One of the best pork chops I have ever had!!!

The variety could be better, but overall very tasty. I wish there were more parking spots.

My boyfriend and I love this restaurant. It is our favorite! The staff is so friendly, great ambiance and the food is so good. They also make really good drinks. We have been there MANY times, they are consistently amazing!

Fantastic food, helpful staff, always awesome character. They charge convenient pricing and the food quality is awesome. Kudos.

Awful experience multiple members of my party got sick. Our pasta was over cooked. Our brisket was bland. The staff was inattentive. I called and they told me they would investigate which took a week and culminated in them sending a $25 giftcard on a $200 meal. Used to be a nice restaurant but with new Mazama ownership we were very disappointed. Would recommend everyone stay away.

Wow...has this place gone down hill from many past outings. On a Saturday night, we (a party of four with one of OSU's major contributors) were one of three tables being served. Everything served was just ok, but not what it used to be. Out of the four meals, we agreed that for a $180.00 bill it was not worth half that. A local brewery bought Big River...their beer may be good...but their restaurant is starting to suck!

This is a very nice looking place and used to be the best restaurant in town, but hings seem to have gone downhill over the years. Hope they can pull it back together again in their kitchen. I will check them out again in 6 months because it used to be worth it and hope it will be again. I will update accordingly at that time.

Nothing like the website.. it was ok, but very expensive in my point of view.

Very disappointing how much has changed at this restaurant since it changed hands. The menu is very ordinary and the service was so slow. Group of ladies having lunch waited half an hour and then went and asked for a waitress. Everything took forever. With parking only lasting 2 hours, it’s hard to take over two hours for a mediocre lunch.

We have dined at Big River many times over the years. The food is generally excellent and the desserts are to die for! It is somewhat expensive and dinner salads are not included with your meal price.

Unfortunate Changes. Used to go to for drinks, vegetarian small plates and the great desserts on a monthly basis. The food was good, the happy hour prices were great, and it was a nice cozy, upscale (for Corvallis) place. Unfortunately a couple months ago it was purchased by Mazama Brewing and they've seemed to want to convert it to a Mazama brew-pub. Two specific issues: 1. the beer selection is now all Mazama, and 2. the Happy Hour menu has been significantly changed, eliminating many of the items we used to enjoy. We've stopped going as of December 2018.

Sad to see this place has really gone down hill in the last few years. Used to be my favorite place for date night.

Pretty good.... But could have been better.

Love the food and the people. Had a great time with our friends visiting from out of town.

Good dinners. Visited twice in one week. Good service as well.

My dinner was yummy! Plus Mazama beers?! Yes, please! And the staff was great too

Great food, great drinks, and great service. I'll definitely be coming back.

Great food and service. Comfortable

Walked in for lunch today and could hear a woman screaming from the back of the restaurant. Great environment to have lunch!!! Yea, nope! Walked right out. Won't be back til they have new owners or something.

Had been there before and it was outstanding. Went for desert and it wasn't the same. The previous desert menu was gone. We ordered peach cobbler and chocolate brownie. Cobbler was really good but brownie was not good at all. It barely tasted like chocolate, although the ice cream was ok.Service was really, really good but it won't be a place we look forward to for fun desert.

Great food, great service.

Con: slow. for not many people there and just two order of salad. Pro : it was well made and tasted good

Excellent American/Italian food with seasonal local farm ingredients. The pizza is delicious as are the desserts. It is a bit on the spendy side for what it is, but the desserts are definitely worth every penny.

This was our first time experiencing Big River now that Mazama Brewing has purchased it. With Tickets to the Portland Symphony at OSU we made 6:30 reservations leaving us amble time to eat before. Ordering at 6:30 and informing our server we had a concert at 8. At 7:15 we inquired about our meal. At 7:30 we were informed they had a large party upstairs and there was only so much they could place on the grill at one time and it would be 15 minutes. Our food was received at 8pm. Obviously they do not manage the flow of customers to kitchen capacity. They had several open tables as we departed and staff was spread too thin. The new menu is average, maybe the taste was tainted due to missing our concert. Our party had to decide, do you want to eat, or go to a concert on an empty stomach. Make a decision as to how many patrons you can handle per hour and better to be full and no openings than make someone wait for a hour and a half. Never to return here again!

This used to be a great place for food, and especially dessert, but not now. We’ve tried this place 3 times recently and finally have said we won’t be back. Each time we come in, the food seems to get worse. The most recent visit we came in just for dessert and even the desserts were not good at all. We got a cup of ice cream for our daughter and it tasted like diluted iced milk and was completely frozen hard...she even spit it out. The service was honestly the only thing that was good.

Way overpriced. The food is good, but not THAT good! You're paying for a lot of atmosphere and experience. You can get the food (except the dessert) anywhere in Corvallis.

Great food. The bread and olive oil they give you before the meal is very tasty. I recommend the tiramisu for dessert.

What used to be a nice place to eat in Corvallis has turned into another expensive place to avoid. No more free bread! I'm mean for gosh sakes every restaurant gives you free bread or a roll and Big River used to. The new menu has about half what the old owners used to offer. It's sad to see a well established business like this go down the tubes. High prices, less than decent service, and very little selection equals my last trip to BR.

Average food quality, expensive for what we ordered. Only one IPA on tap. Disappointed.

Very elegant and convenient place. They serve large portions and for affordable prices. We liked the food very much and the staff were very personal and chatty. Will definitely recommend this restaurant.

Food was ok. I got the new york strip. I asked for it cooked medium and they overcooked it to a more well done. It dried it out quite a bit. It came laying on top of the mashed potatoes. Who does that? I'm still not sure what the vegetables were supposed to be. The potatoes were pretty good. WAY too much black pepper on everything. My husband got the brisket. He said it was ok. Part of it was overcooked and dry. WAY too much black pepper. Veggies could have been cooked a bit longer. He liked the potatoes as well. Would eat here again but would not be my first choice. Did I say they overdid the black pepper?

Not bad, had the flank steak salad. The only 2 ingredients were fried onions and the meat, plus dressing applied in the kitchen so you can't decide how much you want. Blue cheese was listed on the menu as well, there was such a small amount on the salad it looked like a sprinkling of salt. This would have been fine but the amount of meat and onion on it was so meager that it was 90% lettuce. Also asked for it rare and it was medium well, not a big deal for the price. But still, all around not super happy with it.

Even with the new ownership the prices just seen crazy high for what you get. I have no problem paying a lot for a good meal, but to me most of the stuff is just so-so. I do think their calzones are very good, but for $20 a pop they need to be outstanding.Nice location and a neat old building. Can be drafty when you sit near the door. A great piece of old Corvallis which is a nice treat for out of town visitors, but just too pricey for regular visits.

I've only been here twice. One time I'd say I'd give it a 4 and the other was a 2 experience. So I landed on a solid three. The first time all the food was amazing and the bread was good. The second time my food was warm at best when it got to me and cold before I finished the meal. The dessert is premade they just zap in the oven. Overall it was underwhelming for its price. I'd move on to the next.

It wasn't terrible but it wasn't amazing. The prices on the menu said Amazing. The fried chicken looked really good -- a creative dish. My partner was happy with it. I ordered the crab angel hair pasta. It was light on the crab and on the dry side. The desserts were good.

no where near what it was before new owners took over. won't go back.

Big River has consistently fantastic food. The service has always been amazing. Whenever I want to be spoiled, or meet with good friends, I alway go here. I've never been disappointed. I love this place. The food, the atmosphere, the service; it's always been top-of-the-line. Seriously, really good food. And, AND deserts! Yum!

Unfortunately this restaurant has changed hands and not what it used to be. Happy hour menu is completely different, not the excellent mini of the main menu. Prices are higher, you have to pay for bread, not a single main dish for a vegetarian, only one app or salads.My husband still loves the bangers and mash, which comes with a really delish tomato chutney. So maybe something there for you.