Riviera

How is the food at the Riviera in Massapequa? I'm strongly considering booking it for my wedding but I'm concerned about the food. Can anyone help?

Riviera: STOP!! I cancelled my wedding reception there!!!!!

I have heard some really bad things about the Riviera in Massapequa since I cancelled my wedding there. The worse story is this, one of my good friend`s sisters went to a retirement party, they live in Massapequa and will never go to the Riviera again. They all got sick from the fish. She also said that they were unable to serve coffee or tea because all there hot water was out!!! And the kicker is that the AC didnt work that day. (Notice in your contract that they are not responsbile if something electrical like that happens. ) Everyone I talk to seems to have a horror story about them INCLUDING ME. As you know the Riviera refuses to allow perspective brides to try the food - I have since found a great caterer that was overjoyed to let us try the food. DO NOT book in a place that doesn`t let you try the food. Warning sign, trust me. My own personal story about the Riviera is quite distressing in a slightly different way. I had originally booked with the Riviera. I was concerned that food tasting was not an option and was told by james and michelle that I would be invited to the band showcases during which they served food to sample. I wass never informed about the showcases by the Riviera, I aways got a mailing from some obscure band saying that they were performing at the Riviera .I felt pressured to book the date because it looked like they scheduled very far in advance and I didnt want to get stuck with a bad day. I ended up picking a date a year and eight months in advance to ensure a saturday night wedding. Wouldn`t you know that several months later (with still 12 months to go before the wedding) I had to change the date because an immediate family member who is in the military could not attend. Though I had booked a year and a half in advance the staff was very unaccomodating. James offered me ONLY one other date....August 11. When I refused to take August 11, and asked to move it back to sept or oct he proceeded to call me immature. He also refused to let me speak with the owner. Hey, I think you would feel the same way that I do ... this is my once in a lifetime wedding .... and I didnt want to spend the day sweating. Also I was unhappy with the customer service and imagined how they would try 150 of my closest friends and family after I gave them the other 17K. Needless to say I cancelled about six months ago giving them almost a year for them to rebook the date. In my contract, it states that I would receive my money back if the date is rebooked. Whenever my friends called the Riviera, whoever answered the phone told them the date was unavailabe and have yet to see a cent of $3000 worth of deposits. l just I have retained a lawyer who they are ignoring and will probably have to take them to court. My strong advice to you and all other brides out there, work with a more reputable catering hall!!!! (The Riviera is no bargain.) This should be the happiest time in your life. Good luck to you.

Riviera: STOP!! I Call FOX 5 PROBLEM SOLVERS!!!

and show them up, that show gets things done 1-877-TEll- FOX5 It can't hurt. I hate vendors like that

Riviera Rivew

Dear Crew - I am actually having my wedding at the Riviera this summer, July 4th 2002 to be exact. I'm sure that some people have had bad experiences with a lot of places but don't let one bad experience let you judge everything and everyone. When I went to the Riviera last year to take a look at the place and see what it was all about, James was very accomodating. We were able to see the whole place and even come back on another day when they were having an event to taste the food. You just have to ask them and tell them that you would never book a place unless you were able to taste the food. My fiance and I went back several times and they were very accomodating each time. Let me know if you have any other questions about the Riviera. Best of luck! Vickfl77

stacey418

I know someone who had their reception at the Riviera, and they were very happy with everything, and had even recommended we take a look at the place .. only I really liked the idea of how John Anthony`s looked out over the Robert Moses bridges, which were the very same bridges my family and I have crossed many times while growing up .. either to go to the beach or to go fishing. Maybe that sounds silly .. but they`re found memories for me. Plus John Anthony`s came with a great reputation. Maybe it`s not a good idea to book a place without trying the food, but John Anthony`s only does tastings twice a year, and at the time we booked, we had just missed one. So we had to wait several months for the next one, but I didn`t want to lose out on the room for the date we had chosen. Turned out to be no big deal since the food was sensational. I guess maybe we got lucky by taking a chance, but we had also heard nothing but great things about their food. Maybe before signing with the Riviera, you could do a little more research on them. Have you checked with the Better Business Bureau? Have you told them your concerns about not having tasted their food? How have they been to deal with so far? One of the things that really won me over with John Anthony`s, before we booked, was how we dropped in on them a couple of times just to look around, with no appointment, and they treated us promptly and courteously each time, never making us feel like we were putting them out of their way or like they were unprepared. Whoever you choose should give you a good feeling.

Riviera

Shamma96 Thanks for the idea. Good look to all you other brides. I have been to pretty much every catering hall from the Hamptons to Darien CT. John Anthony`s is great from what I`ve heard also, they were redecorating when we planned out wedding so it was hard to imagine what the place would look like. I sure it is beautiful now. Also Flowerfield is really pretty. Just keep in mind that a catering hall should be very accomodating and you shouldn`t have to BEG them to try the food....For the amount of money that you are spending on a catering hall they should be CATERING to YOU!!!! I ended going with an independent caterer that got rave reviews. We made an appointment to try the food on a week night and they cooked four complete dinners for us (of our choice)and we had a great night out. Needless to say the food was fabulous and reasonable. Also, ask people what they remember from a wedding and they usually say it is the food and the music! Brides never eat at their own weddings...so to find out what the food is like at a place ask the guests not your friend who got married there.

I hate to disagree, but

at the weddings I`ve recently attended, including my own (total of 4 from June-Dec.), I can remember all of us couples sitting and eating each course at our own weddings. The only thing we really missed out on was the cocktail hour food. We did go to our cocktail hour, but we used it to socialize so we could dance and not feel guilty about not making the rounds to each table during the reception. When we did go to the showcase where they have the tasting at John Anthony`s, basically we only tasted stuff that would be served during cocktail hour, so I knew that was good too. If they had other stuff at the showcase, I`m not sure .. we couldn`t stay the whole night. At our wedding, we did get a huge tray of cocktail hour food brought to our bridal suite just for my husband and I, but we never got to it since we went up to the cocktail hour. If you do ask a bride/groom how the food was at their wedding, just make sure to ask if they actually got to eat it. Many that I know have. As for the remodeling, they did it in two phases. First the upstairs, then the downstairs. When we booked them in the fall of 2000, the upstairs was already complete, and it had already been on display on their website. During last winter (`00-`01), I got to see the remodeling process of the downstairs and the progression it took everytime I went in to leave more of the deposit. It was fun seeing it all change, and it turned out beautiful, though they still have not updated their website with pictures of it, or the entrance or lobby. It was pretty before they worked on it, and some might even say it didn`t need to be done, but it was and it looks great. (We used the upstairs because the room seemed bigger, and I liked that it was up high for better views and out of the way from everything else. Fortunately for us, it was the downstairs room that was already booked on our day when we checked out the place). :)

Riviera

I was at a wedding at the Riviera a couple of years ago. The food was awful. The place is pretty, but we went home hungry. We have another wedding to go to there in a few months and I'm sure it's going to be the same. Any hall you book with, they should allow you a food tasting. If they don't, then I would be suspect of their food unless you've been there first hand or an immediate family member has. Good luck!

Read your contract carefully...before you give them money

After all the advice everyone gave you I am surprised that you would book your wedding there, but to each their own. I hope you read your contract carefully. Things happen and circumstances change. Right now you are sailing on the wings of newly engaged bliss but reality will set in. According to NY State law Catering halls in nassau county are not governed by the department of consumer affairs like NYC. NYC provides quite a bit of protection to consumers in case of unscrupulous merchants and has an entire subsection on what catering halls can and can`t do to consumers. www.nyc.gov/html/dca/html/wedding.html However, because the Riviera is located in Nassau county, you will be subject to the contract you sign even if it is extreme and causes you hardship. Think about it.