Best Restaurants for Birthdays in Williamsburg

Hawksmoor can be a little frenetic and noisy at dinner — nothing wrong with that! And the bar area is always quieter. But for the main dining room, I prefer going for lunch. They have a $25 lunch special that includes their famous rump steak and a side, but I went for the $45 option. I got the beet salad in a yogurt dressing, which was delicious, and the rump steak with fries (chips) and side salad. The steak was nicely charred on the outside and pink in the middle — a tad salty, but still quite tasty. And of course I got the Hawksmoor Martini, with Ford's Gin, which was served ice cold with olives on the side. A hell of an accompaniment! The room is beautiful and the service was friendly and efficient. I'd recommend the company too, but I'm not sure my dining companion would want to go here with everyone who reads this.

Exceptional wait staff, very obliging in assisting us in choosing a wine. Guests all loved their food. Spouse felt the salmon was the best ever. I had a gluten-free pasta dish and was disappointed. Would go back.

Outstanding dining experience shared with out of town family who were guests for the holiday season. The River Cafe did not disappoint. The menu offered a dazzling array of options for each course and given the large selection, we were a bit concerned about their ability to deliver… we were extremely happy and quite frankly blown away by each course. The food was of the best quality, presented beautifully and tasted absolutely DELICIOUS. Our only disappointment was the water service - it seems so silly but we had to ask NUMEROUS times for water and wait and wait for our glasses to be refilled. This seems like a minor detail but a major annoyance that can be readily corrected. One other troubling detail that surprised us was the lack of toilet tissue in the Ladies Room- it appeared that no staff attended to the bathroom during our three hour meal. We raise these two points in support of The River Cafe’s commitment to excellence. A warm thanks to the Chef and their team for a wonderful meal and lovey dining experience.

Always such a fun evening - and even more delicious!! Everyone had a blast. Can’t wait to go back!!

All the pastas are made by hand by the owners. Always friendly, always kind, feels like having dinner with family.