View Full Version : The Riviera Restaurant
bluewing86
05-31-2007, 02:40 PM
What can anyone tell me about the old Riviera Restaurant on King Street? (EDIT: Charlotte Street)
Menu, atmosphere, facts, memories . . . all info is good :)
dittydottie
05-31-2007, 03:05 PM
It was Charlotte St. not King St.(where rbc door entrance on Charlotte St is now)It burnt down and they never rebuilt.Odeon Theatre used to be right next door.(now a parking lot owned by the city)
bluewing86
05-31-2007, 10:05 PM
Thank you, any dates you happen to know? Year it burnt down?
dittydottie
05-31-2007, 10:17 PM
no sorry.
i think it exploded gas leaked in sewer system or something like that from the kiosk that use to be at the imperial along with a few other buildings along prince william st never caught fire or blew up but had fumes in the basements late 70's or early 80's
1986 for certain. summertime perhaps?
Yeah, great little spot. Never ate there, but there was a little lounge in the back. I was in a band around 1980~82, and the band members used to like to drag us in back there for the portant" meetings ....
..brings back memories
......if I remember correctly, it was a narrow little place. that's all I recall, sorry. dining out front, drinkin' and carrying on out back.
that will teach me not to be paying attention at all times
trinity
06-02-2007, 03:03 AM
1986 sounds close to right, I was in high school when we heard about the explosions. For some reason, I had never eaten there with my family, we always went to the Moon Palace on Sydney St I think.
eagallant
06-02-2007, 09:50 AM
It was the vacant lot directly beside the RBC on Charlotte street. I'm 40 and it was there for as long as I can remember. It exploded in May 1986 and 2 other buildings were also destroyed. On the corner beside the Imperial Theatre was an Irving Gas Station and parking lot and then a building down around Prince William St. I have photos of what was left of the restaurant taken the day after.
The restaurant was a Greek restaurant and was very dark inside. We frequently went in there after church on Sunday's for lunch. When you walked in, it was all dark wood paneling, dark furniture and the little candles on the table. There was a divider between the main dining room and a back room. I was never allowed back there (I was only little when we went there & I knew it had something to do with grown-ups).
I loved it there and Diana's Restaruant - where Billy's Seafood is and I forget what the diner was called where Smoothies is now and where Mother's Nature's was in the late 80's.
Elizabeth
Yeah, Diana's was a neet little restaurant. I ate there maybe once, I didn't find it remarkable, but it had such a big city feeling. Like a mini Chicago 1952. You could gets yer groceries maybe some things that the chain stores never had, then go to the big Calps store for some expencive clothe, and they sure had those, then go to Sellicks for to see the 'chemist'. Then drop into Dans Diner(another dimmly lit eatery) and have the soup of the day and a rest.
~~~~~The Napolean Restaurant was a nice little independent diner to go to. It was where the Japanese restaurant on Waterloo street is now. That whole area of uptown had big city pretensions back in the day.. Dirty? Sure a bit, but really interesting places with no two the same, every shop, store, cafe and restaurant was a reflection upon it's owner. No cookie cutters there, no sirrie!! :o)
eagallant
06-03-2007, 09:19 AM
Selik's - funny, I was rooting through an old Bible and found a Rain Check for H. Selik from Shoppers Drug Mart from 1989.
My mother had an affair with his friend, Henry Watts and use to get all her "stuff" from Selik's I remember she came home with a 2-3 liter brown glass bottle of cough syrup with codeine. Most times, you get it in 100 ml but Watts wrote her a prescription for the entire bottle and she got it. You wouldn't get that now.
Dan's on Charlotte St was one of my favorite places as a kid. They had the best fries & gravy any 10 yr old could want!
Bottles of codiene? that's crazy! LOL
well I guess there's nothing new under the sun.
Bottles of codiene, sounds so 19th century in an age of exacting medicines
bata blockers, and the like.
Dans Diner. I should've been paying nore attention, all I can remember is it was dark (likely couse it was so bright outside) and that big clock with the purple neon ring about it on the far back wall.
Man, Coffee Mill restaurant west has got good chips and gravy. And the fried halibut is really good. But don't order "fish and chips" or you'll end up with little grose fried hard things...get the "fried halibut dinner" , about the ame price as the fish and chips,,,, but vastly different meal!! I don't unnerstan' how they could have these two items on their menu, one being so poor a quality, and one being rather good quailty? Oh~well.
The Acropalypse Deli, I liked their first location down by Joes Smike shop, the second location never really did it for me. wasn't a comfortable, or something.
buckstep
06-03-2007, 09:43 PM
george miniatis.....was the last owner of the Riviera..... Arthur Carmen owned it one time or worked there. It was very nice. My parents liked it very much.
space
06-04-2007, 10:32 AM
I went to the riveira once when I was little yea it was sort of dark in there.. and I remember the irving gas bar that use to be there next to the imperial. I think moon palace was the same way dark. dan's restaurant on charlotte st.. I use to like the fries an gravy.. I think there were 2 way traffic then on charlotte st when dan's was there. I remember alot about diana's restaurant my grandmother had work there for about 30 years I use to go to the side of the building and talk to her from the window..lol. napolean restaurant didn't care much about that place. most of these restaurants was owned by greeks. remember joe's smoke shop where the academy hairstyling is located. also rex pizza an sunbean dairy bar.. kinda mis calps..lol and the old belmont hotel before it was destroyed by fire. titus bakery and ben's clotheing are still there after all these years. the list goes on but cant think of anything else.
scribe
10-18-2007, 05:04 PM
hi bluewing....I have quite a few pics of the Riviera..in and out. was one of my favourite eating places in the mid-70s.
Crystalbeach
10-19-2007, 08:07 AM
During my high school days at St. Vincent's the Riv was the place to be after school...
never really had a meal there..just vanilla cokes and fries with gravy..
justme77
06-30-2008, 12:50 PM
There is a facebook group called saint john southenders and they have pics of those places such as the Riveria and a few other old places . Very nice .
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=973298&op=1&o=all&view=all&subj=4856319630&aid=-1&oid=4856319630&id=657269987#pid=793989&id=657269987
MrLuckyPants
06-23-2010, 11:28 PM
My godfather used to own the Riviera, and my father the Diana....
I used to love those places as a kid. Unfortunately when the times got tough, I was far too young to make an impact.
----
A good spot, where you can get some tasty food, is Tops pizza. I'll let you guys in on a lil secret. The cook that used to work at Diana, has been at Tops since it opened. Best food/value in town, in my opinion. I love that meatsauce!:thumbsup: