Rather than spending this past weekend on the east-side of town with my parents (who are actually on vacation) we spent the last week of our homelessness at my in-laws house. After work Friday my wife and I decided to head out for dinner and settled on Cabana on the River. When she first mentioned it I thought that I had been to this restaurant before, but I was confusing it with Fore and Aft, a floating restaurant on the Ohio River that actually sank a few years back. I wasn’t a fan of my dining experience there, so I was glad to realize that I would be trying something new.

My Wife and Son

Cabana on the River sits adjacent to where Fore and Aft once stood. However, the Cabana is not actually on the river, it just overlooks it. We arrived before six and were able to get a table on the outside deck right away. The popular west-side restaurant became increasingly crowded throughout our visit. The views of the river are pretty nice and the weather was nearly perfect outside.

Cabana Views

While waiting for one of my wife’s cousins to join us, we decided to split an order of baked spicy cabana bread, French bread baked with bleu cheese, hot ham, hard salami, bacon, onions, banana peppers, jalapeños, and topped with provolone cheese. A cup of marinara sauce is provided on the side for dipping. At $8.95 it was one of the priciest appetizers on the list, but was a good amount of food for the two of us. All of the toppings are finely chopped and blanketed in cheese. I didn’t detect any bleu cheese while eating, but I did enjoy it.

Baked Spicy Cabana Bread

For dinner I decided to try the chicken salad sandwich. Unfortunately for me, I was not all that happy with this selection. The chicken salad was really generic in taste and overloaded with mayonnaise. The sandwich cost $7.95 and was served with a bag of potato chips. My wife had the grilled chicken breast with summer vegetable kabob with seasoned rice for $10.95. The chicken had a great grill flavor and the vegetables were pretty tasty as well. Once again it seems to be a tad on the expensive side, especially when served with plastic silverware and paper plates.

Chicken Salad Sandwich

My wife’s cousin had the CAB Burger, which was gigantic! (Sorry I didn’t get a picture) CAB stands for the Certified Angus Beef that the burger is made from. Again it was served with a bag of potato chips for $9.95. I’m not a burger eater, but that also seemed a little on the high end of the price scale. Perhaps the cost is due to the riverside location. With that said, it must balance out right for most people since the restaurant is large and the tables were full. Perhaps there just isn’t much else to eat on this side of town.