Athens Boathouse Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Athens

Today was the second time eating here in two years. My daughter graduated from TVCC, so we decided to eat lunch after. There were 13 people in our party and I called around 10 minutes before we arrived. The young man who answered the phone said it was not a problem that the tables they usually combine for big parties were taken, but he would put another 2 together. I told him that we could be outside if it was more convenient, but he said that it was windy, so we might not like it. We arrived and the head server shows us to a large round table and another two small tables put together. It’s my daughter graduation so I didn’t want her to choose who to sit with. The owner asked me what was wrong and I explained the situation. He asked what I wanted him to do and that he could not put other tables together even though there was an additional table next to the smaller two tables. He said that if I had given him enough of a heads up, we could have gotten other tables. His attitude and response was rude and condescending. I could feel myself getting upset, but since it’s my daughter’s special day, I didn’t want to get upset. I, sarcastically, told him I was sorry for the inconvenience. He smiled and walked away. Later, there was a party of 6 or 7 that showed up from the same graduation and I noticed that he tended to them from the moment they walked in and even congratulated the graduate. He never bothered speaking to my daughter. The only thing that was good was that we were there together and we had a great server. She helped make the experience tolerable. As far as the food is concerned, we ordered a lot of different entrees. I ordered the coconut shrimp and it was overcooked and dry. My daughter’s calamari was rubbery, my husband’s fish was way too greasy. I didn’t bother asking everyone else what they thought because we will not be back. At first I thought the rude man was a manager, but I was told he’s the owner. That makes this experience even worse. I’m very disappointed.

I forgot to mention that we were also charged the 20% gratuity for a party over 10 even though we were not seated together. I didn’t pay, so I didn’t realize...

I don’t normally leave reviews and especially not bad reviews but this was the worst experience I have had with a restaurant from start to finish.

Drove an hour after we saw their advertisement for margarita flights. We were told the wait was 45-60 minutes. At one hour we inquired about the list and were told we weren’t on the list. The hostess had clearly written our name down and even noted that we would be waiting outside. They said they would seat us right away. 15 minutes later we arrived at our table.

We waited 20 minutes for a waitress and ordered 2 flights of margaritas and the rest of our party of 5 had tea and water. 10 minutes goes by and our tea and water arrive and no mention of the margaritas and the waitress leaves before taking our order. 10 more minutes goes by and the waitress comes to take our order and says the bar is backed up and she’s not sure when the margarita flights will come. 45 minutes later our food arrives. We had 1 appetizer and fish and chips. Every meal was room temperature but we were so hungry we ate it. Still no margaritas. Towards the end of the meal the waitress asks if we still want the drinks, yes we do. 15 minutes later she brings the wrong flight of margaritas and they too were room temperature and all watered down. The other flight of margaritas never came.

From the time we got to The Boathouse until we paid the check, we were there 3 hours. It was the most disorganized, chaotic environment and not one staff member cared the least bit about whether we enjoyed our food, nothing! I can honestly say it was one of the worst experiences I have had in my entire adult life; I’m 58.

I have no idea how the restaurant has scored a 4 in Google reviews but save yourself the time and money for a terrible experience and go...

I wish there was something positive I could say about this experience but there isn’t. I had never been here before and we drove 2 hours to be majorly disappointed! We had a reservation set a week in advance for a party of 12. When we arrived there was no parking. We had to wait 20 minutes to be seated and even then our tables were separated, and small. We waited 20 minutes to get our water with lemon then when we got our water waited another 10 minutes for our lemons. Waited another 20 minutes to get appetizer orders and about another 20 for that. From the time we ordered our food it took about an hour to get the food. They brought 1 or 2 guests food and then maybe 10 15 minutes later another 2 people might get it so no one had food at the same time. All of our food was cold and honestly not good. For the price we paid I expected better quality but in this case I believe you are paying for the view and nothing else. I ate about 3 bites and asked for a box because it wasn’t anything like I expected. They added a 20% gratuity on my check when only 5 people were at my table. Also if you are ordering a cocktail don’t bother. It’s the smallest glass I ever ever seen for 10 dollars. It was extremely loud in there and you couldn’t even hear yourself think. What should have been an enjoyable experience with my group was the worst experience I have ever had at any restaurant in my ENTIRE life. I don’t think they really care if you enjoy it because they know they will have business due to the location. I would never go here again and I would tell anyone thinking of going there to save your money. You can look at my Google reviews. I am not a complainer or the type to leave reviews but this experience was so bad I want to save others...