H2O's Waterside Grill — Restaurant in Bay City

Atmosphere was great, and we were excited to get a table relatively quickly on a Friday evening on the patio. The decor and atmosphere is a solid 10/10, but the service was very poor, and the food was somehow worse. We are NOT demanding or needy customers by any means, and have worked in restaurants in the past.

We opted for the corn fritters as an appetizer. We waited more than 40 minutes from order to delivery, with empty drinks for most of this time. When the appetizer arrived, it was chewy, doughy, bland, and lukewarm at best. Plating/presentation was poor, and the portion was a bit on the small side.

The server did not even attempt to take our entree orders until after he came back to check on the appetizer, post delivery to us. My wife ordered the seafood pasta, and I ordered the grilled salmon with a baked potato and broccoli. We both ordered side salads. The server brought one salad and forgot the other. Side salads were actually quite good with artisan lettuce blend, and decent ranch dressing.

The entrees, however, were just not good. We are not picky or critical eaters, but the food was very bland and not properly cooked. The mussels/scallops in the pasta were gray and rubbery, the "sauce" was watery and bland. The salmon was very bland and under-seasoned, overcooked, and dry. My baked potato was not cooked through all the way, and the broccoli was bland and tasted as though it had not been properly cleaned before steaming.

The portions, again, were a little on the small side. We were there for over 2 hours for a 2-person dinner, which would be fine if the food was fantastic......but the food was just plain not good - ESPECIALLY for the prices they are charging.

It felt like a Murphy's Law type of visit. We went in with great excitement and anticipation, and left very disappointed. The constant wait of 15-20 minutes or more for drink refills, lengthy ticket times for appetizers and entrees, bland and lackluster food, and high prices left a bad taste (literally) in our mouths.

I give them a little grace because it was a Friday dinner during opening week, but it's not like this is the first time running a restaurant for the owners. An amazing atmosphere can't cover up for poor service, low-quality food with poor presentation and no flavor, and lengthy delays. For these reasons, the review is 2 stars instead of 1.

My wife and I are not picky or needy diners - But if I am going to spend $100 or more on dinner for two, I can think of half-a-dozen better options in Bay City based on this experience.

Hopefully they can turn this around and be successful before they turn too many people away. They could be a great asset to this...

Shut the front door. This place is amazing.

We’re not from the area, and after getting a recommendation (from a competitor up the road, mind you*), we decided to try H2O for our second night in Bay City.

HOLY COW. So glad we listened.

The Service: AMAZING.

Our server, Lily, freaking killed it. She is the perfect blend of patience, professionalism, and passion. She was incredibly genuine, relatable, helpful, and made some wonderful suggestions that lived up to the hype. She’s the kind of server you always hope you’ll have…the server that makes you ASK to be seated in their section when you come back…because YOU’RE COMING BACK. 15/10 and a gold star.

The Food: LIGHTS FREAKING OUT.

We started with Lily’s recommendation of a starter of pretzels and queso. They were excellent, and my son and I shared a look like “Oh yeah. This is going to be an amazing meal” with the first bite.

The main courses were phenomenal.

Don’t sleep on the Ribeye. It has a rectangle around it on the menu for a reason, because that’s the closest thing to a neon sign you can print on paper. I’m so serious…the rectangle speaks truth. Listen to the rectangle.

Let me put it this way. If I were a steak, I would try to date and then marry that ribeye. Order it…heck, order two. It’s one of the best steaks I’ve ever had, and the melted butter on top was so dang good.

My compliments to the chef. You sir/madam, are an artist, and to be able to experience that steak and the care in its preparation and buttery perfection was an honor. 12/10 would order again.

OVERALL: If I hadn’t had been told by Lily that the owner was having dinner with his family in the restaurant tonight, I would’ve said all this in person. I know better than to interrupt family time. I honestly asked what time they opened the next day, so I could come back before I left town to try the burger Lily told me about.

As yourself this: When was the last time you wanted to return to a restaurant the day after you ate there so you could eat there again?

That’s how great it was.

Go.

Ask for Lily.

Tell her Chris sent you.

Leave a review better than this one.

I freaking dare you.

Thank you Joe @ Brooklyn Bros Pizza for sending us here. It says a lot when your competitors enjoy your food enough to suggest it to patrons who ask.Their food was also super good, and we’ll be returning there...

The main meals were good and there's a pretty view. They're going a lot of odd things with their menu's that don't work the best and this place is EXPENSIVE. We didn't have a bad experience by any means (maybe an odd one) but unfortunately we won't be back due to how expensive it is. I'm going to do improvement points and then strengths so you know if you'd like to visit.

Improvement points: I'm unsure why but there's no napkin dispensers at the tables and it was tricky to have our server stay long enough to get a couple of extras.

The menus need to be updated or remade. The main menu has Os inconsistently capitalized throughout it. I get it's intentional but it doesn't work, it just makes the menu hard to read. We all found it hard to read but I had a particularly hard time with the font due to dyslexia. The drink menu needs a major update as well, it's supposed to look fancy and cute but dark background on black text = straining eyes. It's a bit odd the pizza menu is separate as well but that's not super uncommon.

The cups are different. I'm unsure if it's intentional or if they just didn't have the option to have the same cups but we were given two different cups for our drinks. A bit odd but nothing majorly wrong there.

Not a point to improve but a note more so on the negative side, this place is very expensive. Most restaurants are now a days but I paid the same amount here as I would have at Olive Garden. I could see parties of anymore than three easily spending $100+ without appetizers. Again not an area of improvement but a note for anyone who wants to eat here.

Strong points: The view is very pretty and enjoyable. The restaurant is decorated well and spacious.

The bathrooms have little toilet rooms in the bathrooms instead of stalls which is odd but cool.

The food was good but perhaps a little bland. The main meals were good and there's a pretty view. They're going a lot of odd things with their menu's that don't work the best and this place is EXPENSIVE. We didn't have a bad experience by any means (maybe an odd one) but unfortunately we won't be back due to how expensive it is. I'm going to do improvement points and then strengths so you know if you'd...