Polly’s Dock and Clamhouse — Restaurant in Beach Haven

We are local to lbi and live here year round. Typically we have gotten good service from pollys but always heard about the obnoxious boys who run the boating area. Well, they did not disappoint the boating staff is probably the rudest and lacks organization and follows no safety requirements. They do not even wear masks NOT ONE of them and some of the patrons were not wearingmasks and nothing was said. We rented a pontoon boat from polly's a couple weeks back and we will never rent from this place again. When we picked up the boat there were a lot of groups waiting and it was very disorganized a young man was trying to help everyone but you can tell he was flustered while his other co workers just sat in their hut and did nothing to help. We finally got to our boat abput 20 min later just the 2 of us. Everything went well after the initial greeting until we came back around 4 pm. We called polly's and someone came to park the boat for us which we requested because there was two spaces left and they were very narrow to get in. Being novice boaters we thought it would be best for them to park the boat. Huge mistake!! We waited in the channels for 15 min for someone and then a kid with no mask comes and jumps in the boat not one word was spoken. Instead of him parking the boat in one of the open spots he pulls alongside another boat and just looks at us to get out. We had to climb over the railing because they could not open the door, then climb onto the second boat which they were holding with a rope and then up the dock. This all could have been fine but I had a 40lb service dog with me a cooler, bags of towels etc. My dog was petrified. As I make it to the first boat carrying my puppy I realize there is no way I can climb up with all this stuff in my hand. As we are maneuvering with all the bags, the two boys don't offer any help at all and there is about 10 people on the dock watching all of this and actual customers are helping us with our bags while this young kid just snickers and is interested in ordering a cheesesteak with mozerella sticks inside it from one of his friend waitresses. The boy holding the rope let go because he was preoccupied with his sandwich and my husband falls into the Bay because the two boats drifted apart. All of our stuff went with him including his brand new iphone 11 that he got just 3 days before. All of our stuff was destroyed food, clothes, the brand new soft cooler we bought especially for this trip etc. We never found the phone which was in his pocket but must have fallen out from the fall. Not one person from polly's even came out to apologize or offer to help us. We had nothing to dry off with, My husband's shoes were floating in the water around the boat. It was not only humiliating but cost us over $1,000 to replace all of our lost and broken items. I tried calling pollys a couple times the next two days to speak to a manager but the person who answered the phone said they would call me back but never did. I will NEVER go to pollys again. Go to the boatyard instead. Such better service. The people that work there provide excellent customer service and the food and drinks are better. You can rent the same boats and not have to deal with moody teenage boys. Pollys you lost a customer for life. I would never recommend this...

Pros: The wait staff was friendly and accommodating. Our first table was full sun and we asked if they could seat us with a bit of shade, which they did. Waitress was friendly and attentive to our orders. Food was what I expected at a more rustic/casual place. Cons: Big one! It was 6:15 and my mother (who was looking forward to her soup all day) asked for clam chowder and they had run out. Nope, that’s not ok in the number one most popular town in LBI! Later on in the night I could understand maybe running out, but at the peak dinner hour?? Very disappointing to say the least. Also, no tap water. You have to buy bottled water. No other option. Also not ok.

And lastly, when the bill came every item was marked up from what the menu read by $1 or more. I realize food prices have gone up but then perhaps they should just have a QR code rather than a hand held menu so they can adjust their prices online as needed. I wanted so badly to go here for the last three summers and I definitely had expectations but unfortunately for Polly’s Dock my family and I will not be returning. Just not a good first impression, when with all the competition around them, that’s the most important impression for...

The only redeeming thing about eating here was our waitress, she was awesome.

A restaurant that only has seating outside without a single fan is brutal. They have paper napkins and disposable cups/silverware, which is wasteful environmentally and more expensive for the restaurant cost-wise. Serving steak on a salad and only having plastic to cut it sucks. Serving it in a to-go container is the only way you could make that worse, and you also do that.

$25 for fish and chips isn’t crazy, but it was two tiny fish that were watery and flavorless which usually means frozen or not properly prepared fish. They serve $2 Costco branded water bottles and told us that was the only option for water, but I could see their soda machine with the water button on it from my chair. I understand everything in shore locations comes at a premium, but usually the product is worth the price. A tip jar for your cooks when you’re serving ~$30 entrees is shitty. Pay them what they deserve for standing out in the heat all day in front of a stove for you. Get reusable dishware and silverware so you can save money, and give that money to them. The entire thing is a great concept that’s very...