Dockside Restaurant — Restaurant in Coeur d'Alene

I’ve been coming to Dockside for over twenty years. I have had breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I think the 4.3 average rating is pretty fair. I only wish Google offered 1/2 star rating options, as my 4-star rating should actually be 4.5 stars.

First thing first, you are paying for the location on some level. Great views in a great-ish resort that, more and more, is recognizing that it can up-charge in ways that other places can’t. Nothing wrong with that. If you are eating here, recognize that you are eating here (something some of the negative—and whiny, and precious—reviews seem to ignore or refuse to acknowledge).

The restaurant itself has, over the recent years, leaned into a newer strategy of monetizing the space more effectively. Gone is the Gooey’s Ice Cream Parlor (bad use of space). Gone also is the odd conference room right near the entrance (bad use of space and much more money to be made with the nicely appointed wine bar). This is in keeping with when they moved the ‘townie’ bar out of the main building years ago. Thing is, this restaurant still looks like the resort looked years ago. It is in need of a refresh, esp. when you are moving the price points higher and higher. That said, it is still a lovely spot with nice views on multi-levels that even give those sitting towards the back a good view (though not as great as those with seats near the window). The electronic menus? A gimmick, esp. given that they don’t really do anything aside from show you the menu . . . electronically (though I assume they can update the menus and prices remotely, so that is a plus for them).

I always thought the one slice of toast with breakfast was an oddly stingy choice (I mean, how much does a slice of bread cost?). But the breakfasts have always been filling (and I have never had the breakfast buffet, so I can’t comment). This visit, we had dinner. And, yes, prices have gone up. Where haven’t they? But the salad bar, at just south of $20 remains a good value and is even good at just south of $10 as an add-on for a main meal (or free with some entrees). The ruby red trout, though it is now $30, is still a winner and something I almost always get. This time it was again served with a flavorful caper sauce, a generous enough portion of pilaf, and four pieces of asparagus (I’d like more, but I also like this better than an odd assortment of mixed veggies). As I said, you are partially paying for where you are eating. So, I won’t complain.

The service? Some of those whiny reviews harp on this as a big issue. Never have I had an issue with the people waiting on me. They are almost always young. But they are often courteous and kind. You can get a refill on a drink if you ask when they pass by. They don’t push you to finish your dinner and leave. Even staff that aren’t waiting on you will often say hello. My guess? Some of those bad experiences are more a sign of how those diners act than how those waiting on them act. But I will grant that, given the employee churn at a place like this, there is a good likelihood that some bad experiences will happen. Reading some of those negative reviews though . . . well, I already said what I thought.

This was a good visit. I will eat here again. I know where I am. I know what to expect. And I am obviously willing to put up with some things because of where I am.

Dockside could take some of the money they are making and use it to remodel/refresh the dining room. But, as it stands, it is a solid option in the resort, esp. when you don’t want to venture into town for other options (which have gotten both better and worse, depending on what you want to eat and what sort of ‘vibe’ you enjoy).

Thanks to the staff for a good experience and a good dinner this visit....

We were recently visiting Coeur d'Alene, and we were very excited to eat at Dockside. We had heard wonderful things about the food, the views, and especially the desserts. We were especially excited to find that they had gluten free options, as two members of our family have Celiacs Disease, and they are on GF diets. We had a little bit of trouble finding the restaurant, since it was inside a hotel. No big deal, though, since it seemed like such a great place. We were surprised to find that there was a 45-minute wait on a Monday night at 7pm. They put our name on the wait list, and we walked around the lake until they texted us to let us know our table was ready. When we came back to the restaurant to be seated, the host seemed a little unsure what to do, but after a few minutes they found us a table. We sat down & waited for our server, which took another 10-15 minutes. Upon ordering, we made sure our server knew without a doubt that two members of our party were gluten free. We ordered, and the wait began... Our server came back twice to apologize for the wait on our food... In that time, other people were seated and served. Our server came back again to tell us that the kitchen was really backed up, and we needed to wait longer... In the end, we waited an hour and twenty minutes for our food. It was nearly 9pm by the time we ate, which was made more challenging by having two kids with us, both of whom were doing their best to stay cool even though they were hungry and tired. When the food came, it did not all come out at the same time. One of the GF entrees had croutons on it, which were not GF, so it had to be returned. One of the regular entrees came out 5-10 minutes after the rest of them. The food honestly wasn't even that good. It was fine, but it wasn't worth all of that wait & hassle. The gluten free entrees were about half the size of the regular ones. They were both sandwiches, and though they were supposed to be regular sized, they were just slightly larger than sliders. The bread was heavily toasted, to the point where it was so crunchy that it was hard to eat. There isn't a dedicated fryer, so the only side option we were given was a salad. Maybe 10 minutes into eating, our server came back not to see how our food was, but instead to ask if we'd decided on dessert. We had just started eating our dinners, so no we were not ready for dessert. After eating dinner, the kids convinced us to order Gooeys (Dockside's signature ice cream dessert). They were fine, but they weren't anything particularly special. It's just a big ice cream sundae. They're light on the ice cream & heavy on the toppings. This place was a disappointing way to end our trip. If we come back to Coeur d'Alene, I would not...

We went to celebrate my wife's birthday on August 5 at 6. We had been to the Dockside before and the food and service had been topnotch. Not so much last night.

The restaurant was busy, but not full and we were seated right away. Our server Christian introduced himself and said he would be right back. He eventually returned and took our drink order which took a long time to appear. Before our drinks had arrived. he came back and asked us if we were ready to order. I told him we were still waiting for the drinks and he brushed it off by saying that he had the order in for those. We ordered an appetizer that was delivered by the manager that also took a long time to appear. We were not in a great hurry so it didn't matter to us.

Christian returned to take our main course order. He told us that we could go to the salad bar at anytime. Again, we were not in a hurry so we took our time as the appetizers took a long time to arrive. We had just finished those, and the main course arrived. I told Christian that we had not made it to the salad bar yet and he laughed it off, saying that we could get a doggy bag to go if we wanted to.

At that point I contacted the manager for that section of the restaurant and the same young lady that served our appetizers. I expressed to her that we were very disappointed in the service from Christian and his nonchalant attitude. I told her that I felt he was in a hurry to get us out of his way and explained that we did not have a chance to enjoy our meal or the night out to celebrate.

The manager was apologetic. She offered to compensate us for the issue but I refused. After I returned to the table, she again came by and apologized which we appreciated, but at this point the damage was done.

Then Christian came by. He made a poor attempt at trying to make up for the service and at this point I felt he was trying to save his tip. He feigned interest in my wife's birthday, but did admit that he was in a hurry, had been on shift since 830 that day, and put our food order in too soon.

I expressed to him that we did not know the circumstances of his day, but that we had come to expect the top notch service was had in the past at the Dockside. We were disappointed that the $134 dollar dinner out to celebrate a birthday was a bust. The FIRST time in my decades of eating out that I did not leave a tip....