Tugboat Annie's — Restaurant in Olympia

So this was my first time coming here to take my man of 17 years for our anniversary. We each ordered the prime rib (medium) and loaded baked potatos. Each a cup of chowder and some bread with butter. My babe got a blended margarita.

Cons: My chowder was completely filled to the top and his was 3/4 full. I wanted to say something but being our anniversary I let it slide. Then we get our prime rib... Mine is double the thickness of his and both of them were like eating rubber. Way over cooked. Once again I wanted to say something but I'm trying to not ruin what we're trying to make of our anniversary. We were also surprised that the meal didn't come with a side salad being it was $22/ea. We're used to paying larger bills when going out to eat but we were so disappointed. How does one over cook a prime rib especially when that's one of the most expensive things offered on the menu?

Pros: We were reseated at my request so we could have a window view of the bay instead of sitting on a high bar stool. Our waitress "Lola" was super sweet and very pleasurable to have serving us. She definitely deserved the tip I was still going to give despite the bad experience with the food and we actually decided we wanted more bread before leaving and she kindly gave that to us on the house.

To the manager/and or owner: I honestly feel I shouldn't never had to pay for that prime rib. We both decided it was the worst prime rib we've ever had in any restaurant we've ever eaten at. I wasn't going to make a scene on my anniversary but it would be nice to have you decide the right thing to do and send us a gift certificate to use at a future date. I'm not sure what went wrong, but I'm pretty sure everyone who got the prime rib tonight was not a happy camper. At $80+ for 2 I would expect exceptionally cooked prime rib. It would be nice to try you again but not on my dime. Like I said a replacement gift certificate or something would make it right. Unless that happens I don't think I want to try anything there after that...

i’m so glad we’ve started choosing Tugboat Annie’s as our go-to family celebration place. they have seating for large groups, but calling ahead for a reservation is recommended, options for the different diets we are trying to accommodate (vegan, pescatarian, dairy free), and the service is always wonderful, not to mention the food. we’ve never left hungry or disappointed in our choices.

our most recent visit was a total of 11 including a toddler and infant. i forgot to make a reservation but we were seated promptly and the service was quick and friendly, especially for how busy they were - there was another large group of 8 that did call ahead and was sat at the same time we were along with a 6-top and other smaller tables being full. our server was only listed on the receipt as “KP P” but regardless of their name, they were wonderful - drinks were refilled, we were checked in on, and requests for sauce and additional napkins were filled promptly.

i stuck with the halibut and chips (my usual order anywhere that it’s an option) and my husband, who normally also gets seafood when we come here, ventured out and tried the mushroom and onion burger and was very pleased. this might become our new burger spot as well! the crab and artichoke dip is definitely something you shouldn’t miss! other people at our table reported loving their food as well. the caesar salad was huge and well dressed. the children’s mini corndog meal was enough food for a full grown man. the evergreener burger got a good review from the vegan in our group.

the only thing i would mention to be aware of is that the high chairs are a little large, so if you have an infant or even small toddler, you may want to bring something that they can sit in on a regular chair/booth seat or an insert for the provided high chairs to give...

An unpleasant and disappointing experience overall.

We're new to the area and had some friends down to visit. We had heard great reviews about Tugboat Annie's and read many good ones online as well, so decided to try it out.

The food we received was unimpressive. I had the reuben, which was pretty good and two of our party had the crab melt, which were also ok, but the prime rib was so tough and the fat wasn't rendered at all. Actually, it looked like it may have been reheated. The fries are nicely seasoned, but were not crispy.

We noticed that food was being brought out to other tables and just left on adjacent tables long enough to get cold, without actually being delivered.

The service started out ok. She saw we were catching up and gave us some space to chat before ordering. However, once we did order it took over 25 min to receive a cup of coffee and over 40 minutes to receive a cocktail and a glass of wine. Our food came before our drinks and we asked the food runner who said she'd talk with our server. It was another 5 min before the server came to "check" and was very rude when asked about the drinks. When the cocktail finally arrived she clunked it down on the edge of the table without a word and stormed off.

I have been a professional server and bartender for over a decade. I've never been treated like that before and I would berate anyone who treated a guest that way. Our whole table was shocked into silence, but we let it go so we could enjoy the rest of our time together.

The quickest service we received was asking for the check.

I'm disappointed for a number of reasons, as you can read, and I'm sorry to say I don't think I will be giving this place a second chance. Whether or not Tugboat Annie's has been around for a long time, it doesn't seem to...