Dillon's Bayou at Pleasant Harbor — Restaurant in Peoria

Disappointed Longtime Customer – Management Needs a Serious Reset

Updated * After seeing the owner respond, I did as they asked and sent them an email to follow up....but as expected, no return call from them to engage with a past customer, so I take it as a generic response *

As a longtime customer of Dillon’s at Lake Pleasant, it’s disappointing to see this once-enjoyable spot decline so quickly. I’m giving two stars—and that’s mostly due to the great location (we've stored our boat on property for numerous years), the variety of food and drinks, and the live bands, which are usually quite good.

Unfortunately, the experience is now being overshadowed by poor customer service, particularly from the new manager, Stacy. A message to ownership: please consider a different role for her; one that doesn’t involve interacting with guests. Her lack of a smile, unfriendly demeanor, and zero customer service skills are a disservice to your patrons. A manager should be welcoming, approachable, and (key word) smiling.

One major issue was the inconsistent enforcement of a no-dog policy. We’ve brought our small dogs inside for years, yet on this visit we were told dogs were no longer allowed indoors—despite seeing two dogs already inside: one sitting on a patron’s lap at the bar, and another at an interior table. We understand rules can change, but when we simply asked when this started, Stacy snapped back harshly, “I’m the new manager—no dogs since I’ve been here.” No explanation, no courtesy, just an abrasive tone.

Thankfully, another team member (whose name we didn’t catch) kindly explained that due to recent issues, dogs were no longer allowed inside, but were still welcome on the patio. That’s how customer communication should be handled—with empathy and respect.

Stacy, however, continued to be abrasive. We had already waited 30 minutes and asked if we could be seated outside since we had the dogs. Stacy barked back, “You have to wait, there’s a line!” and added that there were no tables for a party of nine. Yet I could clearly see three unused tables at the end of the patio that could have easily been pushed together. Inside, there were plenty of open tables too, which made the long wait confusing and unnecessary.

Her rigid, unaccommodating attitude, combined with her visibly intimidating presence hovering over the hostess stand, set a negative tone not only for customers but seemingly for the staff as well. At one point, after we asked for her name, she sarcastically replied, “Want my number too? Want my number too?” twice. Completely uncalled for.

In the end, there are only two options for food and drinks at Lake Pleasant. Unfortunately, Dillon’s no longer feels like the welcoming, fun place it once was. We’ll be heading to Scorpion Bay from now on. it’s a much more enjoyable and guest-friendly experience.

This review could have been four or five stars with just a little bit of courtesy, consistency, and a smile. Managers truly do set the tone and in this case, it’s driving...

SECOND VISIT: We absolutely will not be back here! We went in on a Saturday and we fully expected it to be busy which is why we called ahead a week early to book a reservation. It was incredibly packed inside and outside with maybe 3 waitresses (that we could see) for the whole restaurant. The music was so loud that our waitress couldn't hear anything we said let alone hear what anyone in our party was saying. We ordered and 30 minutes later half of our parties food came out room temp. They all had finished eating before the rest of everyone's food came out, cold like it was in the fridge so it had to go back. We asked for 4 things while there aside from food and drinks and she didn't bring any of it. We had to eat off of napkins and go to the front desk to ask for what we ordered. Then came time to pay. She got everyone's bills all messed up so we had to write everything out for her to fix it. We thought we had gotten everything figured out until she came back. Our party had 3 separate checks. She used my card for check 2, used check 2 card for check 3 and used check 3 card for our check. When we asked for a manager she said we can just zelle eachother the difference 🫠 we asked for the manager again which she finally got and it took him 30 minutes to figure out her mistake and make it right. We were not compensated for our time or experience. Unfortunately, this single visit made us never want to return and tell our friends to steer clear.

FIRST VISIT: This was overall a great experience! It was well worth the drive and scenery. When you pull up to the gate you have to pay $8 to park which is worth it in my opinion. Once you find parking, go to a shuttle area and wait for a golf cart (or walk but its a long awkward walk). Once you're on the golf cart it's so much fun getting down to the restaurant. The dock the restaurant is on moves with the water so be mindful. The food was decent, I've had better BBQ but it was definitely worth it for the view. Looking forward to taking more people out with...

Absolutely terrible experience. We sat down and after 15 minutes of no one even greeting us, I finally went and asked the hostess to send someone over to us. While I was trying to explain where we were sitting she started talking to another co-worker about something else, looked at me, giggled and said she’d send someone over. Maybe 10 minutes later our waitress dropped two waters off. By this time our drinks (from the bar) were either empty or almost empty. Our waitress didn’t introduce herself or offer other drinks, we had to stop her as she was walking away to ask for another beer. She comes back a little later to confirm what our one beer order was so she could put it in. We stopped her and asked to put in an appetizer order& I ordered another drink (soda). We got the appetizer, but still no beer. It’s been 20 minutes since we ordered that beer! She then walks over and hands the beer (but not the soda). This is when we finally order dinner. Dinner came pretty quick- ish, at least compared to how slow our waitress was. Still no soda (my cup has been empty). I asked the guy who delivered our food to grab me my drink. She comes over and dropped it off and apologized. Food was good but we were confused when we ordered the same sides and my bowl of Mac& cheese was full but the other plate only had half a bowl? Weird. We ate our food and then stacked the plates when we were done to hint that we were ready. 15 minutes pass by and she still doesn’t come over. We eventually grabbed her as she was walking by our table and asked for the check. The only great part was the German shepherd puppy sitting at the...