Island Bay Pier House — Restaurant in Town of Clayton

I, my wife, and 2 children visited this diner on Sunday, 08/11/24. We arrived at 11:15 am and the first thing I noticed was a sign on the hostess stand saying that they were short staffed, so be patient, or leave. It was literally that blunt. I pointed it out to my wife and laughed - not realizing how understated this sign really was.

We were sat at our table. 15 minutes later, at 11:35 am, the waitress finally greeted us. Realizing how this was going to go, we ordered our drinks and our food immediately. 10 minutes later, she finally brought us our drinks. While sitting there, waiting, I noticed that there was a table of 8, a table of 4, and another table of 4 in our area. I say this for 2 reasons: First, it was so loud in there that me and my wife/kids could not hear each other speak at normal volumes. Aside from the table of 8 being very loud there was also a gentleman playing the guitar and singing in the bar - kind of odd for a Sunday morning, but whatever.

50 minutes later, YES, 50 minutes later, I saw the first sign of food being delivered in our area - to the table of 8. What was weird is that it was all being delivered piece meal, not all at once; i.e., 1 plate to 1 person, then 4 minutes later a plate to another person, and so on. During our 50 minute wait multiple tables were sat after us and 2 tables, with less patience than us, left due to the wait/poor service.

So, fast forward 1 hour and 10 minutes later. At no point did our waitress ask if we wanted more beverages (even though I purposely left my empty glass at the edge of the table) or inform us of what was going on with our food order. She finally appeared and I flagged her down. I said, "I know you guys are short handed but I have 2 hangry kids, how much longer are we talking here"? She replied, "It's coming". I said, "Seriously? Do you mean in 5 minutes or 30 minutes"? She replied, "Well, there is still a ticket in front of you". At that point my wife intervened and told her to cancel our order. We paid for our drinks, left hungry and irritated, and drove down the street and saw a restaurant called Tricia's Rondette.

There were a lot of vehicles in the lot but we were starving. We walked in, sat at the front counter, ordered, and 30 minutes later we left. Yup, that simple. However, while sitting there I started to look at the reviews of The Pier House. Going back as far as 3 years prior and you keep seeing the same reoccurring theme - "It took forever" to get served. So, it is obvious that The Pier House has absolutely no intentions of fixing its staff issue, rather, just place an aggressive sign on the hostess station stating, be patient or leave. Tricia's restaurant was busier than The Pier House, only had 2 cooks, albeit more wait staff, and we were in and out in 30 minutes - and the food was delicious.

I wish that I could comment on the food at the Pier House because it sounded excellent. So, unless you have 2 hours to kill, avoid this place and just go to Tricia's Rondette. I live 4 hours away, I have absolutely no affiliation with Tricia's, so I have nothing to gain by recommending Tricia's. Bonus: the waitress there was...

Make your way to this 1000 island gem. The experience here was quite interesting with mixed emotions. Though the hours are limited through the week to get in and enjoy the food, it is worth trying or coming back to for more. This may of been a one off experience and still wanted to share as it could help you determine trying this place. With a 15 minute wait to get seated in a almost empty restaurant started making seem like the time here was going to be a bad decision. The server was scattered and not attentive to detail, but with a help of another patron waiting on table seating found a seat at the bar. The bar was full with lots of mimosas and a server that was going many directions. It took an additional 45 minutes to get the order placed with the bar server. Ordered a drink from the bar while waiting to order food and received the drink in a few minutes. I also ordered a water that the bar server forgot about but I was able to get the main server to give the water to me when she was getting other waters for another table. I was able to hear from a couple locals that the food was amazing so it got me excited to hang around and wait to order. After I finally got my order in I found out the server was on her first day and the bar server was trying to manage everything. I received the food after another 45 minute wait. The food was worth the wait. Since the kitchen was out of chorizo for the tacos I ordered the chicken tacos. The tacos with crispy chicken, jalapeños, corn, and sauce was delicious. The tortilla shells had been warmed and crisped up so they had the perfect crack and chewiness to them. The waffle fries were not too crispy, but acceptable. The plating was nice and the food was filling. This experience was not entirely good, but waiting for that food was worth it as it was enjoyable. The total time at the restaurant was 2.5 hours. I want to try this restaurant again though this was a tiring experience and service was good but it too way too long for a plate of food. If you have the time with friends and family come try this place. They have limited hours so make sure you can make it for dinner on the weekend or brunch on Sunday. I hear the breakfast is amazing and the lunch I had was worth coming back to try more menu options. And if you are traveling through Clayton this restaurant is a great destination. This is a good place for families...

Scheduled a rehearsal dinner for a party of 30. Had wonderful communication with owner Brandi ahead of time. The day came for the dinner and rehearsal and they had included space and chairs for 13 people not 30. The bartender was extremely irritated at the party size so she openly complained about the situation and threw the menus down on the table and walked right away. She proceeded to be rude and complain about the wedding party loudly to the patrons at the bar. The wedding party helped move chairs from another room to help the wait staff. The bartender took bottles of beer and left the bar to try and open them in the kitchen for people in the party which is beyond unprofessional. Her true intentions in doing so were questionable at best. When confronted, she opened a new bottle in front of the bar. The food orders were then taken an hour and twenty minutes after arrival. I've never seen a more unprofessional bartender in my life and would not recommend this place to anyone as a result. In regards to the allegation from Dani below, I've contacted the Hotel and there were no allegations of stealing from the hotel bar. That is a flat out lie. The hotel graciously extended the open bar for 30 minutes due to the power outage. The Harbor Hotel is a class act and your lies will not be believed. The bartender needs to be retrained and develop customer service skills. The bride also would not have apologized for anything as she was the one due the apology for how chaotic the entire situation...