Pier 701 Restaurant & Bar — Restaurant in Town of Orangetown

Pier 701 probably has one of the most enviable locations in the area - it's literally right on the Hudson, with incredible unobstructed views up and down the river with the Tappan Zee (no, I'm not calling it anything else) directly to the north. Gorgeous on any day, but I had the fortune of coming by last Saturday for a baby shower on a picture-perfect slightly nippy fall afternoon. The only downside was a wind that kept most of the festivities inside, though it was by no means torturous to go outside from time to time, especially if one had foresight to bring an ear warmer.

I accidentally ended up parking about .3 miles to the south near the library and figured since it was a nice day that I could easily walk over even in my fashionable high boots (I was right). Because of that, I managed to avoid the valet parking that a lot of other people had to grit their teeth and deal with. Honestly, there's no reason at all for them to have valet parking. It's a perfectly normal parking lot that could easily accommodate self-serve parking (a phrase that I've never seen occasion to type before).

The interior of Pier 701 is perfectly nice - it has a pretty generic slightly upper middle class Italian vibe to it, with a spacious dining room area in the back. It's exactly the type of place you'd expect to host a gathering like this. Coupled with the outdoor deck/patio area, which has a bar off to the side, I'm sure this is a pretty popular destination for a number of different activities. The women's bathroom has a very odd, eccentric design - there's a stall right by the door with a diagonally-placed toilet inside, along with a mirror so you could watch yourself in pretty explicit detail if you chose to. No one I spoke with considered it a negative, with one noble chum musing that it added a touch of "whimsy." But if you're more of the modest sort and anti-whimsy, I'd use a different stall.

The food was very good. I thought the salmon was solid and the penne vodka was the star of the show. The roasted potatoes had the right consistency/texture but unfortunately were lacking in the taste department. There was a lot of salad too, but I don't believe in consuming vegetables on the weekends so you'll have to seek insight on that elsewhere. There was also a delightful gelato station, which the guest of honor said wasn't initially an option but was included as a courtesy. Classy, and for my money, very tasty. I especially liked the inclusion of mini M&Ms as an optional topping, which to me have been underutilized by society as a whole.

Service-wise, this was essentially a catering job for the staff, with a few manning different food or drink stations, and others continuously bussing tables, keeping an eye out for empty water glasses, discarded plates, etc. Everyone I interacted with was very pleasant; no issues there. One piece of constructive feedback though would be the lack of professional attire - most employees were in all black, with some wearing button-down shirts with slacks. Perfectly appropriate in my view. This was a nice party, but by no means a black tie affair. However, there were several staffers sporting hoodies, and it wasn't a great look. I'd recommend for these types of gatherings that they tighten up their dress code a bit - as a guest, I shouldn't be dressed noticeably better than the employees.

I tend to host my own shindigs, but I wouldn't mind coming back for someone else's party. I'd probably park by the library...

Last night at Pier 701 was very disappointing. It was my worst dining experience I have ever had. I invited friends to join us for dinner at the restaurant. That was a BIG MISTAKE!!!!!!!!!!! The waitress, Laura, I believe that was her name did not bother to give us the specials that were offered that evening.She never even introduced herself as our server and just asked if we were ready to order. She generated body language that indicated that she was not happy with her job. When my friend asked if there were any other items other than what was on the menu she said,"No." When my husband asked her about an item featuring a small plate, she said,"That is an appetizer". The cost was$18... That is outrageous for an appetizer. Appetizers and entrees were not clearly separated . She pointed them out when my husband asked her for an explanation. My friend asked about the availability of a stuffed shrimp dish. She said that none was available. This is supposed to be a fish restaurant. The prices were very high considering that there was n't any salad or soup that came with the entree. This is unheard of. Every restaurant gives a salad or soup before serving the entree, for example, my husband ordered a salmon entree, cost of which was $27,.. She never came over to ask if everything was alright or if we needed anything else. When my husband asked for coffee with half and half or skimmed milk, he was told that there was no skim milk or half and half only heavy cream or milk. I never heard of that. I refused to tip this waitress the normal 20 percent to the above items. We called over the manager and told her about the situation. First she said she would cover the entire bill. When she came back she only told us that the two desserts, two teas, and two coffees would be taken off the bill. 8 I told her that i did not find that appropriate for an evening such as this. She responded that she was sorry and she would need to check with her manager to approve the entire bill. I cannot recommend this restaurant to anybody based on this...

The worst service. The worst food. Nice view, but any positive feeling about that was overshadowed by how terrible the place was. Everyone in our party left feeling sick and disgusted. I typically don’t write bad reviews, but people should be warned about this place. AWFUL. We ended up there by default because the place where we had a reservation needed to close early because of some kitchen emergency. We did a quick search for a place nearby and ended up at 7O1 because my daughter mistakenly read the reviews for a different 701 in Manhattan not Piermont and said the reviews were good. The place was haphazard and not clean. It took us at least 30 minutes to get service and that was after each of the three adults in our party asked separately for help. When we finally got help, we were told the kitchen closes in 2 minutes. My daughter got Bronzino and the fish was overcooked and slopped on top of some saucy stuff with artichokes, her boyfriend got the penne with vodka that looked and tasted like in was out of a jar, my chopped salad with was not chopped, the arugula was grayish, the indistinguishable greens were limp, the berries were old…ugghh, I am getting grossed out describing this. I just couldn’t finish it. The water glasses looked greasy. I decided not to drink it. The young adults did and both felt sick afterwards. I couldn’t stand it anymore and left to get the car. I was shocked when my daughter told me the bill was $91 without tip. Shame on 701. Seriously, check the other 1-star reviews before deciding to spend your money there. Similar negative experiences over...