The Boathouse — Restaurant in Town of Ossining

We tried the Boathouse's outdoor dining at the water edge. TLDR: It was terrible. The driveway was treacherous, parking barely adequate, the service bad, the ambiance and view very disappointing, prices high, though the food was good but not the drinks. At half the price it would deserve maybe 2+ stars.

The entrance requires a hairpin turn from the ramp down that is really a 3 point turn. The narrow parking lot fills, overflow is alongside the narrow marina road, a long walk through the lot (and back).

They said on the phone that they didn't have a reservation for the time we wanted (7PM Sunday) but they said to come and see if anything opened up. When we got there (past the treacherous entrance) we asked to sit in the empty area at the very end but were told it was closed. When we returned the designated 30 minutes later they were seating people in the area we'd preferred, but they never offered that to us despite our having asked for that first, and by the time those 30 minutes had passed it was full.

The area is just the end of the asphalt parking lot, with cheap, smallish glass top metal tables for 4 and uncomfortable (and mismatched) metal chairs. The view is the unkempt boatyard next door through a chainlink fence, the rest of the parking lot immediately adjacent, the not very charming marina across a 20 foot canal, the extra dining area now opened at the very end of the lot, and a small view of the actual Tappan Zee and its western shore about 400 feet down the marina canal where it opens up past the marinas. Throughout the meal the cars coming and going in the parking lot shined their lights through the dimly lit dining area as they maneuvered into the tight spaces. Engine noise was part of the ambience, though the exhaust was luckily blowing the other way.

The hostess turned the volume of the big DJ speaker up and down over conversation volume, even though she'd turned it down when we asked. When I asked about taking down the unnecessary, cheap beach umbrella because the sun was setting I was offered no help or where to put it so it wouldn't get in someone's way.

The short menu on one side of a letter sized laminated card had entrees mostly about $25-32+. The waiter wasn't around and the hostess didn't know the description of some of the unconventionally named dishes.

The next table's kids and a woman kept walking right past us without masks despite the signs and a 12-15 foot wide pathway, a few times just the kids running and screaming. After a loud ring around the rosie I asked her politely to keep them at least 6 feet distant. A few minutes later our waiter rushed up to admonish me not to talk with the other diners.

The food was quite good, not quite worth ~$30. It was too dark to see it, and after about 5-10 minutes struggle the hostess brought a couple small candles barely adequate for me to remove the shells in my seafood. The pear martini, in a cheap disposable plastic cup like the other drinks, arrived (after 30 minutes of no water, that never came), was undrinkable for $12.

The food was not at all worth the high prices for terrible service and very...

Came here with my husband and toddler- we were walk ins and expected there would be a wait. We were told the wait would be 45 mins to an hour for first available table.

We waited for 2 hours. We were patient. We checked in twice. Each time (at 75 mins and again at 2hrs) “it’ll be about 15 mins” and when I got mad that we’d been repeatedly given bad information, Laurie the (seemingly) manager, told us that this is what we should expect showing up to a restaurant on a Saturday without a reservation. She also sat people who were behind us on the list ahead of us and said “oh well” when I pointed that out (at the 75 minute check-in, she told us there was 1 seating ahead of us and then sat 4 groups that were behind us). She then told me that I did not arrive around 6:30- which isn’t true- we paid for parking at 6:18 and walked straight over.

We’ve been here plenty of times with no reservation- we’ve never been treated so poorly. It’s now almost 9pm, we’ve been here since 6:30, and we have to find somewhere else to eat dinner and feed our toddler. Had they been honest and told us that it was a 2 hr wait, we would have simply gone somewhere else with no hard feelings, and come back another time.

Truly disgusted by this treatment, especially after acknowledging that she sat other people ahead of us who were behind us on the list. I hate bashing local places but this one genuinely deserves it after treating a patient family this way. I’m sure if I’d pitched a fit at the one hour mark, I wouldn’t be writing this review after the two hour mark.

**editing to add- we ended up at 3 westerly down the street. They were super busy but took care of us when they heard what happened. My husband and kids food came out right away- mine was delayed by about 5 mins- not significant at all. Because of the teeny tiny delay in my food, they comped my food, and a round of drinks despite me asking them not to.

There’s customer service, and then there’s not. I highly...

In response to Meghan D's review tonight... I witnessed this situation firsthand, and I feel it’s important to share an objective perspective.

My party had a reservation (which is strongly recommended at this location, especially on busy summer nights), and while waiting to be seated, we observed the interaction between this walk-in guest and Laurie, the manager on duty.

Despite being incredibly busy, Laurie was doing her best to accommodate walk-ins who didn’t have reservations. The guest repeatedly confronted her about the wait time. Laurie calmly explained the situation and even showed the guest the waitlist to be transparent about the order of parties. The staff was clearly doing all they could to manage a full house and still show respect to everyone involved.

Unfortunately, the guest's behavior became increasingly tense and inappropriate. She used VULGAR and offensive language toward Laurie, in earshot of other diners, including families with children. She also took it upon herself to walk into the kitchen area to express her frustration to the staff there—who were not involved in managing the waitlist and appeared confused by the situation.

My party, along with others, was shocked by her tone and language. We felt compelled to say something because her behavior crossed a line from frustrated to outright disrespectful. The professionalism and patience displayed by Laurie and the entire staff was absolutely impressive. They handled the situation far better than most would have.

The reality is, hospitality staff work hard to create a positive experience for every guest—especially during busy times. It's important to recognize those efforts and extend patience and understanding when things don’t go exactly as hoped. Being KIND...