On The Docks — Restaurant in Town of Riverhead

Where to begin.... I guess let's start off with the good... The food that was ordered french onion soup and a burger with blue cheese were absolutely delicious.

But my experience at Phil's Waterfront Bar and Grill was horrible. So we show up with a party of 4 and one 3-year-old and were told that there was a 30-minute to 45-minute wait. We were all ok with the wait time so we decided to go to the outside bar and order some drinks but left our cell # with the hostess who agreed to call us as soon as a table opened up. We proceeded to have our drinks and after waiting over one hour we decided to go inside and see if there was a table available. We were told that there still wasn't a table available, but we later realized that we were actually skipped and someone else was seated before us. After 2 hours of patiently waiting now standing in front of the hostess, we were finally seated.

We sat at a table where a waitress took our order and proceeded to get us our drinks (coke and some seltzer) and appetizers. Now let me remind you we were sitting with a 3-year-old after over 1 hour of waiting for our food we asked the waitress how much longer we needed to wait. At this point, the 3-year old was asking "loudly" that he wanted his burger - you really can't blame him we arrived at the restaurant at 6:30 pm and it was 9:30 pm and we still didn't get our entrée. We called the waitress over and asked if we could please at least get the child's burger and a bread basket which she agreed to and said she was going to check. Another 20 minutes passes by and we asked where were the food and the bread - and her answers was "let me check on it again, and we don't serve bread" (even though the 2 tables next to us had a bread on their table). She came back with the bread and said the food would come out soon, and at this point, we asked another waitress if we could speak to a manager.

Our waitress came out with the food, and like I said was delicious. We explained our discontent with the service and explained to her that we had requested to speak to the manager to which conveniently and surprisingly she answered "Oh! I'm the manager".

At this point, the table behind me tapped me on my shoulder and stated they have been waiting over 45 minutes for their meal and wanted to know how long we had waited for our food.

Now I understand everyone is entitled to an off day at work. But come on the place was not that full and the staff had zero communication with their customers. Their remedy was to not charge us for the kid's meal and asked if we wanted to see a dessert menu or wanted any coffee at which point we all said "NO" because it was now really late and we did know how long that was going to take.

I will definitely never recommend or go back to Phil's Waterfront Bar and Grill which is a shame since it has a great location and the food was good but not worth a 3-hour wait. I would recommend the owners to really take a look at their staff beginning with the manager, wait, hostess, and kitchen staff and see where the communication is broken because it's really horrendous customer service to have your customers wait so long to get...

Nice place THis needs updating, as I ate there today

On the Docks, Aquebogue 08/07/2024 It's been a while, 2 years, since I have been here. I always enjoyed it here, so it was with a feeling of anticipation that I looked forward to returning. It's located in a lovely setting, on a bucolic Estuary, of the Peonic Bay. Can be very peaceful, at times. I forgot how far away Abequegue is from West Islip, where I reside...Ughh, lol I arrived a bit early for my lunch with 7 other friends, so I sat in the bar that is in the front part of the restaurant, and completely seperate from the Dining room, until everyone arrived. They have a nice, tight menu, with enough choices to make a wide swath of people happy. Food choices for the group ranged from a Reuben, Duck, Short Rib, Shrimp Tacos, Salmon, Shrimp Pasta, and of course, my hamburger. There was also Shrimp Cocktail, and a Beet Salad I ordered the Chipotle burger, because it came with fried onions, always a favorite of mine, and bacon, with cheddar cheese. As always, I order it medium rare, no rabbit food, please toast the bun, and extra crispy fries. Im happy to share with you, that the burger was cooked to perfection. The meat the burger was made with was fantastic, and very tasty. A bit of earthiness, more than a hint of salinity, and a nice unctuous flavoring on my tastebuds. The bun to meat ratio was right there, as one did not overwhelm the other. It also had a nice buttery flavor to it, which was an added enhancement to the burger. The cheese was nice and creamy. Whoever melted that cheese on top of the burger knew what they doing. Perfect combination of meltiness, without torching the cheese to a drippy, tasteless mess. Another one in the plus column for the burger!! Im so glad I ordered it. It didn't make it into my Top 5, but it certainly is ensconced in my Mythical Top 10. It rates up there with many other very tasty Burgers, that are prevalent in Suffolk County. The French Fries were some of the best Ive had in a while. You can tell they cut them, then soak them, in house, the proper way. They had that distinct crunchy outside, skin on, with a soft, potatoey inside, that had hints of a buttery taste to it. I love it when I get a Top Tier Burger, along with great tasting, properly prepared, Hand Cut French Fries. It's one of lifes guilty pleasures!!😎 Everyone at the table was pleased with their meal, and the portions were sizable, especially the Short Rib. (I'm ordering that when I go back there!!) The Salmon was also a hefty portion, the Duck was also one of the larger duck portions Ive seen, and the Shrimp pasta portion would make a hungry man happy. The service was very good. Our waitress was cheerful, quick, and professional. The backdrop of being on the water adds to the positive experience we had. Although it was a dreary, and wet day today, it was still nice to catch up with friends in such a pleasant setting I will return On the...

I am absolutely appalled by the customer treatment and food quality at this restaurant. We live locally and like to give local restaurants our business. We ordered takeout for our family and two of our family members have celiacs disease. I ordered a no bun burger with rice (they put cross contaminated French fries in the container), my other sons burger was supposed to have bacon ( that we paid for) and didn’t and my husbands salad was topped with “grilled shrimp” (that did not specify on the menu that they were breaded.) We specified the celiacs disease for sons meal but because grilled shrimp are usually seasoned and not breaded we did not specify it on the salad (which admittedly we should have done but who breads their grilled shrimp?) When I called to ask if the shrimp was breaded (after my husband ate one) they said yes. I suggested that they specify that on the menu because many have wheat allergies or celiacs disease and could get sick (my husband will now be sick all night) I was directed to the owner. The owner started screaming at me over the phone that “it is my responsibility to specify and don’t tell them how to cook their food…” and kept yelling at me over the phone. Meanwhile I kept explaining that we can’t eat the salad and I just want a refund. He screamed some more and told me to bring it back. As I entered the restaurant I hear him yell “here she comes”. I said “ I spoke to you on the phone about the salad”. He continued to scream at me loaded throughout the restaurant, throw a $20 bill at me and said “I’m the owner and this is why I can talk to you like this”. I obviously will never be back, but I warn everyone that has any dietary restriction or just doesn’t want to be demeaned and screamed at while wasting their money on horrible food to avoid this place. I can’t imagine this place with...