The Boathouse Landing — Restaurant in Valparaiso

I see the sign when I drive by often. Well I decided to bring the family there after the beach. Very disappointed. Their was only 1 table inside when we arrived yet they had to clean off a table for us to sit at. I could understand if they were busy, but two employees we're on their phones when we walked in. We asked the guy at the front desk (manager/shift leader/host) for a kids menu. He said they were out. Again no issue. So we asked what was on the kids menu. He said uh (pause) your server will know all of that. Okay...our server arrives after 5-10 minutes to take our drink order which we don't see for another 5 minutes, and a different employee (we know) brings it. A few minutes later we order appetizers they came out fairly quick. The gator bites and calamari were good. The strawberry butter with hush puppies was okay but cold. We order our food. Took a while to get but fresh cooked food does. They never brought my wife's salad, they forgot the coleslaw and dips for my daughter's and my orders. my wife's lobster tail was overcooked and looked mangled. My son's vegetables (squash/zucchini) were burnt. We already we're waiting on refills. Which then are noticed and filled. A few minutes later our sever asks how things are, then we don't see her anywhere for at least 15 minutes. Again our drinks needed filling. She arrives back into view putting her phone in her pocket and walks by our table without looking. She comes back eventually, we grab boxes and the bill so we can just get out of there. Like I said, disappointed. I would not recommend going, and my family won't be going back. Too many similar restaurants that you can count on. With a guy (manager/shift leader/host) and 3 servers being there while we had terrible service has to give a glimpse at the normal service the offer. The food quality (cooking) being random does not...

The amount of 5 star reviews here is shocking. I'm sure they must be for the view which is admittedly a great one. The ambiance of the restraunt is charming as well, which is why this review earns a second star. That's where the positives for my trip to the boathouse stop.

The service was okay but left a lot to be desired. Our waitress was neither friendly nor rude, just slightly awkward and a bit rushed (which I understand).

The food was abysmal (except for the hush puppies, A+). I started with a lobster bisque which was no more than a pre-made soup slopped into a shallow bowl. Not even a garnish. Garnishes and presentations are something I happily overlook if the food stands on it's own, which is not the case for this bisque. No actual lobster, just a heavy taste of butter and cream.

I had stuffed shrimp, rice, and asparagus for my meal. The rice wasn't anything special, seemed like minute rice. The asparagus came as three enormous (think something the jolly green giant might eat), slightly mushy, under seasoned stalks. The most disappointing part was the stuffed shrimp. They were extremely overcooked and rubbery. Served in a hot cast iron dish, which is cool...but it continued to cook the shrimp while I waited for it to cool down so I could remove the tails. A bit of a catch 22 here. The "seafood stuffing" was just breading and peppers. Maybe another smaller shrimp.

This was the first time in years I've been out to eat where I didn't either clean my plate or take food to-go. The waitress knew it was disgusting when she saw I was finished and half my meal remained. She didn't even ask if we needed to-go containers. My wife had the salmon which she said was overcooked but not nearly as bad as my shrimp. For $80 I'd definitely...

We are a native here and the first time ordering and eating their take out food. Ordered food last Saturday on December 10, 2022. Ordered their The Grouper, two Lobster tails, Crab Cakes, Hush Puppies, Oyster Rockefeller, and the Gator bites. The Grouper fish was good, but was heavily breaded. The two Lobster tails were mediocre and we didn't expect to dig out the intestinal track from the tail of the lobster. You can clearly see the poop inside the intestinal in the pictures I have provided. Of all the places I've ordered Lobster Tail from I've never had to take out the intestinal poop from the tail of the lobster. When my husband called to inquire about that the lady who works there told him she was unfamiliar on how they serve lobster tail, then said it was safe to eat. The bread on the Hush Puppies were so heavily greasy that I couldn't eat but one Hush Puppy because all I could taste was the disgusting grease. The Hush Puppies were not enjoyable. The Crab Cakes had crab shells that my husband had to keep picking out of his mouth. There should not have been shell inside the crab meat. The only semi enjoyable part of this $100+ meal was the Oyster Rockefeller, which also had a small piece of plastic inside of them (which I have provided a picture of). I had to pull that hard piece of plastic from my mouth. Overall, it was not a good experience and probably won't go...