I don't usually leave negative reviews, so writing this is disappointing because I've actually had…read morea good experience here previously. I slept on it, but can't stop thinking about how much of a bummer it was so I think it's worth sharing. I rented a boat from Hayden Marina (who were absolutely amazing) to treat my staff to a day on the lake. Since we had a group of about 20 people, I called The Boathouse the day before to ask if they accepted reservations because I didn't want to unexpectedly show up with a large party. I was told they don't take reservations, but they would make a note that we were coming and do their best to prepare.
We arrived around 1:45 p.m. on a busy Saturday, fully expecting there to be a wait. We were actually seated fairly quickly, which was great. After sitting for quite a while without anyone coming to our table, I went to the bar to see if I could at least order drinks. The bartender, Lucy, was incredibly kind and helpful. She explained she could only take drink orders, made our two bucket cocktails right away, and they were so yummy! After waiting quite some time without a server coming by, I checked back in with Lucy. She was kind enough to help us get three appetizers started while we continued waiting. Unfortunately, after over 1 hour at the restaurant, we had only received those appetizers and still had never been able to place our full food order.
At that point, we made the difficult decision to leave and pick up food elsewhere. I had invested quite a bit into renting the boat for the day, and I didn't want to risk spending more time waiting for food. When I went to close out my tab, I told Lucy that we needed to leave because we'd already been waiting so long and wanted to get back on the water. I wasn't trying to complain, I was just explaining why we were leaving instead of ordering the rest of our meal. At that point, another staff member overheard the conversation and immediately became defensive. She interrupted, insisted there was "no way" we'd been waiting that long, rolled her eyes, repeatedly shook her head, and made me feel like I was doing something wrong simply by explaining our decision. I was honestly super caught off guard. I apologized because I was worried I had come across as rude. I explained that I understood they were busy and that my only concern was getting us back out on the lake before we lost the rest of our afternoon. Rather than trying to understand where I was coming from, she continued insisting my timeline wasn't accurate because she had delivered our appetizers and knew how long we'd been there. She explained she wanted to defend the kitchen because they weren't behind on ticket times. My concern was never the kitchen, it was that no one had come to take our order. Even after our appetizers were delivered, no one asked if we needed anything else or took our meal order. We were actively trying to get someone's attention because we were ready to order as soon as we sat down (almost 1.5 hours prior).
I still left Lucy a generous tip because she was exceptional throughout the entire experience and treated us with kindness. For just three appetizers and two bucket cocktails, our bill was approx $250. Had we stayed, I was planning to pay for my entire staff's lunch, and our group likely would have spent well over $800. As someone who owns a local business and has worked in the service industry, I know busy days happen. I also know large parties can be challenging, which is exactly why I called ahead/understood we'd be better off just heading out after the apps. I couldn't believe the way she spoke to me, it was very uncomfortable for me, and everyone else around. Even if my timeline was not accurate, her reaction was very unprofessional. At the end of the day, the bartender was wonderful, and Hayden Marina was fantastic. I truly appreciate both of them. I hope this was simply an off day because I'd love to have a better experience in the future, but unfortunately this interaction left me feeling unwelcome and overshadowed what was supposed to be a special day with my staff.
