We wanted a place overlooking Midland Bay for a wedding anniversary. Having seen mixed reviews, it was with some trepidation that we made online reservations for August 25th at 5:15 pm. Our fears were soon allayed. We arrived in the midst of a Tugboat Festival of some sort. Parking, though hard to find was available close to the restaurant. The restaurant itself was very busy. There was a small lineup at the maitre d's station. We cleared that in just a minute or so and were whisked to an excellent corner patio table. The view was spectacular! Our server (Frank?) took our drink order and within 10 minutes a very tasty Peach Bellini and Stella Artois were in front of us. We ordered the seafood pasta and the sesame Crusted Salmon. Both arrived very promptly. The dishes were delicious. Seafood pasta can be over salted. This was not. The balance of pesto, olive oil and onions nicely offset the seafood (clams, mussels, squid, octopus and shrimp). Although the seafood was prepared from frozen, it was hard to tell as they'd taken the time to sautee the mixture in the pesto and olive oil. The pasta was perfectly Al dente, not mushy ae one would have expected if it'd been sitting on a hot plate. My wife's salmon was beautifully presented and was also delicious. Fresh strawberries were an attractive and tasty garnish as was the grilled lime. After an appropriate amount of time and a commemorative photo courtesy of the server, we were presented with our bill, paid and spent a leisurely hour walking around the harbour. It was an amazing experience. We will be back. read more

I went to Midland for a work trip and decided to try the Boat House because of the beautiful scenery. It's very relaxing to sit on the patio and watch the ships come in. That's a big plus. Sadly the food quality is medicore at best and overpriced. I had a $21 fish plate that the waiter strongly recommended, and it was definitely a pre-packaged frozen fish that had been defrosted. My co-workers had the Captain's Plate ($23) which is an assortment of fried seafood and the fish & chips ($17) - both said the breading was too thick and there was barely any seafood inside. We all said the atmosphere was nice and the service was good, but we wouldn't go back. read more

Nice location to sit outside overlooking the harbor. Service was very good. Two dishes indicated on the menu as "favorite" for the restaurant were not available. Appetizer (Calamaris) and entrées (Pasta, Burger, Pizza, Salad) served were delicious. read more

The location, service and the food was completely amazing! It is the best restaurant in the area so far, maybe because we had the same server the two times we went, but he was just awesome! His recommendations, his service and his great attitude just blew us away! We tried their burgers, their pizza, the butter chicken, the halibut which was outstanding, the pulled pork sandwich and everything was just great and looked so appetizing! The price fits their menu, and their menu has a wonderful selection that will suit your taste buds. (I have 5 years experience in service and go eat everywhere) read more

Nice view. Good food. Small portions. A little pricy. Bad service and management. Slow service. Avoid if you have a better option.

Beautiful view. Great location. Nice decor. Decent beverages. Slow service. Shame about the food.

After a long bike ride up from Elmvale this was the *best* place for eats and drinks!

Only two stars because the location and atmosphere is good. Food is no good. Service and drinks are okay.

Great food. Clean restaurant. Awesome service. Was worried when we saw the bad reviews, but definitely not disappointed. 4 of us. We had jambalaya, ribs and wings, boat house burger, haddock fish and chips. All good. Good value. Nice view by the water. read more

Great patio, live music and pub food. Fun place to go for a night out when we're up at the cottage.

Overpriced. Burger patties were bland i.e. ZERO flavour and the texture was too smooth for a burger. Calamari was alright. Fries were okay. Huge patio. Fish and Chips - fish pieces were decent. read more

I hosted a dinner at the Boathouse Eatery for 110 Firefighters from all over Ontario this past weekend for our annual Red Knights MC annual conference. Kirk and his team allowed us to reserve the patio for our dinner in the middle of the Feast Fest and Rubber Duck weekend. With a full restaurant, the team had us seated, hydrated and fed in less than 90 min. Food was outstanding, we had Caesar Salads & Striploin Steaks for dinner. Quality was the very best. This meal was a crowning glory to our weekend conference. We cannot thank Kirk and the team enough. The restaurant was full and a line up of about 45 min to an hour at the door while we were served. Coming from a food & beverage background myself, I can truly appreciate the amount of planning and effort put out by the team. Outstanding Job and I would recommend to everyone who comes to our area, if you leave without eating here, you have missed out. read more

Food is good quality and tastes great, good variety on the menu. Service is friendly and quick. A little more expensive then other restaurants in the area but worth it. Also has a great view of the bay with a patio right on the water. read more

I recently had dinner on a Saturday night at the Boathouse Eatery and I can honestly say that it was one of the worst meals I have ever had at a restaurant. I was intrigued to try their menu after hearing that the restaurant was under new management / ownership. I read the reviews, I scanned the menu, and yes, it did seem to have a mostly "pub food" feel, but I decided to give it a try for an outing with friends. So where do I start... cold food that took forever to arrive at the table, absolute miserable appearance (a cold, boiled potato does not quite fit the bill when you are expecting something 'roasted'), greasy and congealed Pad Thai (and that was one of their signature dishes?!) Really? This was a Saturday in June. Not a Wednesday, at lunchtime, in the dead of January. And even if it was, it does not excuse what was served to us. Only saving grace: friendly staff. I hope they can find jobs someplace else. We were a party of six and all of us agree that we will give the Boathouse a pass in the future. read more

Great catfish club sandwiche and tuna salad. Awesome location. Close to the harbour and very relaxing. Great music and atmosphere

This restaurant has new ownership and a new menu. The service is very attentive, knowedgeable and friendly. We went on a Saturday night for a light bite. Did not have the appetizers, lots of fried stuff such as coconut shrimp, etc. the usual salad, but nothing exciting. I had the chicken club, which is nothing like a traditonal club. The menu stated that it was on a ciabatta, but really it was a folded fancy white pita bread. The white chicken slab was perfectly grilled, there was also a tomato slice, lettuce and some type of sauce, maybe mayo that was overbearing in flavour. The club came with a salad that consisted of spinach and other non-traditional greens together with grape tomatos and julienned carrots. The vinagrette dressing was on the side and just, ok; too vinagary for my liking. My guest had a very generous serving of the beef stew. A good choice because it was obviously made from scratch. Lots of tender beef chunks with peas and carrots in a delicious gravy that was not gummy, but actually light tasting. Both dishes were $14 each. A bit pricey, in my opinion. There is a comfortable bar with an assortment of beers and drinks. If we return it will be for the fish and chips which looked really good on one of the televisions in our view. Nice for a date night especially when they have live entertainment. We had a piano player/singer who wasn't bad. One final observation, they have spacious patio that has a fabby view of Georgian bay. read more

When you run a restaurant that is situated between the town's tourism office and a charter boat tour company, you only need to be good enough so that guests don't send their food back. The Boathouse Eatery scored 75% in this category. The wings were plump, which was the only thing they had going for them. They were overcooked and when you ask for mild wing sauce, you get wings drenched in BBQ sauce. When I expressed my dissatisfaction to the waitress, who was bubbly and more hurried than she had to be, she offered to take them back after saying that BBQ is mild. So I ordered a cheeseburger. It was hot. Good. It had a strong chargrilled flavor. Also good. It had a consistency of school lunch meatloaf. Not so good. But I ate it. My wife said that her Ahi salad was okay. Our two boys ordered off of the kids menu. We weren't offered the dessert that came with my son's meals, so we went back in and requested it. I know, it's a bit odd, but we paid for it, right? My wife and I both took a bite. The ice cream was the best part. Super creamy. read more

Great location and view but food very average. (I ordered the red snapper) I would not come back because there are better options nearby.

Nice patio, staff were diligent enough. Food is standard small town Ontario fare, make sure to order safe, ie burgers and sandwiches.

"Patronizing Manager, disgusting food" Beautiful patio, great location, wonderfully friendly server. Excellent live music! I ordered 2 strawberry daiquiri's. Both came poorly mixed with about 8-10 full ice cubes floating in it which made it hard to drink. Husband asked for wings and was told they didn't have them. I had the chicken souvlaki and fries that looked like they had been sent back to the kitchen and refried. Gravy was canned or powdered. Husband ordered a bacon cheeseburger and onion rings. He received a gross looking prefrozen, formed patty with processed cheese on it. Menu does not mention it is processed cheese. Onion rings were good! While we were waiting for our food we had to move to another table since we were placed in one in the sun and it was too hot. The waitress was aware of our move. Another waitress came by our table and removed our condiment caddy and glasses while we were waiting for our meal in a rude way. We had to ask for it back again. After husband finished his gross burger (over priced) and I am almost done my meal we see a table that was seated after us received a plate of wings! I got up and asked the manager to come and speak to us. This red haired woman told us in a patronizing way that these people were seated before us and ordered the wings before us. She says "I'm not calling you a liar but I know I seated them quite awhile ago, I don't remember seating you." We remind her that she placed us directly in the hot sun and show her where (there were lots of shady tables available). We explain that perhaps next time the waitress could say that they are "out of wings" so that we don't think that there are just no wings for us. The manager explains that wings are not on the menu and that they are only available for "those who ask" but she "doesn't know why". She is adamant that she just eighty-sixed the wings and that these people got her before us. She says well I can go and check the orders and see who was here first....(but she never did). I tell the manager about my daiquiri's and she says that "sometimes they are just shaken with ice and sometimes done in the blender" she did offer to make me a new drink. I refused. She really pushed making me another drink which clearly I did not want and was feeling pressured. I don't think a bar should be doing that. She "thanked us for our feedback" but we left the place feeling angry. I actually left my husband to pay the bill and left after that, felt very unwelcome and patronized by her tone of voice and her whole communication with us. She needs managerial training. I feel sorry for the servers who have to work under such poor managerial training. We won't be back, which is a shame because of the fantastic location next to our marina and the wonderful live music. Most of the people we talk to have had similar experiences. Gross food. Sometimes terrible service. Often running out of things. This is not the first bad experience I had here but this will be the last. read more

We had awesome prime rib at this restaurant last night. Very generous for the price and perfectly cooked. However the service was probably an embarrassment to the owner. Server, while courteous, forgot to give our appetizer order for their signature crab cakes to the kitchen. She apologized and asked if we really wanted them, since our entrees were ready. We said Yes Please, whereupon she brought out the meals anyway, saying that the crab cakes would follow. We said we did not want them later and asked her to hold the entrees until after our appetizer. This was fine, and the crab cakes were delicious. When meal arrived, we had barely taken a bite when the server checked with us as to our comfort with meal and we said it was fine. This was before we tasted the green beans which were the seasonal veggies of the day. They were outright raw, not blanched or par cooked or al dente. They were raw. We simply voiced our displeasure with the server when she picked up our plates, and not until we complimented the chef on the beef. Anyway, she simply said "That's how we serve them here, cold with a balsamic glaze.". Surprising. Never been served downright raw green beans before. All said, our bottle of wine was delivered promptly after being seated and the beef probably made up for the other shortcomings. read more