I had noticed Docksiders Cafe while looking at maps, and had intended to give it a try sometime, because I figured that the location should provide a nice view, which pairs nicely with anything. This year, we finally got around to driving out there and giving it a shot. The day was cloudy, but part of the patio seating was under a roof, so we decided to give it a shot. There was no rain, as it happened, but even though we weren't seated as far out on the deck as it was possible to be, the view was wonderful. (They do sell a few things like T-shirts and hats with the Docksiders name and logo on them, but they don't sell postcards, which strikes me as a missed opportunity, because with a view like that, they could be attracting even more customers than they already do.) But, it's a restaurant, so the quality of the food matters more than the view. How does Docksiders measure up? Pretty well in my book. My Greek salad was inspired, my sweetie enjoyed her fish sandwich, and the offspring enjoyed their burgers. (Like, really, REALLY enjoyed them. They were raving about the food most of the way home.) It's about a 20-minute drive out of Warren, so not everybody is going to be willing to drive that far any time it's meal time, and Docksiders is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (and the whole marina is closed in the winter), but we've already decided that it's going to be one of our "go-to" places for days when we want to celebrate. read more

Docksiders should earn a zero but lowest score is 1. I see others have also had a negative experience with 2.6 overall. What a shitshow!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We sat for 15 minutes with zero service/interaction past the person who sat us down. I asked a waitress that had several other tables near us if we were sitting in her section? She answered with an ignorant tone, facial expression and attitude that they "do not have sections". I informed that the table across the room that she had already got drinks for and took their order that they came after us. She was extremely rude. She said nothing when we walked out like , "I will get your wait staff ... nothing. When we went out, there was a young man that was very polite asking me if I could take time to help him figure out what happened.... I told him to ask his rude waitress what the problem was because she was very aware and rude!!!!!!!!!! It was such a nice view of the marina but horrible dining experience. We did go to Bob's Trading Post down the road where the staff was polite, food tasted great and portions were huge (especially on ice cream). Would go back to Bobs anytime! Dockside'rs-never will return. read more

Arrived at 6pm. By 7:20 and THREE visits inside to beg for a waitress, we never got service. At all. Other waitstaff walked past us without a glance. Tables seated 40 minutes AFTER us were waited on and eating, we still hadn't gotten a waitress. They were NOT short staffed or overwhelmed. Just lazy management and idiotic employees. Will never return. I'd like to give zero stars read more

Food wise nothing really special. Portions are rather skimpy and since it's basically a seasonal place, actually a part of what is known as Wolf Run Marina, you might find yourself best off with a simple burger or sandwich rather than something more exacting of culinary skills like salmon. However, location wise it's one of the better places with a large outdoor deck as well as an indoor dinning and bar area overlooking the Allegheny Reservoir or better known to the locals as Kinzua (pronounced "kin-zoo") dam. When seated looking out over the water, you are actually looking at what was the Town of Kinzua, once my hometown but destroyed and flooded over by the U.S. Corp of Engineers as part of a flood control project. Yeah, I'm still bitter about that as are the Indians of the Seneca Nation who refer to the lake as "Lake Perfidy," but confess that the Docksiders does offer one of the better views of any restaurant in the area and does have some rather decent ambiance about it. For the food 2 or 3 stars but for the location and the view, I'm giving it 4 stars. read more

Docksiders Cafe - Kinzua Lake, also know as the Allegheny Reservoir - American Near Me - Clarendon, Pennsylvania

Not a bad burger joint. Service was awesome and friendly. Food was good and outside sitting was nice. read more

Docksiders Cafe - a hot dog and french fries - American Near Me - Clarendon, Pennsylvania

Terrible service. Even after I went up to the manager, we still didn't get a waitress or an apology. We walked out.

Welp. Kind of an underwhelming experience. The interior was nice enough. Deck was also. I think they bank too much on the views and not enough in the food. Our server, once one arrived, was very pleasant. Took a while for two sandwiches to come out. Ordered onion petals (they could have had bigger onion) with the sauce they were ok cooked a little long. Mi amore ordered turkey panini. The meat was good however bread toasted way too much. But still ok. I ordered the portabello sandwich. It was pretty good I added bacon to it. I wish the onions were sautéed. But I'd order it or make it at home. Prices were high. Average experience. Went down and saw the carp afterwards. Originally went because there was a band but they had car trouble and never came. read more

See all

Came here as party of 6 and seated outdoors. After 15 mins no one one came to take drink orders so I went to bar and brought and paid for our drinks. 15 mins later still no server to take our food order and 2nd round of drinks so my brother approached the front staff to ask for a waitress who finally came by to take our drinks and food order. She forgot my 2nd drink so had to wait another 10 mins for her to bring my drinks. When she brought our food she didn't bring mine out and didn't notice I was the only person without food. After 10 mins I asked where's my food, she forgot what I ordered and then remembered I was the one who ordered a burger and brought it out. It looked as if my burger was sitting around waiting to for its owner to be identified--didn't taste like it was just prepared. My burger was not that great as I could have had a tastier burger at Wendy's. When waitress brought our checks she disappeared so we decided to walk up to bar area and paid our bills and left. The wait service was pretty bad and food not that great to compensate for the sad experience. Waitresses never asked how things were nor apologized for lousy service They only thing going for this place is the marina view, but overall a bad experience. Important to note: they charge a "non-cash fee" for paying with a credit card. A sure sign the owners are trying to get as much from customers as they can before they trash the place. This place is basically a tourist/visitor trap. Don't recommend! read more

OK, so we're staying at the Holiday Inn in Warren, PA. We ask for suggestions about where to eat. The women behind the lobby desk recommend Docksiders at the marina. It sounded pretty swanky . . . particularly since we had two toddlers in tow (or to quote the 4 year old . . . one big girl and her little brother). They assured us that it would be fine. So, we hop in the car and drive for a while. Technically, I'm not sure if this is a Warren address since they list themselves as being 10 miles away from Warren. Go figure. We pass the Kinzua (I understand it to be pronounced Kin-zoo) dam (pretty impressive) and keep going. We finally see a marina. Woo hoo! Definitely no problem with being in shorts and having two kids in tow. The place is very relaxed. There is deck dining (a pretty large number of tables) and indoor dining. Being as it was pretty hot we decided to eat inside. Big mistake. The large glass enclosure makes you feel like you're inside an Easy Bake Oven. We did survive. Service was pretty good, but they appeared to be understaffed for a Saturday night. Particularly the Saturday after the 4th of July when a lot of people are taking a mini-vacation over their three day weekend. The place has a casual beachy feel to it. They call it Caribbean in feel but I think it's just as much Florida beach or Ocean City Maryland. I think they try to channel Jimmy Buffet vibes. The food was decent. Nothing spectacular. Hubby opted for the salmon salad which had a very small serving of salmon and the sweet dressing (appeared to be something like mayo, pineapple juice, honey, etc.) would have been better on a fruit salad - it was pretty sweet for a salmon salad. However, he thought it was pretty good with the exception of the skimpy salmon portion. The kids split a plain old cheeseburger. The burger was fine but all four of us fell in love with the home made chips that had a sour cream and onion-ish flavour. Now it's time to bitch. I chose an appetizer as my entree. It was called something like a Crabby Port - a crab cake on a smoked portabella with bernaise sauce. It tasted good but the crab cake was a HUGE disappointment. It was mostly bread with a few flecks of "krab". I pulled it apart and was unable to find any real crab meat . . . just small pieces of that artificially red, artificially flavoured, artificially molded, etc. fake stuff. Barf. I also got a side salad. Ugh. Since when does a bowl of lettuce, several deli salads such as macaroni and potato, cherry tomatoes, drained chick peas, whole raw onion rings, shredded cheese, and jalapeno slices constitute a salad bar? At least they had "real" bacon bits instead of those red-colored soy things. The blue cheese cheese was also decent. My two year old heisted two rolls off the salad bar display so I'm glad that I ordered one. Both rolls were a little on the stale side. So . . . 3 stars for the salmon salad. 4 stars for the burger with homemade chips. 3 stars for the crab cake thing with the side salad. They win 5+ stars for Griffindor simply for their Mojito. One of the best I've ever had. Plenty of mint! Not to sweet (like so many of them). My only complaint is that there wasn't enough . . . I don't like my booze served in glasses where most of the contents are ice. Oh bother. But it doesn't matter . . . it tasted gooooood. Not too potent, but good. The view is amazing. It gets 5 stars for the view. Boats can pull right up to the dock. Hubbly liked it enough that he's talking about boats . . . and we live 4+ hours away! I'd definitely go back again the next time we're in Warren or just passing through the area. The mojito was about $5. The "crab" think was over $7. The side salad was about $4. The salmon salad was around $9. Over all, I'd say the place was just a little overpriced for the ambiance. But there's not much to pick from 10 miles outside of Warren. read more

Docksiders Cafe - View from restaurant - Docksiders - American Near Me - Clarendon, Pennsylvania

See all

I quite possibly had the best Pittsburgh salad of my life here. I would drive several hours for it. Haha. Great location & vibe. read more

Docksiders Cafe - Yum - American Near Me - Clarendon, Pennsylvania

Fun atmosphere, great food, nice location. *Update: they do accept credit cards now! read more

I have very fond memories of working at Docksiders in the late 90s and was very much looking forward to visiting after being away for 15 years. I was pleasantly surprised at the renovation of the inside and the new restrooms. I was however, unpleasantly surprised at the horrendous food. I was feeling adventurous and ordered from their special holiday menu. The prices on the menu led me to believe that I would receive something special. I could not have been more disappointed. I ordered the Chicken Cordon Blue. What I expected from a special menu was a fresh chicken breast rolled with ham and cheese with some kind of cream sauce and maybe some parsley garnish. Sounded delicious in my mind. What I got was totally unexpected. The chicken was actually a Barber breaded chicken that you get from the frozen section of the store-minus the cheese. Because those take a long time to bake, I believe they had pre-cooked them and then reheated it upon serving. It was burned on the bottom and dry as a bone. The sauce they put on top was good but is was lacking in quantity enough to help counter act the dryness. The potato was only half baked and left uncooked in the middle. The mixed veggies consisted of frozen broccoli and cauliflower stem pieces and were so water logged it squirt when I mushed them in my mouth. The drinks were little better. It was warm out so we sought a cool drink to quench our thirst. We chose a banana daiquiri and frozen Margarita and found both to be nothing more than pre-mixed frozen sugar water pumped out of a machine sans alcohol. Although it did look pretty with the whipped cream and sprinkles. Service was lovely and our waitress very attentive. Recommendations for Docksiders +Eat outside if you can the deck and view is everything. +Service was lovely - Stick to the regular less overpriced menu -Order Beer read more

Docksiders Cafe - Banana Daiquiri with yummy whipped cream and cute sprinkles at Docksiders cafe. - American Near Me - Clarendon, Pennsylvania

Terrible terrible terrible dining experience. We were seated promptly, but we never had a waitress attend to our table. After just sitting idle at our table with 3 small children for 20 minutes we finally decided to flag down a bus girl. and tell her that we were still waiting to be waited on. Docksiders take the term "Wait Staff" to a whole new level of slow. Meals all came very sporadically to the table. My wife ordered a steak salad, and was pretty much served beef jerky on a pile of ice berg lettuce. The kids meal of chicken strips came with two tiny pieces of chicken and 1 apple sliced. Food is all very over priced, and their beer selection only consists of about 4 different beers. Did I mention the dining experience is terrible?! read more

Great view of the lake/marina and the beer is (mostly) cold, but that's about it. My wife ordered a Tropical salad, I tried to order a burger...the salad was o.k. but nothing special. When I was informed the burgers are all cooked "well done" w/no exceptions, I changed my order to a Rueben- maybe I should have tried something else. Dry, short on meat & cheese and served with fries out of a bag...enough said. The waitress was trying but effort only goes so far- Not very pleasant and seemed disappointed we didn't order dinner. As it was, two beers and two Summer Sangrias, a salad and a Reuben totaled $49+ before the tip. Next time, just drinks and a view. read more

Go for the view, have a cocktail. It's been awhile since I patronized this establishment. It used to be higher end and well worth the price. We ordered the Halibut and Prime Rib which were served well done. I sent the P Rib back and reordered the strip thinking it might be easier to make this fare. This steak was raw and cold. At this point my daughter tried her Halibut which was encased in pepper. Horrible. Our poor server was beside himself. I asked that the Halibut be taken off; the manager Ms. Kaiser took off a $5.00 beer instead and never graced our table with her presence. Apparently this is the norm. Skip the food go for a cocktail or better still pull up a blanket on the hill and skip the cafe. read more

The food here is okay and the drinks are a little better, but to echo the others, it's about the view from the deck. Perfect spot to enjoy time with friends and take in the view of the reservoir. The last time I was out I had a burger that was passable and my friends said they enjoyed their meals. Probably a little overpriced for what you get, otherwise would be rated higher. read more

Great view of the lake. Maybe a good place to have drinks? The food was expensive and horrible. My son and brother got the same thing a buffalo burger. Neither could finish it. My $22. Steak had no flavor and the potato was cold. Everyone else at the table said their food was ok. read more

I visited 6.25.18 around 1pm. I chose a seat in the shaded area, but decided to move to a sunny table since the breeze was a bit chilly. My waitress, Debbie, was very accommodating when I asked to move. She took my drink order within 2 minutes after I sat down, and returned only a couple of minutes after that with my drink and took my meal order. I received my Kinzua portabella Sandwich with smoked portabella mushroom, roasted peppers, and mozzarella cheese about 12 minutes later. The sandwich was big with a large serving of fires which were hot & not greasy! Debbie came back several times to check on me and we had a nice chat. She was very friendly and attentive...the food was good....the view from the deck was even better! If I'm back in the area I will definitely stop in again. read more

Overall a really bad experience. To start, service was incredibly slow. It was moderately busy, but there was also quite a few wait staff on hand. The food was very over priced and it was nothing more than mediocre. We've gone before, had the same experience but still decided to go back. I don't think we'll make that mistake again. read more

I've been intending to come here for years and finally made it. Twice. Hey I was in the area for 2 weeks... It couldn't be situated in a more beautiful spot. Beautiful views of the water and trees. The food is pretty decent. I had the chicken sandwhich the first time and it would have been better if they hadn't of cooked it till it was dryer then the desert. Second time I had the Rachel sandwhich and that was glorious. Their drinks are pretty damn good too. Servers are a little gruff and no one really has ever smiled. When I sat at the bar the second visit I was given my beer in a plastic cup even though the other people had glass glasses. The senior bartender nicely offered to pour my drink into a real glass. My bill was immediately presented after ordering food. I asked if I needed to pay up now, that I hadn't even gotten my food and might want something else. The guy looked confused, said no and then disappeared for the next half hour....??? So go, sit outside, get a Rachel, and a margarita! read more

As others have said, the view of the Dam is the only reason to stop by this restaurant. It is outrageously priced for the quality of food and has now turned into somewhat of a hot dog stand. What happened to the chefs of several years ago when the food was excellent and varied? read more

Pretty cool place when boating or camping... As for drinking in the evenings very nice but make sure you bring a DD...food is ok drinks are ok but atmosphere is what sets this place apart. Well worth a visit if you have never been. read more

This is always a go- to place when I'm back home visiting PA! Great mojitos!!! Beautiful view and great outdoor scene. Be sure to allow for time when going here... Food wait is slightly longer than average, but it's worth it for the atmosphere... Sit back and enjoy the great PA outdoors!!! read more

It's a shame that this restaurant doesn't have great food. I live ten minutes from the dam and would love to make this my go-to spot for summer lunches and dinners. The view is spectacular -- too bad the food couldn't be equally impresssive. read more

Beautiful view with super wait staff. Husband and I sat outside near the very back under a canopy of green vines. The place was packed but we managed to get our lunch quite fast. read more

Upon arrival at Docksider's, my first impression was good. It looked like a nice little cafe on the hill right next to a marina overlooking the reservoir. The staff was very polite and loved our little Chihuahua that we brought to dinner with us. The menu has a good spread of items mostly traditional American. They have quite a few cocktails, but I chose to get a Blue Moon bottle since they were lacking in draft choices. I was a little disappointed that my bottle came out about 68 degrees (a little colder than Luke warm). On top of that, after ordering it took about 35 minutes to get our order. I got a deep fried chicken sandwich with bacon jam and my wife got the shrimp basket. This is where I was let down by Docksider's. After getting halfway through my sandwich the center of it was still cold. When I pay $12 for a meal I expect decent portion size. My wife only got 6 small butterfly shrimp in her "basket with wasn't even half filled. I would have liked to talk to the group of men adjacent to us what they thought of the one waitress passing them by for half an hour and not stopping in once to take their order. Overall Docksider's has the perfect environment, but needs a little work on quality control and customer service. read more

To the Management of Docksiders Café: August 4, 2011 In 2010, during the last week of July, fifteen members of my husband's family (mostly locals, but several were home from out-of-state), dined at your establishment. We had great food, great beverage, and great service! Ten days ago, two of my brothers-in-law called me and said, "Hey, Dorothy, we want to go to DOCKSIDERS again this year, can you call and make reservations for 21 of us for Thursday, the 28th @ 6:30?" So, I picked up the phone called your place and asked for Mel. She remembered me! (I've been in a half-dozen times this season). I asked her if she was working Thurs night because we wanted her to be our waitress and if she wern't going to be on duty, then we'd go somewhere else or pick another night. She assured me she was working the dinner hour of the 28th. So, with threatening skies and the certainty we would have to move the party inside, TWENTY-SEVEN members of the GEER FAMILY descended upon your establishment!!! SURPRISE! It never rained the entire 2.5 hrs. we were outside under your roof! Once again, the food and drinks tasted great and everyone in our large contingency was very pleased and is looking fwd to going again next year. We are a family that likes to joke and kid around and we enjoy Mel's personality very much. She's not robotical or stand-offish and she also doesn't try to become my new 'best friend'. We found her to be amazingly efficient, possess a very pleasant personality, and do her job as a professional. My husband, Rich and I have introduced DOCKSIDERS to friends from Jamestown, NY, Harrisburg, PA, and even a visiting friend from Perth, Australia, this season. We enjoy your delicious food, Sunday afternoon entertainment, peaceful setting and Mel as our server. Sincerely, read more

We had a horrible dining experience here. We had reserved a table since it was a holiday weekend at a marina and the table was waiting for us when we arrived, and our drink order was taken quickly, but the drinks took 30 minutes to come. We ordered as the drinks were delivered. After drinking those, we ordered another round of drinks, and had to request they bring out the dinner salads. We waited again another 30 minutes for the second round of drinks. After being there for two hours, they finally brought the food, but half of it was undercooked. We asked to see the manager, but she never showed up. We asked for the check after eating the cooked portions of our meals, if they were not sent back completely, and they brought 1 of the checks and said they were removing items from the rest of them. After another 15 minutes, we went to get the checks and nothing had been removed from them. We had to complain about the terrible service, undercooked food, and manager not coming for another 20 minutes before they made adjustments to the remaining bills. Even after a drink was removed from the check, I still felt I overpaid, but was so over the place I just wanted to get out of there, as they were not realizing just how bad every part of their service and food was. read more

This place had nice atmosphere, the server was nice and accommodating for our 2 kids. Although we were amused when we ordered pints of beer and she said they only came in 16oz size... The food was ok except: I ordered the crab cakes which specifically said lump crab meat on the menu. For $18 I expected real crab meat. I wasn't necessarily expecting solid meat but it was most DEFINITELY FAKE crab sticks in them cakes. I was very unhappy that they had falsely advertised that. Otherwise it would have been a great dining experience to top off our pontoon boat rental across the parking lot. I considered complaining about the fake crab but we had really just had a great day on the water and were enjoying the relaxation in the restaurant. They would have gotten 4 stars but lying like that knocked 2 stars off..... read more

Beautiful setting on the Kinzua damn, but other than that this bar has nothing going for it. Years ago the food was good but it has continued to get worse ever time I have visited. The flavor a are always so bland and the food is extremely overpriced. The drinks are usually very sugary and hard to stomache. Drink a beer instead as just enjoy the view. read more

To start with, we had a party of eleven and no reservation on a Saturday night so we expected a wait. We were actually seated very promptly, however, at a table on the deck to enjoy the gorgeous view of the reservoir. Our waiter quickly came to get our drink order, and even with how busy it was our drinks were at the table within moments. The food also came out very quickly, with appetizers first (try the Docksider's Sampler!) and the main entrees soon after. The prices are a little high, but they certainly do not skimp on portions at all! Food was all very hot and delicious, and our waiter was very personable, friendly, and knowledgeable. We were very impressed he could answer our questions about the dam and the food alike without having to ask. We will definitely return! read more

Good soup, average service. Prime rib was inedible. Like chewing on a saddle. Wasn't charged for same. It all about the venue and nothing else. Take a picnic basket instead. read more

My husband, son, and I were met by a pleasant hostess who promptly seated us. The waitress came quickly and was polite. After ordering for my 6 year old, we all received our drinks. When the appetizer came, the waitress dropped the marinara sauce on the floor next to and under my husband's seat. The waitress apologized, but then disappeared to service a larger group of people and wasn't seen for another 20 minutes. My husband asked another employee if she could get him a rag, which she came over apologetic and cleaned the mess. The food was a good portion for the price but mediocre in taste. My husband's fish was under cooked. My son's "kid's meal of shrimp" still had tails attached, which good thing my child knows better, but that's also my child. Then we had to wait another 20 mins to actually find our waitress, walk to her, and ask for our bill. I'm sorry my 3 person table was not as impressive as the 10 person table, but I've been know to tip well if service and food was good. This was not one of those occasions. read more