We visited High Tides and really enjoyed the waterfront atmosphere and view. It's definitely a nice spot to sit, relax, and enjoy the scenery. Our service was good, and our waitress was attentive and helpful. We had an appetizer platter. The mozzarella sticks were good, and we really enjoyed the seafood dip, but the jalapeño poppers weren't good, The wings were probably the highlight of the sampler and they were really good! We also ordered the Spicy Steamed Shrimp. Unfortunately, they weren't spicy at all. They were basically steamed shrimp with a little Old Bay sprinkled on them. We mentioned it to our waitress, and she brought us some extra Old Bay to make them tastier. They also had what looked like a really fun bar menu with some unique drink options. We weren't drinking, so we didn't try any, but there were definitely several that caught our eye. There was also a live band playing at the Tiki Bar, which added a lot to the atmosphere and made the evening feel even more relaxed and fun. Overall, the food was okay, The service was good, the view was great, and the live music gave the place a really nice vibe. read more

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Being a "tourist" town and a place on the "beach", you should expect what you get here. Our waitress was friendly and attentive, Fabi did wonderful with constantly ensuring we didn't need anything additional. Food was alright, burgers were cooked perfectly medium well.. could use a bit more seasoning but they gave a good portion of toppings and condiments on side to make it your own way! They have indoor and outdoor seating and a very large bar. They have a stage for live music. Don't come here expecting a high quality seafood place, that is not what this place is. Pick options that you'd enjoy everywhere and I think you'd be fine! Plus take in the views while here and just sit and enjoy. read more

High Tides on the Potomac - Bacon burger and fries - Seafood Near Me - Colonial Beach, Virginia

Cool atmosphere. Crab cakes had the consistency of fried cat food. We were greeted to a server talking down to a friendly hostess. Ended up leaving after a couple of drinks and going to McDonald's for a far better meal. read more

The food was not good and the server tried to have me triple tip him, because gratuity was automatically included. He gave me my check without the itemized receipt, and the receipt for the signature said: Tip: 48.00 Total: 340.00 Tip:______ Total:_____ And I was advised to add the tip above the total to the total (so 388 together), then add another tip and right the new total. I asked for the itemized receipt (which he purposely didn't give me, and it turns out the subtotal was 292.00, and 48.00 as a tip for the large party gratuity... So he wanted me to put the total as 340+48, and write 388 as a total. That would have been a 96$ tip. The server was definitely trying to scam me. read more

The only thing I can think of that would improve this place is a complete overhaul with new management. Four of us went to eat there on July 28 for dinner. RED FLAG #1 - The place was empty except for two other patrons at 5:30 RED FLAG #2 - The waiter was nice but appeared to be stoned. Gave him the benefit of the doubt. RED FLAG #3 - staff coming out of the restroom blowing a huge puff of smoke and looking like a cast member from Prison Break or a Cheech and Chong Movie. (Still, no harsh judgment, we are a smidge redneck-y ourselves and let people be who they are.) RED FLAG #4 - did not bring the right condiments requested. (It happens, no biggie, just politely asked for what we needed without pointing out the error.) RED FLAG #5 - appetizer, some of it looked like burnt offerings of unknown origin. The rest looked and tasted like left over, mostly breaded mini onion rings that were listed as calamari on the menu. (Our child asked if the burnt pieces were actually fried spiders.) RED FLAG #5 - Crab cakes looked okay, but upon tasting them, they were so tasteless and the texture resembled wet cat food, (cannot say if the taste was like cat food but I could imagine cat food might have more flavor.) I tried every condiment we had on the table. Nothing helped. For the price, I was gobsmacked that they could be a seafood restaurant and serve these to people. Did not even taste like fake crab!!) RED FLAG #6 - (by this point red flags were not really accurate, more like "BLACK BOX WARNINGS," but I digress. The rock fish looked like dried up, week old, reheated, skeleton of a fish. Even the waiter agreed that it looked BAD! We are not the kind of people who talk rudely to servers. We realize the waiters are not the owners. We had chuckled about his nice, yet stoned demeanor. He said the "manager" (more like dishwasher) was removing the charge for the fish. Yet upon paying it was obvious this did not happen. (Maybe we are wrong and the "Market Value" shrimp were really, really expensive for being Costco - No! - more like Temu frozen shrimp!) The chicken tenders and fries were mediocre, but palatable (to a child). To say we were completely shocked at the in-edibleness of the food is an understatement. I actually wondered if we were being punked. Upon leaving we went to get wings from 7-11 to flush the slightly sickening taste left in our mouths from the epicurean delight (NOT!) of our dinner. We prayed after eating that we would not end up with food poisoning. Fortunately, our prayers worked! Location: Food: zero 's Staff: Price: zero 's Would recommend: NO!! Never! read more

High Tides on the Potomac - Opinion of food! - Seafood Near Me - Colonial Beach, Virginia

Heard good things.... Yeah right. This place is such a joke. We have been here for over an hour waiting for a pizza......... everyone else got their pizza and our waitress after an hr and 10 mins came over to us and said some other server didn't look at the tickets and gave your food away. We're making yours right now on the fly. Speed up to two hours being here.. still no pizza had to ask for the check and she had the audacity to ask if we wanted it to go..... absolute trash food and horrible service. We also never got the fly fans for our food and everyone else did. Do better. read more

Bad service. Waited over an hour for a pizza I didn't get. Fish and chips weren't great and waitress was not accommodating in the slightest. Would not recommend eating here. Plenty of better restaurants in colonial beach. read more

Terrible food. Period. We ordered a lot of food, and everything was mediocre to bad. The restaurant the is also terrible - zero atmosphere or attempt at decoration. Not sure HOW these people are in business read more

I ordered the fish tacos and they were so small (and dry and overcooked) that I had to order a second entree. The fish and chips were at least crispy and flavorful (though the fish fillet was very thin-much better at dock side). French fries were great, though. They also had a terrible wine selection - my first choice was sold out and I got a half glass left of my second choice. The waitress said she'd only charge me half price but then charged me the full price. The views are fantastic and the only reason this place stays in business... read more

We visited with a party of 7, and despite this being Jocelyn's second large table ever, she absolutely crushed it. The service was outstanding. She was friendly, attentive, and always on top of everything we needed. The food was great as well. The pizza was a little greasy, but it was still delicious and everyone at the table enjoyed their meals. Honestly, I'm surprised by some of the negative reviews because our experience was fantastic. What really stood out was the customer service. One person in our group accidentally left their glasses behind, and Jocelyn actually ran outside and chased us down to make sure we got them back. That level of care is rare these days. Overall, great food, excellent service, and an experience that exceeded expectations. Huge shoutout to Jocelyn--20/10 service! read more

Service is great. Food fresh and tasteful. Brick oven pizza is divine! Love the atmosphere and live bands. Recommend wholeheartedly!! read more

Service was fine. Food was not good. Everything felt touristy. Cleanliness not great. Just don't do it

Cool outdoor atmosphere with a lot of potential, unfortunately the food was TERRIBLE. Couldn't even eat the "steak" had a funky taste we couldn't put our finger on, the "brick oven" pizza was falling apart couldn't even pick up a slice. The wings were the only thing we could actually eat. Mid service, waste of money, won't go back unless it's to the outdoor bar just for drinks read more

The service was painfully slow. All of the seafood came fried instead of grilled & all tasted the same like greasy, stale breading. The blue rare steak was well done shoe leather. Everything was inedible so we left it on the table. To add insult to injury, it was ridiculously expensive. read more

Food was fair, over priced. High tides still blaming Covid for prices. The charge for using credit card or bank card to pay! When you tell waitress your paying cash bill still comes with credit card charge on it and figured into total cost. Another issue is that when you order a mixed drink and it comes with flat tonic water. Had same issue last year. No hostess at all. Waitress are deciding what area to sit you at. Lucky to get seated within ten minutes. Apparently owners don't care and didn't learn from last year. They need a dress code for the help. Their dress needs attention! read more

Made the most of it, and it was ultimately worth it for the convenience and price, but I wouldn't go back there...I'd drive somewhere else. The drinks were so so so bad. The food was mid. I got crab legs and they weren't the best quality - think inland casino crab legs. The fries were their redeeming quality- so good I couldn't give the place 2 stars. The service was also so disorganized and slow - even with very few people seated and lots of folks working. Which is all a bummer because this place has SO much potential... it's beautiful, on the water, and a cute outdoor area with live (albeit very bad) music. Again, so much potential, and why I'm giving 3 stars instead of 2, but I wouldn't go back unless they get better service, good, and drinks, but you could totally go enjoy a couple beers and look at the water and have a good time. read more

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Food was good, we (2 top) got seated immediately with our choice of table since it was pretty empty there. There was only us and another family at another table who seemed to be leaving shortly. Our server seemed nice and we ordered pretty immediately as we saw what we wanted. We got 2 apps, the calamari and the ahi tuna nachos. Both were good tasting and had a good presentation. Our server just was terrible. It seemed like he forgot about us after serving our food. We wanted to ask for more chips but didn't even get checked on so didn't bother. Finished our food and another different server came up to us and told us she'd find our server. Our server came back probably 30-45 minutes after we got our food and apologized for the wait. All the servers were fucking around and didn't pay any mind to the customers. I think my servers name was Jordan (dont know the exact spelling) but it was really bad experience. read more

Labor Day Weekend 2025! Was sat immediately. Shoutout to Mercedes the waitress for her perfect service, what a sweetie. The cheese fries and steak quesadilla were yummy. read more

Had a coconut smoothy(delicious), banana sweet tea( very nice) with Prime rib king sizzler while sitting outside ... very nice sea view, friendly & helpful staff... resteraunt is clean , welcoming and setup with a nice bar area... will definitely return for a good meal & a stout drink . read more

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Not sure why the ratings are low or maybe I came on a good day. The food was good, I did end up doing the ayce crab legs and our waiter was quick to put the orders in to ensure I didn't wake long between orders. The ambiance was nice since it was right on the water. read more

High Tides on the Potomac - Ayce crab legs - Seafood Near Me - Colonial Beach, Virginia

Food was good and service was also great. I stopped in from a motorcycle ride and sat right down. For food I got the seafood combo platter and broiled fish and scallops and crab cake. potato cakes. Also with crab cakes I like light batter and this one was very light on fillers and favorable. Solid dish and plenty filling read more

High Tides on the Potomac - Seafood Near Me - Colonial Beach, Virginia

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You would be better of grabbing a kids meal at McDonalds. Based on the wait staff I can't imagine what takes place in the kitchen. From the lack of customer service of wait-staff on a NOT BUSY day or time, to the bartender eating with his hands while working at bar, it's clear this is no longer a sought after place to dine. We have eaten here before so my expectations were high, unfortunately we should have left moments after being ignored at the front door. After wait staff walked past us numerous time without even a simple acknowledging we should have know what was to come! We were taken to a table never to be addressed again -not even as we left! Othe tables were visible upset after they two had been waiting for a very long period of time for drink orders and food alike. After no one addressed us at our table we left after 28 minutes. No "I'll be right with you" not a "sorry for your wait" - NOTHING....we chose to walk out. And as a clear sign of "we don't care", both waitresses were at the hostess area and didn't even acknowledge as we left. -apparently wages are superior in Colonial Beach, Virginia at The BlackPearl/High Tidez and tips and gratuity are insignificant . read more

Just don't go. Great location, but that's it. Horrible ownership who empower their employees to be inept and rude. Mediocre food, crappy drink menu. Alternative: Dockside Restaurant & Tiki Bar. (Signed up for Yelp just to post this review!) read more

I ordered the Rockfish Dinner with Cole slaw and potato cakes. Everything was delicious. The fish was cooked perfectly. My friend ordered the hamburger and he enjoyed it as well. The bartender, Kyle, was exceptional. My Captain was perfect! I highly recommend this establishment. The music is also just right. read more

Shiver my Timbers!! Arrrgh ! That pirate welcomes you as you enter the gang plank of this heavy wooden eatery. Been coming here 4 Eva!!! This spot on the beach is a chill hang, nice view of the beach, always a crowd at the bar... pretty good service... average food and prices... live music some nights... cool tiki bar outside... inside it was hot... a/c was struggling! For a low key beach meal, pop in and and grab a burger, seafood, or steak! I chose the Tropical Island Salad with mandarin oranges and pineapple for a refreshing lunch!! P.S. the restrooms are gross... 2 1/2 read more

High Tides on the Potomac - Taking a break from the heat!! - Seafood Near Me - Colonial Beach, Virginia

0/10 I don't recommend this place. We made a reservation and we still had to wait 20 minutes for a table. Our waitress was kind but she seemed to be really struggling. The food was bland. We had a party of 9, 4 of the orders were messed up or a side was forgotten. One person ordered a pizza, it arrived 15 minutes after we all finished eating and it was the wrong type of pizza!! We were never offered a highchair for the baby we had in the group. The steak and chicken were over cooked. They forgot to put the cheese on my kids cheeseburger. Drinks were forgotten. We WILL NOT be coming back here. We were also told the manager was gonna come out and speak to us. We waited over 20 mins and they never came. Horribly ran business. read more

Great food BUT the bartender at the Tiki Bar is so rude and needs an attitude adjustment. She didnt acknowledge me and I was the only person ordering drinks. Wasn't helpful with ordering food, I had to run back and forth to the main restaurant so I left her no tip! Be kind next time Or find a job that doesn't require customer service. read more

I just had the worst service at high tide. From the second we walked in we were greeted by a rude hostess. At the end of the meal, after they added 18% gratuity I may add, the waitress insulted our parenting. The food was gross. The service was terrible... take your money else where. Only plus was the beautiful view! Update: the waitress followed us next door to the tiki bar to point us out to the bartenders and give me the finger! Keeping it classy! She also claimed we didn't tip after adding 18% to the bill... which I would have given her at least 20% even though she sucked! Thanks for saving me 2% and good riddance! read more

I work in the kitchen here, I went in the other day for a steak. I didnt tell the cooks it was me so they had no idea and they still hooked me up. The steak was cooked perfectly along with all my sides and it was done pretty quick too. Along with that this has always been one of my favorite jobs. Everyone seems to actually care about this place and put in some genuine work. And it's one of the cleanest kitchens I've been in. I love this place and I would always recommend eating here. Only con I can think of is the constant changing servers, they come and go alot. Otherwise perfect example of how a family ran restaurant should be operated. They do a great job here and I will always recommend high tides. read more

Nice spot on the beach with live music usually on most weekends. The server we had was super nice, we liked what we ordered but I did hear person next to us complain about their food being stale. I personally had no issues and the views were nice. read more

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The food my friend and I had both looked and tasted good, but the service was painfully slow. I can't tell if they're understaffed, or if their staff don't know how to handle the volume they're bound to get at a location like this. But between the two of us we were there almost 2 hours, as every step of the process was slow. Getting seated was slow, getting drinks was slow, getting food was slow, getting the checks was slow, having the checks returned was slow... read more

Had a great time here! Provided indoor and outdoor seating. A live band that played an excellent variety of music. Had people out dancing in the sand. Service was absolutely great! The only issue I had was some drunk local (thinks he's a real ladies man). Was bothersome and intrusive while we were there. No biggy, it's a bar. At the end of our evening there. The drunk local proceeded to follow us out of the establishment into the dark night of a strange/new town to instigate an altercation. Aside from this joker. It was a wonderful experience and I do highly recommend! read more

When on the coast of the Potomac, you gotta try the crabs! We were looking for some to take home and the place failed us miserably so we stopped by here and the certainly delivered. We had the steamed crabs and the cream of crab soup. Both were delicious. The crabs juicy and delicious. The crab soup full of crab and savory. Highly recommend! read more

came in after rush hour . Hubs and I rode to Colonial beach on our motorcycle and was looking for a for a quick lunch . High tide was our choice . we were greeted and seated upon arrival. Hubs got Long Island and I got water . Started off with bacon wrapped scallop. Size was decent . Medium sized cooked to perfection. comes 5 per order , wish it could be 6 so it can be split evenly for two. He got fish taco-amazing ! fish were grilled and topped with mango salsa. I got fried oysters . Sides were steak fries and sweet potato . decently sized and lightly breaded oysters . overall a great experience and phenomenal view looking out to the Potomac . not sure the 2 stars rating but we have no complains . read more

Absolutely horrendous service. Called to ask if they were serving pizza today and the clueless girl who answered the phone told me at 4:00. We got there at 5:00 and they were indeed not serving pizza. The girl at the front could Barely get out a sentence so we went to talk to the bartender. About three minutes later, after he put down his phone, he finally came over. It's a shame Because there isn't a better location in town. Someone new needs to buy this place, completely restaff, and overhaul the menus. So much potential but nobody there cares even a little. read more

We were here on Thursday . Five girl friends . I ordered the fried flounder , my friend ordered the fried Rockfish , Also another ordered steamed fish and crab . All our food was super tasty . Fresh seafood . For appetizers we had dish and chips . Good tasting fish . We always visit this place when ever we are in Colonial beach . read more

Absolutely horrible food. First, we waited 5 minutes to be sat, and they weren't busy at all. Ordered the calamari, which didn't come out til after our entrée's, and it didn't come out with the lemon vinaigrette nor the marinara, it came out with cocktail sauce. My wife ordered the steam spiced shrimp, which had hardly any seasoning on it and was extremely overcooked. I ordered the mushroom swiss burger, (medium) which was not "smothered with mushrooms", it had 3 slices of mushrooms on it. It came out well done, drier than a saltine cracker. The bun wasn't even toasted, and the fries we got were cold and soggy. THE BUN WASN'T EVEN TOASTED. I was going to order the Crab Norfolk, but I'm glad I didn't, considering how shitty the rest of the meal was. We've eaten there before and it was outstanding, and I'm usually about giving a place another try if the food is sub-par, but I would rather eat McDonald's than go back there. At least my sweet tea and her diet coke were refreshing, and the waitress was very nice. read more

Very disappointing. Slow Monday, slower service. Waitress blamed the fact we had been sitting for over 30 minutes after ordering appetizer and 3 orders of tacos on "system issues" luckily, everyone arriving after us seemed to be getting their orders just fine. Waitresses was very polite and friendly. Unfortunately, that doesn't make up for delayed food delivered cold. Tortillas were dried out and cracking, one was actually burned. Appetizer of loaded fries had sit so long the cheese was hard. Too much time taken from beach relaxation. Wouldn't recommend arriving very hungry. The wait will leave you Hangry. read more

High Tides on the Potomac - Cold, burned fish taco. - Seafood Near Me - Colonial Beach, Virginia

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Colonial Beach, Virginia --- "High Tides" super server "Melissa" is an impressive server with an endless supply of smiles ... the view of the Potomac River makes outdoor seating a "WOW-riffic" an ideal spot to enjoy a pARTy Beverage ... a bit on the expensive on food & pARTy Beverages, but location, location, location is hard to beat ... "Run-A-Way Bill" was here! 10.23.20 read more

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We celebrated two birthdays here on Friday evening. Our waitress, Sophia, was awesome! We all three had the all you can eat crab legs and shrimp. Best crab legs we have had in a while! Just writing this review makes me want to go for lunch today! Service was great! Food was delish! The music from the next door Tiki Bar was great and not too loud to bother our birthday celebrations. We cannot wait to return! read more

High Tides on the Potomac - Birthday girls and the best crab legs!! - Seafood Near Me - Colonial Beach, Virginia