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Orion Boathouse

3.2 (105 reviews)

Orion Boathouse Photos

ORION BOATHOUSE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Upscale
Moderate noise
Outdoor seating
Happy hour specials

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Recommended Reviews - Orion Boathouse

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Reviews With Photos

Patio winter view
Elizabeth W.

Lovely spot for an afternoon beverage. It's overlooking the lake, which made for a lovely view. We only stopped by for a cocktail and apps. We were pleasantly surprised with the asparagus. Friendly helpful staff and tasty beverages. I would stop back for a full meal.

View from our table
Jen P.

This place is worth the view and location alone. I have never ate inside which has huge picture windows bc it's so loud and would rather sit in the sun. Warning tho most tables are not shaded. Which was fine at sunset on a beautiful evening. There are two large umbrellas and a deck overhand with some tables but many in full sun if that bothers you. Our server Joanna was SO GREAT. Best attitude, super kind, fast and patient when we needed time or were unsure. Lots of staff and everyone working crazy hard. The food was good but not exceptional. I wanted a little more mushrooms, onions and sauce with my steak but I didn't ask for it. The cookies weren't amazing and I likely would not order again. My fave was the frozen margarita and the view along with the service. Will be back!

Upcoming Halloween event!
Jamie G.

Kids came home for the weekend and their only request was to go the Orion Boathouse for Smashburgers! So we popped in for lunch today and the burgers were as amazing as always. We arrived around 11:30, just ahead of the after church crowd so it was pretty quiet. When we left, it was starting to pick up. The smashburger is a very simple burger with two smashed patty, two slices of American cheese, aioli and pickles. I don't know how they can make something so simple taste so amazing! Do yourself a favor and pop in for a burger and swap the house chips for the truffle fries, equally as amazing as the burger. They were advertising for a Halloween event that is sure to be excellent. We attended their LO Fireworks event and it was amazing, so I am sure this will be as amazing.

Hamburger and fries
Tracy D.

We came by boat. They need a few more cleats to tie the boat too. We struggled for a little bit. Our server was friendly for our party of 7. The garlic knots to start and pretzels. Then had chicken wings, Mac and cheese with chicken sandwich, Philly cheese sandwich and cheeseburger and hamburgers. All tasted pretty good. Space inside and outside was nice.

Interior dining area
Dano R.

Positives: decent happy hour with a limited amount of appetizers and $1 savings on beer / drinks. Great view of lake Orion from both the dining room and patio. Can accommodate groups of 10-20 with advance reservation. Negatives: staff / bartender got multiple orders mixed up with group of four couples during happy hour. Perch dinner served with white rice lacked flavor. Server mixed up multiple dinner checks among group of 16 diners.

Overlooking the water
Lorie C.

So I was hesitant to try this restaurant based on some negative reviews but actually everything was fine. We came at 12:30 on a Thursday. We were greeted pleasantly and we asked for outside seating as it was a nice sunny day. No problem, hostess even asked if we prefer sun or shade. We had a young man as our waiter and he was also very nice and attentive, helpful with food recommendations. I ordered the small Orion House salad with chicken added. It was served in a too small size bowl. So I did request a large plate to spread it out on allowing me space to cut up the chicken as I was eating it. It was a good salad with light dressing. The goat cheese was interesting as not crumbled up over the whole salad but served as an encrusted ball off to the side. What a good idea and so tasty! I would order it again. My friend ordered the grilled chicken skewer and really liked it. We split a slice of cheesecake for dessert. It was fine, nothing out of the ordinary. The view is of course beautiful. During our meal the manager did stop by our table and asked if everything was good which was a nice touch.

Smash burger, fries and Athletic beer
Julie H.

First time at this beautiful restaurant right on the shores of scenic Lake Orion. First of all - THE VIEW! It's fabulous! There is a big outdoor dining area right on the water and we saw lots of boats going by. And dock space for diners arriving by boat. We sat inside looking out at the lake and loved the cute decor. One clever booth is made with part of a boat. The staff is friendly and helpful. I had to have the smash burger and it was delicious and hearty. I upgraded to the fries and they were perfectly prepared. Both were a home run! Great cocktails, wine and beer and I was able to select a nonalcoholic option from several. Great place for lunch, dinner and brunch. Desserts are made in house and look tasty. Too bad I was too full today but next time for sure. I highly recommend this restaurant and will be back next time I'm in town.

love their new upper deck!
Erica B.

Had a great experience! I love their special events, especially yoga and the wine dinners. Highly recommend for dinner or brunch. if you can, try to sit in the awesome boat booth. Kid friendly but also perfect food options and ambiance for a ladies night out. this is our favorite place in lake orion, best restaurant hands down. The owners are involved and put a lot of detail into the restaurant and it shows. cheers!

The overboard and running lights
Jackie K.

Orion Boathouse is my favorite place to come for a date night. The views are amazing, the cocktails are delicious and the food is great. I love that they change up their menu and always have a great time whenever we come.

Mac and cheese
Jennifer B.

I hate to give a review this early in a business' life but I genuinely hope this place goes the mile! We went on a Friday night around 6:45pm and it was a 45 min wait for 2. I called around 6:30 and was told it was a 15 minute wait- so I'm thinking this is the prime time to come. We were luckily able to get 2 seats at the bar within minutes. Although nice, we felt way overcrowded by the people around us waiting for a table trying to get a drink. This did die down at around 7:20 so definitely did not damper our meal. We were promptly greeted for a drink, but we decided to put our food order in since we figured it would be a bit of a wait. We ordered an app, pizza, burger, and side. Everything came at one time. I was hoping we would get the app first but it wasn't that big of a deal. Our space was just a bit crowded because of everything coming at one time! Starter- calamari- I felt like this was really a miss for this place. I feel like a fried calamari would be better. It wasn't bad by no means- but the calamari was luke warm (was it supposed to be warm or cold? I'm not sure) and overshadowed by everything else in the dish. It looked a bit messy and not put together. It was almost like a bruschetta. Burger- great flavor! But unfortunately overcooked. It was very crunchy on the outside. This wouldn't stop me from ordering again! It really tasted good just the overcooked texture was off putting. The chips that came with the burger were AWFUL! Why doesn't this burger come with fries? For $16 a burger should come with fries. Mac and cheese- I wanted to love this but it was SO salty! A little less salt and this would be delicious. margherita Pizza- very good!! Some of the "globs" of pesto on the pizza were a little over powering. It needed to be a bit spread out more. I also thought the capers on the pizza were very unnecessary. I've never seen capers on a margherita pizza. The crust was good. I would get again without the capers and light pesto. Weird pet peeve at the bar- but why is the TV turned off? Playoff basketball and hockey is on! All of the staff was pleasant and friendly. All of the problems we had with our meal Im certain will be worked out with time being open. I'm looking forward to coming back!

G.O.A.T pizza and Matcha Mojito.
C D.

All of us really loved our food. GOAT pizza- SO good, chicken waffles (S-class ranking in in teen speak), chickpea salad (i.e. sandwich) was a hit with my super healthy Mom and Chicken sandwich with brie and green apples- also got rave reviews by hubby. And great views from the patio!

Menu 5/10/23
Kiki H.

We loved the ambiance and atmosphere! However they were still sorting out timing of meals. We ordered and waited meanwhile the table next to us got sat, had drinks, and got their food before ours ever came. Manager apologized but the bartender who took our order, and went to check our order looked lost and was not apologetic. Menu is tight. And VERY expensive. Patio, deck and dock still under construction. Place was packed though!

Double Smash Burger

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1 year ago

Very expensive for size of the servings. Great disappointment for the first visit. I will not be going back!

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Ask the Community - Orion Boathouse

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Irish Tavern - Beignets

Irish Tavern

3.8(167 reviews)
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I am so happy my friends and I stumbled upon Irish Tavern! The interior is very dimly lit and…read morerelaxing (there's even a countdown to St.Patrick's Day) and there is a large patio space where musicians perform live music! The presentation of the drinks is so cute and the drinks are high quality and taste amazing! I recommend the seasonal ones, especially the purple one! As for what to eat, I HIGHLY recommend trying a "Boxty" if you haven't had one before--they are Irish potato pancakes with fillings. The corned beef one was delicious--the corned beef was very finely chopped and paired well with the garlic aioli!

I am super impressed by the food here! I ordered the corned beef boxty, it is like a corned beef…read moresandwich but wrapped in a potatoe pancake instead of bread, and it is amazing and all sandwich fillings should come in potatoe pancakes. They do have a lot of options for the filling here too, like grilled chicken, steak mushroom cheese (my 2nd choice, maybe next time), even grilled vegetable or cod! I am glad I stayed, I was actually in the process of walking out at about 10 pm because, even though the sign says seat yourself, there was no one who acknowledged or approached me at my booth for a good 10 minutes. I finally found the waiter seating a table at the outdoor patio, and I actually went up to him (with an apology for interrupting lol) and asked if he could come find me when he was done because I had been here a while! As my waiter, he was super nice and accomodating, so I don't know why he was not monitoring tables but, that is what I took away a star for. It is a dim sports bar but I like that there are 2 areas, there was live music in the bar area, and a separate quieter area on the other side. Now that the performance is over, the sound for the football game is in the bar area but there is no sound on the giant tv's in this area, which I totally appreciate! Over all I would stop by again if I'm in the area, but ignore the Seat Yourself sign and wander around until you find a server! PS Ummm just paid and the machine auto starts your tip option at 25%, with the other options being 22 and 20, so for a bar where a lot of people might be drunk checking out, that seems very sneaky and manipulative, I did not like that...

Photos
Irish Tavern - Main dining room

Main dining room

Irish Tavern - Fish & Chips

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Corned Beef Boxty

Orion Boathouse - waffles - Updated May 2026

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