Great food! Great staff , especially our waitress- Genenieve!! The whole experience, augmented our hiking/kayaking visit to the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. I would definitely go back to this restaurant. read more

The prime is excellent! My husband and I split our Queen sized meal. And it was more than enough. The views are beautiful! Right on the lake. Prices average. Yes go! read more

See all

I was hesitant based on some of the reviews, but my fiance made reservations for us at 7:30 on a summer Friday. We were seated immediately, service was attentive, and both of our dishes were great- I had the espresso tenderloin and he had the surf and turf. read more

Portside Bar & Restaurant - American Near Me - Bayfield, Wisconsin

Service was good. Short-handed but waitstaff' were hustling and pleasant. Salad side tasty as well as both our dressings. Shrimp, asparagus were large and perfectly cooked. Bad: Surf and Turf. Paper-thin steak. No wonder I wasn't asked how I would like it cooked. At a quarter inch, not much of an option. This was a breakfast steak, not a $35 entree. This was what the ownership chose to deliver to my table. Regrets on my choice of meal, but not on restaurant. read more

Beautiful view. We waited 1.5 hours to get our food. No reason given for the delay. The place was not hopping on a Saturday night and now we know why. Drinks were watered down. Food was average to below average. read more

Nice view of the marina with drink and food options. Only one bartender worked on a Friday night leading to our drinks arriving with our main dish. Multiple fresh fish options to choose from which were simply prepared and lacked flavor. Their mashed potatoes won the award for our favorite bite of the night. We ended our evening enjoying live music on the patio overlooking the marina. Overall the bar service and the food flavor disappointed us but we enjoyed the view! read more

The view is awesome. The food is average: rice was hard/not cooked through, fish was fishy and over salted. The clam chowder was good, but mostly a potato soup. I think they're trying to stay affordable for the area, but my goodness, just want a decent dinner. read more

Waited 45 minutes before we stopped an employee to tell them no one has approached us. Terrible service! Brought wrong sides to 3 meals. Breadsticks came and you can put them on your paper placemats! The only thing going for this place is the view read more

I'll keep it brief. The view from the restaurant is fantastic. It certainly has that going for it. The service was decent, but not exemplary. The food was good, but not excellent - I ordered the prime rib and it was seasoned well and prepared properly, but the cut itself had tough spots I'm not used to in prime. The wine glasses had soap streaks on them which I couldn't help but notice, as did the cutlery. As far as the overall experience is concerned, it was terribly lacking. The place has high ceilings, hard floors, lots of glass, and nothing on the walls to absorb ambient noise. Translation: it's a boomy cavern in which I had to lean across the table and raise my voice to cupped ears to be heard in casual dinner conversation. That was seriously disappointing and generally frustrating and I left thinking this was my first and last time in that restaurant. In a single sentence: the Portside Restaurant is absolutely average and nothing more. read more

They had the whitefish liver appetizer which we found is unique cuisine to the area and is amazing. Probably the best part of our meal. I had the whitefish and my wife had the trout - both were very good. This restaurant offers fantastic views of Lake Superior with friendly helpful service. It's a nice easy drive only a few miles away from Bayfield. read more

Portside Bar & Restaurant - a plate of food - American Near Me - Bayfield, Wisconsin

See all

Portside Bar and Restaurant exceeded our expectations. We held a party of 15 here for our wedding reception. All the food was amazing. They brought in local cheesecake for us. Even with a full house they made sure we were taken care of all the time. Karen took great care of us and was great to work with. She ensured that everything went perfectly for our big day. Couldn't have asked for anything better. read more

It is OK. It is for sure way more casual than I expected. It is not very well decorated-it isn't ugly but unremarkable so no vibe at all. It was our first time here and we didn't find anyone overly friendly and welcoming. There is a nice view of the marina from most of the tables as they have a wall of windows. The food and drinks were good but as more people filled the tables it got really loud; one has to shout one's conversation. It is much better outside; they have a very nice patio /deck area which we found out about later - the hostess never offered us that option. read more

Good food, nice wait staff, beautiful view, but we were seated 45 minutes after our reservation and our food took an hour and a half to come, drinks alone took 30+ minutes to get. Not good if you have young kids. read more

Great view and good food! The wait staff could be a bit more attentive. I ordered a drink and it got delivered to the wrong table and no one checked on me. read more

I was really dissappointed with my food (prime rib sandwich) and my wife thought her white fish wasn't very good either. also, the service was pretty slow. I think maybe you just are paying for the view. read more

Portside Bar & Restaurant - a view of the marina - American Near Me - Bayfield, Wisconsin

While staying at the nearby Brookside Hideaway condos for a few days, we ate here one night and were pleasantly surprised by the food quality, service and view of the marina and lake. Walleye fillets were available broiled or deep-fried. My partner had a very tasty burger. Our waiter was very attentive and friendly. Prices were quite reasonable too. read more

Had the peppercorn steak. Was delicious! Their salad and bread was super tasty! Beautiful view of the south marina. Ordered some beachy/summer cocktail and it was really awful, super watered down- this was the only bad thing. Service was friendly and nice! read more

Portside Bar & Restaurant - Peppercorn steak - American Near Me - Bayfield, Wisconsin

My best friends eloped near Bayfield and were planning on dining at Portside. I contacted the restaurant to see if they could do something special for their dinner. Tammy, the amazing manager, was so accommodating and imaginative!! She was an absolute delight to work with, as we emailed back and forth often, and she truly went above and beyond to make the dinner special! I can't say enough about how wonderful she is and how much I appreciate her time and effort!! read more

So I would like to start this review by honestly saying my wife and I have never returned a dish at a restaurant in the 7 years we have been together. Firstly, we were recommended to Portside while vacationing for a few days at Bayfield. We arrived right as restaurant opened at 5pm. We waited for 5 minutes to get seated because the hostess was MIA. We asked for window seating and the view was great. After we were seated we were greeted by a pleasant waitress who informed us of the specials. We asked for drinks and when I inquired about the beers on tap the selection was down to just one, which was just ok. The menu selection was minimal, focusing mainly on fish- which we expected going into this. Being vegetarians, we opted for the fettuccine alfredo with vegetables. The dinner rolls they gave us were excellent, warm and soft but they only gave us two pieces. The salad was bizarre however. It was mixed greens with dried cranberries and I was expecting candied pecans but instead it had pecans with raw brown sugar sprinkled on top. I was not a fan, it seemed premade and the sugar made it gritty. We received our fettuccine alfredo with veggies and this is where things took a turn. The noodles were undercooked and about a third of them were stuck together from improper cooking, not to mention the sauce was broken. We waited about 6 minutes before a different waitress finally asked how things were going and we asked for something different. The hostess stepped in and asked what they could do to rectify the situation. We asked to have the mushroom ravioli with tomato sauce as that was the only other vegetarian option. When it finally came we were shocked. This dish was $17 and it seriously had 7 (small) ravioli pieces in a mediocre tomato sauce. Now, we are completely OK with paying that if the dish was something incredible with high end ingredients or if the portions were bigger. However, this was just average ravioli that didn't seem homemade and just left us both hungry afterwards. Overall- the view was cool, the two little breads were great and the water was good but needless to say, we won't be coming back. read more

A beautiful seafood restaurant. We were fortunate to be staying at the cottages of the woodsy Port Superior. The restaurant is on the marina with a gorgeous view of Lake Superior and the massive line up of docked boats. Its one of those menus that you want to just keep ordering and don't know when to stop. Had to try the clam chowder. My only disappointment because its loaded with potatoes. Stuffed mushrooms started getting me full. We both got the shrimp scampi. Huge, buttered garlic shrimp. Some of the best I've ever had. Basil even managed a piece of delicious cheesecake. I love the inside decor. I got to meet the owners, husband is the chef. They were telling us all the orchards to hit, and we did. Can't wait to come back here and maybe stay in one of the condos. Love this side of Bayfield. read more

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner which started out when we asked for an outside table. We were the only ones out on the spacious deck overlooking the harbor. The staff was very friendly, our server was fabulous. He offered us great information about the specials and the best dishes on the menu. The whitefish liver was excellent and the whitefish main course was really tasty. We had a great experience at the Portside Restaurant and we highly recommend it. read more

Portside Bar & Restaurant - View of harbor from outside table. - American Near Me - Bayfield, Wisconsin

Great view of Lake Superior. Decent food. Usually not busy. A nice change of pace from cooking on the sailboat! read more

Portside has always had great food, but after the renovations this summer and new management, it is an even better restaurant. Great views are even better with the new layout. ALWAYS start with the clam chowder - absolutely the best. Fresh whitefish or trout either as a dinner or as fish and chips - both are amazing. The vegetables were perfectly cooked and the wild rice pilaf was much more than just filler. I come back every year and have never been disappointed. read more

I am not a food critic nor am I very adventurous. We went to Port side on Friday night. I found a dish that had layered a puff pastry, scallop, shrimp, and braised pork. It was absolutely great. Normally I would prefer meat potatoes and a salad, but this was excellent. App apparently the chef worked at Marx Fused Foods in Stillwater. Whatever his prior employment, his work at Port side is excellent. read more

It is a more on the expensive side but the food is okay. The atmosphere and view though is fantastic. Is a good location near vacation spots. Nice place to relax after a beautiful day out on the lake. Also has a nice small board walk near it to walk on and look at sail boats. read more

It is nice to look at out the marina and Lake SUperior while dining on the second floor at Portside. Their menu is the usual surf & turf options. My husband had the lake trout and I had atlantic salmon. Both entrees were fine - nothing outstanding. They tout their award wining side salad, but we were completely undewhelmed. It is just a few greens with dried cranberries and candied pecans - nothing else - so what is the big deal? I did like their dinner rolls - fresh & tasty and slightly chewy. We were staying at an inn nearby and so chose this locale, but I would have preferred to dine elsewhere. THe decor in the restaurant is a bit tired and predictable. read more

Sooooo disappointed! We live in Stillwater and like to support local businesses, so we gave Portside a try on Sunday (8/6) evening. It was not busy, but we waited over an hour for our food! And when it finally came, just as we were walking out, it wasn't good. The chicken on the Hawaiian chicken sandwich was tough. The other 4-5 tables were also waiting and at least one other group of 3 left. Such a bad first impression that we won't be back! read more

New season off to a great start. The tempura shrimp and pineapple appetizer is perfectly cooked and quite tasty. Steaks always good. Good wine selection as well. read more

Terrible. The new owner changed everything for the worse including the unfriendly decor. The fish liver with veggies did not taste fresh at all, totally over microwaved.Previous cook did an outstanding job with fish livers that's why we would love to come here.The chicken katzu breast sandwich was NOT chicken breast, the look already was so disgusting, had no resemblance to an Asian dish, we used to live in Asia,could not be eaten by both my husband and me, and then without apologizing charged us full price for everything. After their renovation and new ownership everything turned unfortunately for the worse. read more

The food was phenomenal, I had the steak and my husband had the pan fried whitefish - both were excellent, and cooked to perfection. The views of the marina were also beautiful. We will definitely be back! read more

First of all, the location on the Yelp map is wrong! We drove the wrong way and had to ask directions - the location is south of Bayfield on Port Superior. Had a nice dinner here on a nice day on the deck. The food was good, not great and maybe a bit pricey. Great service. read more

We were in town for apple festival and getting the boat ready for winter. The wine list is very nice. The food..not so much. Creamy pasta sauce has a gluey consistency, fish soup had great chunks and taste but no broth, no bread was served with the meal, and the place was incredibly understaffed and hours eviscerated because it was late in the season. In short, the best thing recommending this place is the location. Dont bother if you can make it into town. read more

This is our third time at this restaurant. The first 2 times were successful. This time we had 6:00 reservations to celebrate a 50th birthday. Arrived at 5:55 and were seated by the window immediately, as requested. The restaurant was almost empty at the time. Our drinks and appetizer was brought to us immediately, but at 7:45 we STILL had not received our meal. We were continually told by Jim (our server) our meals were coming up next - but as we sat, we watched as other people sat down & receive their meals. People who arrived after us were already leaving. While we were waiting - our drink order was taken but not filled. We finally went to the hostess and let her know our situation. She was very apologetic and looked into it. We were with good friends and were having a nice time - but we were getting very frustrated. Finally our meal arrived. Fortunately the order was correct and tasted fine. Despite our obvious frustration- at no point was desert offered us even though they were told the dinner was in celebration of a Birthday. Instead we were just handed the bill by Jim. We assumed the bill would reflect the apologies offers us by the hostess, however NO discount was reflected in our bill...much to our surprise! Luckily the order was correct and decent- however sadly we will never be back. read more

Summer at marina. Continued to give chance after chance. Large group, bad reviews. Shrimp artichoke starter - soaked in poor quality olive oil. "We don't like this." Server said "Oh, most people do." Removed uneaten plate. (charged to bill) Two white fish orders; breading soggy, fish raw. $20 steak - ordered rare to medium rare - arrived very well done. Server said "What do you want me to do?" (charged to bill) Award winning salad - drowned in dressing. "How can I get this not drowned?" Server said "Next time order it on the side." Removed un-eaten plates. (charged to bill) Chicken sandwich - dry, cold melted cheese on small portion to huge bun. Spent the week apologizing for our "special"$$$$ evening out. Save your money. Do not eat here. Give that expensive cost of meal to charity, someone who cares and deserves it. read more

Get a table near the window and enjoy a fantastic view of the marina. If you want the finest that Portside has to offer, remember where you are. Order anything Whitefish or Lake Superior Trout. If you leave this place without trying the Whitefish livers, you deserve a lifetime of McDonalds and Dennys. read more