I would've given this place four stars six months ago, but in the course of about a month their pulled pork sandwich dish suddenly got a lot worse than it was. I don't know if they're cutting costs or what, but the sandwich got a lot smaller and was no longer dripping in barbecue sauce. Some of their other dishes are pretty good. Service is decent. Their fries are awful. The sizzling cookie sundae dessert is fantastic. One thing that really bothers me about this place is that every waiter I've had there when I've been there with children treats the children as though they're sub-human. They don't bring the children water when they bring everyone else water, they don't interact with them in any way. It's rude. read more

Nice location on the water. Consistently mediocre food. Beer selection is lacking. Service is professional but distant. Not much here to warrant frequent visits, which is a shame considering Ithaca's lack of a waterfront district. read more

I've been going here for years and I've never been disappointed. Some of the best dinning views in the area.

My husband & I ate here for lunch/dinner around 3:30 had an awesome burger "The Gutenberger" unbelievably good! Fries are out of this world and the chipper appetizer with bleu cheese worth the extra calories for sure!!! read more

Service was not great. Waitress needed up our drink order....for draft beer. Burgers were just ok. Had a for dinner we had been saving, no expiration date, wouldn't honor it cause we received it last July...not a great experience read more

A delightful spot in this bustling college town. The setting overlooking the boat houses coupled with well prepared and novel cuisine will be bringing us back (especially with our Grandson attending IC nearby). The buffalo chicken egg rolls were quirky, but delicious! FWIW, the crab cakes were as good as any found on Chesapeake Bay, with just the right amount of Old Bay seasoning! read more

The best food I had in 40 years. Great service and amazingly fare price even with alcohol! !!!

Great location, nice looking place, below average food. They have "wood fired" selections. I had the wood fired chicken and pasta - it tasted more like "add boiling water" instant meal. I'm sure if you have a cold beer and stick to the burgers it's fine. read more

Swordfish tacos were not good. The taco shells seemed stale. Food took a long time to come.

When the Boatyard started business years ago it was a fun place with good food and a good menu. But the last few times I went there I was unimpressed with both. I was willing to give it another try yesterday but now even the help has gone down hill. Rather than saying I'll be "right with you" and acknowledging my friend, the blonde high school age attendant (she certainly couldn't be called a host(ess) ignored him while she continued to chat with a co-worker and press buttons on her seating device. Once my friend said hello she deigned to look up. She gave us that electronic pager and said it would be twenty minutes. I asked about the three empty booths in the bar and she said they didn't staff them on Sundays or weekends or something along that line.Now, I realize she doesn't make policy, but it is sad that a restaurant's management would rather have a customer wait then to adequately staff their restaurant. I won't be back and my friends from out of town, who visit often, won't be either. Good riddance to what is becoming old rubbish. I guess every restaurant has a life span..... read more

The food was fabulous, best calamari ever!! Fish cooked perfect, I had the scallops which was delicious, the bread was fresh and the service was great, thank you Jennifer read more

The food, when it is right, is "OK". I can cook better, and should have. The seafood in the Fra Diavolo was rubbery, although the pasta was excellent. The wait staff kept forgetting things, and disappearing for extended periods of time. Then the final nail, they don't do seperate checks! I was there with my wife and five other couples. The wait staff kept checking on us while we took a crash course in accounting and figured out our own bill. Luckily they have the lake and the views etc. but what they need is a manager that knows how to run a restaurant. To make your customers do that.....what are you thinking? Are you mentally ill? You ruined a special night....totally ruined it. If the manager had walked out he would have regretted it. read more

I am truly impressed by this restaurant! I've eaten here 3 times and I've only had positive experiences. I guess I'll just review my last dinner there since I can't remember what I ordered the first couple of times. It's very popular, so the weekends are always crowded. However, I ate there this past Monday night and was surprised to have to wait for a bit. I only had to wait 20min, so that wasn't so bad. Appetizer - Jumbo Shrimp and house bread This came with 4 huge shrimp, perfect for 2 people. It came with a lemon sauce and a cherry sauce. The cherry sauce was sweet and complemented the shrimp! The house bread comes warm with a light seasoned butter. Soup - Asian Chicken and Vegetable, French Onion The Asian Chicken and Veg was a special and it was definitely tasty and a little spicy. There was a right amount of chicken and vegetables in them. The French Onion soup was huge and came with thin fried onions on top. It was one of the best I've ever tasted! Entree - Ravioli Rustica and BBQ Sampler. The ravioli was super filling. It comes with 4 palm sized cheese raviolis with tomato sauce and lots and lots of veggies (mushrooms, peppers, squash, tomatoes) on top. Simply delicious! The BBQ sampler had chicken, ribs, and pulled pork with amazing bbq sauce. It also came with string beans and sweet potato mash. The pulled pork was perfectly sweet! Dessert - Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce The cheesecake had a soft consistency but still delicious, especially with the not to sweet graham cracker crust. I wasn't too fond of the raspberry sauce, I thought it made the dessert way to sweet, but a little bit wasn't bad. Overall, I had a great time and a scrumptious meal at Boatyard Grill. I always enjoy my time here and highly recommend it! read more

The food is good, staff is courteous, and the prices are OK. Could do better on the prices. The place is pretty well kept.

Food was good, as well as the atmosphere. The desserts were our least favorite. I would definitely go back!

After a good hike through taughannock falls state park we ran across the boat yard. Sitting on the point of six mile creek, the decor is understated with exposed beam ceilings and ample seating. We were a party of nine and were seated within ten minutes. Josh, our very attentive and friendly waiter, suggested we start with cracklin calamari appetizer that came with cocktail and chipotle aioli dipping sauces. I don't know how good the cocktail sauce was because I couldn't get enough of the chipotle aioli. A perfect pairing with the perfectly done calamari. Good call Josh. I ordered the New York strip medium. While waiting for my steak, they brought out the bread with garlic herb butter. How good was the bread? So good we asked for and were served six more times. Steak arrived cooked to my satisfaction. The wood fired grill imparts a nice flavor and tenderness. The meat practically melts in your mouth. I savored every last bite. The hoegaarten beer suggested by Josh went really well with my steak. Smooth and crisp without over powering the meat. Overall a really nice place with a good atmosphere and helpful wait staff. Three cheers to Josh, you are the man. read more

This was my second time eating here in the last year. They do not take reservations. They have call ahead seating, this allows them to seat more people in a night. If they took reservations they might actually be able to keep up with the people they are able to seat. I did call ahead and showed up a few minutes before my time I was given. I did get sat about at the time they gave me. While my wife and I waited, we sat at the bar. The bartenders did an awesome job. I would have liked to see more variety in the beers available on tap. You don't need 3 summer ales on tap when you only have 10 taps all together. We were sat with a nice view of the lake. Our server was very awesome. The problem was the, more than 1/2-hour wait from appetizer to main dish. I had to drink water with my meal because I had to drive home. It will be a while before I return. read more

Delicious! The steamed clams were superb and the lobster tail was sweet and juicy. Excellent service as well. I would definitely come back.

This doesn't even deserve one star. Can't believe anyone wd give it any stars. Coming from NY the food wasn't even palatable. Never ever order the eggplant parmagian. Or the wood fired pasta chicken dish which wasn't wd fired and had absolutely no taste or spices whatsoever. Will never read more

We got married in Ithaca in 2015, and hosted our reception at the Boatyard Grill (we're a bit late on reviews, woops!). We worked with their manager, Brian, throughout the process, and he was extremely helpful and accommodating. This was one of our favorite places to eat when we were students here, and it was also a beautiful venue for our wedding reception. We would HIGHLY recommend hosting your large party here! It was actually much cheaper than many other options, which was pleasantly surprising. We had about 175 guests and all fit outside under the tent they set up. We were able to choose several entrees from their standard menu to have for our buffet, plus we selected a variety of appetizers for cocktail hour. All of the staff members were great throughout the entire evening, and definitely went above and beyond for us. Two examples: 1) we had our ceremony at Stewart Park and the other company never delivered the chairs; we called Boatyard Grill last minute and one of their employees (on their day off, mind you) drove a truck over to the park and delivered us a bunch of chairs in the nick of time. 2) one of our guests got very intoxicated at the end of our reception, and one of the staff members ended up driving him to the ER. We cannot recommend them enough! Both for a wedding reception venue, as well as for just a regular meal out. read more

I had absolutely no complaints with the food here. It was delicious. The spinach artichoke dip was sooooooo good and totally hit the spot. It was warm and melty and amazing. For an entree I got the wood-fired pasta with chicken and I could not bring myself to stop eating it, even when I was full. It was SO. good. It was capatavi pasta with broccoli, tomato, peppers, spinach, and chicken in a delicious sauce. This is a MUST order! It was outstanding. The only reason I am not giving this a full 5 stars is because of the wait. We called 50 minutes in advance for "priority seating" (couldn't schedule a reservation) and then ended up waiting almost an hour and a half upon arriving. They did assure us, however, that they have never seen a night as busy as that one, so I wouldn't be too worried about that if you are looking into going. Although the wait was long, once we were seated, our appetizer came out in 5 minutes and our main dishes about 15 minutes later, which was incredibly fast. The service was attentive and very quick, and that as well as the excellent food certainly made up for the long wait. read more

We were in Ithaca for the weekend and decided to have a nice dinner on the water. The food was wonderful and the service staff friendly and accommodating. We wanted a table outside so we could see the lake view and were told that it would be a short wait. We went to the bar and ordered drinks, in about five minutes our pager went off, not long at all. That's when it started to fall apart. Our table was on the deck, only problem was that there was a big tent between us and the lake view and couldn't see a thing. My partner went to take a sip of her drink but found a piece of hard plastic in it. We were told it was probably a piece of an ice bin. They replaced the drink , but made no effort to comp it. They should have replaced it and refunded the cost. On top of the non-view, we found that we were seated next to a small dog that would let out a high pitched sudden Yelp . read more

The ambience is perfect. The lake, the tent, the fairy lights, the tables nicely spaced apart...but it's all a ficade. A seemingly magical ficade that masks the bland, microwave food that we were served. If you want a night on the lake and could care less about the food and/or cocktails you're being served, this is the place for you. Our waitress was lovely, very caring and helpful. The food came out fast. The problem was our drinks (mojitos ad a bourbon cocktail) tasted like water and were served in water glasses, not very satisfying. The Brussel sprouts taste as if they were sprayed with vinegar then microwaved until soggy. The so called "Pan Asian" salmon, was dry fish in watery soy sauce. The Seafood Diavolo Pasta tasted like a college kid threw spaghetti into a pot, boiled it in dishwater then poured an entire can of dollarstore tomato sauce on top. Some soggy, slimy "scallops, calamari and jumbo shrimp" swam amongst the noodles. Made us feel sick. Very odd, the prices were STEEP let me tell you. The food needs help, it needs a hug, it needs a friend. The restaurant felt Covid safe and was beautiful. Eek methinks I will not be going back. read more

Very disappointing. We were in from out of town and looking for a nice place to have dinner. We started with an appetizer and the chips were stale. We didn't say anything about that as we really just wanted to enjoy the night. Our waitress was well aware I was gluten free and still brought bread to our table. We simply asked for it to be taken away. She did however make sure I didn't order a soup that flour is used in it. Whew! Thank you. I ordered the surf and turf because being gluten free it was the easiest and safest option. Lobster, steak, potatoes and veggies. Lobster was good, steak was horrible! Zero flavor! No seasoning was used at all. I tried. I really did. After taking a bite of the potatoes our waitress came over and told me they were not gluten free as they are put in a fryer or something. She offered to get me another side but I declined. I remember eating gluten. I remember not understanding why people were so picky and annoying about gluten free. 9 months of being bed ridden at 36 I no longer question it but really dislike asking others to accommodate me. I was seriously ok with not getting another side because at this point I just wanted to finish eating what I could and leave. We paid way too much and sadly won't be back. read more

Went here for my birthday dinner and it was perfect. Their tuna tataki and buffalo chicken eggrolls are amazing. I order the sesame tuna ( cooked to perfection) & Caesar salad (so crisp and fresh) & my friend order the woodfire chicken pasta (packed with veggies and a delicious smoked gouda flavor) So happy we decided to go here! The outdoor seating is fantastic, we even got to watch the sunset on the lake. Our server Mary J was very professional and helped with suggestions. She didn't rush us out either, the food was perfectly timed (as we told her we weren't in a hurry) After dining they even had a fire going, so we sat by the lake and chatted. I love this place! read more

We tried coming to this place on a Friday, knowing it's probably busy, we called ahead for a table at 6:30. When we arrived on time the hostess told us it would be another 45min! So we patiently wait with our 1 and 3 year olds..._until 8pm, a full hour and a half after our original call ahead time. All the while, the hostess keeps telling us" any minute now, the table has paid the check and will leave any minute now". At 8, we finally gave up and left. I will say the location is nice, the hostess and waitresses have no clue about what customer service means. Food from my previous experience here is mediocre at best and not the reason to come here. My recommendation is to avoid this place but if you must go, don't trust any estimates of wait time given by the staff. do not come here with a large party or kids. read more

Just ate here with a group of 30+ Thanksgiving weekend. I was going to give 4 stars since I rarely give 5, but thinking back on it, 5 is appropriate. Our group was divided into 3 tables. It's been my experience that when you go somewhere with a large group, service is s-l-o-w. This wasn't the case as our drink orders were closely followed by appetizers and then by salads and then by dinner and finally by dessert. I was a little wary of the food thanks to some of the reviews here, but everything I sampled was excellent. I asked the waitress for recommendations and she suggested a half dozen items on the menu that people seem to like a lot. I got the stuffed shrimp (one of her recommendations) and was not disappointed. I asked for the maple whipped sweet potatoes in place of the rice, and this is where I encountered my one complaint. Rather than putting the potatoes on the side, they were on the bottom of a shallow bowl (like the rice would be) topped by the shrimp, spinach, and sauce. It turned out to be quite good like that anyway, but really, you'd think the kitchen would sacrifice presentation (which they seem to value here) in favor of flavor (I was worried the potatoes + the sauce for the shrimp would be inedible). I wasn't incredibly impressed by the sizzling cookie that I shared with my husband, but that's probably because at that point I felt like my stomach was going to burst from the volume of food I'd ingested. A nice selection of wine (including local wines), craft beers, and other local beverages (think Saranac Root Beer) rounds out the experience. So why 5 stars instead of 4? Excellent food, glasses quickly filled, pleasant wait staff, and efficient service. There's not really much more you can ask for when dining with a large group. read more

Waterfront location is the best thing about this place. In my opinion it's great for having a drink, enjoying the scenery, but if you want good food, you're better off eating elsewhere. Lots of folks in the area lament that such a great locale serves up such mediocre fare. read more

The view was nice on Cayuga Lake and the server was pleasant, but the food was mediocre at best. We had a tiered seafood medley--the fried calamari wasn't cooked correctly; it wasn't browned and it was a little chewy (oil not hot enough) which should be a no brainer especially in a place where it is probably served all the time. I had the rib eye steak which was tough and chewy. My mother had the stuffed shrimp which was just ok. I don't understand why some restaurants in the best locations think they can get by with the view alone. read more

Like the food was good but what I really enjoyed was the scenery. The service was good as well. Been to this place a few times and each time always had a good experience. read more

One of my favorite places to eat in Ithaca, you must try the maker's mark medallions and the clam chowder. They also have a good selection of drinks although the appetizers can be hit or miss. I wasn't impressed with the calamari, but the tuna was excellent. I've only had one bad experience with service (waiter threw out my leftovers and then when I reminded him I still needed them he brought me a decoy cup of clam chowder to distract me from the fact that he'd put a house salad in my to go box instead of my yummy, and more expensive, blue cheese and steak salad). Management was really nice the next day though when I called to express my dismay upon discovery of my disappointing lunch. Summer by the lake is particularly nice. I would definitely recommend checking it out (just check those leftover boxes before you leave!). read more

The Boatyard has delicious food!!!! Although we made reservations at 6:30 and got seated at 7:10. I give it a 8/10 :)

We enjoyed our lunch overlooking the south end of Cayuga Lake. New England clam chowder was homemade and delicious. Most of the ingredients for our fresh beet salad came from local Lively Run Farm. Angus burger & mushroom Crepes were also delicious! Our waitress was friendly & efficient! We'll be back next time we're in the Ithaca area! read more

My wife and I stopped in on a wim, and we're seated right away. Nice place great food, very friendly wait staff

Decent food, lovely location, solid service. It's really more of an experience. The food is good, but not exceptional. They have a nice menu variety and the location is so picturesque that it is well worth it. read more

This was my 4th visit and the food was always wonderful. This time our waitress Gina, made the experience even better by being the sweetest and most helpful server we had here..I guess it makes or breaks the deal. We had a rib eye steak (perfectly done), scallops (soft and without sand) and the seafood fra diavolo, after the cracklin calamari (very fresh taste). We finished with chocolate lava cake (oh so yummy). The restaurant is very cozy with a great view of the lake and nice atmosphere. read more

This is the best Boatyard Grill. Service was prompt, server was excellent. Food as always taste and fabulous presentation. We were there for my daughter graduation and was a great choice. read more

The wait wasn't as bad as we expected although we did make a reservation and still had to wait twenty minutes. When seated the waitress was very friendly and got our drinks very quickly and took our orders. The problem I have with this place is that all entrees besides one came to the table. We also noticed the same dish we were waiting for was given to a table in front of us that were seated and ordered after we did. By the the last dish came, 15 minutes, the majority of the table had already finished dinner. They did give us a complimentary dessert to compensate for waiting which was nice. The food was good but that whole ordeal made this experience not as pleasing as I hoped it would be. read more

The atmosphere here (especially in the summer on the patio by the water) is what makes this place so great. We think it is a tad overpriced but hey I guess the real estate isn't cheap here haha! We have gotten everything from the appetizers to fish dinners to burgers to (my favorite) the skillet cookie dessert! I would go back here just for that cookie topped with purity ice cream!! Mmmm. read more

Good menu with reasonable prices. Depending on the time there may be a wait but they have always provided good service otherwise.