On The Waterfront

Great location by the water but not too special inside.
The menu was OK, service was good, but the food served just about average. The coffee was served in a dirty cup and the milk server was cracked and chipped. Sadly, The whole establishment had a tired air about it and I wouldn’t rush back here again.

Nice view, convenient location along the waterfront promenade, and solid food. Would come back again.

We’ve tried this place a couple times and likely won’t return. Our crab dip was too fishy and was sent back. The rest was mediocre at best and seems the staff was not concerned about providing a great dining experience; though the atmosphere is great and earned an extra star based on the appearance alone. The location is well designed with an awesome wall mural but with mediocre food, it’s disappointing for a waterfront restaurant.

We’ve been here a few times and have yet to be impressed or even just generally pleased. The food and service are acceptable, but just barely so. Since my wife and I are weirdos who rarely eat at socially set hours, we’ve never been in here while they were busy. Yet we’ve always had to ask for more tea, water, etc. I also don’t think we’ve ever had an order where we didn’t receive the wrong side or something wasn’t forgotten. We are not fans.

Another delicious meal visiting Washington. Attractive presentation and tasty dishes all around. Very affordable and cool pub ambience, right on the water.

My husband and I had never tried On the Waterfront, but I had heard some good things so we decided to take my nephew when he came to town for a visit. Things didn’t start out well as it was obvious that the hostesses were way too inexperienced to handle the flow coming through. We walked in the door and there were several other people waiting in the entryway, so I approached the hostess stand in hopes of putting my name on the list, but as I walked up the young woman looked up at me and said «they were here before you» (pointing to the people to my right). She didn’t say, hello how are you or anything. It was very off putting. She never got my name, and we had to wait another 10 – 15 minutes, while other people came in the door and just had to stand and wait. Very very disorganized. We should have taken the hint and left…
Once the hostess seated us, we waited for at least 10 – 15 min before anyone approached our table. Finally, the same hostess came back to our table and offered to take our drink orders. My husband ordered a beer and the hostess looked at him in disgust and said, I am not old enough to serve that do you want anything else? He said, no that’s what I want. So, no drink for him until later when we finally got a waitress.
The waitress was nice enough, but obviously very busy and somewhat inattentive. We were never offered any of the cornbread that I have heard about, but we did see it on many of the other tables around the restaurant. Maybe 5 min after we placed our order the waitress came back up to me and said that that they were out of the «chefs special» which is what I had ordered (it was only 7:15pm and their special was already soldout??). I was offered a more fatty cut of steak than the one I originally ordered. I was somewhat disappointed that they didn’t have the special that was being advertised. My husband got the low country boil with King crab legs, shrimp, potatoes and corn. The shrimp were so overcooked that they were completely inedible. He said that all of the items tasted as if they had been frozen. My nephew got the scallops w/​french fries. I have never seen smaller scallops in my life and he got 6 of them (for $ 22), the french fries were so old and cold that they were disgusting. I was embarrassed to have taken him out to eat dinner (as he was here for a visit) and for him to have gotten such awful food.
I would normally have said something during the meal, but was really trying to just let it go. That was until I got the bill, when I saw that our tab was over $ 85 and none of us had 1 good meal between us I felt compelled to say something to the manager. He was very nice and apologetic, he did take my husband’s entrée off and gave us a 10% discount on the other dinner items. I felt sorry for him because he seemed a bit overwhelmed and I know he doesn’t have an easy job. I just think that for the type of prices they have, the service and food should be much much better than it is.
There was another issue that bothered us as well, the «oyster bar» in the room across from the dining room had a live singer/​band that was so loud we could barely hear each other talk. I guess it seems to me that when entrees are in the $ 20+ range, that really wouldn’t go with a «dive bar» atmosphere across the hall. Just very strange.
Obviously we will not be returning to the establishment. It is a shame because I feel that Washington could really use a good restaurant with the same type of premise, but this place just misses the mark.

We visited this as one of the 4 stops on our Summer Dining series with our group out of Greenville, NC. There is a dining area, and great patio, and a separate Oyster Bar. We began the meal with two appetizers the sampler platter, and the crab dip.
Crab dip — Good not great we all thought the flavor was good, descent amount of crab but would be considered an okay dish
Sampler Platter — variety of items none of which were bad, wings, cheese sticks, calamari served with ranch and a chunky marinara sauce. The breading on the calamari is great (this will come back up in the entrée and I’ll elaborate there) the chunky marinara was a pleasant surprise with a sweeter taste but really good.
The corn bread: Ok we all really loved this for some reason, when the waitress brought it out it looked just like pound cake, but was actually corn muffins in squares. Soft, light, sweet, seriously could pass as a desert if paired with whipped cream and fruit. But really great addition that comes with the meal.
Entrees:
The Pamlico Platter: two of us opted for the fried platters. One got Shrimp and Oysters, the other Shrimp and Scallops. The buttermilk breading has really good flavor. I realize its fried food, but it was the right amount of breading, right about seasoning, and fried perfectly for us. Shrimp, scallops and oysters all were good sized and delish! Roasted red potatoes and season veggies were fine but really just accents to the seafood. I thought the veggies could have been seasoned a little more, but once you tapped into the little bit of sauce on the plate you got more flavor.
The Crab Cakes: These crab cakes were plentiful and big. We thought the crab was good, but the breading was a little much. Crab cakes are best when you have visible lump crab meat and its just not mixed in with all the breading. Flavor was good though, only suggestion is a little more crab, little less breading.
Salmon: two folks go the salmon and both were very happy with the flavor, portion and taste, served with asparagus and a side salad, in which both fell in love with raspberry vinegarette. and wanted more, lol.
Seared Scallops: good size, taste, not a great sear on the outside but cooked well, and seasoned well, served with a Saffron lemon sauce, again the proteins are the star in all of our dishes, some of the sides are good but don’t get the attention some of the other things get.
Desert: simply put good carrot cake, and good lemon cake. Group would surely go back for more. The restaurant has a good feel inside, great location on the water, good for an after dinner stroll along the waterfront.

Generally a solid 3 star. Food was pretty good but no WOW factor. Patio has a fantastic view of the waterfront. View would bring me back. Prices are reasonable service is friendly. But definitely tuned to locals Had crab. Crab cakes and cornbread Like I said. Pretty good

On a Sunday afternoon, this looked inviting from the outside. Unfortunately, that was the best I can say. On second thought, the seafood bisque was pretty good, once I got a spoon. The service and the food were fair. Fried seafood and the usual fare.

Saturday night with my brother, sister and our spouses. Arrived around 7:00 and the place was appropriately crowd but no line noted. We were seated immediately and started with cocktails, for most of us Martinis. Shortly afterwards we had the grilled oysters and everyone loved them.
I had seafood pasta which was perfect, particularly the shrimp. Frequently shrimp are overcooked with pasta or grits, but these were perfect. Others were spread across the menu and everyone was pleased.
The food and service were good and the ambiance pleasant. There is no hint of pretentiousness here and that’s as it should be. We will visit again when we are back in the area.
BTW, the bar was energetic with Beach Music and a nice crowd. Next time we will stay longer

Spent New Year’s Eve here. Had a great waitress name Morgan. Friendly staff. Grilled oysters were outstanding. Blackened mahi and ribeye steak were recommend and tasty also.

My husband and I ate here for the first time. Our waitress was great. I had the special — steak and scallops. He had oysters and boiled shrimp. We were both very satisfied. We will be back.
Plus, the location is PERFECT!!!

Not sure where to start… maybe with a positive?! Our waitress was nice and the cornbread (that we had to ask for — that comes free with meal) was great. Everything else… subpar. We got the crab dip to start — not good — too salty (a recurring theme) and didn’t have good flavor (needed some herbs/​seasoning). Next my wife got «Redneck Rockefeller» oysters. She could only stomach 3 — way too salty… side salads tasted like they were from a premixed bag. I had fried shrimp which wasn’t bad but I expected a little more for the type of place we were eating at. I wouldn’t recommend it — it’s a shame too b/​c it has nice waterfront dining… but they have a long way to go to keep making it around here.

I tried this place despite the reviews, since there wasn’t much that had what I was looking for within walking distance! I tried the «Char-​Grilled oysters» and OMG they were amazingly good! They were my fav! I also ordered the Scallop dinner with a baked potato and Zucchini! Other than the fact that I paid $ 18 for my plate and there were ONLY 4 scallops, I was pleased. 4 scallops for that price was a bit much!
The beer specials were great! BudLight $ 2. Not bad at all…
My hubby had the Clam bake and really liked it other than his corn was cold. Friends with us enjoyed theirs (shrimp/​Grits and the seafood pasta!) and had no complaints! The waiter seemed a bit young and maybe new but was attentive and did an overall good job. I was pleased and would come back! Especially for those oysters! Yum…

Well. We just watched the manager get into a fight, nearly physical, with a customer about a fly that got in his drink while sitting outside. Completely unprofessional and wrong. While the customers were not ‘sober’, the manager handled it totally wrong. Besides. The crab cakes sucked. As did the steamer clams. So much potential. Such a strange and unpleasant experience.
Be the adult, dude.
Oh. Also called at 5:05 to make a reservation. They stop taking reservations when dinner service starts… At 5… Get over yourself.

Food was not that great I had steak and it had no flavor it was burnt on the outside and the potatoes where cold my wife and daughter got shrimp and grits and more like sauce and sausage the service was terrible please don’t get the salad because it’s nothing but lettuce it’s dark and loud we will not be going back to this restaurant unless they make big improvements and I hope they do

Fast food, served slowly. Lousy service, took forever to get our simple meal served, and the view outside doesn’t justify the high prices. Avoid.

The service was great… steaks not so much. When we were there the AC was broke so it was awful hot. The carrot cake was one of the best I have had!

Decent food, choppy service, but a ton of potential (location, ambiance, etc.)
I know it’s been open for a while now, but during dinner the other night (while other restaurants in town were closed & this was probably a bit busier than normal) they struggled a little by botching up a couple orders & delivering inconsistent food.
The Mahi-​mahi special was good and the scallops so-​so. Both portions were small & a side with one of the orders was forgotten.
This is the sort of place you want to love and we’ll give it another shot, but first impression didn’t knock us out.

With this type of name, you might expect a fantastic waterfront view, but unless the weather is warm enough to be seated outside, you’ll be peering through a couple of small windows to get a glimpse of the water. We started with a cup of the Seafood Bisque (very thick and salty without a lot of seafood) and Caesar Salads (good croutons). The seafood entrees did not disappoint. I had the House Salad with seared Tuna added and was pleased by the freshness of the greens and the fish. The Pamlico Oysters Platter had plump and juicy oysters that had just the right amount of breading. The fried Soft Shell Crab Sandwich also received compliments around the table.