Blue Water Bar & Grill

Although there aren't too many restaurant options in Friday Harbor, if you are visiting and have no idea where to eat, here's my advice. Just don't come here! This is just an overpriced mediocre diner. The crab cake sandwich was ok but was not worth $26. Because the restaurant is located in front of the Washington State ferry terminal, the view of the harbor is mostly blocked. Don't waste your money or your precious time exploring the island.

Gluten free entree option is grilled fish tacos on soft corn tortillas; spicy, fresh and really good. Really enjoyed the cilantro, cabbage, mango salsa and cream sauce. Yum.Service was a little slow but it's island time so no rush on my part.

Clam chowder was nice. Well, maybe it was a little bit salty, but the crackers kinda take care of that. I like the potato skins and the bacon. I could also taste at least several pieces of clam. Overall, the flavor was pretty good. The steamers, on the other hand, were the world's smallest and saddest clams I have ever seen. And there was so much sand. There will always be some sand of course, but I popped the world's smallest clam into my mouth, and it was like 50% sand. I joked that they already put the clams in the chowder and the steamers are just empty shells. Rant begins:I see quite a few reviews complaining that this place isn't worth the cost. I sorta have an opposite view. Between this and Tina's, I think restaurants on Friday Harbor aren't expensive enough. I assume these restaurants have struggles with supply and from COVID still, but in the end, this is a higher income tourist spot. I see a lot of nice cars coming off of the ferry. These people can afford to pay a lot more. A successful restaurant here should be one that drains my wallet to make amazing food, not one that cuts corners to make mediocre food. Or maybe I'm wasting my breath and this is the best quality seafood they can currently get, which would be pretty depressing. Or there are already expensive joints around Friday Harbor that make better seafood, but regretfully I did not find such a place. /rant

I was pleasantly surprised by my experience at Blue Water Bar & Grill last Sunday evening. Picture yourself waiting for the 5:30 pm ferry to take you from Friday Harbor on San Juan Island back to Lopez Island where you've been staying in a gorgeous waterfront home, only to learn that your ferry has been redirected and will not be taking you home. The good news is that sometime after 10:15pm (actual time 11:25pm) there will be another ferry. You're dressed for a beautiful sunny fall day, with a few extra layers in your day bag, you quickly open Yelp on your phone to see where you can hang for the next many hours... you learn that many of the restaurants and bars that are open on Sunday, are already closing or will be soon. There is one place that stays open until 7, another til 8pm, one that closes at 9pm and then there is Blue Water Bar & Grill that closes at 10pm. You hesitate because the ratings aren't consistent - with 2.5 stars, you're conflicted. You wander around for an hour or so, checking out the wait times at the other places (40-50 minutes), eventually you make your way into Blue Water and speak with the hostess who can seat you on the patio as you've requested. We weren't expecting much more than high prices and mediocre food and service. I can tell you now, the food and staff completely blew our low expectations out of the water!We ordered alcoholic libations, I chose their version of an Italian Strawberry Soda that is made with vodka and my friend chose something equally delicious made with whiskey. After a hesitant sip we each heartily agreed that the drinks were very pleasing and the price was competitive.We'd had a late lunch followed by ice cream (see separate reviews) so neither of us was super hungry. She ordered the fish and chips (choice of 2 for $18 or 3 pieces - not sure of the price) while I ordered the soup and salad ($17) - cup of very nice clam chowder and house salad with their vinaigrette with blue cheese crumbles and garlic bread. All of the food was good and again, the price seemed fair and competitive with other Island restaurants. The staff were so kind and invited us to stay as long as we liked, they made sure we had plenty of water to go along with our adult libations. So my final word on this place - I thank them for their hospitality, their friendly welcome attitudes, and for the yummy drinks and good tasting food.

Apparently I should have checked the Yelp reviews ahead of time. We stopped by early on a Sunday afternoon and it was unexpectedly empty. We were quickly seated and our order arrived in a reasonable time. The fish and chips was heavily breaded and flavorless. The clam chowder was grossly over salted, to the point that we could not finish it. Prices were high, especially given the mediocre food quality.

While visiting for the weekend and looking for a dinner spot on a Saturday night, we were struggling to find a restaurant that had a table without a long wait until we stumbled upon this place. Located near the water with nice views from the patio, we were excited when we were seated immediately. Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there.Our waitress came pretty quickly with our menus and took our drink orders, but you could tell she was frazzled/stressed from the start. She was still nice for the most part and not rude at all, but seemed almost uninterested in helping us which is not what you want from someone in a service role. However, the menu items looked good and we all ordered, including a few appetizers. The Loaded Tots sounded good on paper, but in reality, were what you'd expect from a dive bar. The tots themselves were okay, but all the toppings tasted like they'd been microwaved and thrown on top. For the fries, they were actually crunchy and tasty, but we found a hair at the bottom of the basket with only a few fries left. We tried to chalk it up as a simple mistake and didn't mention it to the waitress.For the main entrees, the portions were decent, but everyone was fairly underwhelmed with the taste as everything just lacked much flavor. My Chicken Fried Chicken was probably the best part, but even that was nothing too special. However, it got worse when ANOTHER hair was found in one of the pasta dishes. When we finally brought this up to the waitress, she sighed and said "Yeah, this is a recurring issue". While I appreciate her honesty, that is simply an unacceptable answer from an employee without any type of solution or compensation offered. In the end, I don't blame her as she has clearly been put in terrible situations like this many times by poor kitchen staff and apathetic management. We ended up just paying the bill as fast as we could and left the restaurant. We still left a decent tip for the waitress, even though the overall service was lacking.To top it off, the prices here were way too high for the quality of food/experience. They definitely benefit from their location and views and are likely kept afloat by tourists. Do yourself a favor and wait in line at one of the other places for a better time, at least until this place addresses some of their issues.

Good service. Really good food. My party had the Caesar salad with shrimp (excellent) and a seafood platter which was also good. Nice service and fun atmosphere. Near the harbor and pier so nice view.

Nice restaurant by the ferry dock, with nice views. I ordered a crab cake sandwich that was very delicious but wish it had a bit more crab and a little less breading. The french fries were also very good. The space is very large and has a wood panel vibe.

I was served a cup of marinara sauce and they said it was their tomato basil soup!!!

Decent restaurant on the harbor. Big menu selection from apps to salads to sandwiches...and the food was tasty. Our server was super friendly and attentive. We sat inside but they have a small patio as well.