Windward Passage Restaurant

Cozy, old-school seafood restaurant, inconspicuously tucked in a strip mall area on the west side. Wonderfully kitschy inside, you will feel as though you are in the bowels of a large sea craft. Service is lovely & attentive. Prices are reasonable. Great hidden gem for date-night for fun couples.

The Windward Passage Restaurant came up for me when searching for new places to enjoy oysters. The search did not disappoint when it came down to enjoying the oysters; however, the rest of our experience was not so grand. See notes below! - The location of the restaurant is not the greatest...some of the lights in the signage outside were broken too. - The restaurant is small and has a rustic look/feel to it. The booths are small in size as well. I am going to quote one of the servers regarding the smell of the restaurant - "It smells a little extra oceanic tonight". I understand that you should expect a little smell when dining at a seafood restaurant; however, the smell was a little extra pungent last night. - We started at the bar since we were waiting for a friend. I asked the bartender for an espresso martini. He said that he couldn't make it and couldn't make some other drinks (Moscow Mules, Mojitos, etc.) so I asked for a drink menu. He stated that he did not have a drink menu; however, we found later that there are drink menus as they were located on our table once we were seated for dinner. (I ended up ordering a Pinot Noir). - My husband enjoyed the complimentary bread and butter while our friend and I enjoyed a dozen oysters. The oysters were large in size and super meaty! They were so good! - For my meal, I went with the shrimp scampi (for $25). While the shrimp were large in size (they kind of looked like chunks of lobster), they had no flavor whatsoever. I did not taste the garlic butter at all...some pieces of the shrimp were mushy too...- The side salad was amusing. It was a handful of a side salad mix that you can get at Wal Mart/Kroger (see pic for reference). I added bleu cheese crumbles to spruce it up a bit! - My baked potato was good - I added butter, sour cream, and bleu cheese to it - and it was nice and tasty! - My husband ordered the chicken sandwich and fries and rates it a 3 out of 5. - Our friend ordered the grouper special and stated that he enjoyed the meal; however, did not finish his meal nor opt to take it home...- Our server (Isabel) was great! Thank you, Isabel! While the meal experience didn't cut it for us, I think that I would still be open to coming back for some more oysters! They were really good!

Pros:Easy parkingLocal hangoutFull bar and several drink options Cons:Oysters were plump but flavorlessShrimp cocktail was $13 for 5 tiny shrimpWings were small and flavorless Salad was boring and averageDecor could use an upgrade - wood paneling is very darkServer had some difficulty, but she was newPro tip:May be a fun place for regulars, but the food is nothing special. There are many other better options in the surrounding area.

Ok, let me tell you about this place....great! Price points were excellent, service was excellent, ambiance felt as if I was eating at a local seafood place on an ocean, food was great! Let me start off by telling you about the hostess.... BJ.. probably lying to me, but I love her sense of humor. Smart, sassy...love it. I told her i would make her YELP famous! The Mrs got the orange roughy, I got the Grilled grouper. We had a roll with butter, salad and main course. It was good. We heard probably the quietest happy birthday to you to an adjacent table I n the state of Ohio, but it was cool. Very nice place. Will be back again!

What a hidden gem! But maybe not hidden, as this has been on my to-do list for awhile, and I always hear rave reviews about it, which I've also been sharing since I dined there this week. Probably have driven by this place a million times, it's in a strip mall off Henderson. Came on a Thursday evening at 8 so didn't have the long wait others have mentioned. Ambiance was amazing- felt like so many restaurants I visited with family when I was younger. My exact statement to my bf- my parents would love it it here. Drink prices are very reasonable, I had a glass of wine and my bf a beer. Service was matter-of-fact and great. Good suggestions, letting me know the scallops looked great that day- and they were, some of the best I've had in awhile. Presentation isn't fancy, but the flavor was great. I commented on my asparagus looking sad, but then realized they were cooked perfect, and flavored nicely. My bfs fish sandwich looked funny, and he said it was incredible. My meal came with salad, a potato and veggie, and rolls which I can't wait because of a gluten intolerance, which the server helped me out with for the rest of the meal. We got the snickers pie for dessert, and it was our least favorite part of the meal- not bad, just very sugary and everything else was better. We definitely will be back.

It was an interesting visit. The restaurant is located at the end of a strip mall. I already knew in advance they didn't take reservations so we arrived and put our name in, they don't have beepers or call or text you, they just yell your name out and I was told it would be 45-1 hour. So we went walking around and came back 45 minutes later, apparently they grossly overestimated the time and we had been called long before that. The woman working the host stand seemed frazzled and not particularly friendly. We finally were able to get sat and the decor inside is very reminiscent of the Krusty Krab from SpongeBob. It was a Saturday but most of the other crowd was quite older. A weird vibe. The server was very nice and apparently on the weekend they randomly give you cinnamon rolls with your meal while supplies last. They also give you bread, but they are room temperature and definitely tasted store bought. Everyone else ordered fish or scallops, I ordered a steak and it was overcooked and bland, so definitely stick with their seafood if you can.

Wow! Talk about transporting back in time. Windward passage is the perfect combo of great tasting food, decent portions, decent prices and ambiance. The seafood is excellent -- but surprisingly so are the steaks! I love the liver and onions!!There is typically a wait if you get here in the early dining hours (5-7pm). So either get here early or come a little later! They do not take reservations.

I have wanted to try this local place for some time. So that you know up front you can't make reservations or call ahead seating. So the bar area open at 4pm, and dining area at 4:30. Then the lines start to from, upon arriving was told it would be 45 minutes. However it was more like 20 and we were seated. Started with Angels on horseback which is oyster wrapped in bacon and fired. Ahh yes please, I went with the mild so that's why Angel on horseback. Hot are called Devil on horseback. Also had 6 raw oysters which were so good. For dinner I went with smaller portion of Prime rib which came with choice of rice, baked potato, or fires and vegetable of the day. We also had the special of the day which was Halibut. This was cooked perfectly and just flacked apart. I didn't save room for dessert, but they had several great choices, maybe next time.

What a gem! Quaint quiet atmosphere coupled with delicious food. I had the scallops cooked to perfection and my friend had the prime rib. Well priced and adequate potions. Definitely will keep it on the rotation of places to dine.

I can't believe I've never been to dinner here because it has been such a staple for years. I went for the prime rib, which was good. Service was great atmosphere is unique.