Blue Water Bay Restaurant

Been wanting to try this place due to recommendation from friends. Read all the reviews, and had middle-of-the-road expectations when we went in, so they didn't disappoint. Stood in the entrance of a mostly empty dining room for nearly 10 minutes before we were told to just sit anywhere we wanted. Picked out a table and got menus,and server showed up for beverage orders. Full bar, but nothing on tap, so a Yueng Ling it was, for me, and mama stuck with water. Took a little longer than I thought necessary to open a beer, pour it into a glass and bring it to my table, but maybe the bartender was super busy. Placed our orders and settled into our chairs awaiting our dinners. I got the large (20 piece) shrimp dinner with fries and mama did the lobster bisque on the recommendation of the server over the clam chowder. 35-40 minutes later, out came dinner. The shrimp were the standout here, fresh and flavorful with good cook and very good cocktail sauce. The fries on the side were limp and slightly mushy, and the bisque was unremarkable. Bisque got better after the addition of some salt and pepper, and the fries were edible with a firm ketchup dunking. Server was rather inattentive (read: missing) and had to be requested multiple times to get boxes and take our check. Had better service from the young lady that delivered our meals and got us ketchup and more cocktail sauce than our assigned server. We'll probably be back one time to see if it was just an off night, but a miss there takes it off the list.

Absolutely love this place. Food is amazing. Service is wonderful! Live music throughout the week making for perfect ambiance. Stop by and enjoy.

We were staying in an air BNB by the lake and decided to stop in for a birthday dinner. My husband and I shared the fried platter. It is HUGE. It could have easily been shared with 4 or more people. We took over half of it home with us. The service was great and the atmosphere was nice enough for a casual date night. The dessert was my favorite! It was some kind of chocolate cake and I could have eaten a whole cake by myself. It was SO GOOD. Don't miss it.

I've been here for lunch before and was impressed. As a local upscale, excellent menu and wine list restaurant, it is a surprising gem in a rural neighborhood. This is probably why so many locals are here every few days and most tables have a bottle of wine accompanying their dinners. The atmosphere is casual without a hostess on the side where people are seated in the proper dining area, but the bar side is first come first serve with consistent regulars. We started at the bar and moved to the booth so my friend could see the local musician. That was an added bonus. The musician was Andrew Harvey and his music was soothing, sorta background, but yet made you want to sing along. The menu is large and varied. With classic gator for the tourists, escargot for the elites and salmon/steaks/wings for everyone else. Our food arrived timely from when we ordered, everything was exactly as ordered and we enjoyed gator nuggets, wings, salad, steak and veggies and I decided on a Salmon & Brie plate. Waitress checked on the table, drinks were refilled accordingly and the musician played requested music. All good! I recommend to others and even though it is one of the more upscale menus in the area, the atmosphere is relaxed and friendly. Great for friends, groups, couples and hungry people!

The dining area was nice and the waitress was nice. The prices were fairly decent for today's market. We got the blue crab and artichoke dip and we did not care for it but it wasn't bad. The grouper tacos and fried jumbo shrimp were delicious!!! The Philly sandwich was not great, def would not order it again, the meat was tough and stringy. They had nice fish-vibe decor and a bunch of local artists paintings on the walls. Overall a nice place to eat.

We thought we would give this place a try since we were in Melrose. The ambiance is casual with most people eating in the bar/dining area as opposed to the bigger dining room on the other side of the bar. Perhaps it was because we were having a later lunch, but looked mostly of locals.We basically ordered the Fried Green Tomatoes and the "Lumpia" appetizers. And we also ended up sharing the Grilled Shrimp Quesadillas that came with a small bed of shredded lettuce with salsa on top and a side of sour cream. The portions are more than enough to fill you up.Our food was beautifully presented and each dish looked very appetizing on their plates complete with sauces and dips, but ultimately the flavors just weren't there and everything was just Meh. We were hoping to at least be WOW'ed with an amazing sauce or yummy dip to pair with the blandness of the food, but this was not the case either. We had no prior expectations.Even asked for a side of ranch dressing for the FGT hoping that it would add some flavor and it just didn't quite hit the mark. The lumpias (6 pieces) were served with a side of basic bottled sweet chili sauce. Not my restaurant - not my decision, but that appetizer should be left off of the apps menu. Just no.And the grilled shrimp in the quesadilla and whatever was on the tortilla itself was a bit on the saltier side, but still the best of the three items we had ordered. Their menu is truly all over the place and not sure if that works.The service was friendly as there was only one server covering the tables and that did not bother me one bit because we were in no rush whatsoever.My issue was that the food - all of it - was average at best. Not terrible, but not good enough where we would want to go back for lunch. Maybe there's a dinner menu that would blow my mind or that one menu item that we didn't order, but should have.....???If so, do share. I would be curious to know.

Blue Water Bay has been a hit or miss over the years. The service is usually good for me and the company I am with. The atmosphere has always been a favorite of mine, as why I keep coming back. Kinsley was our Server and she did her job with great pleasure. She handled our food issues with the kitchen directly and quickly. The rice was well over cooked but the main entre on top was delicious. The gator tail was cooked to my liking, but people have a different taste for gator meat. The kitchen staff is near the dining area and were very professional and quick. Many entres in my past have been delicious with Blue Water Bay and I will continue to be a customer.

Hadn't been here in a while. We got the fried green tomatoes app, excellent, served very hot and nice sauce. My wife got shrimp quesadillas and I got the fried fish, very nice. I got the red beans and rice for a side and it was really good, nice pieces of spicy sausage. Probably helped it was Wednesday a little after lunch, service was great. Wish they were closer.

I've been going to Blue Water Bay for 35 years. In the last year, the quality of food had diminished. The steaks, appetizers, seafood, is often not cooked at the quality it use to be. It was less than Applebees quality but at high prices. Two of our family members got sick from the food. It seems the food is not fresh. The meat taste like it was frozen for days and reheated. Yet the charges are fine dining charges and the expectation is to have a fresh steak or fresh fish without the freezer taste. I ordered the Salmon and Bree. The salmon was not properly prepared and the fruit melody was 5 strawberries and a ton of blueberries. The crab artichoke dip tasted like it was prepared days ago and sat in a zip lock in the freezer for days then reheated. Gross. I miss the old Blue Water Bay. With FRESH food that is prepared properly without shortcuts. Not the microwave tv dinners but back to that place we went after boating all day. Fresh never frozen meat. Fresh ingredients. Better quality that matches those high prices. Wait staff was extraordinary and always wonderful. The atmosphere is wonderful.The issue is 100% the food preparation.Can't wait until the good quality food returns.

We got the calamari, scallop pasta, and the Mexican style grouper. Both the scallop pasta and calamari were lacking in flavor. The calamari needed salt at least. The scallop pasta especially did not have any taste. The sauce was a cream based sauce and I expected it to be similar to Alfredo but it literally just tasted like they only used cream and forgot to add any seasoning or cheese. It was very disappointing. The grouper, however, was actually good. The fish and the sides that came with it tasted good. The grouper had better seasoning and had a good fry. The salsa and beans paired well with it. Very flavorful and not imposing. Overall the service was attentive and friendly but we waited about 40-50 mins for our entree since the restaurant was busy.