Water's Edge Restaurant

I came here for breakfast on a stormy Tuesday morning. I got there as they were opening and chose a table by the window with a fantastic view of Lake Michigan. The waitress greeted me with a smile and asked if I wanted coffee. As I sipped on the coffee and browsed the menu, I enjoyed a nice view of an angry lake splashing on the shore. I decided on the Salmon Cakes Benedict.This is two grilled house-made salmon cakes topped with poached eggs and lemon dill hollandaise, served with hashbrowns. I opted for scrambled eggs instead of poached and the hollandaise sauce on the side. This was not a problem. The salmon cakes were excellent. Soft, moist, and packed with flavor, these cakes needed very little sauce. I'm glad I ordered the sauce on the side. The eggs were cooked perfectly and complimented the salmon cakes nicely. The hashbrowns were griddle fried with a slight char. This breakfast was worth coming back for.

This restaurant is located inside the Lighthouse Inn. The decor seems to be a little outdated, but for an older hotel, it fits.We stopped in for breakfast. There were a few people inside, and we were seated right away. There are large windows with awesome views of Lake Michigan, so we were treated to a great view. Upon reviewing the menu, I decided on the omlet special. This included a cheese omlet, hashbrowns, and toast. After a while, our food came out, and everything looked so good. The omlet was fluffy, and the cheese was gooey and melted perfectly. The hashbrowns were nice and crispy. My only complaint was that the toast was soggy, like it wasn't in the toaster long enough. Our waitress was friendly and attentive. The views are great and the service was good. We will be back to try other menu items.

During our visit to Manitowoc my husband and I wanted to eat where the locals enjoy good food. He saw the Water's Edge Restaurant the first day we arrived. We were there for lunch on our second day. I enjoyed the decor. It brought back memories of eating out as a child of the 70's and 80's. The decor may be dated, but the restaurant was clean. Which in my book is more important. We went with a recommendation on Yelp. We split a patty melt with homemade chips and the French Onion soup. Everything was delicious! My husband even commented- "You ate the pickle spear. You never eat the pickle spear."Our server was wonderful! She was very attentive and helpful with any questions we had. Several reviews mentioned not being satisfied with the service due to various reasons. We did not experience any issues during our 1:00ish Tuesday afternoon lunch. It is my understanding this is a local family owned and operated business. During today's craziness I encourage all of us to choose to support these type of local businesses.

The staff is very nice, but the food was just...bad. Cold apple pie, super congealed cheese dip, over salted fish. And cool whip instead of whipped cream? In America's Dairyland? Beautiful setting, but it needs help.

Ambience - 5 starsFood - 3 starsFine dining places seem sparse in this area, and the Lighthouse Inn's dining room with its compelling view of Lake Michigan beckons to hungry travelers seeking something more substantial than fast food. We stopped here for dinner on a stormy night and observed a very turbulent Lake Michigan hurling whitecaps just a few feet from our table (watch a brief video clip here: https://youtu.be/Yx1MhKNTRkM).This family-owned hotel and restaurant date to the early '70s, but the place is spotless and well maintained, and the 2-level dining room with its nautical trappings and stunning view is attractive and romantic. The menu selections and descriptions sound promising, but execution is closer to diner than fine dining. I ordered their signature dish, "Great Lakes Parmesan Baked Whitefish," which the menu describes as "Great Lakes whitefish drizzled with lemon and Chablis, topped with savory seasonings and shredded double-aged Parmesan cheese." My entree was okay but it did not taste freshly prepared. My Missus ordered the braised beef short rib. It was tender and juicy, but on the bland side. Salad and rolls (included) were very good. The next time we dine here, my inclination would be to ask the server what's freshly prepared.

I had the extreme misfortune to have Easter lunch there today. My brother took me and I was embarrassed for him and outraged at the exorbitant price for the extremely poor quality food which we were served. I had asked for the two piece chicken and only received one piece. ($18). I was thankful about this as it was as dry as the Atacama Desert and as tough as tanned cow hide and no pleasant taste or flavor. The sage so over powered the dressing that you seemed to forget that it was a pile of pasty mush, that coupled with the equally cold mashed potatoes and even colder extremely small bowl of uncooked vegetable mess that was missing the promised cheese sauce which would have possibly given them the only flavor they might have had. We were given three completely dried out rolls with no butter. Really? At this price!The meal included a paltry salad bar which when we went through, we had to scrape the bowl to get even a few leaves of white wilted lettuce. The rest of the containers were equally empty and so I'm not sure what was in the three containers in this unbelievably sparse so called "salad" bar. And to top off this over priced fiasco, one large plate with four diminutive squares cut from some bars was served for what they were calling desert for the both of us. Not plated on individual plates. We were both supposed to eat off just one plate? We didn't even do that at home growing up. What kind of establishment does this? This whole meal was one gigantic joke. I had to walk on when my brother paid as I was fuming for him to have paid so much for this inedible swill. This was my first (and last!) time at this place. You only get one time for a first impression and I do not think there would have been any way that you could have made a worse one!

Very good, 70s, Supper Club food hidden within the Lighthouse Hotel. It's a nice, quiet stopover populated by locals for lunch and a great breakfast spot right on the lake. Look beyond the outdated exterior...you'll be surprised by the marine motif which gets less creepy as you go in. The staff are just wonderful. The French onion soup is awesome. Have a Rueben or Patty Melt with homemade potato chips.

I remember staying there about 20 years ago. With our Entree', they gave us a Fresh and hot tiny loaf of Bread, and a Salad!! The Bread was so good....I asked for a second loaf. They actually gave me one!But they do not apparently have that great of service anymore. We stayed for two nights there a couple of Months ago, and paid WAY too much for the meal we got the first Night. NO Bread or Salad anymore......the second Night.....we went to the "Subway" in Town.....and ate our Sandwiches in our room.The Food we got, indeed was excellent........but REALLY miss the "fringe" things, that SHOULD come with an Entree'!!! It used to be more of a "Supper Club" type of atmosphere. I guess I am now too "old fashioned"......

If we could rate lower than a one, we would. This is by far the WORST restaurant I have ever been to, and as a traveler, I have been to a few mediocre restaurants. Waters Edge really puts those to peace. First, the service was terrible. Our waiter took our drinks order and we waited nearly forty minutes to get all six of them. They asked if we wanted refills, and we did not get them within our two and a half hour stay. Yup. Two and a half hours, from the moment we sat down to when we got our check. We only had our food for about fifteen minutes before we decided to eat elsewhere.The fish tasted and looked as if it were cooked a week ago and thrown into the oven to be warmed up. No tartar was offered and we had to ask multiple times for it. The Ultimate Nachos were soggy and the cheese wasn't even warm. One of our members didn't even get her food and we had to reorder it for her. After all this trouble and asking to talk with the manager about our dissatisfaction, she didn't even bother to stop and talk to us. She saw that we were frustrated and smiled at us. This place is not worth your money if you want quality food and service.

Awful service. We were NEVER greeted. Not busy and we still stood and waited for host for over 10 minutes. My kids even commented on how we should maybe just leave. Food took forever and was wrong when arrived. You know it is bad when you consider leaving several times after the chocolate milk has been served and nothing else.