Boathouse Restaurant Harbor Island Review

Visited on lobster Wednesday (personally, I don't eat lobster but my friends do) and restaurant week. Good service and serving size.

Every special event landing on a Wednesday, me and my family come here to get the 1lb Maine lobster It's really good the only thing I don't like is that the prices keep going up before it used to only be $9.99 but now it's $12.99 other than that it's real good deal and the waitress was really nice.

Had the seafood trio, oysters, and lobster special. The appetizers were good and I loved the rice that came with the lobster. The banana cream pie was fantastic as well. Our mains took around an hour to come though.

We went here on Mother's Day and it was awful. The prime rib was tough with no flavor. Service was bad. I couldn't get my water glass refilled without trying to flag someone down. Very disappointed

Unfortunately nothing special for the price paid here. Ahi tuna was sub par and drowning in sauce. Calamari was over breaded and bland. Wouldn't choose to go back.

Beautiful location and views. The absolute BEST clam chowder and sour dough bread anywhere!

Great restaurant in a GORGEOUS location. Make sure you get a reservation

Food was good, not the best I've had. Yelp has it as $$ for cost, I would rate it more $$$ based on what I got. I ordered the fish tacos for lunch and it came with black beans, nothing fancy or special and ok flavor. Staff were great and the view was nice.

Love Lobster Wednesday's...been coming for years.Always great!

Lovely dining with a view.

Calm restaurant with Marina view. Fantastic service from Michael.

Food was quite good. It was however expensive, which is ok considering the good location and great service we received.

We recommend.

Love the boat house good happy hour and food was good service was on spot

Excellent food. Good customer service. Great view of the boats on the water

, extremely slow, mediocre service, food not so good for the price

View is very nice and place is very nice but have had not great luck when ordering seafood here. Think it is a bit pricey for what you get

May be we went on a bad day. Food was so so but location is great.

Yesterday was my 1st time at the Boathouse. Once a month bday dinners are honor for free. Drinks was reasonable food was delish an atmosphere was cozy. I'll go back again and again

Wednesday's are my favorite. I go in for the lobster special and you can't go wrong. The clam chowder is so good! You never have to wait too long and the service is great!

Food was great. Service without a smile though kind of ruins the dinner.

Nice location for delicious Seafood. I love this place, great food & service. I will be back with my friends. This place has a nice feel to it. Feels similar to a restaurant in Philadelphia that I enjoyed visiting.

Horrible service and food. My swordfish was over cooked, dry and tough. The rice had no flavor. The asparagus was Woody and undercooked. We had also been seated and ordered before a large table. We got to watch them get their food prior to our table. We were never offered a desert menu even after asking about it when mentioning we were celebrating a birthday. Very disappointed wish I had spent my birthday dinner anywhere else. The only good thing was the atmosphere.

I wish I'd seem the poor reviews before we went. Poor, slow service. Dry fish, side where pathetic. And i was not feeling well that night, thank God it wasn't food poisoning (i think) . Won't be back.

seafood... very delicious. the service here is friendly. it has a great feel to it.

Terribly noisy! Service slow....but was a large group. Vegetable arrived after meal was finished. Lobster was good. Price was good.

Awesome!! Love Wednesday nite lobster. Tried the new restaurant at the other end of the road and it's customer service sucked! So, was Back to The Boathouse on a Tuesday night after coming in from the airport and had filet mignon... And it was excellent!

It is a super nice place, the lobster was good and at a very affordable price. The bad thing is that we had to wait a long time, but you can make a reservation.

Another great visit with exceptional service and atmosphere. Impressed our out of town visitors.

Very understaffed and very slow service, I was without water for 25 minutes after ordering. Also they got my father's order incorrect twice and the food just didn't taste good in general. I would not recommend this place under any circumstances.

Went here for restaurant week and was severely disappointed. For starters we got calamari ($5 extra for a pretty small portion) and ceviche. Both were decent, but the ceviche could have had more fish in it. For mains I had the cod which was served in a citrus sauce with artichoke and sun dried tomatoes and a side of coconut rice which made for a very off-putting flavor combination. My boyfriend had the blackened ahi with soba noodle salad and was expecting a light refreshing meal but was presented with a dish covered in sauce that could have been served at a BBQ joint. Both mains were served with a side of soggy vegetables that you'd expect to get at a buffet. We were hoping dessert would be a saving grace, but no such luck. The apple betty was soggy and I had to dig around to find 2 semi firm pieces of apple. The espresso chocolate cake was very rich but nothing really bad to say about it. We both left the restaurant feeling very bloated and heavy even though neither us finished our mains or desserts. The only saving grace of this meal was the service and free bread bowl.

Was hesitated to go first but wanted to try .. impressed with the sea food choices and lobsters

Casual dining by the water, less than 5 minutes drive from San Diego airport. They have amazing deals such as $12.99 lobster Wednesday, $14.99 prime rib Friday!

Great views of the harbor, good food, casual dining experience.

The Friday prime rib special was so good. The view, service and ambiance was great. Definitely coming back.

Its a nice place to take your out of town guests, impress dates, and catch up with your family and friends. It definitely helps that their weekly dinner specials are easy on the wallet. The dinner specials do require an extra purchase (of any kind to obtain the deal): Mondays are Cioppino night, Wednesdays are Lobster Maine night and Fridays are Slow Roasted Prime Rib (which are $11.99 each). They also celebrate monthly celebrations, just show your ID and recieve a free Prime rib on the day of redemption,

Great food with a great view! Service was outstanding

Greeters should not be nearly this rude to any customer coming into their establishment. Nor should customers be told that a reservation isn't necessary when called only told be told upon arrival that it will be a 45 minute wait and they highly recommend reservations. Will not be returning.

Attentive staff.
Everything I had was delicious.
My water glass was kind of dirty with some stuff in it... Only con to my visit.
Veiw of the marina Is why I went in. It delivered.

Prime rib is to die for and cooked the way I like, medium rare! The crab stuffed salmon was weird, got this weird paste in the middle, tasted nothing like crab and the portion was way too little. Service was great and attentive.

Love the Wednesday Maine Lobster special deal and the happy hour drinks!

Stopped in for lunch. The view is great. They have a real nice outdoor patio. Wait staff was super friendly. The food was great and quick. Affordable too. Overall great experience. If I'm ever back in San Diego I'd go back.

had blackened fish and it was good. service was good, the place was empty.

Great food and service. Will definitely be coming back and referring restaurant to family and friends.

This is the worst seafood I've ever had in my life, and the service matched. Went for my birthday and we had to wait about an hour for a waiter to come over and take our order, even though the bartender, multiple times, said he sent him over. When we finally got our food, I literally just wanted to leave. The cod and rice were so bland, it tasted like I was eating nothing, and the portion size was so small I don't know who would actually pay their prices!! The clam chowder is supposedly award winning but I'd give the award to a can of Progresso over theirs. The cocktails were forgettable as well as overpriced, and the nachos weren't very good but they were the best thing we had there! The only positive part of this experience was the water view, but I can get that for free!

We went here on Mother's Day and it was awful. The prime rib was tough with no flavor. Service was bad. I couldn't get my water glass refilled without trying to flag someone down. Very disappointed

Great food, fast professional friendly staff. Great ambiance with views of the bay.

Nice place with a nice view. Food was good and so was the service.

Shrimp melt and fries were delicious! Calamari cooked just right and seasoned well. Fast, friendly service

Good food and drinks, this place has amazingly cheap cocktails in a prime location during happy hour. Come between 2-5pm any day and grab a $4 margarita (or two) and the chipotle chicken sandwich and enjoy the view.

Dined just before their closing..have gone there for years..food and service remained superior to the last

$12.99 for full 1lb Maine lobster. Need I say more, Nope.

The view of the harbor was gorgeous and everything about our meal was delicious. I had the wild Alaskan cod with citrus cream sauce, the sauce wasn't too heavy for the dish and everything paired perfectly

Food was good, not the best I've had. Yelp has it as $$ for cost, I would rate it more $$$ based on what I got. I ordered the fish tacos for lunch and it came with black beans, nothing fancy or special and ok flavor. Staff were great and the view was nice.

Great atmosphere. Absolutely loved the Manhattan chowder. The clam chowder was good but very rich. The oysters were amazing. Definitely must try the key lime pie. The service was beautiful. Only downside was that they were out of lobster rolls and we got there at opening.

The food was decent, ambiance of the harbor was nice but the scent upon entering was disgusting! The owner need to invest in upgrading the look along with the bathrooms which are disgusting!! Creating a horrible scent. It's stuck in the 80's

Kinda pricey, foods good, service is slow, lobster is a good deal on Wednesday but be prepared to dismantle it yourself!

Ate at bar. Terrific service and Chelsea was like having a bartender as a bud. Quite a pleasant experience. Had the scampi linguine. Saved the shrimp and made a shrimp sando with the sourdough bread. Yum.

Nice views, great service. Food is spot on, and service is lovely.

I love their specialty dinner nights and their delicious bread (a soft and dense sourdough) is hard to beat. Sangria is good. Mud pie, which is pretty much three different types of ice cream on oreo crust, is delicious and the views of the harbor really make it worth it if you are taking people visiting San Diego. I used to come about once a month when I lived there. Amazing spot!

Great food and great service! Best clam chowder ever!

Disinterested service, tough lobster, different price on bill for "lobster special" than advertised (more, of course). Beautiful view!

Love the Brunch at this place!!! Great food, Great prices, Great View!!! We will be coming back with our out of town company this weekend.

The WAITER was absolutely professional and nice. He spoke English and italian and it was extremely nice to be able to speak in italian with him. He was also very detail oriented .
The was was delicious , all four people in my party were satisfied with the quality of the food and the service. The Atmosphere is relaxing and elegant with a great view on the water.
I would strongly reccomend this restaurant if you are near by.

I have been here three times, the first two were excellent experiences, the Ahi Poke is amazing. The third time on Thursday March 5, 2015 was much less than pleasant, the service was dismal at best, the food took for ever to arrive and when it did the snapper was overcooked and cold as was the rest of the entre. How does one ruin snapper? The waiter didn't check back for about 25 minutes to see how the food was. He offered to replace with Fish and Chips which took another 20 minutes. We asked for the manager, who came to the table an offered the single Entre for free. Then to add insult to injury, she said, "I have to run, I have a thing".

The Poke is good enough to try this place again, perhaps the poor experience was an anomaly. But if that experience is repeated there won't be another visit.

Great views. Not super formal but not exactly super casual. Great date place and delicious oysters and fresh seafood.

I ate there at the boat house thanks giving.it was great.