the boathouse restaurant

great place. i'm really excited for theboathouseto open up again. it's nice to have an affordable place on hayden lake that we can get to from the boat. the food is awesome and the service is fantastic!

service at theboathousewas pretty.... mediocre. a group of 7 of us came in around 7:30. the server told us to sit wherever we liked and someone would help us in a minute. we had to pull tables together for our group even after we had called ahead. it took quite a while to get our water and the server was polite but didn't know what beverages they offered. (orange juice not even one of their specialty cocktails). after waiting another long while we finally got our drinks and waited even longer to place our order. being one of the few tables in the restaurant you would think that we got our food in a timely manner but we didn't and didn't get water refills while we waited. ( most of ours were empty). when we did get our food, all of our orders with fries were cold and the chicken i ordered was just glorified mcnuggets. the only thing that was done timely was clearing our empty plates but even getting us the bill was quite a chore. overall the food was just ok and the service was slow. i guess if we had ordered a couple bottles of wine we could have had the same service as the table next to us.

wow!! finally. i am so excited, theboathouseis finally what it should be. i have gone to theboathouseabout once every summer for the past few years, was usually disapointed. not this time! the remodel is amazing theboathousehas a fresh new feel. it now has a nice seperation between bar and restaurant that is important to a mom with young kids and the openess, unfortunitly it was raining so we were bumbed we had to eat inside but with remodel it did not matter we still felt like it was a dinning at the lake. the restaurant was not the only thing remodeled, even though i recognized some of the staff , there was a huge difference in energy and attitude. the customer service was much improved. i was greated immediatly when i came in. the server checked on us several times and had quite a little conversasion with my 3 year daughter (much appreciated). all of our meals were wonderful. this summer i will visit theboathouseagain and again and again. thanks guys!!!

quality food, extremely bad service... it is obvious when attending theboathousethat you don't receive a proper greeting. the service is absolutely terrible. most restaurants with such pricing and expectations would have a quality wait staff that would tell you one of two things:
1) "please be seated and i will take your order immediately."
2) "we have a slight wait this evening of (estimated time of wait), and we may seat you if we have it available, or the wait for food is (time of wait)."
unfortunately at this lakeside restaurant you seat yourself, and have your order taken by inexperienced service whilst waiting hours per night for your food.

hey, i did it!. it took 20 years for me to finally figure out why this place changes hands, but theboathousefinally lured me in on this trip to the lake house. so, heres my take. the location is great. its a little out of the way for most people in coeur d'alene, but not enough to discount it. the size of the place is right for the location, and the deck is great.

so what is the real reason for this place changing hands every year, sometimes twice a year... the food. i mean, we all go to the lake, have barbeques, drink beers, so why would i go to a place that serves up the same. most of the menu was something you would find on a diner, but there were some finds... my fish tacos were good, my wifes taco wrap was edible, but the fries with it were sooo salty. bill was average, so i left feeling average, which unfortunately isn't enough to bring me back.

i really hope one of these places sticks around for more than a year, it truly is a great location and its a shame that someone can't make this place work.