http://www.thedockside.com/pages/restaurant/philosophy.aspx
We're not sure what that s
econd link is all about, but we're not buying it! There is no way that a restaurant that has served seafood and shellfish for 25 years SHOULD try to convince anyone that they are preservationists. That's like an oil company trying to convince people that they are "green." And this line: " The kitchen is based on shortening the road seafood travels from harvest to your table." What the hell does that mean? The kitchen--any kitchen--is based on cooking food, hopefully.Let's get something out of the way: we enjoy the marina way more than we enjoy the restaurant. If we could hang out and drink beer and booze all day without eating anything, we would do it at Dockside. Come to think of it, that entire street of restaurants (Dockside, Fishhouse Grill, Bridge Tender) leaves something to be desired when it comes to good eating; that something would be a menu that is not hit or miss. A miss at the Fishhouse is now not such a bad thing since they drastically reduced their prices.
You will be able to find a few items that you like if you were to try the entire Dockside menu over a period of time. But if you don't have all year, you might want to go with a safer bet and get food elsewhere. There is something on the menu for everyone, but the specialty is seafood lunch in a basket. Lots of places on the coast pretend that the basket is a charming, nostalgic way to present their food; we think they are too cheap to wash dishes.
This is not an easy review to write because it is difficult to explain how good and bad (at the same
time) the ambiance is at Dockside. We love and hate this place at the same time. The good part is that they are located in the middle of an opulent marina that is full of multi-million dollar yachts and fine smaller craft, and they have great outdoor seating that gives you a great view of water traffic and people watching. The bad part is that the place is a dive. They need to put some money into the rest of the place and stop pretending that they are preserving the feel of a local fishing eatery by maintaining what seems to be, to the casual observer, an unkempt, unsanitary-looking interior. We could be totally off-base on this (like we sometimes are), but based on our tenth impression, we will not eat there again. Not even more images like the ones on the left from Dawson's Creek will convince us. But it must be repeated that this is a fantastic place to hang out and have a few beers or mimosas on a pretty day.The decks and bar area are a great place to chill on a nice day and hang out with boat captains and their guests who, for some reason, are slumming at Dockside. The bar area is very chummy and filled with locals. Why they are not chilling across the ICW at the higher end Bluewater Grill demands explanation. We think it's because they don't want to appear too elitist. Maybe you can ask them when you go to Dockside to eat and drink.
