Dockside

The food was phenomenal got the buffalo chicken sliders and the honey chicken sliders they were great and super nice waiters.

A nostalgic visit that did not disappoint… I was excited to find out that Dockside had reopened, while visiting back home. It was actually one of our first stops. We had only planned on staying for one drink but we ended up staying for three, followed by a few bites to eat.
Our server Josh was quick at anticipating our needs and making drink and food suggestions. We found him to be knowledgable about the food at hand and what was going on in the Bay City area. A woman named Michelle, who I believe to be the owner, stopped by our table to check in. It is always nice to see owners meeting and getting to know their customers.
My drink of choice was the Boody Mary and as I said before, one turned into three. I highly recommend it and don’t be afraid to ask for a little spice. My husband stuck with the Shipyard Blueberry Beer, which he found to be refreshing and ice cold. For food, we had a variety of sliders that did not disappoint. The Hawaiian was the favorite, followed by the cheeseburger. We ended up topping off the night with an order of deep fried pickles, which couldn’t have been done more perfectly… these are definitely a Michigan thing.
Overall a great night… great company and great food!

Stopped in for lunch today with my boyfriend and kids, I was very excited to visit since the place reopened.
When walking in I noticed several changes, some good, some bad in my opinion. The wall and swinging doors that were put up in the upper section where the ice machine used to be is a great idea. Also the plants that are located inside and outside of the restaurant were a nice touch. The inside of the restaurant felt very empty, and was very plain, it did not make for a comfortable atmosphere.
Our service was not the best, we had a girl named Bree, who seemed nice but also seemed like she didn’t want to be there (the only staff that actually looked happy was the hostess, and bartender) it didn’t look like our server had any other tables, but with there being a few tables on the dock and not knowing if they were hers or not, I will cut her some slack. She was slow, it took her a few minutes to come take our drink orders, and to get them to us. Instead of using a tray to carry 4 glasses of soda she had someone help her carry them.
We ordered an appetizer, and it came out pretty quick, and tasted decent.
We got 2 burgers, and 2 BLT’S, the food looked good when it came to our table. After about 3 or 4 bites into my burger I found paper cooked to my burger! I let our server know, she said that was disgusting, and returned it to the kitchen. A few minutes later a man from the kitchen came out, one of the cooks… possibly the head cook, he was nice, but should not have approached guests, as he looked to be under the influence. He told us there was a new guy in the kitchen and that he forgot to take the paper off that separates the frozen burgers before he made mine… how do you miss that? They made me a new burger but I put it in a box and didn’t eat it.
Not once did I see any type of management. I had higher hopes for the reopen of this place, and I’m sad to say that my boyfriend, myself, and the kids agree that we will not be returning.

We had a party of 7 for dinner. 4 of our meals came out within 5 minutes of each other, the other 3 came out 20 minutes later than the prior 4. The first set were done eating by the time the rest got theirs. The only explanation we got was the tickets got lost.
I will never go back. They should have stayed closed.

Decent bar food but extremely overpriced. A Captain and Coke in a 12 oz glass was $ 6 and the 8 piece boneless wings came with 6 wings and 2 breaking crumbs. Won’t be back again.

They’re open! Stopped in yesterday for lunch. It was delicious and reasonably priced. Awesome sliders, I’d suggest the Hawaiian Chicken or Fried Chicken. Such a fun atmosphere. Be sure to check it out!

We both ordered burgers. I had the blue cheese burger. Both were very over seasoned, and super salty! We also ordered the calamari fries… not a smart choice. They were over done, rubber bands with a weird texture.
I liked this restaurant much better under the name Kingfish!

Adiós amigos, a good run over a long time. To little for too long is too bad ??? The longest running downtown restaurant comes to crashing close and obvious fail. Thanks for the memories 1019 n water st. 18years versus 1.6years is quite a difference. The future is unwritten.

Service is average, location is awesome, food is awful. I was with a party of 6 and only 2 found the food edible. (A burger and the Ruben) The food was so poor I will not be returning.

Food was good. Atmosphere and view is excellent.
Bathrooms were very clean /​which is a good sign.
Too bad it it was so windy as we could not sit outside for lunch.
Have had dinner here on a beautiful day. Dock seating is usually hard to come by on a nice day .
Servers were very good and responsive.

My girlfriend and I were going on a business trip to northern Michigan, and thought to stop in at a nice restaurant in bay city. We were driving and did not see much around but did see a few people gathered on the dock outside. As we took our seats, I had ordered a corona beer while my girlfriend ordered a wine. First off, I received a corona in a can, in which the can had dirt on it where you put your mouth on. I cleaned it off myself but also wondered why I did not receive this in a glass? I asked the waitress for a glass and she brought over a plastic cup which was frosted but it hott in a matter of seconds! I didn’t know why the guy next to me got an actual frosted glass, but I got a plastic cup. Next, idk about you, but whenever we are in a restaurant, we love looking at pictures to see what looks more appealing. My girlfriend had ordered the salmon bruschetta. It looked very tasty on the menu, but when brought to her it was the complete opposite! We brushed that aside, then as she took her first bite of the salmon she quickly made a face! Not to mention the salmon was overcooked! But it also had a very vinegar taste, as well as an old fish taste. (We know how a salmon is supposed to taste, it was probably expired!) next, to my entrée, I had looked on the menu of the New York strip. Of coarse it looked great on the menu, but again, completely opposite! I had ordered a rare steak which was well done, and not to mention overly seasoned which loosed its natural flavor. Also, I had ordered garlic potatoes, which they forgot to add the garlic powder cause it was obviously from a box they had mixed. Overall, do not come here and waste your time! I would have rather went to hooters across the river, at least I would have gotten a nice show!

Very disappointing don’t order the steak, what a waste! You could get better at a Denys type restaurant.

Our Party of 10 was sat in front of the one window that did not have a shade and the sun was setting. The restaurant was about 30% full so we had plenty of other areas they could have prepared for us instead they decided to cover the windows in paper after we commented on the sunlight blinding us. I ordered the chicken teriyaki and I think the chicken tasted ok, but I specifically asked if the meal came with white rice as in the picture,(I had noticed that white rice was not offered as a side I was suspicious.) The waitress stated that it did come with white rice, and it did not it was wild rice. Very different. My Wife’s choice was a California wrap to which she pointed out was spicy, and maybe that is the way that it is suppose to be, but it was not mentioned on the menu or she would have not ordered it.
Our service was prompt, and courteous. The atmosphere (other than the blinding light) was pleasant, parking was easy, and the bathrooms were clean. They had a nice area to hang your jackets, and the greeter was kind. The club sandwich looks like it would be a good choice next time I go.

Have seen the names come and go for this restaurant space… thought we’d try the newest, Dockside.
There were 4 of us on a weekday… the only real plus, was the great retail wines they have on shelves for purchase, many great Napa Valley selctions.
Asked for a wine list before ordering dinner, waitress handed me a flip chart with several selections of wine, I asked if these prices were by the glass or bottle, she said bottle. Great, we ordered a bottle of chardonnay.
Ordered food, it was marginal at best… wine was good and chilled.
Check came and to my surprise I saw a $ 5.00 corkage fee! Waved down waitress to confirm that I did not bring in any wine of my own, therefore why the corkage fee? She said that is their retail prices, if you want to drink it at the tbale, we charge you.
WHAT?
I didn’t ask for a retail list, I asked for the wine list for which I could drink with my dinner, like you do at any other restuarant.
She sent manager over. Again, she went on about the list being for retail prices, to which I again said I had intended to drink my wine with my dinner not after. I asked where does it say anything about a corkage fee? She went 5 tables over to get a little menu, which apparently made mention.
I said do you see that on our table? Well no. I got the «retail» list from the waitress, and said does this say it’s a retail list or that there is a corkage fee? No… that’s right NO.
The manager was very combative, I said the waitress certainly made no mention of having to charge me $ 5.00 to open that bottle of wine I ordered from your bar?
They could not have cared less… we paid our bill and got up to leave. There wasn’t a manager or wait person in site. Too bad, as I was going to buy a case of a certain Napa Valley chardonnay, @ $ 20.00 per bottle.
They obviously don’t care about their customers or any comments that have been made previously.
They did nothing to make any of us ever want to return.
Never seen anything like it in my life!

It’s okay. Looks way better under new owners. service was okay. Food was just so-​so. They could do better. if they upped their game on food quality – it could be a winner.

3.5
I’ve been to this space numerous times in its various identities over the years. Now it is called Dockside. It’s still got that great riverfront patio on the back, and that’s what counts.
My family went here for a casual dinner on a breezy Saturday evening. The inside was closed for a private event, so we sat on the back patio area (where I wanted to sit anyway). I did peek inside, and the interior looked nice and updated.
We started with a hot cheese/​crab dip to share, and I ordered the whitefish with baked potato and house salad. Everything was okay, but not that great (could have been much better). Another person at the table ordered a reuben sandwich with fries, and that looked far superior to my plate (sadly). I’d give it another shot, but wouldn’t repeat my order…

Great customer service. Went there during the Tall Ships Festival. Got the fish and chips — wasn’t impressed. The fish was indeed fresh perch– no doubting that. However it was a puny amount of that with fries for the price.

Sitting outside and eating at Dockside was so wonderful. It’s nice when MI has those warm summer days. There’s quite a bit of seating outside on different levels. Summer shandy on tap. Hell yes. Delicious food. Live music. Speaking my language, Dockside. I have fallen in love with you.

Not impressed. Food was acceptable… nothing I would crave but not bad. Service could definitely use some work. We went in when it was pretty slow (many, many empty tables) and still took quite a while for any of the employees to acknowledge us. Then was brought the wrong food… which they placed on the table… and when they realized it was wrong they took it to another table and served it to them!

Hopefully things well get better since this is under new ownership. Service was terrible, we waited aver 15 minutes before a server would order us drinks after we were seated. When we ordered our appetizers our table of 5 received 2 plates, we asked for more and never received them. I asked for a glass of water 4 times before getting one. The food was luke warm, management was unreceptive.
The only positive is there jumbo pretzel was excellent.
We posted our constructive criticism on their facebook page and they deleted our post.
We will not be going back and I will be telling everyone I know to stay far away.