Tavern On The Bay Resort

I’ve had the burger here twice and it is amazing. Drinks are yummy and the view on the deck is amazing!

On our yearly vacation in OCNJ we were looking for a restaurant to have dinner. Through Unilocal we found this steakhouse. Very similar menu setup to a high end steakhouse (think Ruth Cris) with sides ordered separately.
A party of 5, we ordered different entrees & shared 3 sides. Starters were the white truffle Parmesan fries which were amazing! Tasty and flavorful! My husband enjoyed the bacon wrapped scallops and my Dad, the clams casino.
The only disappointment was my husband’s ribeye steak. Considering the price and this being a steakhouse, it was a surprise that it was thin and over cooked.
The other entrees including the Pork chop, scallops with risotto, roasted half chicken and the red snapper special were delicious. The highlight of the meal was the Brussels sprouts with bacon. Mashed potatoes and baked potato were also good.
Prices are high but service was good, food was yummy and the view of the bay was lovely.

My husband, 2 kids and I ate dinner here. Things seemed pretty promising… free valet, seated immediately since we had reservations, one of the food runners took our picture by the water for us. Our waiter was very friendly throughout the entire time we were there. I ordered the tavern Cosmo and my husband ordered the bay breeze. Both tasted like they had absolutely no alcohol in them! My «Cosmo» was bright red to the point that the waiter even said something and offered that my second drink would be on the house. So I ordered a gin and tonic, no messing that up right? Well apparently you can if you forget the gin! We also ordered steamed clams. Their new ingredient to that recipe is sand by the way. Clams casino was pretty good as was the kids spaghetti and chicken fingers. Wedge salad and Caesar salad were the highlight of our meal which I think is kinda sad with a promising menu like this one.

Chef Russ, JP and Dianne are so personal and accommodating. This place is truly a hidden secret. They have it all. The SERVICE is off the charts, FOOD, AMAZING and TASTY!!! FUN atmosphere and ambiance. Indoor, outdoor dinning. Seats are comfortable, location a wow factor. Love this place.

I stumbled in late one night, after too many gin and tonics down the road. I didn’t think they’d be open, let alone serving anything, so the unlocked front door was a pleasant surprise, as was the bartender still behind the bar, cleaning some glasses. Don’t get me wrong – this was definitely the end of the night, so it wasn’t necessarily screaming «open for business.» And the manager was sitting, there, rubbing his head, looking tired as heck, but when he saw me, he donned his best smile and did his best not to show his exhaustion. (I appreciated that.) He asked me what he could get me, and I said I could use something in my belly for heading home. He said «lemme see if anyone’s in the kitchen.»
Turns out, the chef had left, but somebody was still in there, cleaning up. «Sammy» came out and said «Hey man… What can I get ya? You want something to eat? We don’t have much, but I’ll make you something.»
Make me something he did: THE BEST BLT I’ve ever had. It was on a big fluffy brioche bun, with thick-​cut bacon, big juicy Jersey tomato and fresh, green lettuce. Absolutely delicious and exactly what I needed.
I really appreciated him doing that for me, this guy Sammy. (Turns out, he’s the owner, or son of the owner, or something.)
Like Arnold Schwarzenegger said, «I’ll be back!»

What an amazing turnaround
One of the best burgers around
Great happy hour/​bar menu
Staff is friendly and attentive
Food and staff match the amazing view
If you haven’t tried … It’s a must

Came here to Tavern ON the Bay (somebody needs to correct the listing) for Christmas Eve dinner. It was easy to get reservations, which surprised us, since so many other places in the area of Ocean City were fully booked. When we got there, we were further surprised to be led into the lovely front dining room on the water, and be the ONLY people in there for at least the first hour. (Two other tables came in while we were close to the end of our meal.) The room was decorated nicely for Christmas with Poinsettias on each of the tables; it’s too bad there was nobody there to enjoy them, because I think they were scheduled to be closed on Christmas Day. My husband had the bone-​in ribeye, cooked rare as requested. My filet was not as ‘very rare’ as I requested, though I must admit, it is rare (no pun intended) to get a steak as rare as I want it. My dinner came with a mixture of zucchini and yellow squash that was crisp-​tender, and nicely seasoned, very well done. The garlic mashed potatoes were strongly seasoned, but pretty good. We split a side of fried mushrooms and onions, possibly the best dish of the evening. We did not order dessert, but either the manager or owner sent crème brûlée to our table, a very generous gesture probably related to the Christmas season, but delicious and appreciated nonetheless. If my steak were just a little more rare, this would move up to 4 stars. The dock was not lit up at all, so the water view was lost on us – but maybe if we go back when the days are a little longer, it will be more worthwhile. I should add that our waiter, Andrew, could not have been nicer. All in all, we would be willing to try again.

Ummmmm… comical and expensive is the best way to describe it. Will not return any time soon. When we arrived, three different people greeted us and we had no idea who was taking care of us. There were tables open but the tactic seemed to be direct customers to the bar for a drink.
10 minutes later one of the managers came over and acted like he had never seen us before. When we reminded him that he has our name he immediately found a table.
First water glass had lipstick on it. Multiple people came over to ask if we were being taken care of and we said no. Granted we did ask for a couple of minutes to review the menu but the waiter was running around like a mad man (ever seen Fawlty Towers?). Nice guy. Just spread too thin around the building.
We ordered two capreces salads. Waiter came back and said they were all out (that’s a lifetime first for me). We ordered drinks and the waiter came back to clarify the order since he got confused the first time.
When the main course arrived, the plates from the starters had to be pushed aside to make room. Not good timing.
Menu is not varied. We ordered steaks and that’s all you get. A steak with a half leaf of salad. Even the dressing on the steak cost an extra $ 2! Asparagus was good too.
To be honest, the steak was good, as was the crab cake, but pricing seemed to be over the top.
Great chef but management needs to be re-​examined.

Ate there last night with my boyfriend and since it’s off-​season we were one of only a few tables seated. Sat by the window with gorgeous views of the bay. I had the best pan-​seared scallops I have ever tasted. They came with bacon and corn risotto and the whole meal was fabulous! The atmosphere was terrific and I would definitely return!

Probably the worst dinner we’ve had in the area. We waited 30 min for our table and it was for 4 people.(we were 2) they never re
moved the extra place settings.
Wait staff was either bored or very tired.
Food was mediocre at best. A complete waste of an evening. I gave 1 star because
the bathroom wasn’t bad.

One star if that, just because the food was edible !
The service was scarce, the vallet quit and the waiter was the valet– the manager was acting as the bus boy — cause the bus just quit! The service was frantic, the band out side was obnoxiously loud !!!
For the food portion, the waiter did not know the menu, when asked to get a side of Vegs he said no thats a sauce? The wine we asked for in the limited wine list was not available, so we had to go for the house wine instead. My husband order a steak and they forgot his sauce. I order the shrimp dish and it was bland and tasteless. To sum it up, this was not a relaxing atmosphere, the service was scarce and the food was sub par!

Two stars for the view and the friendly, if not terribly knowledgable staff and ok food. Our host, waitress and busboy/​runner were all very friendly. No complaints there.
The menu is derivative, not an original dish to be found. The «Caesar salad» is an ENTIRE head of romain, with both ends cut off, drizzled with what tasted like creamy Caesar out of a jar. It’s a play on the steakhouse wedge, I get it. Present it, then chop it. Or something. Almost impossible to eat with a butter knife and fork.
For a steakhouse the «prime» rib eye seems to have been cooked on a regular restaurant grill– it had no crust, and was frankly bland. On the plus side the chimichurri was excellent (if a la cart).
After dinner I ordered a rye Old Fashioned, which our server was not sure they could do. It took a while, but was pretty good. Our server confided in me that the bartender had never made an Old Fashioned before. Yay Google!
On the plus side: the truffle fries were excellent. The clams casino were really good. The Cabo Wabo margarita was large and tasty. The asparagus side (also a la cart) was the star of the meal.
I’d go again for a drink, and the fries, but would shy away from the $ 40 steak.

Its Friday night and every restaurant near Ocean City is packed. Probably 1 or 2 hour wait
So Tavern on bay is new so we trued it
Me my wife and 17 year daughter. They offer free valet which is awesome cause parking is terrible
The valet girl is the best thing I got from this place.
I order their catch of the day it was 30 bucks and it didn’t come with any sides. Just a piece if fish. Make that a very dry piece of fish my wife and daughter each got filet mignon. At 41 dollars a piece for a 8 oz piece of meat with just a cream potato side they shared. No salad. Our appetizers were very late and lousy clams on half shell that weren’t cut away from shell and u ordered ousters that were crunchy i don’ t think they were cleaned
All this and 2 beers i git hit whit a bill of $ 205.00
Boy do I feel like u git ripped.

Although the inside is gorgeous with stunning views, we decided to take advantage of the perfect weather to sit out on the deck. Our server, Joe, was prompt and efficient. We ordered the bacon wrapped scallops and tuna sashimi as appetizers which came very quickly after we ordered them. The scallops were cooked perfectly, but could have been either larger in size or come with more than just 4 to justify the cost. We didn’t care for the BBQ sauce they served it with. The tuna was delicious. For our entrees, we had the crab cake and the scallops over bacon and corn risotto. Our sides were the spinach au gratin and roasted Brussels sprouts. The crab cake was large and made of large flaky pieces of crab without a lot of filler. The horseradish remoulade served on top of the crab cake was perfect and didn’t overpower the taste of the crab. The scallops were cooked perfectly over again, and once again were in the small size for the price. The risotto was amazing and I could have just had a dish of that for my meal. Spinach au gratin was rich and creamy and oh so good. The Brussels sprouts were good and plentiful.
The deck is the perfect destination for a summertime dinner. We’ll definitely be back.

I don’t know why some people wrote bad reviews this place is awesome and the food is spectacular
Prime cuts of Kobe beef! How can you go wrong! And the views are breathtaking. Live music and cocktails on the water. Tavern on the bay is great!

The Wednesday night manager is amazing!

The food was good, but the staff all seemed like zombies. It was the only restaurant that didn’t have a wait time of an hour + and we were starved so we tried it. We should have waited an hour at another place because we waited forever to get waited on after we were seated.

We walked into Tavern on the Bay on a Friday night, an upscale steakhouse. The outdoor bar was packed so we decided to sit at the indoor bar. A jazz trio was playing, the mood was relaxed and inviting so we decided to have a drink. I chose the Tavern on the Bay Breeze-​mango vodka, coconut rum with pineapple and cranberry juices-​very good! We shared several items from the bar menu-​a wedge salad, Kobe beef nachos and the junior Kobe burger. The wedge salad was small but had good flavor with the blue cheese dressing. The nachos were tasty as well although I would have liked more jalapeños. The Kobe burger was 10 ounces and perfect for sharing –nice thick juicy burger cooked medium .We were not disappointed with our choices that night.
The following night we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner so we came back to Tavern on the Bay. We sat at the bar again but we ordered from the more expensive dinner menu this time. There was a solo singer that night, Shawna. who had a lovely voice. We were greeted by the bartender Jeremy, known as «J», very personable and great at his job. We had the Octopus salad & Caesar salad to start, then we chose the 28 oz. Kobe Tomahawk steak (blue cheese and caramelized onion sauce on the side) with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus. (we were sharing everything– no way I could eat 28oz of steak by myself) The octopus salad was delicious –octopus tentacles served over farro– small portion but so much flavor! Caesar salad was just ok-​lacking the garlic/​anchovy flavor I love. The Kobe steak was to die for! We asked for it medium rare and was cooked perfectly … juicy, tender … I didn’t need the blue cheese/​caramelized sauce on the side … It was delicious as is! The garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus were good too. I would definitely return here for drinks and dinner.

I should have followed the reviews and went somewhere else.
My husband ordered the rib eye and you would think for a steakhouse they would know how to grill a steak or at least season it. He ordered it medium-​rare which is brown on along the edges and has a warm, pink center. The steak came out medium to medium well, cooked all the way through.
After some debate between us we sent the steak back and hoped to get an actual medium rare steak. We guess the chef wasn’t happy and seared a new steak but left the middle raw, it was still cold. We spoke to the manager who put it back on the grill and it was finally cooked the way it was supposed to be and gave us an order of mashed potatoes and 20% off our bill.
The only tasty thing on the menu that we ate was the brussel sprouts and bacon.
Now the ambiance of this place is weird. The location is awesome right on the water but they just seemed to do things half ass. Our drinking glasses were the free promo glasses they got with their Blue Moon order. I don’t care about that stuff but it was weird considering that they were aiming for swanky and the waiters were wearing button down shirts and ties, it didn’t make sense. Also, the umbrellas were also promo umbrellas, again you are trying to market yourself as a swanky place, why not spring from some umbrellas instead of mismatching ones?
If you want to check this place out, I just recommend you go to the bar, have a drink and enjoy the view. After that go across the street to The Anchorage and get a decent meal for a decent cost.

Bartenders awesome. I’m from NYC. Owner sucked. Ran out of ginger beer, bartender offered us money to get it, then they asked the owner, who was at the bar to get more… and he openly said «oh just give them ginger ale.!» After another person in our party wrote a bad review on Facebook from checking us in, the owner came over and went off on the customer. I’ll never go back. Not to mention, the gentleman next to me got a 16oz steak and most of it was gristle. Gross all around.

The service at this place is HORRENDOUS. We had a 7:45pm reservation and didn’t eat until 9:30pm. During dinner we had to go to the bar ourselves if we wanted a drink. The food was good, but not worth the wait. Overall, I cannot recommend this place to a friend.

Stopped in last Friday night for a date night and was simply blown away. After reading some of the reviews on here, I was expecting some pretty good food and lackluster service, but I was wrong on both counts. Both service and food were incredible. We chose to sit inside (the deck was nearly full and the dining room inside had a few tables looking over the bay). All I can say is WOW! We arrived shortly before sunset, and were treated to an incredible view during our meal.
Our waiter, Brian, greeted us almost immediately. We ordered a bottle of wine and an order of bacon wrapped scallops to start. Our waiter brought out the wine, and knew exactly how to present it, open it, and pour it for the two of us. My girlfriend ordered the lamb chops, and I asked for Brian’s opinion on the steaks. He seemed very knowledgeable, and ended up talking me into trying the restaurant’s specialty cut: the Kobe Tomohawk.
The scallops arrived, and they were delicious! Perfectly cooked, and the sauce that came out with it was incredible. They could jar it and sell it by itself. When the entrees arrived, I almost fell out of my seat. Our waiter had told me that the Tomohawk was a monster of a steak, and he was right! This thing covered the entire plate, but it was cooked perfectly (medium rare) and was so tender I barely had to cut it. The lamb chops came out at a perfect medium, and tasted delicious.
After we had finished eating, we stayed around for a short while to finish our bottle of wine, Brian told us that we should stick around for a while to enjoy the view, and had a very pleasant conversation with him. My only regret with coming here is that I didn’t save room for dessert. My girlfriend got the strawberry crêpe and it looked amazing.

Stopped here on the drive home from Cape May. No wait to be seated at 6pm on a Sunday. Sat out on the back deck with a pleasant view of the bay and Ocean City.
The lobster bisque was well-​flavored with good chunks of lobster. The Wedge salad was crisp and refreshing. We split a NY Strip steak with chimichurri sauce — steak was done properly and the sauce was nice and balanced.
Wait staff was friendly and attentive. Gave up my silverware with the salad plate and was presented with a new setup immediately. Always a positive — hate when places are stingy with the silverware.
Final bill was a bit pricey, but the overall experience was positive. Would definitely return.

Disappointed all around! We were all seated outside, but were only given the über expensive menu — $ 51 steaks with no sides included! Wedge salad for $ 10 just a very small piece! No bread dishes! No serving spoons with side dishes! Overly salted steaks! Won’t be returning. Think this site is a jinx!
Also, customer at a nearby table got one of our $ 51 steaks instead of the burger he ordered. It went back to the kitchen and reappeared 15 minutes later, but this time served to us with the rest of our meals.

Wow, what a wonderful place. We walked in blind after declining the 90 minute wait for 3 at Smitty’s, and couldn’t be happier with the experience.
The view was stunning, and easily the best in Somer’s Point. Drinks were reasonable, and the food was excellent. The calamari was so fresh, and the seared tuna app was perfect. For dinner we had the Blackened Salmon and the Caribbean Jerk Chicken. Both were absolutely fantastic. Highly recommended!