The Boat House Restaurant

The food was great and the staff was super friendly. They even let us know about a rewards program we could sign up for to receive free goodies. The view of the river is lovely. The Boat House is a hidden gem.

I really enjoyed the high level of service and spectacular view of downtown Columbus. I was disappointed that almost every dish at the table was over cooked. The meat was high quality and tasted good, but I ordered medium rare and received medium (almost medium-well) which took away from the dish. Everyone still had a great time.

The food and the service was outstanding. I had the seafood platter and the crab cakes were the best I have ever eaten. I definitely would recommend giving it a try. The view is really nice as well.

This restaurant is good for large social functions, weddings, business meetings etc. Also, it would be excellent ambiance in the summer as it fronts the water and the cityscape view is the best in Columbus. There are restaurants for true foodies that would clearly out do the food at The Boat House but the menu and pricing and quality suited our needs for a large group birthday party. I had scallops over risotto and it was perfectly done. Cocktails and desserts were very good, the draft beer list is wanting. My party had no complaints and the server was very friendly and extremely attentive to our needs.

The food was amazing. However, our server wasn’t great. It would take her a long time to return to our table. Never checked in while we were eating. Had to ask for the check. The restaurant was not very busy. It was a quiet relaxing atmosphere.

Valentine’s Day dinner, great food nice place

Most expensive $40 meal (actually the bill was $95) I have ever eaten. Food quality was poor.
For $95, the food quality was poor.

It was our 1st time having dinner at The Boat House and we were completely satisfied with our meal and the service was top notch. We Would definitely recommend The Boat House for any type of special occasion!

My wife and I have been going to the boat house or the previous company on valentines day for 20 years with great service and food. They usually provide us with a glass of champagne and and a rose for my wife which we did not receive. The service was slow and the food cold when we received it. Our waitress was very nice and the ambiance is fantastic. This is the first year we experienced any problems and will continue to go back every Valentines day

Ive neen coming here for mamy years but not since 2006. It is and always will be one of my favorite nice places to eat. Took my girlfriend here for valentines dinner and she loved it. We are planning on going back when its warmer so we can be outside. Its amazing. As an author i am also planning on putting this place in my next book. It means that much to me

We had a lovely dinner there with the Penn State Women's Volleyball Club team last week. We made the reservation last minute but The Boar House was ready for us and very accommodating. The view was fantastic and the girls took pics outside after dinner. The food was delicious and well rounded for all of our different tastes. Thanks for a great evening.

Lovely place, sizable portions of delicious food and good wait staff. Will be back for certain!

Really enjoyed their Restaurant Week menu and wine specials. Excited to go back to experience the normal menu.

The food was alright, but the ambiance and the view of the city was nice. Very attentive service, but it felt expensive for the quality of the food. They have great apps, but mediocre entrees.

My wife and I dined for the first time for our first Anniversary! We have run by the venue so many times over the years and finally visited for dinner. It started great with a great ambiance and greeting. We were seated privately near a fireplace and a lovely view in the distance of downtown. But then, service was just not there. It was an awkwardly long time til we got to order and an even more awkwardly long time before we got our bottle of wine. Ahh the wine...so our server I guess was busy with another table and so someone else brought our bottle to table already opened with a cork in it. I found it rather odd that it was not presented to us at the table. Finally our server returned, took our order and said usually there is bread but we ran out. It was a very odd delivery. Then she returned a few moments later with more bad news. I think she knew service had been lacking on her part so she brought the kitchen manager to let us know they ran out of romaine lettuce and couldn’t prepare our salads and offered alternatives. Instead of just comping the salads we wanted she asked my wife is she wanted it to be removed from the bill since she obviously didn’t touch it. But we said it was fine, not wanting to be a bother. Then our food came. The presentation was exceptional but, my filet was very rare instead of medium rare and my wife’s risotto was less than to be desired. Thankfully, we had our cake topping from our wedding at home waiting for us because if any desserts were even available on a late Sunday night, we weren’t confident it would be Very good. I was really looking forward to this experience and hoped we would have received great service and great food. I feel like the potential was there but think we just went at the wrong time when the kitchen manager probably didn’t place a produce order for the weekend and the server had a long day and was just ready to go home. We left with $125 tab and tipped $25 but felt like it was worth half that!

The Boat House came up in a search for best restaurants in Short North. Our waitress seemed annoyed with us the entire time. The food was just okay. View of the river was great.

Went on a first date here and it was a blast. Thank you

It had been recommended by someone. We are originally from Columbus, but now live in Kalamazoo, MI.

We were in town to visit relatives and decided to eat there. Good choice.

Nice, relaxing evening with friends. A few mistakes on the food but immediately corrected (I.e. wrong salad). Food was quite good and amounts were plentiful. Also lots of options, including for one of the vegetarians in our group. Can’t wait for the first semi-warm day where we can enjoy the outdoor deck!

It was my father’s birthday and the only one that recognized it was the gentleman that sat us. The server could have been better including when I said the shrimp scampi pasta was off. Server didn’t ask why I was sending it back nor apologized. The host came around apologized but didn’t ask what was wrong. Odd experience to be in such a great location with the city beaming on us and only 3 tables in the entire place and a medium party in their own event space. Service and food have to be better if they want to stay relevant.

The drinks are great, the steaks were cooked to perfection and our service was attentive but not overwhelming. We will be back and recommend to others. Great date night with relaxed atmosphere and quiet enough to easily enjoy your company.

Great location, very scenic. Also very quiet - loved that we could have a conversation without all the noise. The waitress was very nice, but the food was not the best - cold and not very memorable.

A delightful dining experience for Christmas Day with my spouse. Food was hot and plentiful on the buffet with a very nice selection of land and seafood and all the traditional sides, salads and deserts. Unlimited Mimosas were a nice addition to a very festive atmosphere. The staff was very attentive and made sure we had everything we needed. Normally we are home alone for Christmas but this offered us a wonderful date night with holiday trimmings we don’t normally get to experience. Thank you for the celebratory option in a beautiful setting.

It was buffet and by the time we walked to the back room to eat it everything was cold. Taste wise ok.

This was our first time and we wanted a nice place for a Christmas Day brunch. This is a great location with really nice ambiance. The staff is friendly and attentive. And the selection of food on the buffet was fantastic and everything was delicious. Would definitely recommend for a special occasion.

We had the Champagne Christmas meal. The food and servers were excellent! Debbie made us feel welcome and brought a smile to our faces. This is our new family tradition!

Although we were certainly in no hurry on Christmas Eve, we had to wAit a long time for every step of our dining experience. Our server was very nice and apologetic for all the delays. When our food finally came to the table, one of the meals was not served. She said she’d be right back but it was 5 minutes before the last plate was served. The text if our party waited a few minutes but we began eating shortly after realizing it was going to another wait. Unfortunately, ALL of the food was cold. The manager did cone afl if everything was ok, and when we revealed the undesirable food temp he did discount the meals.

It’s unlikely that we will return to The Boat House. As we were leaving, I overheard the chef announce how F$@&ing tired he was, so maybe that explains the whole night. However, not sure what kind of ambiance or holiday spirit that loud, open kitchen announcement is supposed to give to the patrons of this restaurant.

The food was exceptional, it tasted exactly how the menu described. Roasted tomatoes you tasted the roasted tomato, green pepper (yum) you tasted the green pepper, cheese they did not spare the cheese.
The view was romantic, just sorry it was too cold to go out on the patio and enjoy the firepits.

We got an early setting for Christmas eve. All our food was cold coming out including our soups. I ordered a steak with a demiglase rare. It was medium and the mashed potatoes where so cold that I looked like it was a scoop of ice cream and I had no sauce. There was only two other tables seated so being busy and not able to pick up the food out of the window was not an excuse. Our waitress didn't seem to be interested in getting our order. She didn't even taken our dinner order till after we had our soup and salads.

Probably a decent banquet hall. Food is good. Ambiance/seating not so much. Great view though.

I’m sad that this is the first time I’ve been to the Boat House. It’s a very nice, cozy restaurant. The look is older, but still charming. The food is classic but we found it very well executed this evening and it made both the pickier eaters and the foodies in our party quite happy. I loved the drinks—we had all three of the Tried and True cocktails and we’re impressed by each one. Always glad to find a good Hendricks drink.

Amazing service very quick service and exquisite tasting food!

Everything was amazing! All the food was delicious and the service was great and the view was beautiful. The manager and server were both very sweet and made my mom feel great and special for her birthday

We celebrated my son's graduation from Ohio State with a family dinner at The Boat House. What a great experience. I had very high expectations for this special event, and we were not disappointed. The service, ambiance, view and food were fantastic. We have a new favorite special place in Columbus.
Thank you for making this a special night for us.

Christmas with friends

Seriously, I gave five stars in all categories. I hesitate doing that, thinking readers will be skeptical and assume I have no discrimination. But I only told the truth. The night view is one of the best in Columbus (I used to live here though just visiting now.) Sometimes restaurants with great views have mediocre food because they don't have to have anything but the view. Not so here. We had seafood so can't comment on meat, but our server said the Tasso chicken was popular, and you don't usually hear chicken called out. Plus happy hour is wonderful (hush puppies, specialty cocktails and $7 wine that's actually good.) The Boat House does a great business on special events, but if you have never considered it for a fine-dining date or girls night-out, you should. Oh, yes, besides the view, fireplaces in every room add to the ambiance. And there's a patio on the water for warm weather.

Nice and quiet...could use updating. Food was good -portions decent. Service could have been friendlier.
Prices were a little high for overall atmosphere and food quantity. Nice location and view.

Outstanding service and excellent food. Also one of the best views in Columbus. A hidden gem!!!!!!

Atmosphere was incredible. We went on a quiet but beautiful Saturday night for my Wife's birthday. I requested a table by the windows that way we could enjoy the skyline while we ate. The view, food, perfectly mixed drinks and atmosphere at The Boathouse did not disappoint. This made for a memorable night!

The Boathouse is our favorite place to go when we want a special evening. We took our closest friends that were visiting from out of town and they loved the view and food. Paris was our server and she was one of the best servers we’ve had there.
We’ve already made another reservation!