Boathouse Bistro Tapas Bar & Restaurant

We just completed an eight day trip through parts of New England and Canada. Of all our dinners, including restaurants in Boston and Montreal, this was by far our favorite meal.

The restaurant has a great location beside the harbor, and the building is old coastal Maine. However, the inside of the restaurant is rather plain. By looking at it, you would never assume the quality of the food you'll find here.

We started with an incredible Ceasar Salad. The dressing was creamy and delicious, the shaved cheese was plentiful, and the lettuce was fresh and crisp.

I had the shrimp and grits (sans the bacon) for my entree, and it was out of this world. The grits were deliciously cheesy, and the cajun seasoning on the shrimp was perfect. It was just the right spice to complement the grits. If we had had another day in Boothbay, I would have gone back the next day and ordered the exact same dish.

My husband had the Haddock Risotto, and it was also outstanding. Our server informed us that the chef specializes in risotto, and we agree that she knows exactly what she is doing. Both the fish and risotto were perfectly crafted.

We ended the night with the tiaramasu. It was creamy and light. Personally, I prefer my tiaramasu to have a little bolder flavor to it, but it was a great finale to an incredible meal.

We would go back in a heartbeat.

We loved our visit to the Boathouse Bistro. The food was excellent! The service was excellent! We enjoyed our lobster, risotto, and oysters. We would love to come back again and try more of the menu.

This place is the absolute best. The chef is a genius - underrated as far as I'm concerned, as this is some of the most delicious, inspired food in the harbor - if not the best. Plus, the wait staff is always so friendly and laid back. The atmosphere can't be beat. I can safely describe this place as a "haven" - do not miss out on dining here if you have the chance.

Great food and service with a roof deck on top. It’s a bit pricy but all the restaurants nearby have the same price anyways. Waiters are super friendly. We got a high chair for our toddler.

Lobster risotto is amazing. Highly recommend. Great flavor and filling. So good I ordered a second one to go.

The Boathouse Bistro is Fabulous in every way! The view is amazing, the food is absolutely mouthwatering …. Everything that we ordered was delicious! I have a onion allergy and the chef made a special risotto dish just for me, I really appreciated that! We loved the oysters - so good. Last but definitely not least, the service is the BEST! Thank you to our server Melissa for making our experience the best ever! If you’re in the area, I highly recommend visiting the Boathouse Bistro.

Wow everything was amazing. Service was fast and friendly. Squash and goat cheese salad was delicious and fresh. Squash was still warm when it was served. Absolutely delicious. We tried the garlic shrimp tapas and they were perfectly cooked. The bread was perfect to soak up the sauce and garlic with. And lastly, we loveeeee haddock Rueben’s and have had 3-4 this year alone. This one took the cake. We opted for blackened haddock over fried haddock and it was PERFECT. So meat and savory and delicious. We will be back as soon as we can!

As always the food thoroughly impressed, though even more impressive was the service. All their tables filled up at the same time and with two waitstaff who doubled at the bar, they managed to keep food coming out quickly from the kitchen. It seemed that all tables always had full drinks and both servers were attentive to every table. Melissa couldn't have been a better server, if you want a perfect meal in Boothbay Harbor this is the place to go!

Our server was amazing and the five stars are because of her. She made us feel welcome and was so attentive. She even explained how the town parking worked. The food and the location were pretty good too. We did not expect to have such a nice meal.

Shrimp tacos and Catch of the day sandwich (blue fine tuna) we're both absolutely delicious. Sandwich was a good value as well for the price. Will definitely come back

Best Bistro with a boathouse motif in all of midcoast Maine! Amazing harbor views from the top deck. Fun staff, great food!!

The tapas and salad were 5 star. My drink was overly sweet and my boyfriend's not sweet at all. We had coconut cake for dessert; it was very dry and tasted like an entire bottle of almond extract was poured in it. Overall, I would eat here again, but maybe try something else for dessert. The service was also excellent.

Came here after our whale watching cruise chilled to the bone. Our waitress cranked the heat up for us and brought hot tea. We each got risottos and it was to die for. Great place with great service and amazing food! If we’re ever back in Boothbay we will stop in again!

This place is always a 10/10 and the food is awesome! I visit Maine every year and I always try to make it here to eat. The picture is green because we sat under a green umbrella but the view was just as good. If you like sangria I suggest their blueberry pomegranate signature sangria. It wasn’t too sweet which make me like it even more. We got the BLT risotto and a Burger both were fantastic. Great for couples and still has a welcoming environment. I would highly recommend!

Ordered the shrimp and grits and scallop risotto to takeout. Very pretty presentation (especially for takeout) both dishes were delicious. Friendly staff. I would definitely return if in the area again.

Great food and drinks. Pork belly risotto was phenomenal. Cheesy, salty, and crispy all together. Great dish. Drinks were on point, draft beers and cocktails. Wonderful atmosphere on the 3rd deck at the bar. Can’t say enough good things. Definite go to in Booth Bay. Wife had the mussels. 5 stars for sure.

We had an excellent time at Boathouse Bistro. To start, they were a little short staffed but they handled it well. (Where are all you freeloaders that are sitting at home without jobs? Get back to work and support your local restaurants and shops!) The service was excellent and you can tell everyone was working their tales off. Bravo to them and big props to the guy running massive trays of food and dishes up and down the stairs (dude was sweating he was working so hard). I hope everyone that dined there appreciated it. Anyway.. the food was excellent and came out in a good amount of time and was nice and hot. We had the steamed lobster which was very good and the scallops with mango which were awesome! Try the lobster soup too. Everything else that we saw carried by our table looked excellent as well. Great view and atmosphere from the top deck.
We will definitely be coming back here next time we're traveling this way.

I’ll keep it simple, this place is incredible! Everything we’ve had has been delicious. Great third floor deck looking out on the water with a wide selection of wine, cocktails and craft beer. We most recently enjoyed the burrata and heirloom tomatoes and a bowl of their house made clam chowder.

The best meal we had on our trip. The tapas plates were simply amazing. The flavors with each selection were delightful. They have some excellent creations.

Absolutely love love this place! My burger was perfect and juicy. It has been a long time I've had a burger this delicious! Highly recommend this place. Hardly waited for food and the staff were friendly. Very clean!