Jennifer Taylor Cheetam
+5
What could be better than eating dinner on the Idle Riverboat? What a great place! My daughters and I had a late lunch there on July 1st when the weather was in the low 70's (perfect). I had the fried green tomato burge/chips and my daughters had fish/chips. The servings were a nice generous size and the food was great. I had a Mai Tai which was also generous in size and quite tasty. I highly recommend the Idle Riverboat as fun place with great food and service!
It's a fun place....good food. It's busy so you just have to be patient...staff is friendly and well worth any wait although we didn't wait that long. Will definitely go back and recommend!
We had a great time!
The atmosphere is good; Outdoor seating has a mix of sun & shade and table & bar/high-top, there's fake grass flooring on the riverboat plus great river views — BUSY with all sorts of pleasure craft on warm days — for a vacation "island/tropical" feel, and good music on the speakers (tending a little towards the parrothead side of rock and country).
Their drink menu leans "tropical", with other notable items being the South Haven Iced Tea and the Funky Cold Medina. Our server was quick, attentive, and funny. Our drinks were served slightly sticky (though I'm unsure whether from the heavy winds or sloppiness on the bartender's or server's part) but no worries, a damp napkin fixes that easily enough. However, a single one-person bathroom means a nearly guaranteed short wait if you need to use it.
Manuella was the best server we had all week. Great atmosphere. BBQ combo was tasty. I recommend the White Fish dip & Moscow Mule made with tequila.
Nice environment. Was able to sit on the barge under cover during a mild rain storm and was able to be dry. Table and Bar service was good along with the other wait staff. By far the best service and attentiveness of any of our restaurants we visited while in South Haven. Even spotted a manager of some sort facilitating the staff which was out side the norm from our other experiences here.
Food was good and the fish dip and crab roll are great just as they always have been.
We all had a good time on the Idler! The pita and dip were tasty and so was the brisket sandwich. Someone in my group ordered at a margarita and they thought it tasted too sweet, but I thought it tasted fine. Great Jimmy Buffet type music on the speakers too, which was nice!
I first came here when I was 7 or 8 years old and it looks like they spent barely any money on upgrading the restaurant as everything looked well used. Redskin potatoes were literally plain lol no salt or seasoning
Great view. I had the fried tomato BLThamburger it was great. Coconut shrimp with the orange marmalade for too. It has under a 4 star review, so I typically wouldn't go to this restaurant, but my wife wanted to go and I am glad we did as it was very good to me.
Despite the rain I was able to find a dry table on the deck with a great view of the river. The servers are friendly and attentive. The spinach and artichoke dip was very tasty as we enjoyed our South Haven Ice Tea. Highly recommended but get there early to get a good seat on the deck.
Use to be my favorite place in South Haven. However, prices going up, quantity going down. I’m not looking for a massive amount of food but 5 shrimp for 15 bucks is a tad much.
The atmosphere is the same. Except it was originally a mix of music. Now it is a Spotify free account with only country.
I hope this millennial group restaurant doesn’t go south as well.
Food was decent. I ordered the Maui wowie sandwich. It was good. Chicken was seasoned well with good flavor. My husband ordered a bacon burger but it didn't come with bacon. He said it was average. Service was extremely slow for what seemed like a less than busy mid afternoon lunch. Waiter was very polite and apologetic about the wait. Love the atmosphere though. Enjoy watching the water and the boats coming in and out. Would definitely come back for drinks on the water.
Awesome drinks, friendly staff, food is a little pricey, but it's south haven, it's a tourist town, so you can expect that everywhere. I recommend either way. We got the Moscow mule and the Mai Tai which were both delicious!
The Idler is the best place in South Haven. Staff is friendly and efficient. They’re working so hard this season to keep up with the tourist demand and a short-staffed kitchen. The food is great and wonderful drinks. The Mai Tai is the perfect drink to sit and watch the boats. Our family’s favorite spot!
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