Review Idler Restaurant - South Haven

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!

Another great place to sit outside, right on the water, and watch the boats go by. Has an outdoor bar and the service was fantastic. Place was packed and but we had our food within 20 mins of ordering.

I loved this place! Great views of the water, decent prices for the food and their staff was really nice. The wait for our food was a little long (25-30 minutes) but it was definitely worth it! I will be back.

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!

The atmosphere was great! The bar tender was great, friendly, waited on us right away. The food on the other hand was horrible! Burger was burned, mac n cheese tasted watered down- horrible! Kids meals were horrible. Would recommend this place for good drinks, don't waste your money on the food. We spent $75 on food and left hungry because we couldn't finish our food. Very disappointed on the food.

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!

Love being on the water. Get the fries! They are a large portion & so filling. It's an up charge though of $3 (one portion is great for two people)! The ducks and geese were right over the edge I fed them some fruit, not fried food!

We were there last night. There were four of us. We were given two sets of plastic silverware to split. My husband and a friend ordered a ribs and brisket combo dinner. There was no brisket. They offered them some chicken saying that they were out of brisket instead of telling them before hand,so they could order something else. My other friend and I both ordered the Caesar salad. Which was some chopped romaine with maybe three little pieces of cheese,and a chicken breast thrown on top. We asked for more silverware twice (not ever getting it) before we decided to just leave. Will never return again. We ended up leaving.

Loved this place!!! We spent summers as kids in south haven. My sister and I stopped here today and mentioned to our awesome waitress Lexi a song that reminded us always of our childhood. A few minutes later the song was playing on the sound system. It was so thoughtful we cried, our parents met in SH 66 years ago so it's a very special place. She made it a very special day. Food was great and the boat is the coolest!!!! Thanks for the best day!

The Rum Runners are great. My husband had the oyster po boy sandwich that he had on father's day and I had their oysters Rockefeller with a bacon aioli. I could have eaten 2 plates! The coconut shrimp was really good as well.

The food was killer the service was dumpy I always tip 20 to 25% only tipped 10% terrible server so I give it a 3 out of 5 cause the food was outstanding

Just there this past weekend. Atmosphere is great and staff was very friendly. We ordered just drinks. I had the Chum Bucket Bloody Mary. Very good but wish the garnishes were a lot bigger instead of sliver size. A bit disappointed.

Great location, fun place for drinks. New menu with great sounding dishes. Mostly bland. They need to have a schedule for cleaning the restrooms. Always seem to be a mess. Might not be the case, but I have a hard time thinking a restaurant with a mess of a bathroom knows how to run a clean kitchen.

Great place to sit outside, enjoy the view, have lunch and drinks.

When my son and myself arrived the hostess told us we could sit anywhere we would like. So we sat at a hightop in the bar area for 10 minutes while two different waitresses a waiter and a bartender Went back-and-forth from behind the bar out onto the boat not one time acknowledging us… So we decided to go sit at the bar and maybe we could get service there, we sat there for about five minutes with the young man behind the bar making drinks and cashing out checks then he finally said I will be right with you! Then he proceeded to go out onto the boat he came back and started making another round of drinks said again be right with you! Left with those drinks came back started to make another round of drinks… Giggled and again said sorry guys be with you in a minute! That should've been my cue to get up and walk out! By then we are nearly 25 minutes into sitting there and not even a glass of water!!! Mind you it was far from busy ! There were several empty tables throughout the establishment .Then a very nice young black girl walks behind the bar and says have you guys been helped yet? I ask her about a specific drink she had no idea what was in it… The young guy came back up there and he explained what was in it. I ordered the drink and two waters. We were never offered a menu the guy said the drink down in front of me and our waters and walked away made more drinks took them out… Came back and proceeded to start making more drinks and I finally had to ask could we please have menus! Second cue I should have got up and walked out… He brings this menus we literally sat there another 10 minutes and I had to call to him again who do we place our order with? He says oh! I can take your order are you ready?? I ordered the heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad with grilled chicken my son ordered a cheeseburger with bacon it took 30 minutes to get those! The piece of chicken on my salad had been cooked for at least 29 of the 30 minutes I waited for the salad not a grain of salt not a speck of pepper several pieces of bad lettuce a rotten tomato and half of the chicken was not edible because it was full of gristle! Needless to say I will never!!! Enter the doors of this establishment again! I brought these things to the young man's attention at all I was met with was "I'm sorry I'll let the kitchen staff know you were unhappy with the salad" $47 for two drinks and appetizer size crappy salad and a cheeseburger with precooked bacon on it! $47 and an hour and a half of my life that I am just totally screwed out of! And BTW the drinks were crappy!

My favorite get away spot my safe place! Food is incredible and if you've been there before you know the drinks are the s.h.i.t. and if you've never done a shot-ski...try one!. Always a go to when in southhaven not to mention the gorgeos view!��

Awfully dirty! Been coming here for years and will not come back unless they start to clean the place up!

Just had a surprise party there- consisted of 40 people. Very accommodating, great staff, food and drinks fast. Made for a great party!

Great service, great drinks and food, highly recommend the S.H.I.T.