Breakwaters Cafe & Grill

We were here recently and had a great time. The food and drinks were good and we sat outdoors watching the beautiful sunset over lake Champlain! They had a band playing which played some great music. It’s a fun place to stop at if you’re in the area.

Breakwater’s is one of my new favorites! The atmosphere and views are amazing – especially on a warm summer day – for lunch, dinner, or after a bike ride on the Burlington Bike Path. The food is mixed. The fish tacos are awesome! I tried a burger once – ordered medium – however, it was beyond well-​done. The taco salad is fresh but bland. The drinks are fantastic! The service is always friendly and fast. I recommend, especially if you’re visiting town – especially on a nice sunny day before winter arrives.

Decent enough fish tacos, not out of this world but not dreadful. The fries were underwhelming and undercooked, though I’ll admit that I’m that weirdo who loves overcooked & burnt fries. The waitress was sweet and attentive. The food was overpriced for what we got. However, best view in town so go for the view, go with friends for drinks, but I probably wouldn’t eat an entrée here again. Three stars for the view and service, two for the food.

The food here is always delicious and is very fresh. I appreciate that a lot of the food is locally sourced. Being right on the water, the view is one of the best in town. The only downside is that it’s first come first serve seating. I am confused at why they have a hostess stationed at the front who just relays that info. It feels strange to have to actively watch where people are in their meals in hopes of getting the next table. It seems like it wouldn’t be that hard to implement an efficient seating system and perhaps would lead to more sales/​profits.

A rare miss by Unilocalers! This place is very much open and the food is awesome! In fact the NE clam chowder won a Boston’s Best award and I can see why. It’s by far the best I’ve had in the area and possibly ever. If this review was just for the NE clam chowder I’d give them a five! For an entrée I get the Cajun salmon sandwich that’s also out of this world. Nothing fancy about the seating (plastic lawn chairs) but the views of the lake and mountains are unbeatable. So, in summary, I highly recommend giving this place a try.

I hate having bad experiences at a restaurant, I really do. I am a chef myself so when I do take a night off and decide to go out and let someone else cook and clean, I can, admittedly be a rather tough critic. With that said the last experience I had here will be my last. The location really can’t be beat. There is nothing like sitting on a pier with a drink in your hand in the hot summer sun. The only thing that could make it better is a good fish taco. Yeah, a good fish taco, needless to say my enjoyment of the place stopped as soon as my meal arrived. 2 soggy tortillas, two very small soft pieces of unseasoned white fish and about 1 cup of wet, watery, soggy, sour southern style coleslaw on each tortilla. Oh, and a few sour pickled onions on top. The texture was awful and I knew I was in for a treat when I picked up a taco for the first bite and white liquid poured over my hand and down my arm. One of the worst meals I have had out in a long time. After a couple of beers each, we were ready to leave but our server was no where to be found, at all. We stopped the next server that went by and asked for our check. When our bill came we noticed that we had been charged 5 dollars for each beer when our server told us that they were on special for 4. We asked why were charged a different price and the server told us that the other guy ad been mistaken, that the beers were normally 6 dollars and they were on special for 5. WHATEVER, at that point, as all of that mayo coated fish swam around in my belly amidst a sea of sour coleslaw, I just wanted out of there. Won’t be going back. You are paying to sit on the water. Get drinks, verify the price, don’t order any food.

Pros:
Lakeside sunsets
Live music
Great people watching
Cons:
Overpriced, poorly made food and drink served by teenyboppers that couldn’t give a shit whether you live or die.

Love breakwaters in Burlington its a sign summer is finally here. Don’t expect fine dining. Do enjoy good lakeside fare and live music on the weekends. I always get blackened salmon cesar salad and if its busy order two drinks and you won’t have to wait!

Breakwaters is not closed. I am here now and it is just as beautiful as ever! Great way to end a Marathon and family party day! THEY ALSO HAVE FIDDLEHEAD!

Great view of Lake Champlain looking west. Very large food portions. I had the Fish and Chips. and on a previous visit had the Cajun Salmon Burger/​Both times the food blew me away for the price. They have a good selection of Craft Beer on tap and live music outdoors on the deck. Service was excellent. June through September they are hopping.

sorry about almost breaking your patio umbrella.
good view of the lake and boats.
not really my kind of place.
kinda reminds me of a viagra commercial with an early retirement white couple smiling and laughing for no fucking reason.

It was a sunny and seasonably warm day in June, and our plans of picking strawberries had been foiled by a delayed onset of strawberry season. So, we opted to go for a cruise around the state, followed by a trip to «It’s a surprise». Well, the surprised turned out to be Breakwaters, which is actually was quite enjoyable. This is one of only a handful of places in Burlington where you can sit outside and enjoy a beer or some grub by the lake. That’s kind of unfortunate for a city with as much lake front as Burlington, but it is what it is.
The vibe here is kind of a beachy boater-​hang out type of place. If you’ve been here, you know what I mean. It’s a no-​frills dive (and I mean dive in an endearing sense) with your normal greasy fare that goes along with beer-​in-​plastic cups. I enjoy the ambiance here quite a lot. In fact, for the amount of fun I had sitting here, listening to a Led Zepplin cover band, I’d give it a solid 4 – 4.5 star rating. But, there’s a few things that detract…
The menu here is pretty limited. You’ve got your typical greasy fare, ie wings, fries etc. It smells like greasy food. However sometimes on a hot summer day, that’s not really what you want. So, there are a few «healthier» options on the menu. We opted to go for one of those… the tomato and mozzarella salad. The presentation was kind of surprising – we expected a few pieces of tomato and a few balls of mozzarella thrown together with maybe a few pieces of iceberg for good measure. Instead we had a wreath of mixed greens with a thick balsamic glaze, and a tower of alternating tomato slices, cheese slices and whole basil leaves. The only problem then was the salt content. I’m not one of those who shies away from sodium – I recognize it’s nutritional value and try to ensure I get enough of it. I’m pretty sure my half of the salad was more than enough of my daily value of sodium. Both the tomato and cheese slices were pretty much caked in salt.
Even the microbrews are served in plastic cups here. It’s not a bad thing… it is what it is. There’s only a limited selection of drinks here, but it seems like it’s fairly well rounded.
Seating inside is first come first serve. This is always a strange situation when a place is busy. The night we went, it was insane outside – they were completely booked, but we did get a table right away. However, as with a lot of FCFS type places, it took a good while before any of the wait staff had noticed we were there. Service was pretty slow, but as I said, they were busy. We just sat back and enjoyed the music and the scenes outside.
I liked Breakwaters. The food was meh, but the experience was fun. There, however, is nothing that sets this apart from any other beachy themed dive. A good way to waste a few hours on the lake though.

great spot to hang out and listen to some live music and relax on the shore of Lake Champlain. A normal spot I stop when I visit Burlington.

Luckily, on the last day in Burlington, we found this place tucked at the far West end of the dock area of Lake Champlain in Burlington. I actually thought it was just a marina until I saw the words: Bar and Grill.
It was a dreary day but we sat outside anyway so we could have the Lake view. We quickly ordered beers, Switchback of course. The menu was limited to traditional bar faire, nothing special but the atmosphere is so relaxed, it is easy for this place to be a fave of Burlington/​Lake Champlain visitors!
Staff was on top of it without being obnoxious and the prices were affordable!

Great location as the only bar restaurant on the water in Burlington. The service sucks, over priced crappy frozen drinks where you only get ice and no smooth ice crystals. After returning our poor attempt for a piña colada, we got a margarita which there was no tequila in it. The only thing you could taste was the really sweet sour mix. This place sucks! Bring your own drinks to the deck and enjoy the sunset on you own dime!
In addition, the food is sub-​par. Don’t get the fish tacos.

The view and amazing sunsets make up for the OK food here at Breakwaters. I have been frequenting this place since I was a little kid, and i’ve never been really let down. For the most part its a great place to have a nice lunch or dinner out in the sun. If your going for dinner, get there early, it fills up FAST! Oh and avoid the wine if at all possible…

Meh is right. This place is only successful because of location (which wins it one star). The live music wins the other star.
Why did I deduct three stars? We came for drinks on a super hot night, thinking we might also get some appetizers. The menu was sparse, so we ultimately decided not to order food. The drink list was minuscule and had not a single frozen cocktail. When I go to a bar on the water, I want a daiquiri or a margarita! Worse even than the small drink list was the fact that there were no prices listed. My friend and I ordered beers first, and then decided the heat required something a little more festive. Our next round we ordered the berry cocktail. In between these rounds, our server was nowhere to be found. When we finally received our check, we were dismayed to learn that the cocktails, which weren’t well made or particularly good, were 9.50 a piece. For $ 2 cheaper, you can get gorgeously crafted drinks at Daily Planet. For around the same price, you can get larger, tastier drinks of a greater variety at the far superior Burlington waterfront watering hole: Splash.
In short, I will never suggest going to Breakwater’s again. If my friends want to go, I won’t be a wet blanket and skip it, but if you are deciding where to go, hit Splash or a church street bar instead.

What a fun place! I love the fact it is right on the waterfront. The staff is amazing, they will bend over backwards to make you happy. When it comes to the food, it’s pretty good. We started off with nacho, which were decent (not out of this world). The lobster bisque in a bread bowl is really delicious. The soup is nice and creamy and the bread bowl is slightly toasted so it doesn’t get too soggy when you get towards the end of the meal. This is defiantly a place I want to come back to!

Great place to sit and enjoy a drink or two and perhaps some snacks while listening to great tunes.
Whether you are sitting on the outside deck waiting for your ferry to arrive or just there to unwind from the day and perhaps catch a great sunset, this is the spot to visit when you come to town. It has been here for a LONG time and its logevity is a testament to quality that they offer in a location that can’t be beat.
Mind you, don’t expect fancy dining here, but thats not what this place is about or meant to be. It is the best spot on this side of the lake to kick back and relax while drinking inexpensive and plenty cold brew.
I think they occaisionally have live music here as well.

The restaurant is right on the waterfront. It is a beautiful place to sit, have dinner and a few drinks, and listen to great music.
The food is reasonably priced and very good. The bar is far enough away from the tables (for eating) that you do not feel cramped.
Regularly, the restaurant has bands that come and play fantastic music where people can sit and listen or get up and dance.
The only problem is seating is first come first serve. It can be very tricky finding a table and then when you do find a table, finding chairs. People sometimes hoard them, which can make the challenge even harder.
If you are willing to be aggressive to find seating, I highly recommend this restaurant.