Splash At the Boathouse

Super restaurant on the lake! Great food, vibe and wonderful service. Had the St. John salad with the ahi tuna — beautifully fresh and tasty. The fish ‘n chips was also enjoyed (and impressive) by my dinner date. We will continue to come back over and over again! Nicely done!

o.m.g. the most incredible views!!! the drinks are pricey, and the service is ok. but the views! you cannot get any better!

This place is amazing! Atmosphere is wonderful, food is good and service is always very friendly and attentive. We are locals and come here quite frequently through the summer to feel like we are on vacation. Don’t know what we would do without Splash!

Very disappointed in this place. We have been once before, and the food was mediocre. However, we were in town this weekend and decided to walk by the waterfront. It was about 60 degrees and noon, so my wife and I stopped with our 6 month old to grab a beer and enjoy the scenery for a few minutes. Naturally we sat at one of the many tables in the sun, as the shade was a bit cold for the baby. After about 90 seconds the owner or manager (older man with white hair) instructed the waitress to give us the boot bc all the tables in the sun were for people eating. Keep in mind they had 40 tables and there was only ONE is use. I even felt like the waitress was embarrassed to be even asking us to move. Long story short… the scenery is nice, they are not family friendly, Splash thinks they are more than what they are. You pay for location and not much else.

Drinks: Pretty good.
View: Great, if you are looking at the lake. But don’t look up… if you are under the canopy, expect many spiders over your heads.

We had five for a quick lunch and the view was great as it was a sunny day on Lake Champlain. We ordered 5 lobster rolls and were all very happy with the freshness and amount of lobster that was on each toasted roll. Some French fries while I had the onion rings and they were cold but still tasty. The coleslaw that came with it was very good as well.
Our waitress was courteous and knowledgable and it was a pleasant lunch and the $ 17.95 Lobster Roll was a once in awhile treat.

The reviews were spot on. The drinks we’re celebrating, as was the view. The food pretty standard.

Limited menu and pricey, hot dog and fries $ 7, lobster roll and fries $ 19. Drink on ice must have just been placed there, room temperature.

Nice place. but the bartender last night consistently gave us and other patrons attitude when making drinks. Now I understand that mojitos take time to make but it’s still your job to provide customer service.

Ok, I’m revising this review at Unilocal request. Clearly I should refrain from any pointing and/​or clicking in the heat of the moment.
My most sincere apologies to anyone I may have offended, and to those of you who enjoyed my rant… you are my people.
So take two —
As a local I can vouch for the view; it’s a really great place to drink a beer and watch the sun set.
That said, actually getting the beer into your hands will prove to be frustrating. Prepare to be intentionally ignored or made to believe that your business is a nuisance.
Even if I believed that somehow that I was undeserving of their attention, the genius brothers behind the bar made certain I would not return by displaying a revolting lack of hygiene and basic food-​safety practices.
Under no circumstances should you order food here; it’s an interesting cross mix of Applebee’s take out and airline food. Do yourself a favor and just order a bottled beer and sit on the dock.

Let’s be real here — you’re coming here for the view and the view alone.
Splash is a Burlington summer time must (if not a regular stop), but you’re coming here for the views, the sunset photos, and the gentle rocking of the piers.
The service, despite the sheer volume of staff, definitely leaves something to be desired. I was shocked to hear the bartenders audibly complaining about a patron at the next table and was equally unimpressed with the service. The food and drink price point would seem to indicate higher quality, but the food/​drinks are just ok.
My recommendation here would be to eat elsewhere and buy a beverage and split an appetizer since (unfortunately) they will not seat you at their tables unless you are buying food.
There is a small ‘waiting area’ on the piers, which consists of a couple of picnic tables and chairs, though it is often full and finding seating can be difficult. It also seemed like anyone could just come down and sit in this area (not just the parties waiting for their tables in the dining area of Splash).
Three stars is reflective of the view and I would certainly say much less if I were rating on only the food and service.

While you can’t beat the atmosphere, the service leaves much to be desired. We did not see our waitress once after our food arrived and had to flag her down for the check. And make sure you do not leave anything behind. I, unfortunately, left my brand-​new polarized Ray Bans on the table at the end of the night. Despite calling within 30 minutes, I was told no one had seen them (even with the poor service, our table tipped 20%). Very disappointing.

What can you say? It’s RIGHT on the water, so that’s what you’re really paying for. Everything looked a little outdated and the bathrooms were kinda gross, but you can’t beat sipping a piña colada right on the dock.

Atmosphere; wonderful! You sit on a floating dock directly on the lake with a beautiful view of the water and the mountains.
The pricing is very high. $ 9 for a hot dog, $ 19 for lobster roll, $ 10 for most mixed drinks. We sat directly at the bar and were entertained/​served my a really nice guy who spent time talking with us and giving us advice about the Area. In this case, the service was very good!
I would definitely recommend coming to this joint for a drink on the water but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this as your meal of choice.

Overview: Splash has great views, poor service, mediocre food, and high prices.
Splash is pretentious but has no right to be based on the quality of the food. Based on my last experience, I will not be going to Splash again.
My plan was to meet up with two friends at Splash for drinks and possibly dinner. I was the first to arrive and I told the hostess we would have three people. She asked if we were having dinner. I told the hostess that I was not sure because I did not have a chance to talk to the other two members of our party. The hostess said that that if we were not eating food, I could not sit down at one of the tables outside. I thought that seemed reasonable (other than the fact that there were about 15 – 18 open tables). I asked the hostess if it would be okay to sit down, and order a few appetizers and a drink to start before the other two members of our party arrived, and when they arrived I would know if they they wanted to eat dinner. If they did not want dinner then we would move to the bar area. The hostess said that «appetizers did not count as food» and that I was welcome to order a drink from the bar and stand inside. If the restaurant was busy, I could have understood them being so strict, but because there were so many open tables, I thought it was somewhat ridiculous that they insisted we each order a dinner entrée, and that several appetizers (likely equaling the cost of one or two of us ordering an entrée) did not count as food.
If you want drinks with a good view of the water, I suggest Breakwaters instead.

You don’t come to Splash for great service, you come for the view and the outdoor seating. I would recommend coming here for one drink since it’s super pricey, I had the food years ago and it was certainly not memorable.
The views of the High Peaks and Champlain are PHENOMENAL. I highly advise that you come at sunset.

While the food here is pretty good, the reason to come here is the location. Being right on the water can’t be beat, and I believe there are only two places in Burlington where you can do this. Splash is the better of the two. When I come here I feel like I’m on vacation and although the service isn’t great, and the food is nothing special, the prices are good and this place is worth checking out!

Wait time was over 45 minutes while there were several tables open. Host was rude to guest that were in front of us when they questioned why people weren’t being seated at the open tables. We attempted to ordered three different items off the menu and they were out. We ended up ordering the grilled chicken sandwich which wasn’t bad. It was suppose to come with chips and we got fries instead. After the food was dropped off we never saw the server again until we asked for the bill. I’d recommend this place for a bottle of water and great sunsets. Other than that service was terrible and the food was over priced.

Five stars for the view, plus a 1 star ding for the prices.
You’re right on the water. As larger boats go by, like the ferry, the barge this restaurant is built on sways slightly with the passing ripples.
Credit cards ARE accepted, though the menu says they are «cash friendly,» and that they do take checks. (It seems they prefer cash.)
I had a grilled salmon sandwich. Cost: $ 14.95. Expensive sandwich. Taste was okay. It didn’t rock me, but it did the job in filling me up and it was a quality piece of fish. Plenty of french fries were included.
There is no other place here to eat on the water. So, you pay a premium for this view.
Nearby, nice swing seat-​benches can be found along the waterfront path.
Parking nearby is $ 5 for the first hour, $ 2 for each additional hour, paid in advance. A free shuttle will take you to Church Street from here.
A 2 hour cruise on Lake Champlain is $ 40, (if I recall correctly). On this day, a fairly lengthy line of people had assembled to particate in the next cruise.

After a 4 hour drive, a dinner, and a walk through downtown Burlington, and a whimsical bike parade that went by 4 times, we wanted to see the lake. Patch had heard of this great place on the water called splash… he raved about it until we got there where he realized he forgot to mention he had actually never been. Having looked it up on Unilocal,I claimed it would be touristy, with bad food. I wouldn’t say I was hesitant of going but I was giving a disclaimer. Both Unilocal statements was probably true (We never ate here so this review is solely on the drinks/​atmosphere/​views).
Walking to Splash we asked two kids who looked local per their hippyness how the restaurant was… they said something along the lines of «the food is garbage… good views»… Regardless, Patch had set our expectations high and we were curious and excited to go. When walking in, one member of our group immediately met the owner (I originally thought her name was «Linda» but it is in fact Barb) who when asked if he could have a job here, Barb claimed «No. you can’t handle it». Barb likes to vacay in the VI’s (not sure which one’s) in the off season (who wouldn’t like that!).
We got some quality «yachty» summer drinks (I got a Dark and Stormy) and sat to watch the sunset.
Things that I would want to know if I was reading this Unilocal review:
1.The drinks are very strong and the cups are very big (and fun/​spring breakish!)
2. the view, is absolutely breath taking. One of the best views in all of Burlington which allowed for us to get a lot of really good pics (definitely insta worthy).
3. There was live reggae music jammin on the roof deck (we never made it there but it sounded great).
4. Not 100% touristy… I would say 70% tourist, 30% yachters (Which still may be tourists but on a different level).
5. It has an excellent view of the flagship Vermont Hilton property, in case you get too many strong drinks and want a recommendation on somewhere to stay. It also is in the same block as «The Skinny Pancake», incase you need an unreal breakfast in the morning after your stay at the Hilton (although I am sure the Hilton offers a delicious complimentary breakfast).
Patch’s insistence of going to Splash was well merited and appreciated. I would definitely come back for some after dinner drinks, knowing that it is a huge tourist trap, and in line for a great view (however I definitely would not try the food).