Naples only "Over The Water" Waterfront Restaurant
Florida's Gulf Coast Restaurant Guide & Recipe Book

Every guest in this historical landmark is afforded wide vistas of sailing regattas to watch during the day and the sparkling waters of Naples Bay for dinner at night. Yet the main attraction of this beautifully remodeled Boathouse is its diverse menu of outstanding cuisine, from the freshest of seafood to tender prime rib or rack of lamb. It is due to the expertise of the Sarajian family as restaurateurs and purveyors of seafood for 20 years. They feature the best of local Florida catches and truck in their own North Atlantic fish and lobster to offer a variety of fresh seafood every day. Entrees of Potato Encrusted Sea Bass with Frandress Butter, Butter Crumbed Scallops Florentine and Premier Herford Prime Rib and Steaks with an incredible Bouillabaisse are all expertly prepared with old family recipes. Their "Dinner at Dusk" has three courses from appetizer to dessert for a most reasonable cost. The Sarajians have transformed The Boathouse into a beautiful waterfront restaurant with superb cuisine, service and ambiance for all of Naples to enjoy!
Dining Out: Dinner at The Boathouse was smooth sailing
Naples Daily News - Friday, October 8, 1999

The water view at The Boathouse is priceless. But it's the tab that will really float your boat - especially if you take advantage of the "dinner at dusk" deal currently in effect from 4 to 5:30 p.m. That's when full-course meals go for a down-to-earth $13.50 each. And, yes, dessert is included.

Since The Boathouse is fairly new (it's in the space formerly occupied by the Chart House), perhaps this is a get-aquatinted offer that won't last long. Management won't say. But since bargains like this usually disappear when the season kicks it, a visit in the very near future is prudent.

Like us, you'll probably enjoy the casual and kitschy ambience. The dining room is nautical to the max: weathered boats suspended from the ceiling, rope decoration, charts and maps and other seafaring gewgaws. Walls of floor-to-ceiling windows assure there are no bad seats in the house.

It's the perfect setting for nursing a tall, cool one.

Our picks - a Bloody Mary and a Tom Collins, were both well-prepared, generous and sensibly priced at $3.75 and $3.25 respectively.

The warm house bread was top-flight, too, and made for good munching while we studied the menu, concentrating on the sheet listing early-bird options.

The lure proved to be irresistible: Two dinners for a modest $27 - served at a restaurant on Naples Bay far removed from the low-rent district. We went for it. Here's the deal:
AAA Approved
And Diamond Award Winner
Diners can choose from one of three appetizers. On the recommendation of our extremely helpful server, Julie, we zeroed in on the homemade seafood gumbo and soup du jour, temptingly described as a creamy mushroom-crab bisque. (A chilled green salad also is available.)

Two thumbs up. The kitchen is savvy about soup. As described, the gumbo was pleasantly spicy and chock-full of shrimp, fish, veggies, etc. Wonderful stuff. My guest also praised her soup. "The crab had presence. Its delicate flavor wasn't overwhelmed by the mushrooms," she said. "It was heavenly."

Crab, it would turn out, figured prominently in both our entrees. I selected broiled stuffed yellowtail flounder, because this delicate fish is a rare find in these parts. Our second choice was called Crab Key Chicken.

Baked potato, baked sweet potato, smashed potatoes? Julie asked. Smashed sounded too good to resist, and turned out to be worth every fat gram. Red-skin spuds were roughly mashed, leaving lumps and shards of skin - then whipped with garlic, milk or cream and butter.

The vegetable du jour was also a cut-above the norm. We received good-size servings of tasty, perfectly seasoned spinach, which was enhanced with a few carrot coins. Another winner.

My flounder was tender, baked so that the moistness was retained, and wrapped around a mound of creamy crabmeat. Everything was piping hot.

The chicken dinner also contained a nice portion of crab. Asparagus and a bit of barnaise sauce completed this excellent dish.

Desserts round out the feast. Diners can opt for homemade Key lime pie, apple cobbler or ice cream. We tried the first two; so should you.

Other early-bird entrees, seven in all, include roast prime rib au jus, fresh catch and a seafood medley.

The restaurant offers a regular menu, of course, which contains most of the discount specials as well as much more, such as bouillabaisse, seafood fettuccine, surf and turf, Brazilian rock lobster tails, Maryland-style crab cakes.

Bottom line: When we review a young business, we expect a few glitches. Staffs need time to mesh, cooks need to work out the kinks. Our dining experience at The Boathouse, however, was smooth sailing all the way.
990 Broad Avenue South (Next to the Cove Inn & Marina)   •  Naples, Florida 34102
Phone: (239) 643-2235  •  Fax: (239) 643-4591