Ballard’s Inn

Such a fun place. The beach is always super crowded during the day, but if you can find a spot at the tiki bars, a few drinks in a pineapple is just the best. The food is so-​so relative to restaurants close by, and food service can be slow, but the rest of Ballards outweighs any negatives. The live music at the outdoor stage is awesome, and creates a fun atmosphere during the day. The ambiance at night is great; the best way to wrap up a beach day is to listen to some live acoustic music over a banana mudslide.

It’s pretty cool here, but it’s a hassle from start to finish. If you’re not at the ferry landing in Point Judith by 7:15 AM or so, you’ll miss the ferry and have no where to park in an attempt to catch the next one.
To get into the beach, there’s a really long wait at the security check.
Live music was decent — Maroon 5 and Muse were the only bands I recognized. But besides that, it was an interesting mix of present and past hits that didn’t match my musical taste.
I thought it was awesome that the staff were hired from different countries. But the drinks were weak, small, and overpriced. I had a grilled chicken sandwich and it wasn’t anything special.
The ocean blue water was a majestic sight, and a walk along the beach was equally beautiful. After the beach you can stroll around the island to explore its uniqueness. Overall, I’d much rather go to Paddy’s in Westerly or just stick to Narraganset Beach instead of Block Island. Ballard’s Inn is a cool place, I just wish it wasn’t in this location as it’s a project just to get there.

Ballard’s has always had a reputation for being the most touristy bar on the Island, and that’s true. It’s a short walk from the ferry, and they charge something like $ 14 for a quesadilla that any college kid could whip up on a hot plate in a dorm room. The drink prices are jacked up too, considering they serve shots in tiny plastic medicine cups. But if you showed up on the Island with money to burn, Ballard’s is a great time! The place is MASSIVE and you can sit inside, outside, on the beach, or on the patio. They’ve got great live music and a beautiful view. It’s a really fun bar to hit up with a few friends if you don’t want to stray too far from the ferry.

I second everything Lauren H said!

Go for the view, location, and drinks. If you want to jump off the ferry and enjoy some beach time this is the place to go. It’s about a 5 minute walk from where the ferry docks. You can also rent chairs here and hang out the entire day.
This spot is huge so there is plenty of seating at multiple bars, but the beach can be tight so get there a bit earlier. They always have a a lot going on so you won’t get bored. If you want something a bit more quiet and laid back Ballard’s probably isn’t the place for you. Rent a moped or bike and head to one of the quieter beaches. If you want a more robust experience with full service check Ballard’s out. The food can be a bit uneven, but the view, location, and service more than make up for it.

We stopped in before we headed out on the 8:30 ferry. The beach and sunset were spectacular along with the people watching! There was a dj so it was a bunch of drunk ⁴⁰⁄₅₀ year olds dancing. It was entertainment!
The drinks were good but expensive (you are paying for the view). We had shrimp and steamers both were also good.
The property is big and the private beach is gorgeous. You can rent chairs.
It’s definitely worth a stop on the way out!

I kind of can’t believe I am giving this place 4 stars as I was definitely a skeptic, but like the convenience of Ballard’s honestly can’t be topped. Located right next to the ferry, it seems reasonable to even pay to take the ferry over for a day trip just to escape and hang out here. The fact that it is free to get onto the beach here blows my mind– but then again maybe thats why its like $ 8 for a corona?
I was here twice the weekend I was in Block Island and I know I know, its where all the shoobies go. So I swallowed my pride for one of those expensive drinks in a pineapple here– because I wanted one! The first time I was here it was not crowded, which was great, we had the whole bar to ourselves and it was amazing. The second time it was packed, which is understandable. Somehow I still didnt need to wait on line for the bathroom, I could shower off here, and the attendants at the front stored my luggage for me while I waited for my ferry back to the mainland. This is something no where else on Block Island offered to do for me. So the customer service, spectacularly clean beach for the crowds at this place, and the convenience of Ballard’s make me an unlikely fan, but a fan nonetheless.

Very nice place to relax on the beach. Everything is nice and clean. They charge to use their beach chairs and lounge chairs with nice soft cushions. The food was average and the service was slow but the beach, water and atmosphere was great. We had live entertainment all afternoon on 2 of the days we were there. We went there 3 of the 4 days that we were on Block Island. It is the place to be during the day to have a great time.

This is a must visit when you hit block island. It is the definition of beach bar… fun, fun, fun.
My grandfather used to go over there, my father used to go over there, and now I have been going there for 20 years.
i would love to critique the food, but every time I am there I have a little too much fun and all I can critique are the mudslides, and they are great. Saying that, I have never heard a complaint about the food. I see people complaining about food wait? You are on block, what is your rush? And honestly, this place has 100’s of people asking for drinks and food at once, so we should cut them some slack.
This place has been built and family owned for almost 60 years. I sitting at the bar with Mrs. Filippi many times, she was wonderful to chat with and always treated us wonderfully. It’s great to see it is still owned and operated by the same family and the live music is always awesome.
This is the only place nice enough to have live music on a Monday, so some of us off weekend people still get to enjoy the outside music on a summer day that isn’t a Saturday or Sunday.
Edit: tried the food, was not pleased, but the bar and atmosphere for fun is 5 stars, but the restaurant and food is pub quality 3 star.

This review is for the atmosphere… Great live music and very spacious. There is plenty of indoor and outside seating. The view of their private beach is amazing. Take a walk along the rocks for great pictures and views of the sunset. Highly recommend the Thurs. dinner run. It is great for a romantic dinner with your mate or a girls night out.

Very busy! Beautiful late summer Friday afternoon. We had the fried fish sandwich and clam roll. Very fresh and tasty! Nice drink selection. It is pricey but you are paying for the scene and sitting right on the beach with gorgeous views. Service was good!

The accomodations were pretty good. The four of us were comfortable in our room with two queen beds. We had a nice balcony facing the town that we spent time of at the end of the day until the loud family in the neighboring room started hanging out in theirs… Too close, no privacy. Free coffee in the lobby was a plus but they were out of sugar the second and third mornings that we were there (even after we brought it to the staff’s attention on the second morning).
The food is just okay. It seems as though you pay for the atmosphere, not necessarily the quality. The drinks were pretty good, and I have nothing but positive things to say about the service we received in the restaurant and at the bar.
The beach was sort of a free-​for-​all. On one side of us there were families with young kids playing in the sand, and on the other side of us there was a large group of twenty-​somethings partying on the beach. We were lucky enough to witness one girl vomit and pass out because she had too much to drink. I’d blame it on kids being kids, but you’re not allowed to bring outside alcoholic beverages, so I’m more inclined to blame over-​servince, irresponsible hotel personnel. All-​in-​all, a MAJOR detractor from our stay.

I just returned from a 4 day getaway trip with my girlfriends and I have to say our go to place was Ballards Inn. We stayed at a nearby Inn only because Ballards was already booked. This place is just what we were looking for! The vibe in the place was awesome! Gorgeous views of the dock, jetty, the beach and ocean from this place. Very laid back feel. Staff is exceptional and live music «Love Fest» was phenomenal! Definitely will be back here! Hopefully soon!

beach bar and beach club review only****
I mean I totally wouldn’t eat here with all the other great places on the island.
This is the place to be, however you got to the island, live there, bike, ferry, boat, private yacht!
people from everywhere looking for a good time and drinks. all ages and people
FUN place to go when you get to the island or having the last drink.
Love this place, fun and exciting. if you are looking to have a glass of champagine and a quite day. Do not go here, this is beach bar type of day.

Love this place! It’s out go to at the Block. It’s expensive… but what else would you expect? Great service and strong drinks.

Every time we go to Block Island there are always really drunk obnoxious people on the ferry back to the mainland. Now I know where they come from.
Lots of young people there absolutely HAMMERED. Watched two different young ladies there who could not even walk without assistance. Completely legless.
You cannot bring your own alcohol into Ballards, so they were obviously over-​served.
Women in the men’s room because the ladies room line was «too f’ing long». Yelling «hurry up and take a f’ing s… and get the f out». Real drunk-​real classy.
I would NEVER bring my children there again.
You have responsibilities to your patrons, and yesterday you failed miserably.

We waited over an hour for our food. Since we were having lunch at 2pm, well after the rush, I shudder to think what the delays are for people eating at 12:30. Our entrees showed up before our appetizer, with no apology whatsoever. The food was mediocre and expensive. The sauce was left off my shrimp tacos, and my companions lobster roll was chewy and lukewarm.
Summary: awful service, mediocre food, high prices. Stay away!

Well, service was slow very slow, we waited at least 30 minutes before anyone came by to take our order. Drinks came slow from the bar, we would have drank more but it took too long to get mudslides. Took almost 20 minutes to get some sugar for my girlfriends hot tea. Employees were friendly, just seems like they were understaffed and disorganized. The food, when it finally arrived, we ordered the clam chowder it was awesome, could have been a bit hotter but tasted great! We ordered the shrimp scampi and lobster scampi, both were great, lobster scampi had a good amount of lobster which was good. Great view, sucks the bad service overshadowed the positives of the place.

Loved the dinner on the beach, we were watching the sunset while enjoying our meals, nothing better than that! I had their salmon with the citrus balsamic drizzle, so good!!! The salmon was such a big size too! Their burgers looked wonderful! my boyfriend had them, he said it was delicious! Our waitress was so nice, she thought my family and I were funny, but that is because we are. A place to go to next time you go to block island!

It’s really a mixed bag here. The cocktails are alright and some of the food is great and some is awful. As with everything on Block, the food is overpriced. I noticed they were using well liquors when menus specifically stated certain alcohols are used in the drinks. But it is RIGHT on the beach. So you can’t really beat that aspect.