The Lower Tavern

Wow. The salmon burger was amazing. You get a whole filet of fresh salmon not some pressed frozen salmon patty from Costco. The flavor was amazing. Fries cooked perfectly with a little crisp to them. Hubs had the fresh Atlantic halibut fish & chips which was also really good. They have local beer on tap. Waitress was friendly & food didn’t take too long considering the place was pretty busy. I would definitely eat here again!

I love this place because it is low key and casual and the burgers are delicious. The bartenders are accommodating if there is a game on that you’d like to watch. The service can be spotty and avoid the appetizers as they are straight up Costco/​Sysco — nothing special at all. THe locals mostly ignore the tourists but not to the point of being rude. We make a point of going at least once every time we are on the island (going on 18 years now).

We got the chicken tenders and the southwest burger with veggie patty… Loved the food! The service was amazing too.

We went in there to watch the Warriors and noticed that the burgers looked good. The locals were very friendly, nice people. We went back the next evening to have dinner. The patty melt I had was the best I ever had. The sautéed onions were delicious on the rare black Angus burger. My wife had the fish and chips which was also delicious. A friendly local commented that I had the best burger on the menu. We always found the locals to be friendly.

Pretty much the best burger I have ever had! The mimosas were my favorite too. Friendly staff even came to our table and wished my mom a happy Mother’s Day and the service was great. May have to leave Texas to go back for more burgers!

Great food! I’m not from the island, but the bartender was so awesome. He even gave us several tips on what to do with our day since we were exploring. I didn’t catch his name, but he was tall and had the perfect, deep radio voice. Chill vibes and there are TVs to watch sports!

Definitely the go to place in Eastsound for nightlife. Karaōke is strong here, and they have a good time with it (some locals do it up pretty well). No hard alcohol. For that you should go tongue White Horse Pub on Main St., one block away.

Great place on the island to grab a burger! Went here on Friday night and we were seated right away. They had a beer special going on for Sierra Nevada that was $ 3.50 for 16 oz. Our waitress was very sweet and attentive. We both had the Southwest burger yummmm. I got fries and boyfriend got coleslaw as his side. Boyfriend didn’t like his coleslaw and neither did I. It tasted like they used celery salt? Neither of us like celery lol. It’s a tad pricey. You’re gonna pay around $ 14-​$ 15 for a burger, but that’s island prices for you :)
Very laid back vibe too. Lots of guys and girls in their tall rain boots haha. I was glad that we didn’t have to throw on nice clothes after exploring all day to eat dinner!

Really a fan of this place. We came after hiking totally drenched and in our hiking clothes, and I didn’t feel judged at all. It was 4:00 or 5 pm ish and we hadn’t eaten much all day. They were running a special, «the burning hunk of love burger» since it was Valentines weekend. We ended up getting matching burgers, but without the mango salsa; he got chips, and I got fries. I do not joke when I say I haven’t had fries in YEARS. These were very good, and A+ because they didn’t make me sick like so many other types of fries. We really enjoyed our burgers, but super spicy (living up to the «burning» part of the name) with all the jalepenos! Many TVs made dinner distracting. This is definitely a place where the locals go. Good service too from a very nice gentleman, who looked like he was the owner or something. Lots of yummy options on the menu, and I was able to make a gluten-​free selection without much difficulty. I’ll be back when I next visit Orcas!

Great service, staff was very prompt! Exceptional food, good size portion. We came in just right when they open and the gentleman was very welcoming and recommended great options. We would definitely be back because of there burgers. Juicy and very tasty burgers! Their right, Best burger in town!!!

Great prices, delicious food and unpretentious service. They also have a great list of local beers on tap.

It’s what you would expect from a sports bar in the ambience. I would give it five stars but… the parking situation is not really friendly. The parking next to the restaurant is slanted so when you pull out you have to go against traffic and do multiple drive /​reverse maneuvers.
That being said, the burger we had was the best one I have ever tasted.
The burger was super fresh grilled and not at all greasy. It was PERFECT. The fries though unfortunately fell short since the burger was placed on top of them and made them a tad soggy.
BUT, it was amazing none the less. The server was obviously overworked with all the patrons, but she was kind, offered cider suggestions and was prompt when she forgot my tarter (even though I didn’t tell her.)

Enjoyed our «a-​okay» lunch at the Lower Tavern. My burger and fries were quite adequate and the server was nice. Sort of a divey ambience, with lots of older folks, including a gang of loudly-​serenading carolers complete with guitar accompaniment (though I doubt that’s a fixture of the establishment). Probably not somewhere I would return to just to hang out, but then again, I don’t live on Orcas.

Yes, this is definitely the local Orcas spot — and I would check out a local spot over fancy schmancy any day. I went for a long hike in Moran State Park and was hankering for a good burger and onion rings… and they delivered. Yum. And reasonably priced. Plus, schooners of beer — a great option for those who like the little beers. :)

After a cold, wet trail run at Moran State Park, a couple of burgers and beers here just hit the spot perfectly. I ordered the Southwest Burger on special (pepper jack cheese, a big green chile, bacon, and guacamole), and my husband got the salmon burger; fries all around. I’m not sure I’d say it was the best burger ever, but it was tasty and satisfying, for sure.
Service was fine, wasn’t too divey (I’m a fan of dive bars, this was still pretty nice for a dive), lots of TVs for games, pool table, etc. Definitely wasn’t touristy, and was affordable.

I would recommend stopping by here to get a drink and relax, especially during the summer when you can sit outside in the parking lot beach! The pear cider is really delicious (if you’re not a fan of beer). I would skip the food though, unless you just want some fries to munch on. There are much better options in Eastsound concerning lunch/​dinner, but that shouldn’t be much of a surprise. There is a smoking zone outside, so if you’re sensitive to smoke I would recommend sitting on the side of the «beach» closest to the street.

Really good burgers, and several choices to substitute french fries. Good beers on tap. Service was friendly, but not fast, which was fine for us, although the server got drinks out quickly. Local ingredients were used as much as possible. The server seemed to know many of the other diners, but we felt welcomed without the «sizing up» mentioned by another reviewer.
Outdoor seating is limited by there being a smoking area. While we were there no one was smoking, but we didn’t want to sit there and have to move. We would have sat outside except for that, it was a beautiful evening.
Will definitely come back, wish they would get rid of the smoking area outdoors.

This place is definitely where the locals go. When we came here for dinner around 6:30 p.m., we got sized up by the patrons. We definitely felt a little uncomfortable because people were staring at us. It definitely did not feel comfortable. Despite this, we still sat down.
The waitress wasn’t particularly friendly. I took a bottle of water out because I was cleaning my bag and she came by and immediately asked me to put it away because it was suspected as alcohol. What??? This has never happened to me before at a restaurant. Why would I be smuggling alcohol when they were serving alcoholic beverages at affordable prices? Also, she had checked my id beforehand so I don’t see the legal ramifications. Not a good feeling when the waitress implies that your water is really «alcohol.»
We ordered the Santa Fe Burger and a side salad with chicken for dinner. The food was okay. I wouldn’t say that the burger was the best that I’ve ever had. It was above average though. I liked that there were ample amounts of cheese on top. My salad tasted okay. The chicken was a little dry and not very well seasoned.
My two major qualms with this restaurant was that 1) there was only one waitress and a bar tender. Even though the place was under staffed, the waitress stepped out of the restaurant for a good 5 – 10 minutes. After serving our food, she disappeared. My friend wanted to get extra dressing and she was no where to be found. We looked outside and there she was. I thought this was rather unprofessional, especially when you are the only waitress on staff. I think it is understandable that people step out but to be gone for 5 – 10 minutes is a while when our mealtime lasted for only 30 minutes. When we left, she just stared at us. No goodbye or thank you. The service was awful.
My second issue with this place was that they charged my friend $ 1.29 for a tiny cup of extra dressing. Really? The side salad costed about $ 5 and to add chicken was another $ 4. Her entire meal cost about $ 10 – 12 including tax and tip. Keep in mind that this salad is really dinky/​tiny portion size. For a salad at this price in respect to portion size, you’d think that a little extra dressing would not have to cost an additional $ 1.29… what a rip off. I could go across the street to the nearby supermarket and pick up a bottle of dressing for probably $ 4. They probably gave about three small squirts from the bottle of dressing. Ridiculous…
I guess with the bad service on top of the $ 1.29 charge for the tiniest cup of dressing, this left a really unpleasant impression of this restaurant.

This place has some very reasonably priced beer/​wine and great burgers. It’s great to discover more and more spots on Orcas Island that don’t cost the earth.
This is right next to the IGA grocery store in the main «downtown» area and a haunt for locals. It even has a «drive-​thru» which is not a real drive thru but you can order ahead and phone and pick up here. It’s also open late which is another advantage. They also have some parking spots and the large IGA parking lot nearby which is great on weekends as there are not too many street spots open.
They only admit people over 21 even during lunch hours so I couldn’t bring my kid. The doorman was very particular about checking my ID when I went on my own one evening, and got a seat at the bar.
It was packed to the gills on Saturday night and several people were just standing and drinking. There was live music as it was the weekend. It’s one of those local flavor pubs. It was pretty loud the night I was there as the vacationers were in extremely good spirits perhaps directly proportional to the large amounts they’d consumed.
The bartenders — both girls were really sweet and patient with all, even despite some drunk people who showed up and shouted their drinks at them. There was a female chef in the partly open kitchen and she cooked up a mean burger. The blue cheese burger I ordered was delicious, the patty was fresh and the fries were nicely done.
My kid also loved the to-​go burger I got for her. The server was kind enough to make sure it got made right as I finished mine so it was hot and fresh for take out.
A good experience despite the bawdy pub crowd!
TIP — Don’t bring anyone under 21 here, they will not admit them even during lunch. If you’re craving a burger on the island this is probably your best choice, order on phone and pick up from the «drive-​thru». That’s what the locals do.

Good food, classic tavern ambiance, and surly service. Not too bad.
We arrived at The Lower both hungry and thirsty, and left satisfied on both counts. The path from A to B was not a straight line, however. Our waitress, apparently the only one working on a busy Friday afternoon (of a holiday weekend!), made it clear that she was not having a good day from the moment we set foot in the place. Maybe this person *never* has good days; how the hell would I know? What I *do* know is that she was snappy and short-​tempered to the point of being rude right from the get-​go. Oh well, we were happy enough once we got the food and drink that we ordered, and she seemed to calm down a bit once she had a chance to suck down a couple of smokes in the beer garden.
The special of the day on Friday is chili, which can be ordered several ways. I went with the chili burger: a big open-​faced mess of a sandwich smothered in chili and topped with shredded cheese, onions, and sour cream. It was pretty damn awesome. I asked for an order of fries on the side– turned out that would have been a meal in itself. The fries (also quite tasty, btw) were piled high on their own plate; plenty to share.
The prices here are quite reasonable; in fact I was kind of expecting to pay more just due to the fact that we were visiting the second busiest tourist destination in the San Juans during peak season– and on a holiday weekend to boot. The beer list here isn’t extensive, but they do have some really good brews available. Ninkasi Total Domination IPA really hit the spot.
Really, other than our cranky waitress this was a really good dining experience. I’d certainly stop in here again, if only to get another one of those chili burgers!
Oh yeah, there’s a pool table inside and they do karaōke at night, too.