Nauti-Dawg Marina Cafe

The best crab sandwich and sunset

Good location, interesting food selection, speedy service. Came here for brunch on a Sunday (note: we were told by the staff that the wait can be in excess of 45 minutes for Sunday brunch) and were seated immediately. The Sunday brunch menu is different, so definitely give it a go. Outside seating looks really pretty and they let you bring your dog and have some menu items for them. Great place!

Excellent food, excellent service and excellent location on the water. Highly recommend this restaurant.

1000%. Best breakfast in South Florida. Friendly staff and you can bring your bitch, as long as she is on a leash of course. Bring your dog too, pet friendly. Love the Nauti Dawg café.

We stopped in for a quick dinner and we were pleasantly suprised. The hubs enjoyed the ‘Men’s Night’ specials and fresh jumbo shrimp dinner while I satisfied my craving for blackened mahi-​mahi. Our girls enjoyed their freshly made chicken tenders and fried shrimp (portions large enough to satisfy). I was disappointed that they didn’t have key lime pie on the menu, but now have a new favorite– their key lime parfait with graham cracker crumbs and fresh whipped cream was AMAZING! The girls enjoyed their scoops of ice cream. Service and atmosphere was excellent. We even saw some furry friends while ejoying the view. A must if you’re on the east side near Boca and Deerfield.

Great location, service, and food!
We arrived about 11:20am on a busy Sunday morning (in May), and there was a 30 – 35 minute wait. My husband and I grabbed a drink at the tiny bar while waiting for another couple to join us, and sat outside on one of the padded benches looking at the water and boats. It was pretty hot outside, but thankfully those benches were mostly shaded.
The time flew by. Once we were seated at our table outside (in the shade), service was attentive and friendly.
My husband and friends ordered a pitcher of white sangria, while I tried a mimosa, bellini, and pineapple fizz. The pineapple fizz simply tasted like champagne with no pineapple, but the mimosa and bellini were both really good.
Food arrived fairly quickly for a place that was packed! Our server was super friendly and even though we ended up chatting for 2 hours, we never felt rushed to leave. At the point we left, the brunch menu was no longer an option, and the switchover to lunch had begun. I’m fairly certain there was a timeframe (perhaps 30 minutes) when they were not seating anyone in between the brunch and lunch timeframes. That’s something to note, just for timing your arrival.
This hidden place is now on my radar, and we’ll be returning!

Loved this little spot! Great little marina café tucked away along the water in Lighthouse Point. Love that it’s pet friendly and that they have a «dawgs only» menu. We started with the tuna wonton appetizer — super fresh tuna on warm fried wonton squares topped with wasabi mayo and siracha. We also ordered the lobster roll and mahi Reuben, which were fantastic. The lobster roll was not too mayo-​y which was exactly what I was hoping for.
Can’t beat the view here either– definitely recommend sitting outside along the water. Their heavy handed wine pours are also certainly nothing to complain about. :-)

Amazing the view the food the service. Kale salad so good and enough for 3 adults. So boy had so many shrimp and lobster roll was to die for. Highly recommend this place.

Stopped in here before heading back to Philly. Had to have seafood, and seafood was delivered! The tuna wontons were very good. It was a spin on spicy tuna sushi, but instead of rice, it had a fried wonton to hold it together. To get a little veggies, we had the kale salad, which was really nice and light, with nuts, fruit, and cheese. Also got the mahi reuben, which was perfectly cooked and a nice play on the original. If I’m in the area, I will definitely come back here!

I loved the view. I got the wings that could have been crispier since I asked for crispy wings. The staff was friendly and they truly are pet friendly. I live in Dearfield Beach and I wish local businesses had something special for locals. A discount when you show your ID or something like that. I’ll go again but I won’t get the parm wings again only because I like crispy wings.

Nauti-​dawg is a really cute divey restaurant on a marina. I ordered a po boy and my husband had a hot dog. Both were good. The po boy was huge. The atmosphere here is great on a nice day. I love that it’s pet friendly and even has a dog menu!
I wish we would have known that at least on Sunday’s they close at some point and reopen at 1:30. We arrived at 1 and had to wait 45 minutes for a table despite the restaurant being empty.

This is a good place to go for lunch or dinner. It is often described as ‘a hidden gem’, but, for somewhere that is supposed to be hidden, it is always surprisingly busy. The location is part of the appeal. It is by the Lighthouse Point Marina, which is a busy little marina where there is always something interesting to see while you sit at your table, either inside or outside, eating nice food.
This place doesn’t try to be a high end restaurant. It’s a somewhat classy café which is characterized by friendly service, and good food served in large portions. We had the lobster roll (excellent) and a caesar salad (fabulous with grilled chicken) and a side of fresh fruit.
The Nauti Dog probably started life as a small time marina café serving hearty and quality fare to weary sailors. They have stayed true to their roots, if that is the case.
Now to the good news/​bad news. The good news, if you like to have your dog sit on your lap while you eat your dinner in a restaurant, is that the Nauti Dawg allows dogs. This is also the bad news if you prefer not to share your dining space with animals which may, or may not, be quiet and well behaved.
However, no matter whether you like to step around dogs eating on the floor next to your table or not, there is one concern. The serving staff apparently love dogs. They pet them, handle them and one even allowed a visiting canine to lick her face. She disappeared only to return a few seconds later bearing food for a different table.
That’s not so flash.

Hidden gem! Loved this place! Excellent breakfast and went back for dinner!
Pet friendly too! Lobster roll is amazing! Huge too they are not cheap with the lobster! Burger was cooked perfectly which for me is rare, I usually have to send it back. Sangria… wow delicious!
Our waitress was Sarah and she was super! Looking forward to making this a regular spot!

Had brunch there today
After waiting an hour we were seated in the only table in the sun
We asked for a table in the shade and were told by the young server not possible others were waiting
Asked for Mgr and he came back and said they could not do anything about it
Finally another server came by and accommodated us
Then had a few mixups on our order– not a big deal but still…
Moral of story — as we are LHP residents and somewhat regulars and always bring out out of town guests here by boat — train your young servers and have them learn the meaning of «customer service»!!!

Truly enjoyed everything about this place. The staff is extremely competent and friendly.
The goat cheese and garlic appetizer was excellant and plenty to share with my wife.
I had their burger which was delicious. My wife had the lobster roll which was large and well prepared.
The water view was delightful. Although we had no dog with us we loved the idea of a separate menu for this pet friendly place.
Highly recommended.

I was born and raised in Lighthouse Point, and have always appreciated its laid-​back, small-​town feel. As soon as you drive into the city from Pompano, you are transported into the suburbs… which we don’t technically have in South Florida. To get to Nauti-​Dawg, you have to drive back through a nice stretch of homes to get to the marina, which you’d never know was there if you weren’t looking for it.
The first time I visited the café, my dad and I opted to sit outside. It was just before sunset, and a steel drum band played their music along the dock. Just beyond the marina is a row of beautiful mansions… and past that, the Intercoastal. You get a lovely seabreeze coming in, with outdoor fans complementing it. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve sworn we were in the Keys. It was so pleasant and relaxing! On our second visit, it was dreary and raining, so we originally agreed to sit indoors… except the only table they had was a tiny two-​seater smack in the middle of the room. We changed our minds and opted for the patio again, where the rain was not an issue since it was completely covered.
Both times, I ordered their hot dog with sweet potato fries, while my dad has always opted for some sort of seafood dish. My mom hates the smell of seafood, so he takes advantage when she’s not around :) We’ve both really enjoyed our meals on both occasions. The second time, we also split an order of their garlic parmesean wings, which were perfectly crispy and flavorful, and topped with shaved (not grated) parmesean. I spotted their goat cheese appetizer, and tried to talk my dad into it, but he wanted the wings instead. Well, after seeing the photos from some friends of that app, I simply must return and try it, because it looks even better than the description on the menu!
You can bet I’ll be coming back here, since it’s such a great spot to unwind after a long day at work. Next time I hope to bring one of my dogs too, since this place is so pup-​friendly!

They were in the middle of dinner rush when we arrived. The waitress was very flustered and rushing customers. We had the mahi with fries and cucumber salad, and a lobster roll with onion rings. The mahi was delicious with the sauce! The lobster roll was huge! It had great flavor and was prepared well.

Other Unilocalers have had Nauti-​Dawg on my radar, and I finally made it last week for lunch. The drive here alone is a good reason to come. had a friend visiting from out of town and figured the one the water marina atmosphere would be nice for a tourist. Other than the marina I can’t think of a reason one would be driving through these neighborhoods in Lighthouse Point other than to house stalk, and there are some very nice houses back here. I like driving through areas like this an imagining one day have a giant house on the water. I We arrived after noon and were told that there were tables immediately available inside, and a wait to sit outside. While I would have preferred outside, there are plenty of windows here to enjoy the view from the inside, so we opted not to wait and enjoy the air conditioning.
Looking over the menu they have a nice variety of lunch items like sandwiches, salads, burgers, hot dogs, and tacos. I know these items don’t sound very upscale, and the place is casual, but still very nicely decorated with a classy vibe. Now I, like Jeanne M, am also not a huge fan of goat cheese. I go as far as to pretty much avoid it entirely when I’m ordering for myself; however, based on her review I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give it a whirl. Melty goat cheese baked with garlic bulbs, and red peppers served with a warm baguette this was a great appetizer. The oil herbs and garlic paired so well with the goat cheese I didn’t notice that livestock goat flavor I dislike.
After the delicious appetizer my mahi rueben sandwich was served. This sandwich was quite large and they did not skimp on the fish at all… I might even go as far to say as there was too much fish as I was eating it out with a fork as well as taking bites of the sandwich (though this isn’t really a complaint). My only issue with the sandwich is that I wanted more of the «special sauce» on it. I know I like my sandwiches saucier than the average person so next time I might get the same thing with extra sauce on the side. The sandwich was served with quite a few french fries and easily could have been two meals (and should have been, I was way too full eating the whole thing).
We opted to skip dessert on this occasion but I’m already trying to figure out when I can come back for dinner. They have a decent sized wine list as well as beer, and a few entrée items later in the day. The atmosphere is really nice and calming and the service was friendly and welcoming. The is a nice combo here of upscale and homey that really resonated with me.

Great place to bring your doggy
Food can be much better
It’s a bit pricey for the quality of food that’s serve
Beer and wine only
Service was mediocre

Nice, little restaurant on the water. Good for families. Outside dining available, where you can watch the boats coming and going. The menu is on the smaller side with options, but the food was good. I enjoyed the scallops; they were huge and most importantly, fresh! The sweet potato fries were so good they didn’t need ketchup or anything. The fried shrimp were a little greasy but also good. Overall a decent spot for fresh seafood.