Dockside Willies

Pros: Really nice deck. Food was fine – nothing memorable but I don’t have any complaints either. Decent beer selection on tap.
Cons: For some reason they choose not to give wait times for deck seating. I suppose it is because people take their time, but the front desk person was a little surly about it. Given it was our first time, it could have been handled better. Service was uneven. We were told the soup special was one thing and given another. We sent it back, our bill was credited without issue. But it still felt like an unnecessary misstep.
I would go back but probably just for drinks and an appetizer.

I love this place. The food is so good and it’s wonderful that you see the river! Food is SUPER good at usual. :) Nothing bad about this place!

The outdoor seating was nice. The food was definitely lacking flavor. I ordered salmon, I suppose that was my fault but my fiancé ordered pulled pork sliders & he said they weren’t anything special. The service was horrible. Server didn’t check on us and she was always with other servers chatting away. The atmosphere was nice but we don’t plan on coming back.

Less than impressed. As stated by others, they don’t take reservations, so it’s hit or miss on whether you’ll be waiting awhile. There were five of us in our party, and we arrived at 7 PM and asked to be sat outside. We certainly expected to wait as it was a beautiful day. We were handed a pager, and I asked about how long the wait was. The reply was «We don’t give out wait times. But if it helps, you’re the fifth biggest party on the list.» Actually, no, that doesn’t help me in the least. Why the hell would I care if there were four parties bigger than ours? More importantly, why don’t YOU care that you won’t tell us if it’s about a 20 minute wait or a 2 hour wait??? We had friends coming from Lancaster. If they weren’t only 5 minutes away at this time, I would’ve gone somewhere, anywhere else. All I wanted to know was a ballpark wait time.
The wait turned out to be an hour and a half. We sat and had drinks at the indoor bar. I had two martinis, both of which only filled the glass halfway. We were finally sat outside… and the table next to us had just walked out because their food took forever. Fortunately, our food didn’t take forever. But it certainly wasn’t worth waiting around for an hour and a half. It was just… average.
How this place stays busy is beyond me. Hubby and I came here last week and sat at the indoor bar. The staff was indifferent, and the River Rocks we ordered were very disappointing. This last visit was no different. Every staff member just seemed apathetic to the whole idea of making anyone feel welcome. I guess because they know people will continue to flock to this place because of the gorgeous deck. That’s the only saving grace.

Crazy good food and huge portions. Beer selection is «ok“they have some tasty sounding beverages but we will try them next time. The soup of the day was my only disappointment, it is a potato cheddar, thick and tasteless But the crabcake salad is the best crab cake I’ve ever had in Pa. The crabby pretzel is not very salty but HUGE and very filling. My boyfriend is eating the breaded chicken sandwich which i believe is there own breading Very tasty. Again huge portions. Our service is exactly as it should be. attentative but not pushy and overwhelming.

Took my wife there Monday night 06÷06÷16. Beautiful night, outdoor seating, and that was the end of the good.
1) We had to ask to have the table wiped down, although the table was empty, it still had dried up drink spills and a gritty feeling on it. Waitress finally came with a little wet napkin and did a half-​ass job of wiping the top off.
2) I ordered a 22 ounce draft beer but what was delivered was their normal 16 ounce draft. No explanation. I had to ask what happened to my 22 ounce draft and was then told they were out of 22 ounce glasses. Gees, the restaurant was only half full and they were running short on glasses!
3) When we ordered we also asked for some Vinegar and some yellow mustard. The bottle of Vinegar we got had about 1/​8″ of vinegar in the bottom. Enough for one shot out of the bottle. The Mustard plastic squeeze bottle had the labels all rubbed off of it and the scrapes of label left all bunched up on the bottle. It looked like it was from the first day they opened! I asked the waitress if we could get a newer bottle of Mustard and was told «Oh, there all like that. They get that way because of the way they store them overnight.» What ever happened to «Yes, I’ll be happy to get you a new one!» We didn’t get a new one and I didn’t want to get pissed off over a squeeze bottle of Mustard even though the whole action did piss me off. We even took a picture of the Mustard bottle because we couldn’t believe a restaurant would even consider putting that on a customers table.
4) We ordered and waited. Took a while before the food came and it was cold! Fries were cold, fish was cold. After the Mustard problem, I didn’t complain. I should have but I would only get upset and we would have to wait longer for our food.
5) Asked for some ketchup for the fries and burger. Waitress finally dropped a squeeze bottle on the table and walked away. The bottle had 1 squeeze of ketchup in it and it was EMPTY. Had to wait for the waitress to come back by, took a few minutes, meanwhile we are waiting before we start eating because of NO KETCHUP. We were finally able to flag waitress down and get another bottle of ketchup. She seemed to know it was empty when she first delivered it.
6) I had some gift cards from their sister restaurant Dukes next door. When I got the bill I asked if I could pay with the Dukes gift card and the waitress said she didn’t know and made no effort to find out. She just stood there and expected me to pull out another form of payment to pay for the meal. I then handed her the Dukes gift card and told her to go find out. WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SUCH A HASSLE!!! She returned with the charge receipt on the Dukes gift card and said yes, they can take them because the «owner» had been getting so many of them they decided to accept them. SUCH A HASSLE!!!
My wife and I talked about the poor service and it was unfortunate because the weather was really nice after many days of rain. It’s unfortunate that we would have had to get upset and complain just to get an average level of service rather than the poor service we got. We were also surprised there was no one circulating among the tables to insure the service was up to standards unless that was their standard. It seems the only people out on the deck were the waitresses and ours could have cared less.
Prices were very reasonable, service very poor. I will probably pick a different restaurant to go to next time.

Nice relaxing spot. Next to the river with a very nice view. Friendly staff always offering service. Food is tasty and very reasonable.

Ever want to feel like your in FL in PA?, this is the place !!! 3 – 4 great outdoor decks, great for a group, the place is awesome. Food was great, service attentive and friendly, on my list of favorites we’ll be back this summer !!! Can’t beat the view of the city and right on the water, casual beers after work this is the place !!!

River rocks are great appetizer. Stuffed potatoes and deep dish pizza are great. When the weather is nice the outside is fabulous. Great views of rivers. I think servers are pretty nice.

Terrible again… need a new bartender. Disappointed as always, but they will continue to get away with it.

Bar food. It was ok. We had a large party but it still took over 3 hours from the time we walked in, at and left. Pretty crazy.

Good food. Chicago pizza and fish sandwich are my favorites. Cost is a little more than some places but in summer you can sit out on the deck with a great view of the river. Family friendly atmosphere is also great.

Went to Dockside Willies with my husband after work one night and sat at the bar. The bartender was pretty great, while the rest of the kitchen staff, not so much. I ordered a chicken sandwich, and my husband ordered a salad, and neither dishes came out correctly (they do have a rather large menu, and apparently added a whole bunch of new things). Despite the issues, the bartender made things right and got us the correct dishes, so the service there was definitely good.
When the sandwich I ordered actually came, wow. Really good. The chicken was crispy and delicious. The sandwich was absolutely huge. Very tasty!
My visit was in winter, but when the weather is warm and the patio is open, this place gets quite busy!

What a great place! Emmey and I had never heard of it before and strangely enough we had been to the restaurant next door. But that didn’t matter because Dockside Willies is FANTASTIC! What a great venue and excellent food too! We asked to sit next to the window as to enjoy the view and our server was more than happy to reseat us. The staff was friendly, the venue was fun, and the food was outstanding! Instead of my usual Blue Moon I got an «Angry Apple Pie» which I must say was mighty tasty and filling! It complimented my burger greatly and Emmey enjoyed the bite I gave her as well! She said her food was some of the best she’s had in a long time (which says a lot because we eat at restaurants quite often). Overall we had a great time and we will definitely be back to try some more of their menu!

3 stars. Why? The riverside view from their patio can’t be beat. Dowside: Their food and service is hit or miss. Some of the servers are trashy in mannerisims and the conversations they think patrons can’t hear.
The river rocks have SO MUCH potential. Of the six we got, only two were baked to perfection. The others where half soft, half crostini.
I had the southern chicken sandwhich. The breading slid right off and so I had a greasy bland cutlet for a sandwich. If cooked properly, it would have been yummy.
Hubby had their giant loaded baked potato. That was so goooood!
Their fresh cut fries were fantastic! We ate every last one.
Overall, great place to go when the weather is nice and enjoy their beautiful patio on the susquehanna, some drinks and just eat for the sake of eating with friends or a date.

Totally average. Server was slow, and the food was unremarkable. Only redeeming feature was view of the Susquehanna.

Although they say that they are open until 2am, staff gets extremely upset and rude if you come in anywhere from 11pm on. Either change your hours, or tell you staff to suck it up and stop giving customers an attitude when they come in DURING YOUR POSTED BUSINESS HOURS. Management needs to get their staff under control, or better yet needs to hire new staff who understands that when a business is open until 2am, they’re going to be there until 2am and must serve any and all customers with the same respect that they would a customer who was there during the day.
The only reason for two stars instead of one is because the pizza was good. Won’t be returning unless forced to.

Unfortunately, they lack a whole lot of parking. Inside is large and they have a fantastic patio right on the river. Unfortunately, I chocked on the driest piece of bread that came with my artichoke spinach dip. After that, I stuck to the chips that came with it, too, instead. Funny bartenders and lots to choose from on the drink menu.

Great atmosphere. Food was equally as good. Had the pulled pork sandwich, slaw, fries and a fresh brewed tea.
Service was prompt, prices were fair, food was great !!! What else is there to look for is a place. Will be back for sure, their pizza looks amazing…

Came here a few times for lunch in large groups. Never had a bad experience. They have so many options — even Chicago deep dish, though I wouldn’t highly recommend it.
I ordered the crunchy burger on the seasonal menu-​it was huge but so delicious.
Service was pretty good too. Best thing to do is come here in the summer and enjoy the view of the river on the dock.