The Spot On The Dock

We loved it! The staff went out of their way to accommodate our large party and everyone was very friendly. The food was great! Lobster rolls are huge & delicious! Great selection of draft beers as well! The view can't be beat!

Nice place on the lake. It was a little cool when we were there and with outside seating only a couple heaters would be nice. I absolutely loved the ambiance. Seems like this would be a fantastic place to go chill with friends and have a few drinks with some light fare food. I’d totally go back for another visit if in the area again.

Excellent location... right on the lake and surrounded by a marina. Not that crowded when we went, but other reviews mention a crowd and long wait times. Reservations are not accepted. Food selection was good and they offered a nice selection of craft brews as well. Our group ordered everything... burgers, salads and fish tacos. All of it arrived quickly and was well prepared. They were out of some items on the menu... supply chain issues, unfortunately. All and all a good experience and we will go back there someday. Kid-friendliness: One of our group was a 7 year old. We placed his order for children tenders and fries when we were seated... it arrived in just a few minutes. Kudos for the quick service! Parking: Parking was at a nearby public parking lot. Fees could either be submitted via one of the kiosks or via the "ParkMobile" phone app. Lots of people frustrated with the kiosk machines... using the phone app was simple and easy.

This place has the views and atmosphere. Cool couches to chill out as well. I got the lobster roll and that was really good. Jalapeño margarita was also a fine choice to go with it. But service is awful, by far one of the worst I've had in a while. Food came out but still no utensils or napkins. Still no drink. Still no water. Asked for the drink again from another server and it came about ten minutes after that. Still, no water after asking now three times. Finished food with messy hands and finally just gave up and left. Washed my hands on the way out. Won't be back but I wish I could honestly because everything besides the service seemed good. Pretty disappointed after spending $57 for a roll and drink.

Typical super casual beach bar fare. Burgers, hotdogs, salads and sandwiches, etc. Margaritas, pina coladas, beer. Service is fairly slow but it’s due to volume and not because the servers aren’t hustling. You go here for the atmosphere and view. It’s easy to pretend you’re on vacay in the tropics. It’s loud and it’s BRIGHT if you aren’t able to score one of the shaded tables. I didn’t realize at first how HUGE this place is until I went looking for the restroom! This place is always packed whenever I walk by.

Friendly waiter, decent Beyond Burger and black bean burger, with good tomatoes and onion garnish. Sweet potato fries were good, despite being served cold. Given the prices and location, I was anticipating a different experience. I'd go again, but with revised expectations.

Went with a large group and the waitress handled our table with ease. The avocado fries and and nachos, I would highly recommend. The fish tacos were ok. Nothing amazing but also edible.

Sometimes choosing a restaurant can be a laborious process involving laborious internet searches, meticulously scouring reviews, investigating blurry photos of menus, or relying on the unreliable in the form of word of mouth. Sometimes choosing a restaurant can be as simple as making a beeline to the first location that you set eyes on. Sometimes choosing a restaurant can be the result of listening to a hunch that we occasionally feel about a place. I had visited the Spot on the Dock during a day-trip to Burlington while vacationing in the Point au Roche area with my wife and her family. The restaurant was our second-choice location, steering away from another waterfront option as a result of one of those rare and last minute hunches. Of course, part of the appeal was the opportunity to sit among the view of the Burlington Bay and admire the sight of the mountains that littered the background. Unfortunately, the Spot on the Dock, like so many other restaurants located on serene waterfronts, seems to promise so much at a glance but, up close, fails to deliver on even the most basic requirements of a dining experience once the allure of location falls away. For the most part, customers across all states are used to the concept of a cocktail costing more than $10, so a $13 Rookie ‘n’ Tito sat snugly on the boundary of expectations - especially when the menu description touted locally made maple lemonade - a flavor profile that screams local specialty. Equally, customers are used to a disparity between the cost of a meal and the size of a portion, though this is usually most tolerable when the food is rich and dynamic. Disappointingly, a $14 hotdog and a handful of potato chips seems to miss the mark on both quality and quantity - even if the menu attempts to call for a 100% wagyu beef when presented with what looks like a Nathan’s hotdog with some lines cut into it. Naturally, insult was added to injury when the $1.50 addition of sautéed onions resulted in a few strings of cold onion and two pieces of soggy bell pepper which I couldn’t stomach eating. This was an experience typical of the other guests at the table: my wife receiving an unpleasant plate of seemingly homemade nachos; my father-in-law being served fish tacos with inedible, soggy tortillas; and my stepson being served a few scrawny chicken strips for $15. Ultimately, it seems as though the Spot on the Dock suffers from an identity crisis, pricing itself either as though it imagines itself to be a more high-end establishment than it really is; that the nomenclature of the menu is an appropriate stand-in for quality; that Burlington is more of a metropolitan hub than it is today; or even that the view of Lake Champlain is deserving enough of the price tag, despite that same view being available for free a few yards away where one could eat anything they liked in the park. On some occasions, I’d be willing to accept a higher price point if the quality of service demands it. However, for this to even be a consideration, servers that smile, engage, converse, and make an attempt to understand the needs of the group would be required. Not only were the servers blissfully unaware, or consciously obtuse, of the groups overall dissatisfaction with the meal, but the simple task of splitting a group check led to myriad problems. Choosing to purchase the meals of my wife, stepson, and her parents somehow lead to a bill of nearly $200 after having erroneously included the dishes of some of the other guests at the table. Once I had brought to the server’s attention that I had paid for three fish tacos instead of one, the restaurant seemed to be incapable of refunding the difference and so refunded the entire amount and re-ran the card. Of course, this makes sense logistically, but caused some confusion with my credit card provider and lead to a balance discrepancy that wasn’t corrected for a day or two. Overall, the Spot on the Dock was a disappointing experience for my first excursion into Burlington and one that failed to make a shining case for my return.

Delicious lobster roll, Great Lake view, great waitress! My boyfriend got the burger and would definitely suggest getting 2 patties vs one if you’re looking for a substantial portion. Sweet potato fries were definitely the better side +$3.00

Only went for drinks. Large bar area. Great crowd. Nice sunset.