The Retreat: Lake Wateree Dining

A huge disappointment

Atmosphere: 3

Service: 1

We had a family event at our lake house close by to this establishment. We made reservations to have a nice meal as the reviews seemed welcoming. After arrival, our party was 1 additional family member on our 10 party reservation. Not to mention he was in a wheel chair so seating adjustments were necessary.

The staff refused to make the adjustments at the table, which really upset our party.

After receiving our drinks, the servers and host asked us to leave.

I would look elsewhere.

Atmosphere: 1

Service: 1

This establishment is extremely unprofessional. We made a dinner reservation for 10 people and we ended up having 11. They told us there was no way we could have an extra chair but we were looking at an empty dining room with 20+ extra chairs so my friend went to grab one and the “manger” chased him down and meanwhile all the other “staff” was pointing at us and talking about us. We left immediately. Do not give this place any business it’s extremely unprofessional and uncomfortable. As a business it is unacceptable to conduct yourself this way.

The Retreat at Lake Wateree is BY FAR the nicest restaurant in the area. Not even a close comparison. As soon as you pull into the driveway you can already sense you're going to have a higher quality experience. The atmosphere inside and the views are amazing. The food was even better, believe it or not.

Great staff and an overall great dining experience!! I highly recommend checking out The Retreat at Lake Wateree.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We were on the lake and found this gem. The food was amazing and the views were spectacular. We docked our boat at the restaurant and enjoyed an amazing meal. We had the jumbo fried shrimp (which was better than we get at the beach) , the bacon cheeseburger, fries, and the cinnamon roll. Everything was delicious.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Wonderful food and right on the lake. Great atmosphere

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Beautiful place and amazing food. The indoor fireplace is awsome and makes the food smell kinda like a smoked meat...yum!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We didn't actually go today but we have been and will not be back.. didn't have a reservation but place was empty.. got treated terrible for not having a reservation.. was one of our worst experiences ever .. they want you to believe that its high class but it's not even in the little leagues of class ...just everything was about it was slow and way to expensive for the quality of food and service

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Great view, food was fantastic. Wonderful service

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Awesome food and excellent customer service!! Our waitress went above and beyond for us.
We sat outside and enjoyed the views while we ate our dinner ‼️

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Excellent Food, Wonderful Experience. Definitely worth our hour drive!! The only thi by missing was the fire in the fireplace wasn’t going. I do wish we’d arrived earlier and had longer to enjoy the porch!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Me and my fiancé came in this weekend. I would have to say we will definitely be back. The food was amazing and the service was great.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Wow, this place could be so much better, but as long as you realize it's really just overpriced pub grub due to the location (lakeside in rural Fairfield Co), your expectations will be met. I've eaten here three times over the past 5 years and it's been the same each time: disappointing. Service was ok; the ambiance was abysmal: t-shirts, older folks in camo and men wearing baseball caps inside, plus large screen TVs on the walls in the dining area; the food I keep hoping will improve never does unfortunately, it's essentially an overpriced Chili's. I wish there was a really good signature dish here, but no. It mediocre at best, but I'm sure has everything someone coming off a bass tournament would want.

Grouper was delicious but very little food for the price. Not a good choice of appetizers.

I used speech to text in my car after I left the restaurant speech to text completely mangled my original review as far as grammar and punctuation that is why I've edited the review. I am looking forward to returning and having Dinner at this restaurant. Looked this place up on Google maps pulled up their website reviewed menu and gallery liked what I saw. I drove a little over two and a half hours to have lunch there, when I arrived right after the lunch hour should have started, based on their website,( I did not see that they only opened for dinner at the time I looked at their website) .There was no one around. Iwalked around to the porch facing the lake to the main door. There was a sign saying they were closed that day for a private event they did not update their website(the website on accessed through Google maps) to reflect this. I checked updates by owner and by customers nothing on the website indicated they would be closed that day it was a big disappointment.The views from the restaurant are great, as you can see in the pictures that I will upload.Maybe I'll get another try another day but it would be nice if businesses would update their websites when there are major changes it's really not that difficult to do(this references the website I accessed from Google maps and I generally don't look on Facebook for information about hours of operation etc)

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 1

Service: 1