Bay View Restaurant & Bar

Wow! This is an absolute gem nestled in the Hill Country. Met for a working lunch here on a Thursday and enjoyed the food so much I made a reservation for dinner the next night with my girlfriends. Have now tasted the a good sampling of their impressive menu. Appetizers: Red Fish Louie Dip with house made kettle chips. Beautiful presentation and so good I could definitely make a meal out of it. Buffalo Cauliflower a treat without even knowing it was both vegan and gluten free. Lunch: watermelon salad Scrumptious and refreshing! Also vegan and gluten free. Tuna Poke as genuine as if you were in eating on the roadside in Hawaii. Fried lobster tail. I didn't imagine lobster needed to be fried until I ate one. Forget my Maine Lobster roll, Chef Will Rivera trumped it! Beautiful sunset view! Amazing service! Brought our lab puppy named Star and loved my signature cocktail "The Birds Knee"

We chose Bay View for a birthday celebration and it was our first time there. Reservations are a good idea. It was busy, even for a Wednesday night, with the indoor tables nearly full. Though keep in mind there was no outdoor seating on the large patio that night because of the weather. Our waitress was welcoming, friendly, efficient and generally great. A couple of things I wish I'd known about the restaurant beforehand: (1) The view is industrial. The restaurant overlooks the water but also overlooks dry storage at the marina, heavy machinery, and huge metal electrical poles. (2) The restaurant isn't set up to accommodate dietary restrictions. Most foods, even vegetables and lobster tails, are fried in the same oil as everything else (including battered foods). One appetizer and one entree were marked "Gluten Free" on the menu but the appetizer was also typically fried. The kitchen agreed to steam the appetizer instead of frying it but with a warning the the texture and taste wouldn't be the same -- the resulting appetizer was disappointing but we didn't complain. Otherwise, the kitchen wasn't willing to make accommodations except to remove items from a plate and there were limited choices. To management: (1) Create a separate gluten-free menu to make the lives of your guests and staff easier, and only label food as gluten free when it isn't cooked in the same oil as everything else. For example, include your steaks on a gluten-free menu and make a note that the haystack and tomato garnishes will not be included. (2) Train staff to understand what options are available for dietary restrictions and send a manager to talk to guests in challenging or unclear situations. Our poor waitress made several trips to the kitchen to get clarification on what our options were, got terse answers from the kitchen, and then attempted to translate the info into customer-facing messages. That wasn't her job and it wasn't a good experience for anyone.