Pier 42 Restaurant At Sunset Marina

We visited pier 42 over this last Memorial Day weekend.  This was our 4th time visiting Dale Hollow.  One of our favorite things to do is to make our way over to Sunset Marina and eat at the restaurant formerly called "Sunset Marina Restaurant".  This year there are new owners and disappointment.   In my opinion they do have big shoes to fill since the prior owners had a great menu (bouy nachos, big country breakfast and more).  The new fare is mostly BBQ pulled pork, baked beans, mac and cheese etc.  And they no longer serve breakfast.  :(

Our first visit to pier 42 was at lunch.  Not many people were there.  The menu felt rather limited but we excited to give something new a try.  Two of us ordered salads to find out they didn't have any lettuce at the time.  Then we all ordered a version of the pulled pork.  It was ok, not very warm.  I asked for it to be delivered without a bun, it still came with a bun.  The smoked potato salad was very strange.  Definitely smoked, but it wasn't pleasant.  The baked beans were ok.  The 3 BBQ sauce options were "house" specialities and I honestly couldn't find one that I liked but made due. Needless to say were were disappointed.  The waitress was nice but seemed very inexperienced and kept dropping things.  

We felt everyone deserves as second chance.  Two days later we visited for dinner.  The place was PACKED.  You would think this would be a good thing.  But it turns out it was full of disgruntled guests that were waiting way too long for food.  They were out of items like buns.  We went ahead and ordered some food.  Assuming it would be a long wait because of the crowd, we ordered some appetizer nachos.  Can't go wrong, right?  WRONG.  The chips were stale/chewy and the cheese was cold.  Gross.  Our meals came 1 hr and 15 minutes later.  My chicken fingers were nothing special.  You could have picked them up from the grocery freezer section.  My mac and cheese decently tasting but nothing kraft couldn't make.  Backed beans were also ok.  The staff looked overloaded and stressed.  Our second visit was even more of a disappointment then our first.  

We even had friends that were considering buying a house boat and keeping it at sunset because they loved the whole experience.  Now that the restaurant has gone massively downhill, they have reconsidered getting the houseboat altogether.  I just got off the phone with those same friends and they are currently at Dale Hollow today.  They plan on giving Pier 42 a 3rd and final try tonight and I'm curious to see if anything has changed in about a month.

**Also, go over to Sunset Marina Restaurant yelp page (the former name).  There is also a review over there about Pier 42.  It almost echoed my experience.  We will be back down on Labor Day.  Let's see what happens.  If you go, be ready to wait and have low expectations.

This restaurant is open and the map is incorrect! The restaurant is not in town but on Dale hollow lake with great views! It's located at sunset marina. The new menu is BBQ, fried fish, and cold beer.

Great experience and food - THE destination spot on Dale Hollow Lake