Tides Tavern

Great location, but that's about it.  The service sucked.  My server was BSing with his local buddies at the next table and provided me with sub-par attention.  Second star, after the one for location goes for the beer selection, despite the fact that a few, listed in the menu, we re unavailable.  The -so called- seafood was terrible.
The place is packed with tourists and loud-mouth, arrogant boat owners.  Forget about it!

Stopped at the Tides for lunch and ordered the bacon cheeseburger with fries.  Pros: very good service and the fries were good.  The cons:  the cheeseburger was a disappointment.  It arrived 'semi-warm' with a very thin slice of Swiss cheese that was not at all melted (I really hate it when restaurants just throw cheese on at the last minute and it arrives more or less as a cold slice). The bun had obviously been sitting out for a while -- not very good, not very fresh. I guess I could have tolerated it if it was your basic $7 or $8 burger and fries but this cost $12 -- not at all worth it.

I went to Gig Harbor for a road trip and the historic downtown is quite small, but worth a casual walking tour as the views of the water are very relaxing and I enjoy the quietness of not hearing road noises.  Now, where to have lunch and Tides Tavern (TT) is very accessible and has a deck overseeing the water.  We arrived and they have a greeter and he's a great guy and took our name and said we could hang out in the bar until our table was ready in about 20 minutes.  

The bar area is was packed with people at the bar and the open seating around the bar was about half full.  We sat and it took about 5 minutes before we were noticed for a drink order, but seemed a bit long since at least 3-4 staff walk by us without acknowledging our presence; maybe they have assigned tables per wait staff?  The drink list looks quite comprehensive and I ended up getting a spicy bloody mary since I saw one being served; it was great!

On almost exactly the time expected the vibrating glass saucer started lighting up and vibrating so our table was ready.  We got a table on the rail overlooking the water and a friendly guy came up almost immediately to ask if he could help with drinks or food order.  I have to complement the service on the deck as it was 5-stars for the service and for the view on the deck.

We got a recommendation for the halibut fish and chips as halibut was in season so immediately that was my order with a cup of the clam chowder to check it out.  The wait for the food service was just about right amount of time; so we chowed down. The clam chowder tasted good, but the consistency was watery and I'd prefer a more thick and creamy chowder instead of a more water based chowder.  The halibut was very good, but the coating was oily mushy and just slide off the halibut.  I would have loved the halibut if they could have fried it with a great crispy crust.  Maybe they overuse the deep fryer and it's just not hot enough to fry up the fish and leave a crispy crust which is a disappointment from the overall potential for greatness.  The fries are typical frozen fries and although not bad, they would be exceptional if they were fresh and double fryed to toast goodness.

My overall review is that the service in the bar area is not on par and the service on the deck is exceptional.  The drinks are great and the value from the drinks and food is right on par and reasonable.  The quality of the seafood (i.e halibut) was exceptional while the execution of frying it up for fish and chips was dismal.  I really enjoyed the service and experience of being on the deck during an nice sunny summer day.  Hanging out here for drinks and view would definitely be a 5 star review.