I have to offer a plug for this awesome establishment.
Last Thursday, while planning to traverse Lake Erie, we encountered LARGE waves and had to seek refuge in Fairport Harbor. Fairport Harbor is "unattractive" when viewed from the lake, but weren't in the mood to be picky.
Pickle Bill's offered one of the few places we saw with a large open dock, so we tied up. A few minutes later a 50 motoryacht travelling behind joined us on the other side of the finger.
The place looked fun, even before they opened for lunch. There's a carousel-shaped floating barge/bar that juts into the river from the restaurant, then the building itself has outdoor seating, a long porch and a huge nautical bar and dining room inside, with add'l areas in a banquet room next door and more tables on the second floor balconies.
Lunch was awesome. We had fried pickles, oysters rockefeller, onion rings, fresh perch, among other things.
By mid-afternoon, the lake hadn't calmed down, so were quickly facing the reality of being stuck in the river for the night. I went to the office to ask permission for both boats to squat at their docks overnight. Jerry, the owner, told me that their policy is to "always be accomodating". To prove the point he personally walked me through the building in search of power outlets and extension cords so we could at least run basics aboard w/o the genny.
We felt obligated to eat dinner there as well, but it didn't seem like an obligation once we sat down. The already good service was "upped" noticeably, and the food quality was outstanding. Jerry's over-and-above accommodation policy is closely followed by his staff. Our waiter recommended dishes, timed everything perfectly and "forced" a free dessert on us.
My one word of caution is the northern-most floating dock. It's supported by 6" steel pipes, which have been cut off BELOW the rub-rail level of most boats! A good bump against them could literally puncture a FB hull, so approach carefully and have fenders ready.
Last Thursday, while planning to traverse Lake Erie, we encountered LARGE waves and had to seek refuge in Fairport Harbor. Fairport Harbor is "unattractive" when viewed from the lake, but weren't in the mood to be picky.
Pickle Bill's offered one of the few places we saw with a large open dock, so we tied up. A few minutes later a 50 motoryacht travelling behind joined us on the other side of the finger.
The place looked fun, even before they opened for lunch. There's a carousel-shaped floating barge/bar that juts into the river from the restaurant, then the building itself has outdoor seating, a long porch and a huge nautical bar and dining room inside, with add'l areas in a banquet room next door and more tables on the second floor balconies.
Lunch was awesome. We had fried pickles, oysters rockefeller, onion rings, fresh perch, among other things.
By mid-afternoon, the lake hadn't calmed down, so were quickly facing the reality of being stuck in the river for the night. I went to the office to ask permission for both boats to squat at their docks overnight. Jerry, the owner, told me that their policy is to "always be accomodating". To prove the point he personally walked me through the building in search of power outlets and extension cords so we could at least run basics aboard w/o the genny.
We felt obligated to eat dinner there as well, but it didn't seem like an obligation once we sat down. The already good service was "upped" noticeably, and the food quality was outstanding. Jerry's over-and-above accommodation policy is closely followed by his staff. Our waiter recommended dishes, timed everything perfectly and "forced" a free dessert on us.
My one word of caution is the northern-most floating dock. It's supported by 6" steel pipes, which have been cut off BELOW the rub-rail level of most boats! A good bump against them could literally puncture a FB hull, so approach carefully and have fenders ready.