Besides the bar at the hotel I was staying at, this was the only bar I visited in Tawas. It was ok..I guess. It was average prices and average beer with average service. I went there for a bridal brunch on Sunday and I have never had to wait for service and food for so long. I understand there was a lot of us..but the bride called before to let them know we were coming. If they couldn't handle the large amount of people, they should have told her. Also I guess someone in the group dipped out on the bill, instead of taking responsibility for it..because they should have been paying better attention. They were a total dick to the bride and made her pay for it. read more

This is your typical bar, there is pool and a shuffle board thing which I've never played before but looked fun. Great bar food, breakfast is good too, I had their $3.99 special. I have this condition called pregnancy so I haven't had a drink there yet, but I'm betting they can make a mean alcoholic beverage and am looking forward to testing it out! read more

Hmmm what can I say. It's a bar that is trying to serve "better bar food". I was a sucker to it, I tried the Lobster Mac N Cheese and it was bland with fake lobster. Should have been called "Lobster delight Mac n cheese". The beer and prices for it were good. I will prolly just stick to Wing It when I'm in town. read more

Small sandwich Slow service. Food was good but the size was not.

I have only eaten breakfast here and it's not too bad for a bar. I mean, it's breakfast, you really can't screw it up. But, be prepared for a long wait to get your food. It's always at least 30 minutes. read more

We went in and sat down at a table that had not been cleared off. Sat there for about 20 minutes with the bartender looking at us periodically. We finally jut got up and left. We went to jack'ss and food/service was outstanding!! read more

Really great service. While I wasn't expecting much from the food, it was actually very good. I had the steak dinner which I shared with my husband. More than enough for two people. They make their own ranch and blue cheese dressings. I can tell you the blue cheese dressing was out of this world. You also get a loaf of homemade bread, which my husband said was very good. The drink prices are beyond reasonable...I would actually say CHEAP! It's a place where you can come and sit watch the game or just be amused by the gentleman who was playing the guitar with a ton of different songs. We will definitely return when we are in East Tawas. I am gluten free, and while there was alot of bar food, the menu was very adapteable since they make so much from scratch. I wish we recalled the waitress name, she was so helpful with the menu for me. She was a blonde, and is locatose intolerant, (does that help? Lol) No doubt, on oryr next trip back, you will find us here. read more

Barnacle Bill's is a good watering hole in East Tawas. The touristy feel isn't overwhelming. In fact, BB's is pretty homey in its presentation. I gotta say that while sitting at the bar (first-timer) with my friend the service was indifferent. It was around 4pm and I think the barkeep had her fill of us just having drinks. Pours weren't very generous but the prices were low to moderate. Capt Morgan on ice and Tito's on ice came to $6.25 total. For $1.00 you can get vodka soaked Gummi Bears! Tasty - we tried them (3 per $1.00). We returned and ordered the fried veggie platter and the hummus platter as we sat on the patio area out front. The fried food was hot and very big, big, big but my pal and I ran into some lower belly problems later in the evening. Very greasy. Hummus plate with pita cuts was good. Barnacle Bill's is a local eatery and drinker. I think it's a good place for some nighttime frolicking. But I was told that East Tawas is a place, "You go on vacation and leave on probation". We opted for nights at the cottage and not carousing. read more

A table of ten ordered about 6:30 on Saturday night by about 7:30 7 meals had arrived and been eaten. The remaining three were nowhere to be found. One salad final arrived but they didn't know if we would be getting the other two meals. An entree salad and a prime rib sandwich. The waiter final appeared and said the meals we didn't receive would be free. Great since we never ate them. The manager said there was nothing she could do as she was the daughter of the owner, it was too bad we didn't get to eat. We asked to speak to the owner but he refused to come out of the kitchen, and left it up to the waiter. The person bringing the food from the kitchen was rude and acted as if that is what you should expect in a tourist town. We went to wingin it the night before and had excellent service and meal. read more

Food was just OK (nothing worth writing home about) but if you're not a frequent, established customer here, you could get a mean look by other patrons, or even worse. Uncomfortable experience. Not worth it for any tourist or visitor. I'm not into writing bad reviews but this is a place to avoid if you don't frequent here and want to have a good dining experience. read more

I have been coming to east tawas since I was born. So I would frequent barnacle bills every visit because it's right there. After being away in the navy for a while I finally got to come back. The service was hands down THE WORST service I have ever experienced. We were in town for 9 days and walked out 3 times. Would consistently sit down and wait forever before anyone would even come to us. For breakfast once when we were finally seen, the waitress was rude and after giving us our food she literally never came back. No coffee or water refillls, no hot sauce, couldn't even get her for the check. And we were one of two tables even in there. We tried to sit at the bar during lunch (same rude female bartender) and there was a plate from whoever was there before, with her tip on it. We were there for 20 minutes and the plate never got removed and we never got seen...at the bar... so we walked out yet again. On our last night there we brought a group of people to try and have a drink. There was live music and the only table open was right next to the loud band. We of course sat ourselves. Then music was so loud we couldn't hear anything. So as we were trying to plan what to do, for a while, nobody came yet again. So we left. Had just ONE person came and asked if we wanted a drink we probly would have stayed at least for one. Unreal. read more

It's a rather small bar in my opinion, and its usually packed. They have reasonable prices, but I have never cared too much for their service. The servers and bartenders act like its a chore to wait on you most of the time. There's a couple of pool tables and shuffleboard and darts. The thing I like is that it's one of the few places in town to dance on Saturday night, and they have a DJ. The food is ok, from what I've tried. Although I had the veggie-tray once and it was so greasy that it gave me a stomach ache. And just like everything in downtown East Tawas, you either have to park on the street or in one of the public lots and walk. read more

Great perch dinner....awesome entertainment that makes this place a riot! It is a bar.....not a 5 star place to dine but a great fun bar!

We visited Barnacle Bill's over this Labor Day weekend. My friend and I ordered perch which seemed a little pricey ($20) but we both had a taste for it. When it arrived it was small little pieces of fish full of grease on limp pieces of lettuce and my plate had a burnt baked potato. I talked to somebody behind the bar and advised them that we were really unhappy with our dinner and she came to our table. She offered to re-fry the fish but we didn't think that would help it. She offered to let my girlfriend keep her baked potato which she did but then the waitress charged her two dollars for it after we had sent back our dinner. Not only that, our spouses had wet burritos which were dry and tasted like the sauce was made from Coney sauce. The only good thing about the place was that the waitress was very nice but the food was bad. We will never be back for food, maybe drinks but never to eat. read more

Had lunch today. Food was OK but they don't tell you that they don't take AMEX and their credit card processing is not working until you get the bill. read more

One of the few places in town that opens early for breakfast; great lunch specials and excellent dinner. Also a night club right on the main drag that offers DJ, and live music for most event weekends. What's there not to like? This is where the locals go to party and walking distance from the campground and most places in town. read more

great place. had lunch one day and dinner the next. Pizza was good, but the crust was great. real pizza crust. great TV's, keno , great service , both on the floor (lunch) and Bar (dinner). brand new bathrooms and added dining space in the back. expansion that is needed because this is a popular place, with not many options in downtown East Tawas. we camped at state park and rode our bicycles to bar (about 4 miles). we are considering retiring to this great little town and this is our go to bar. haven't tried Jack's yet (the other bar in town). I don't see the need to. Love this little place. read more

Always like eating here when I'm in the area. The bar has a good variety of beers and some microbrews. The perch dinner is excellent, great sweet potato fries! read more

Ordered the dinner salad. It was iceberg lettuce with 2 spoiled slices of cucumber on it and some croutons. The ranch dressing on the side came in a plastic take out cup with the lid on and it was greasy and tasted spoiled as well. Ordered a club sandwich and the bacon was rubbery and poorly cooked. The whole sandwich was a mess that was drenched in mayo when I had asked for the mayo to be on the side as well. The waitress was barely civil, never asked if I wanted a refill or another beer. Service sucked ( left a 15% tip) and I always tip 20% and have been known to tip 50% when I get really good service. The food was not great, not even good. This was a one and done and will never return here. Yuk!! read more

It took 45 minutes to get our food and the waiter didn't even try to apologize. Food was not great, average at best.

It's a bar. It's got a limited menu. It's across the street from the theator in Tawas. The wife wanted something to eat before the movie, so we tried Barnacle Bills. We had a couple of okay burgers and washed 'em down with a draft - can't do that everywhere. I thought the prices were within reason and would go back - but wouldn't make a special trip to do it. read more

Love Barnacle Bill's! Hit it up just about every summer and it's always a great time. Have only been tossed out once!

Great hamburger & fries! Wife had an awesome pizza. Best part was the delivery to our hotel during the torrential downpour that had us trapped on our motorcycle trip. Thanks!! read more

Worst, worst, worst service ever!! My girlfriend and I came up to Tawas to camp, have fun, and enjoy the scenery and for the most part that is what we did. However the only downside to our trip was Barnacles Bills. When we walked in on Sunday evening at 6:10 pm we sat down and waited...and waited...and waited. We watched not one, not two, but 3 separate waitstaff walk by us without even acknowledging we were there! This happened with the same 3 people two times in a row. As this was happening I watched this young ditzy female blonde bartender arguing with a young blonde ditzy server. Both were good on the eyes but that was about it! Finally I think one of them overheard me saying something to my girlfriend I I think and16 minutes after arriving we were brought a menu. I immediately ordered a Bloody Mary (this was their Sunday drink special) and she ordered a Mountain Dew and I was informed by the waitress that they had a drink bar and I could mix my own Bloody Mary once she brought me the ice and vodka. We then placed an order of their munchy starter platter at 9.95$ and off the waitress went. She brought back a can of Mountain Dew (charged 1.75$ for a can!!!) and my vodka and ice. The vodka literally filled the glass to about 3/4 an inch from the top. Talk about super heavy and inaccurate pouring amount! So anyways off I go to mix my Bloody Mary at their mix station..I get there and they had tomato juice in a plastic jar, celery that had brown spots on it, Vlassic pickles in a jar, some olives that were squashed, and jalapeños that looked dried out and pathetic. Sickening, very sickening. So I mix a little tomato juice (very little!) and a pickle and take it back to our table. Now I love my vodka and this was rough crap on the low end of the spectrum and never mind that I couldn't drink my shitty Bloody Mary; it just was plain disgusting and even after drinking part of it and trying to dilute it further with tomato juice and pepper I just pushed it away. During all this we waited..and waited..and waited.. 30 minutes later we had watched waitstaff walk around us 6 times and not once were we asked if we were doing alright or did we need anything. Not once!!! Flash forward another 15 minutes and no one helping us and I finally had enough. I stopped this male waiter who looked like he didn't want to be there and asked about our food. He promised to go check and away he went. At this point we had been there for an hour, had almost zero service, the drinks were overpriced and crappy, and we were both more than a little aggravated. Finally the waitress comes over with our food and its super hot; indicating it just came out of the deep fryer. That told me she either forgot our order or didn't place it in the first place! It should not take 49 minutes on a slow night to get a damn starter! After we finished our food even my girlfriend was disgusted by this place and she has the patience of a saint! After we were done I paid the bill and gave them a crappy tip. I can tell you from my BS of business and my MA of Human Resources and 8 years as an employment specialist that if I had been running this place that I would have fired every single one of them and closed the kitchen down! I always tip very heavy and this was the first place in 10 years that did not do so! So my advice, eat here at your own risk and only if you the patience of a saint so that your not disappointed by your long ass wait time!! read more