Bottom Line: Fun, waterside, marina atmosphere with decent food. Worth a stop. I picked this place out from my map function because it looked interesting, on the water, and near an historic, old railroad bridge (Trail Creek Swing Bridge). It is my first time here, and for a late afternoon linner. The place did not disappoint--for the most part. It is open air with a beachy, boaty, picnic tables-under-umbrellas vibe. It overlooks the water, a marina, and the name inspiring railroad swing bridge which makes for an interesting visual environment. Thankfully there is no attempt to force an out of place theme, sparing us from steel drum background music. Interestingly though, the only nod to the railroad structure inspired name was an old school railroad crossing sign at the entry otherwise everything else is boat marina feel. Our server was friendly and efficient. My hefty burger was thick and juicy. The coleslaw was fresh. The disappointment was the fries. They were more like shoestring fries and came dried out/overcooked. The sweet potatoes fries were a better bet. The lackluster fries were not enough though to lose a star. Overall the experience was a satisfying one and at a reasonable price. I would definitely come back especially as a very nice alternative to the other railroad name inspired brewery restaurant in town. read more

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The atmosphere and deck are nice on a summer day but I feel that the food is somewhat outrageously priced for fried bar food. I had the salmon burger and sweet potato fries which were good but we were shocked when we got the bill. It's good for kids and big parties assuming you catch them when the wait isn't too long during peak season. read more

My family and our friends' family dined here while on vacation and it was definitely our favorite spot the whole trip! I got the fish and chips and felt like it was the best fish I'd had all vacation. Also the cocktails were fabulous. Service was friendly and I could tell they all work very hard! read more

Ok - $20.00 for a crab cake dinner that included a small cup of coleslaw. The cakes were tiny - a joke. $5.00 For a can of Millet Lite. This place used to be great with their perch sandwiches. No perch. Save your money. Seriously. read more

I've been coming here since they opened. Something like 20 years. I don't know what happened but the wheels came off the menu. First, credit where it is due, our server was very nice and prompt. Awesome service. But what happened to the food???? The perch is gone and replaced by "pub fish" that is utterly tasteless and my wife's burger was tasteless as well, looked like a preformed bag burger. Y'all have to step this up or I can't come back. We moved away years ago and I try to come back 1-2 times per years and this isn't the same. The fries were incredible as always. The deck was a nice place to sit. read more

Pretty cool place. Margaritaville meets Michigan city. No outside bar, some sandy pits for the kiddos to play in and a lot of outdoor seating. We were fortunate enough to slide into two seats at the bar with no waiting! A lot of cool drink choices. Frozen lemonade vodka went down pretty well. They even offer a few fruit flavors as additions. Ordered the fried pickles and at first I thought they came out as green beans but no! Just really skinny pickle slices. Kinda nice and a lot less messy. Highly-Highly recommend the BBQ nachos! Fresh lightweight chips, nacho cheese sauce, tasty gold BBQ sauce and pepperchini rings instead of jalapeño rings gave it slight zing without the burn. read more

Bridges Waterside Grille - Frozen vodka lemonade - American Near Me - Michigan City, Indiana

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My mom and I decided to try this place after a day of shopping at the outlet mall. It's a cute little bar and grille. When we arrived, there was a short line, but no hostess in sight at first. We eventually saw her wiping down tables, so we understood the delay. There were three groups ahead of us, and she seated them before taking our name and number for the waitlist. While we waited with several other groups, a man walked in and was seated immediately. When we asked the hostess about it, she said he had been there earlier, even though he hadn't. Others around us were also confused, as we were all on the waitlist and watching the same interactions unfold. After we addressed the issue with her, we were seated shortly after. Once seated, our experience improved significantly. Our server, Heather, was amazing, friendly, attentive, and on top of everything. The food was good as well. However, while we were eating, I noticed some concerning behavior. A few people from the bar tried to get tables, and I saw the hostess tell them there was a waitlist. But when one man offered her cash, she told him they could sit wherever they wanted. She noticed me watching and quickly walked back inside. I found this behavior extremely unprofessional, especially considering how many people were still waiting for a table. Overall, the food was great and the service from our waitress was excellent, but the hostess could use some improvement. As a former hostess myself, I understand how stressful the job can be, but there's no excuse for rudeness or showing favoritism to guests who offer something extra. read more

Bridges Waterside Grille - Fried Shrimp Po'Boy - American Near Me - Michigan City, Indiana

The food was ok. Never saw fish cut in such small pieces outside of nuggets but the fish and fries were descent. The crab cakes were good but the Bridges house sauce was delicious. I enjoyed the house cut and sweet potato fries. The fall of the top shelf margarita that is suppose to have 5 shots of top shelf tequila is a LIE. It tasted more of bottles margarita mix than tequila and if its 5 shots, well that should be the headliner when drinking this margarita. The service was great and that's why im giving them 4 stars. Elizabeth was very personable and really attentive. Kudos to you Eliza for making our experience great. The ambiance is like an old school backyard party. It was cool being right on the water. read more

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Tried Bridges Waterside Grill for the first time tonight with the family. Loved the atmosphere. It was raining so we ate inside. Our server was great. Food was delicious. We ordered the Italian beef and the Cajun fish sandwich. Both were great. Best thing was the fresh cut fries. Will definitely be back. read more

Always a great experience. They're open for the season now. Couldn't wait to have the Rum Job! Had something different today, the Italian beef. Pretty good. Bartenders are always engaging. read more

Bridges Waterside Grille - rum job - American Near Me - Michigan City, Indiana

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Impressed with the quality of the food (they even have vegan options!) and sitting along the river is picture perfect in the summer. Outdoor games for adults or kids and dog friendly too. read more

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It took us 50 minutes to get our food and two other tables who arrived after us received their food first. My order was the crab cake dinner that arrived with just 3 small crab cakes and a potato salad, which shouldn't take 50 minutMy iced tea took 20 minutes to get brought to our table. I highly recommend ordering anywhere else than here. read more

Bridges Waterside Grille - American Near Me - Michigan City, Indiana

The food was good. We don't have a complaint at all. Food was ready in a decent time, everything tasting well. The service was great, friendly staff, decently priced, except for the pie. $11 for piece of pie the size of my ridge wallet is a little nuts. But, oh well it was good. They don't have coke or Pepsi products, they use local pops or sodas for you fancy folk. Good atmosphere. Very very limited indoor seating as it's mostly an outdoor restaurant. Recommend to try! read more

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We went for an afternoon snack and drink. Cold drinks and fast service. Burgers were good and the homemade hummus was a risk I would take again. read more

Gosh, where to start? Seated quickly (under 30 mins, which was amazing considering that they were slammed). Started off with the hummus appetizer and it is a generous portion with the obligatory warmed pita as well as cucumber and tomato slices. It was tremendous! Everyone ordered the Pub Fish because we were painfully unoriginal... But heres some more magic... the ubiquitous breaded fish hunks were actually very well prepared. Normally this would be a breading mound with some fish bits. But here you could taste the fish (excellent) over the breading. Fantastic. My French fries were shoestring and exactly as expected. I also ordered a house salad with ginger dressing. Fully prepared for a tub of iceberg and mediocrity... I was dazzled with a delicious variety of lettuce selections, cuke chunks, tomatoes, cheese (not crap), and croutons. The lettuce selections were fabous. The dressing was a smidgen sweet, but not so much that I picked something else. Ginger-ey and aromatic. Our server was overloaded, but made good progress with our service. Drinks never ran dry and food was timely and hot. Great dessert suggestions and I have to say that the peanut butter and chocolate dessert pie-thingey was a great cap on a great meal. I hope I get to go back some day. Your mileage may vary. read more

This place got crowded because it's next to the river and it has plenty of outdoor seating but limited seating inside. The food was good but it took very long time for the food to come. The margaritas were really good. read more

First time visiting this place. The food and service were excellent. It was a bit on the pricy end as two drinks, two entrees and two kids meals ran about $90. I got the blackened white fish sandwich and it was really good. Vegetarian wife got a grilled cheese and the kids got burgers and fish tenders. The kids loved watching the turn-style bridge rotate as trains and boats went by. Only downside was sitting outside didn't give much refuge from the sun and after a day outside, sweating in the sun was not what I wanted to do for dinner. read more

Super cute beachy bar/restaurant that's right on the water. They've got some games to play while waiting too. They've got a great drink menu and they're dog friendly! read more

I haven't been to Bridges in a few years so I thought I would give them a try again since my partner has never been. We knew it would be busy because of the gorgeous day and everyone wanting to sit outside. We grabbed a menu to peruse before we were seated and only waited 20 minutes. We were seated at a picnic table that had a nice view. I had one of their summer cocktails, it was nice, and our server was very nice as well. Upon ordering, I was torn between the crab cakes or the Caribbean shrimp and asked for recommendations. Our server said she doesn't like fish but sold more of the crab cakes. My fiancé got the shrimp po-boy. We spent $3 extra for sweet potato fries for our side. When our food arrived, my crab cakes looked like 3 petrified blobs of crispy badness. Like small hockey pucks. They tasted like they were deep fried and were so small. So disappointing. The same goes for for sweet potato fries. Almost shoe-string and overcooked. My fiancé's sandwich was slightly better. They just took a hoagie and placed some fried shrimp in it. He had some sauce on the side, a piece of lettuce, tomato and onions. $68 dollars was our bill (before tip). $6 for a Leiny Shandy $12 for my cocktail Both meals way overpriced bar food. It's a one and done place for us. read more

Group of seven accommodated nicely near the bar in the shade. Most seating is picnic tables which could seat six max. I'm an IPA fan and appreciated gating a taste of the local beer on tap, which I really liked. Many fish options, and salmon sandwich was good...lot of bread but decent Italian bread, not brioche type. Thai peanut chicken had a nice spice to it. Wraps or salad. Crab cakes were a bit over cooked but tasted great with the remoulade. We didn't have any of the vegetarian options. Salads were good too. read more

I used to consult Yelp to determine if the food at restaurants was good. But during the Coronavirus, I'm finding Yelp essential to find out whether restaurants have outdoor seating and are abiding by restaurant COVID regulations and best practices so that's the focus of this review. I hope that it will help others since this information is not readily available elsewhere. So, in addition to Yelp's traditional stars, I'm taking liberties with the English language and awarding my own "KOVID KUDOS" (Krispy Kreme and Kwik Trip have also wrought havoc on the English language)! KOVID KUDOS are my selective assessment on a 5 point scale of the restaurant's COVID attentiveness such as wearing masks and social distancing, operational reinvention and staff attitude under these unusual pandemic circumstances. Bridges gets a 5/5 on KOVID KUDOS because they are paying attention. The patio is lovely and they have blocked some tables to allow space between groups. The serving staff all had masks appeared good-natured about it all. We didn't go inside but a sign said they were allowing 50% capacity indoors. I do wish they had disposable menus. That would be an enhancement. The food is pretty good, but wish they had more fresh vegetables and healthy options, particularly on the appetizers. Still, we enjoyed ourselves here and came back twice in one week. Good job, Bridges. read more

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When you find yourself in Michigan City IN and want a cool place with decent food with an interesting view...you found it. Fish tacos and burgers are solid. Fun to watch the train bridge open and the boats to come by. Seasonal read more

Serve was good. Food was just ok. I am not happy they charged $11 for a hockey puck size of key lime pie. That's a shame since you don't see the prices of dessert when you order because they take the menus away. I will not return. I could buy a whole pie for less then $11. read more

We experienced a beyond disappointing dining experience tonight. I ordered fried fish and fries. It took almost an hour to get hour food. After waiting a long time, our waitress finally informed us that they had a party of 13 and that they would work on our food after that. At no time in the hour that we waited for our food did our waitress check out drinks. When we finally got our food, my fish tasted weird like coconut. I informed our waitress that the fish did not taste good and she said she would go check what could be done. When she came back, she acted like nothing was wrong and brought our check as normal even though I didn't eat the fish. I'm not sure if they cooked my fish in the same basket as my friend's coconut shrimp or what, but the fish tasted like coconut and I do not like coconut. I should not have been charged for fish that did not taste right. The restaurant did nothing to make my meal right. The waitress even said that the fish had no coconut in it, but did in fact taste like coconut. I'm guessing the coconut shrimp and fish were cooked in the same basket. To top that off the shrimp and fish were both very greasy. The long wait, lack of attention from the wait staff, poor food quality and service made our visit a horrible dining experience and I would not go back! read more

Food was 'eh. Wait was long. Staff was nice. I ordered fish sandwich and sweet potato fries. Honestly, the hoagie was the best part. The sweet potato fries were so greasy the bottom of my tray was soaked. Atmosphere was fun - on water, rotating bridge, games to play while wait. I would not go back. read more

FOOD: The food was overpriced and did not appear or taste to be homemade. The chicken strips were pre breaded and deep fried. The fries did appear to be homemade and were shoestring style, but soggy. I would not recommend them again. The crab cakes were small and over cooked. The chicken strip basket was $13 fries were $2 extra (those did say fresh cut) and they charged for all dipping sauces (.75 - 1.25). So $16.75 for chicken strips. SERVICE: Service was great. Our hostess & server were attentive and friendly. CLEANLINESS: It's an outdoor patio and bar. We didn't go inside or use the bathrooms. The bathrooms appeared to be outside too. That is you enter from outside in a free standing building. AMBIANCE: The outdoor area itself was cute. Although all outdoor seating was picnic tables. Not exactly my favorite type of seating. It had different levels and looks like it could be difficult for ppl with mobility issues. The view was a canal that over looked an abandoned factory. There were also loud sirens that would go off. I think it was for the movable train bridge when boats would pass. read more

Not much to see here. I don't know if the food was good or not!! I asked yelp for restaurants with a view! I did get a view of a rusty bridge and a canal!! We had to wait until the hostess felt it was time to pay attention to us. The bugs were out in force. After looking at the paper menu and swatting at the bugs we waiting again for someone to help us. They were just to busy to take our money so we decided to leave!! Better luck to the next people!! read more

Great and friendly service. Interesting views. Good food Family friendly and it has a nice outdoor waiting area. Fun bar area. Interesting drinks read more

The service and seating are great. It was a beautiful evening for sitting outside to enjoy our meal. Cheese curds appetizer was the best part of dinner, but the coconut shrimp were also good. My daughter had a Caesar salad, which was served in a very large bowl and was just okay. It wasn't a lot of food for the price, but still a nice experience. read more

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We visited on 7/15/24 and We had a great time here! The entire staff was so nice and our server even obliged my husband and took a bunch of photos. I had the salmon burger and it was great. The games really impressed my 10 year old read more

Bridges Waterside Grille - Patio - American Near Me - Michigan City, Indiana

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One of our favorite restaurants. Everyone is always so Nice and accommodating. It is fun to watch the boat traffic. Usually there is corn hole and checkers to play while you wait (darn Covid). Love all the gluten free and vegan options. (Vegan cheese, mayo, beyond burger, etc). read more

Bridges Waterside Grille - American Near Me - Michigan City, Indiana

They are practicing social distancing with tables every other table marked off as well as requiring masks. We stopped here before heading back to Indianapolis after spending a beautiful day at Indiana Dunes. It's about 15-20 mins from the park and an easy drive. They also offer suites at their inn for people to stay from out of town. We had an extremely nice server and our food was out super quick. I ordered the coconut shrimp with a side of watermelon and my husband got a chicken wrap. The lobster bisque was on special and very tasty. I'm not sure if they are doing dine-in but the patio was great to dine on! Not sure if it's always like this, but we had several screaming children so it may be a spot for families - just a heads up if that's not your thing! read more

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We stopped by today and it was very busy. Several times we have stopped by and left due to how busy the restaurant is, but today we stayed. I wish there were reservations here! After a bit, we were given a seat. I ordered the margarita shrimp wrap, which in my opinion did not have flavors that mixed well. The people with me got fish wraps and did enjoy them, so I think it is up to personal taste! I really like their french fries and the crab cake appetizer was good. If I were to come again, I would get something that was not fish. read more

Bridges Waterside Grille - Margarita Shrimp Wrap - American Near Me - Michigan City, Indiana

Dogs welcome on the patio Food is great Music and vibe are awesome Feels like you're somewhere tropical Kids love watching the bridge and boats and jet skis The only bad part is, it can be hard to get a table at night. You can sit in the bar and wait but your kids can't (there is a little sandy play area for them). read more

Nice location. Efficient and friendly service. Food is nothing special. What I ate could be served anywhere. Be aware that the salads are sized for at least two people. read more

We didn't get to see a train cross but the food was a pleasant surprise! The pretzel bites actually came out amazing. They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, and I was putting my finger in the cheese sauce at the end. I had the fish taco wrap and it was great! My side was the potato salad and I wouldn't keep serving that stuff, guys. That needs work. My wife had the burger with fries. She said the burger was not good. I tried it and it was alright. The fries were great. They had that same crisp the pretzel bites have. To sum it up, best to avoid the burger and potato salad, everything else was amazing! read more

Great little spot to sit outside, eat some good bar grub and watch the bridge move and trains go by. Good space for kids, there are outdoor games and they can watch the ducks in the water. read more

Enjoyed the shrimp wrap with sweet potato fries. Kids burgers were big. Nice to sit on the deck by the water. Didn't have to wait long to get seated. Wife enjoyed the peanut Thai entree. A little pricey but not terrible. I'd go back. read more

On our way home on a summer day, we decided to stop at Bridges Waterside Grille for dinner. It was late afternoon on a Saturday and the restaurant was filling up. The few open tables were those without shade from the sun. We started our meal with an order of calamari as our appetizer. It was hot out of the fryer. The coating was nicely spiced and was light and not too greasy. The portion size was good. For our main dishes, my wife had the shrimp skewers with coleslaw. She ordered the shrimp with just garlic and butter rather than the Cajun spices. The shrimp were very good. I ordered the lake perch with French fries. The perch were battered and deep fried; they were OK, but I think perch is better when it is pan fried in butter. My only criticism is that I thought the coleslaw was too heavily seasoned with celery seed; IMO, a little lighter would be better. All in all, the dinner was good. We enjoy the setting - it was perfect for a summer afternoon as we sat on the deck. Adjacent to the restaurant is a swing railroad bridge on Trail Creek. While we were dining, we got to see the bridge close, an Amtrak train cross and the bridge open. There aren't many restaurants where you can watch that while you're dining. read more

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This funky bar restaurant sits along the river in Michigan City and has definite Key West vibes. It was hot but our hostess and waitress were keen to offer shade where they could. Beach music served as a festive background to our lunch of garlic shrimp skewers and whitefish. Both very good, and serving sizes were good. A cold Stella and my Summer Hummer (raspberry vodka and lemonade) were just right for this hot end-of-summer weekend stop. We loved how our doggo was welcomed -- cold water in his own dish was a great touch. For sure we'll be back. read more

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