We were very disappointed with our experience at the Mother's Day brunch. There weren't any main dishes available after we waited in a long line. We had to ask for silverware. Some of the food was cold. Even after going through the buffet line again it was very expensive for meager offerings. read more

We did not enjoy this place. The food was below average, although on the river the view is not a good one and we ate outside with lots of bugs bothering us the whole time. We had specifically asked if bugs would be an issue if we chose to eat outside and were told - no problem. We will not go back. (This is our first one start review) read more

I've eaten here about three times in the past year. It's great! The staff is friendly and attentive. I've had the walleye, scallops, calamari, soup, and haddock. It's all very fresh and so are the vegetables. The cheese-smashed potatoes are out of this world and it's always hard to make the choice between the two. The restaurant is clean, and plate presentation is pretty great. The views are spectacular and there are huge windows in the dining area that look over the mighty Mississippi. Wednesdays drinks on their specialty menu go to $3. It's a steal for the numerous concoctions there are to choose from. Overall, this is a great place to bring a family or a date. read more

Nice building. We second the review that gave it worst meal ever Ever. Limp salad probably tossed for lunch hours before , salad dressing looked the same. The special sirloin tips were tough, the sauce heavy and the wild rice stewed into paste read more

I don't know why this place gets a bad rap. I love coming here and the food has always been good! Make sure you order alligator nuggets and crawfish :). Plus, they have amazing Bloody Mary's. read more

Catfish Charlie's - Amazing view - Seafood Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

It has a great view in the summer time right on the river in Dubuque,Iowa. I have found the best time to eat there is during the week when it has less business the food good all the time but we have had better food during the week and my wife really likes there martinis. read more

Of our party of eight, no one really cared for their meal. Blackened catfish and grouper were too heavily coated with seasoning, mac & cheese dishes were cold and over seasoned with Cajun seasoning, wild rice & beans were very bland. The only thing that was really liked was the chocolate chip bread pudding. Overall a disappointing experience. read more

Oh My!! Very nice facility in a great location. They have in house brewed beer and souvenirs out the wazoo!! But they have forgotten how to cook food!!! I had deep fried oysters that had raw cornmeal on them. They tasted like they were dipped in warm oil. The fries were undercooked and the "Catfish" was inedible. SO bad I would not go back even for a free meal. A can't stomach a place that mistreats food that way!! read more

We ate lunch here today and found our meal to be absolutely wonderful. We both ordered the senior catfish lunch. It came with one large fillet of catfish, a generous portion of home-cut fries, and a small cup of coleslaw. The fish was perfectly battered and fried. The fries were good too! The slaw was as good as anybody's and the tarter sauce was tasty. The only thing missing was some hush puppies. I guess maybe they don't eat hush puppies this far north! I didn't even see them on the menu. But all in all we had a very enjoyable lunch at a great price! read more

My wife and I stayed in the marina for a few days and Catfish Charlies was a convenient place to eat. We sat outside and enjoyed a nice view. The place was clean and the staff was excellent. I ordered a ribeye and garlic mashed and my wife ordered the crab stuffed shrimp. My ribeye was ok but the garlic mashed mountain with a heavy cream sauce was really bad, heavy and I'm guessing 1000 calories. Ouch!!!! We didn't couldn't eat much of them. The 28.00 stuffed shrimp were heavy butter and breaking. We ate the shrimp but couldn't eat the rest. Nice place but the food was heavy and a disappointment for the price. read more

We went to dinner here when we first moved to the area. There was an obnoxious bachelorette party waiting to be seated when we walked in so I thought my dinner would be more annoying than anything, but luckily they were seated in a private room. The rest of our dinner was perfect! Great scenery, great food (priced right too), and fun atmosphere. Will definitely go again! read more

My wife and I went there for lunch. There is a limited lunch menu, but excusable as items were obviously fresh and handmade. Service was fast and friendly. The portions are ample and the french fries are handcut with a hint of sea salt (delicious). read more

Catfish Charlie's is the best of the best, summer or winter! Beautiful views of the marina as well as the city of Dubuque, Iowa. We've held several family events there over the years - Charlie and Co are well worth the hour drive any time of the year! read more

Horrible service. Great drinks and food but they are understaffed. The staff that they have do not pay attention at all. Waited 10 minutes at the hostess stand before we were even greeted then 10 more minutes for a waiter when we were sat. Asked for water three times before it was brought to us. Completely ridiculous. Will not be coming back. read more

If you like ordering the Clam Chowder, then sending it back twice because it was barely luke warm, then having the dinner salad served with the "meal" coming 2 minutes later, also barely warm, this is the place for you...never again. read more

Absolutely excellent. Our food was presented well, tasted great, and the waitress and bartender were top notch. Definitely will go back and recommend highly. read more

They serve a lot of food but I wouldn't eat there again, also the smell inside was very bad

Dining out is an experience, an experience for all the senses. The food is only part of it. First impressions as you enter an eatery are another part of the experience. Is the place neat and clean ? Is the staff fully engaged? Is the setting generally appealing? I'd have to say the setting , on the river, is very pleasing. The facility itself needs an upgrade. A broken landscape light and a sand filled bucket of cigarette butts greets you as you approach the front door. The door handle felt like it was loose and may fall off. Weeds were overtaking the landscaping. Inside there were crumbs of food all over the floor. The windows were in need of cleaning and flys were pervasive. But, if you can overlook the tacky surroundings and erase that from the experience , the food was adequate. The wait staff was young but fairly attentive. People will continue to seek a lunch or dinner spot to view the river and that alone may be the restaurant's saving grace. The food was adequate as I said, but that is not enough for me to go back. read more

Arrived at 3:45 on a Saturday. Not busy with five staffers hanging out and we have to wait ten minutes for an outside table. Several were available. Clam chowder came cold but couldn't send it back before the entrees because the waitress never checked in. Not even comped for it. Sent back mac and cheese as it was cold too. Margarita was not pleasant. Chicken alfredo was a plate of yellow. Not good. Salmon was properly prepared. Sausage was interesting. All in all wish we would have passed on this one. Think twice before you waste your cash here. Wish our visit was more positive. read more

Great food for a fair price! Awesome view of the river and the American Lady. Friendly staff, good drinks also set at a fair price..AND! They've got alligator bites which are absolutely delicious! On top of that, they have one awesome bison burger from here in Iowa! read more

So went to catfish Charlie's today. I read some of the bad reviews online before I went so I was a little hesitate to go or not so I decided to go. Our waitress kat was friendly and she gave us awesome service. I ordered the scallop plate and I have had seafood all of my life on the east coast in NEW Hampshire till I moved to Iowa not many places has scallop plates. The scallops were awesome the food was hot and loved everything about it. My other half bought the pork tenderloin and he said it was hot and it tasted wonderful. I will definitely go back I love this place. We sat outside enjoyed dinner and watched the boats. read more

Had a Sunday morning brunch/baby shower for my daughter here. Cannot say enough positive things about the service we received! The room was perfect, food was great ( the chicken was the raved about) and again the service was amazing! Thanks Catfish Charlie's for a great experience! read more

I was on a business trip and we met here. I really liked the menu choices, and their "Bikini Deck" was open so there were bands playing. Two thumbs up! read more

You have to love the friendly service and great atmosphere of this restaurant. On the food angler, I mean angle you will also be satisfied with the quality and check out their bbq/smoker outside between the back of restaurant and if it's hot smell the aroma. I assure you this is the coolest place and portions are enough to fill a hungry man. If you are happy just ask for Charlie and let the owner know. It got a 5 star because it is just plain Good! read more

NEVER Rent a pontoon from here. They will rip you off. Not only did the pontoon break down so we were late getting it back but they tried to say we damaged it, two weeks later. They came out to "help" us after we were on the boat for hours being towed in by another boat. They never did an inspection when we got back but weeks later claim there were a few dents in it. One year later my sister got a letter from collections for $8,000. Horrible people, horrible service, I cannot believe someone can be this crooked read more

I don't even know where to begin with this review. The food is mediocre at best. My main issue with this place was clear poor management and staff with horrible attitudes, with the exception of one very accommodating bar tender. You can clearly see that management does not treat their new staff members with respect nor dignity. While I was here, I witnessed a senior staff member by the name of "Alex" slam things around mumble obscene things under his breath, and yell and blame things on the new staff member "Maddy" when SHE was the one who was busting her a$$ off when he went MIA for a very long period of time. This young lady had a full bar of guests and made sure each one of us was taken care of and she was very efficient. She knew what she was doing and was more than capable of doing her job, but the other gentleman felt the need to micromanage her and treat her like a child and show off his childlike behavior in front of customers. We won't be returning here again. read more

Catfish Charlie's is a relatively new addition to Dubuque's elegant-yet-casual list of dining options. Located in the Dubuque Yacht Club, the restaurant has a nice, albeit limited view of the Mississippi. There's plenty of outdoor seating and even a few tables in a screened-in porch. The atmosphere is classy without being stuffy - perfect for bringing guests or a date. As you'd expect, the menu skews heavily towards seafood, with a few steak, salad and sandwich options as well. Prices generally start at $15 per entree. The food was tasty - I ordered the salmon, which had a spicy pico de gallo and curried rice. Unusual flavor combination, but it was delicious. Unfortunately, the service was sub-par. We did not receive utensils or water when we were seated, and the waitress generally wasn't attentive - she was from the "drop and dash" school of serving, according to my dinner partner! With better service, the place would get four stars. But I suspect the other wait staff were more professional. read more

Service was horrible.food had a lot to be desired. It's sad when you find pieces of wax paper in your kids chicken strips

What can I say except this place is "Aces" five stars!!! Never had a bad meal here and the staff are world class!!!

Great meal. Salmon was perfect; best I've had st a restaurant. Service was super helpful too.

Food great server terrible. I have been going to this establishment usually twice or more a month. Tonight was really bad. I told server several times not in a hurry please slow down. Ordered an appetizer and twice before even arrived she asked twice for or order. When ahead gave her order hoping to eat appetizer and did get half of it eaten and here came my salad and food. Needless to say appetizer came home, salad was never touched took longer to pay bill the the whole meal took. This was suppose to be a special night out ruined by a server to does not listen. This is not normal for Catfish Charlie's. If we go back rest assured this waitress will not serve us. read more

Leave the Cajun cooking to New Orleans. Had the oyster po boy and it was so tasteless; could not taste the oysters at all. The homemade chips were overcooked and some were burnt. The fries were the same way. Nothing was special or very good at all. My husband and I were disappointed and more than likely will not come back. read more

My wife and I were looking forward to a seafood meal, so ordered blackened grouper and grilled walleye. We should have stopped at the salad course! (Quite good...both the regular dinner salad and the Caesar.) Unfortunately, both fish entrees were terrible. Both were swimming in watery liquid, as if they'd been tossed frozen into the microwave. Both were absolutely tasteless...not even the "blackened" seasoning made a dent in the grouper's blandness. I soldiered on to eat about 1/3 of my fish, but my wife had only 2 or 3 bites of her fish and sustained herself with the heap of mashed potatoes smothered in a thick cheese sauce. One happy note was that our waitress was friendly and competent. We learned an $80 lesson, and will not be booking a return visit. read more

Awful dinner. Will never go back. They don't know how to prepare blackened fish, spices were dumped on top of steamed? fish then plated. Green beans were par broiled not saluted. Halibut floating in cheese sauce with soggy bread crumb topping. YUCK!! read more

The mashed potatoes looked like boobies--so it deserves at least two and a half stars. And in a world where medium means the steak has no pink then it deserves three stars more. I'm not sure how you can make shrimp chewy or French Onion soup without cheese or bread-but they succeeded--so a couple more stars for that. At least the wait time for waitress was appropriate for a restaurant that assigns one waiter for 230 tables. Kudos and extra stars for that. read more

Consistent and friendly. I have visited Catfish Charlie's on many occasions. They have a menu to suit most anyone and the quality of the food and staff is superior to most. The building is nice and well-kept, and the atmosphere is pleasing. During the summer, you can dine on the deck overlooking the Mississippi. Overall, it's a wonderful place for a date, family outing, or just a good time. read more

Website says $12.99 for Sunday buffet...went there for Mothers Day and they jumped the price to $17.99....for "special" items on the buffet...well thats BOGUS!!! SAME items as the other 2 times our family went there! They even ran out of MANY food items and people would ask staff if it was going to be filled soon...staff would answer sharply "Yep" and walk away!! NOT worth $17.99 for BS special items....our family will not be going back! read more

Wasn't sure what to expect but I went for the river view, since this was a first visit to dubuque. There's a tiki theme mixed with Louisiana home cooking. The view was great, but i couldnt quite get into the mish mash theme and would have opted for a more local feel. Everyone was friendly, and the fried catfish was crunchy and delicious, so I would go back. read more

We went here on February 12th for an early Valentine's Day dinner. The service and food was horrible. I had ordered the all you could ponga and my husband ordered all you eat catfish. I asked if I could have mine grilled and was told yes (but with attitude - like I guess but I have to ask which took 10 minutes to ask) I also ordered the sautéed green beans instead of the French fries and was told it would be a $1 extra. No problem, I couldn't have fried food so I was expecting a good meal. When our meal came (after a long wait) I was given French fries and told the waitress I had ordered green beans and all I got was a deep sigh. It went downhill from there. No ketchup on the table for my husband's fries. Asked our waitress twice and since he was halfway thru his meal and she still didn't bring the ketchup, we had to ask another waitress. The 2nd helping of our fish was horrible. My husband's catfish was all breading and my 3 little pieces of grilled ponga was cooler than room temperature and so tiny about the size of a 50 cent piece. Had to ask twice for ice water and FOUR TIMES for my green beans which we never got until we were ready to leave. We were all down with our meal when she finally brought them but it was too late. Never I am sorry only I won't charge you the $1. I delayed putting this online as I wrote a letter to the owner explaining in greater detail the issues we encountered and never heard a word from him or an attempt to apologize for such a bad dining experience. Every time we asked her for something she had forgotten she never once said I am sorry I will bring it right back, she went to all the rest of her tables first then disappeared for long times and didn't carry through. Won't be going back. read more

We went for brunch on Father's Day 2013. We had a party of 23 of us. Called ahead and made reservations. The brunch started at 9am but we all got there at 11am. My husband and arrived with children in tow a few minutes later than the rest of our family. By the time we got there the waitress was already getting drinks for everyone else in our party. I stopped her and asked her for a booster seat for my 11 month old grandson. After 20 minutes my husband finally went and got him the booster seat. Finally the rest of the family started to go through the buffet while we waited since there was a long line. When it was our turn to go through the buffet there was no fried chicken left, no mashed potatoes, the gravy for the mashed potatoes was scummy looking on top. The cold bar with about 4 different kinds of pudding and some fruit that was left. The half pieces of french toast was actually not too bad. There was biscuits but no gravy left. The sausage and bacon was cold. And no eggs benedict left. I stopped the waitress on the way back to my table and asked her for drinks. She then tells me she didn't see us and would bring us our drinks. At this time I also asked her about the food that was gone on the buffet wondering if they were going to bring more out. She apologizes and says they are making more now. By the time we got our drinks we were already done eating and all it we had ordered from the bar was 3 mountain dews. Nothing fancy nor hard to make. Finally they bring more biscuits and gravy so we decide to have a little of that before leaving. The biscuits were cold and the gravy was luke warm. We get our bill which was $53.57 for 3 buffets and 3 drinks. We pay we leave. We arrive home around 7pm that night and decided to check out the website since all day long we were disgusted with the service and the food. Come to find out the fathers were supposed to only be charged $9.99 for the buffet and get a drink from the bar for free. My husband was charged full price and never even offered the drink. Didn't even know about the drink until we read it online. I call the manager to complain who then tells me to call back the next day because of the credit card company they have to wait 24 hours but would fix it no problem. I call back the next day and the guy that answered the phone tells me the owner is busy and to leave my credit card number with him and my phone number and he would call me back when the owner had time to fix it. That call never came. A week later here I am still waiting for the change to be added back to my card. I will never eat here again and it was the worse experience of my life there. read more