We had the good fortune to select Madigans for lunch today having only been to Occoquan once before in 2023. The service was friendly and attentive and our crab cakes were, as my wife said, "The best crab cakes I've ever had." I have to agree with her. I almost ordered a different meal and I am so glad that I ordered "What she's having." And we have been to a lot of "Crab Shacks" in different states up and down the east coast. The food and drinks are very reasonably priced. What a wonderful setting for lunch or dinner looking out over the Occoquan River. read more

Terrible food and service. Too much help that would rather talk between themselves instead of waiting on customers. The mussels had spaghetti sauce poured on them and they were chewy and cold. Only brought us one ice tea and one soda and never asked if we wanted anymore. The fish sandwich was so hard and dry that it was crunchy on the ends. The onion rings were soggy. The inside of the fish was black and had no taste. If there was a category for zero stars I would give them that. This used to be a nice place but we will never go back. We told the waiter how bad the food was and all he said was he was sorry. Drove all the way from Falls Church. I would rather have gone through Chick Filet drive through read more

The food is maybe three stars but the view from the porch adds another star. A nice place to sit in decent weather and take in the river views. Service was adequate and was reasonably handicap accessible. read more

Good food service and atmosphere but the bathrooms are disgusting. I've been in cleaner bathrooms at truck stops. If the bathrooms are this gross what does the kitchen look like. Please address the bathrooms. read more

The food, the service and the cleanliness were below par. The salt shaker was filthy the windows were filthy, the beautiful waterfront is obstructed by an ugly air conditioner in addition to the filthy windows and my plate had two big chips in it. That was the best table they had other tables which are obstructed by big brick pillars and not centered right with the windows. Ordered two french dips, it comes with fries for $11.99 very good price for a waterfront meal, it's apart of the lunch menu which I believe ends at 3:30 pm. The service was below par and it took them 30 minutes to make the food, the fries were nice and hot the sandwiches were lukewarm. Overall the food was decent and a good value. The waiter barely came to the table, in the 30 minutes from taking our order to coming with the food she walked by 0 times to check on us and there was no one else in the restaurant. Overall I went there to kill some time waiting for my sister to get done with her dental appointment, the experience was positive. The restaurant could be a lot better with new management. read more

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Went here for dinner, restaurant does gets crowded in the weekend if you can make reservation. We sat inside restaurant, order the bourbon chicken which comes fried and you can order sauce in the side with celery stick and small pieces of carrots. Order the Nautical pasta which come with crab meat and white sauce, penne pasta. My meal was delicious very tasty and plenty of flavors. Our meal total was about $64.00. Also order chicken nuggets with fries, chicken was tender and fries were hot. our meal was great and our server Ashley was friendly. the restaurant has street parking which can be full during the weekend, since occoquan is history area. The restaurant view of the Occoquan river if you want to sit outside beware of smokers which can be sitting next to you. The restaurant has live music on the weekends and two bars available for someone who just want to have a drink and enjoy . read more

This is a place you want to see exceed but after going there three times over the past 5 years enough is enough. We live very close to Madigan's in Occoquan but every time we have given them a chance we come away very disappointed. Most recently we went with friends to celebrate their last day in town. We ordered the Scallops ($22) and a Mariner's salad ($18) since the restaurant's specialty is seafood. We also ordered the chowder of the day. Everything was mediocre at best. The salty scallops were penny or dime size and everything was cold except for the mashed potatoes. The salad was just a pile of lettuce with a few pieces of seafood and cheese. Both dishes cost way too much for what you got. The chowder was good but tasted straight out of the can. The margarita was flavorless and weak. To top it all off, even though the entire restaurant was about 40% filled it took almost 1.5 hours to get our food after we ordered. We arrived at 6:30PM and left around 9:30PM. We were there so long that the late night band started to play in the bar and overwhelmed us with loud music in the dinning area. The only reason we ate our meal was because we were starving from the wait. The rest of our party had similar issues. The only thing positive about this place is the location and the wait staff were very polite and apologetic for the kitchen. If you are visiting the town of Occoquan there are much better places to get something to eat. You really need to avoid Madigan's unless the cheap dive bar scene is your thing. BTW, the pictures posted look better than they tasted. read more

Madigan's Waterfront - Three average shrimp and four very small scallops on a bed of lettuce for $18. Rip off! - Seafood Near Me - Occoquan, Virginia

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Fourth of July evening and we decided to go to a seafood restaurant for dinner thinking it wouldn't be a wait. We arrived at the restaurant, and had to wait 10-15 minutes for a table even though the restaurant was 50% capacity. The hostess states we had to wait because the kitchen was short staffed. Went to the bar to get some drinks. The bartender was nice, but she was one person deep and we had to wait extended amount of time to order drinks and get our change after we paid. The waiter, Caleb, was a true professional. Quick on his feet, very knowledgeable of the menu. The food was bland, but okay. Thank goodness they had Tabasco. They use a lot of lemon to season the food. Need some onion powder, garlic and paprika. Oysters weren't seasoned, just covered in flour and fried. You do better going to The Secret Garden up the street. read more

My mom suggested going here for brunch with some of her friends today and I had brought my daughter with me as well, for 5 of us I felt like there was plenty of room for us at the table and it was beautiful overlooking the river, even in January. I had the classic eggs Benedict, my mom had the Maryland crab omelet, and my daughter had the Belgian waffle. The plating was beautiful and the poached eggs were cooked perfectly! My daughter loved her waffle and was so stuffed she only ate about half. My mom has a fish allergy and was happy to hear the crab in the omelet was real crab. A huge thank you to Kenny for keeping our table happy and being so nice, especially with how busy he was. I only got a picture of my food with how fast everyone started eating, but it was well worth it! I'd love to come again and enjoy the dinner service! read more

Madigan's Waterfront - Classic eggs Benedict - Seafood Near Me - Occoquan, Virginia

The second time here with my mum for her birthday and it was lovely! We had a wonderful view on the deck. The best part of the evening was the service from Eddie. He's an absolute darling and very attentive. The apps were delicious, cocktails strong and food tasty. Mum dad and aunt were very happy. The only unfortunate matter was I ordered my potato without bacon and it came with it. I'm vegetarian so.... Just wasn't keen on eating that. the chefs apparently found it difficult to deliver after I sent it back. I suppose they got sassy. That being said, after it took too long and I got fearful of the upset chefs, it felt best to cancel the meal and i got a small ceaser salad. The live music was a plus so we loved that. Again I recommend Eddie! Made everything pleasant! read more

Madigan's Waterfront - Ceaser - Seafood Near Me - Occoquan, Virginia

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Came on a rainy rainy day while traveling...just had to check out the water view. Staff was super friendly and accommodating (let our well behaved pooch on the covered patio area due to the rain - note the web site says it's dog friendly but really only allow service dogs) Only had apps but they were good. Tunes were good as well (little loud for a small enclosed area with a small crowd). Will try them again on a sunny day when in the area. read more

I live in Occoquan. We should demand more than this, town folk. Appetizers were fine. Mains were a TERRIBLE. Bouillabaisse was literally Prego, with onions, with some grilled focaccia for $26. My boyfriend's steak was tough, no jus, and horrible. Not to the server's fault, but god, after living in DC for 23 years with great restaurants, and then in Europe for 3 (Germany), this place is horrid. Also, Occoquan, if you want people to convene here - closing at 12:30am kills that. **And after informing the bartenders that a woman had puked in the bathroom, they told me to use the bathroom upstairs, while no one cleaned up vomit on the first floor bathroom for the rest of the night. Again, horrid. read more

Half empty. Seated grudingly (we are busy). Waited 20 minutes and nobody stopped by. Walked out. Never again. Beware the 4% up charge for using a credit card. read more

Service 5 star Ambience and location 4 star Food 1 star (like cafeteria food or worse for everyone at our 7 person table) read more

Drinks here are probably the only thing aside dueling pianos that I look forward to seeing. We enjoy coming and watching our friend perform and never have an issue with drinks they seem to be reasonable priced. Service is nice I'm just not a huge fan of the food read more

We really enjoy this restaurant. We would highly recommend! The service and food were great.

First time coming to Madigan's after walking around the Occoquan. We came on a Sunday around 1pm and were extremely disappointed. There weren't many people there, and I think I know why. The positives: great view of the Occoquan, provides indoor and outdoor seating. Things to work on: 1) food is awful (excluding the Old Bay chips, those were good) We got the Turkey Sandwich which came on a Croissant but it was dry, not flavorful, did not have any condiments. The Mad burger was dry and bleh. The big fish was BIG! 2) the service (waitress never came to check on us, got drink orders confused, wasn't sure of the menu or the specials menu--I saw on the outside specials board that they had fried pickles, she had to flip thru her notes and ask several people about it) 3) the cutlery and dishes were not clean Either way, we will probably explore other restaurants and not be returning. read more

not a great experience... bar service was basic at best, maybe I didn't know staff members enough but after the way we were engaged i really don't think I want to?!? corn fritters were very tasty!!! the charcuterie was very 'lacking' for the $20 tag and honestly the Brie was the reason for that as it just tasted off and the portion was small too but that mad have been better for us because of the taste... hopefully other's experiences are better and I hope this is used constructively for you establishment read more

Beautiful view and amazing food! Have visited for both brunch (eggs Benedict) and dinner (salad, sandwiches, and dinners are all good). Impressive to have the manager stop by and ask about the experience. Hard to find people committed to a good overall experience but know Madigan's will always be good. read more

I would give it no stars if I could. Signed up for the waitlist (40 minutes) after getting the runaround who we have to see between hostess and bar tender. After 40 minutes, we were told the wait was an additional 35 minutes. Can't say I tried their food, but their customer service alone is enough of a reason to avoid Madigan's. Go to any of the other smaller restaurants nearby. Because they are on the water is a reason for them to treat customers and patrons like peasants and idiots, I guess. read more

Good food, good service and loved the tiki bar outside. The entertainment on the weekend is always good too with a pretty scenery.

Sat us quickly. We ate outdoors by the waterfront. Beautiful view. Ordered. Bit of wait for the food but worth the wait. Everyone enjoyed their food with leftovers to take home.There was a 4% up charge for using a credit card. Not thrilled with that. read more

So bad... just so bad. I made the mistake of dining here without checking reviews. The service was horrendous and slow. It took 45 minutes to get our food. When our meal finally came it was so bad that it was almost inedible. I ordered the what I think was supposed to be crab cakes. I would compare it to hospital food but I don't think I've ever had a meal this bad at the hospital. Never again. Hard pass. Nope. read more

The food was not good . Po boy grouper was fried with too much bread and chips . So ordered side salad for 5 extra and it was wilted / inedible. Dressing also bad . Service was good .. Alec was our waiter . Drinks good too. I would just do drinks at this place and look at the ducks and river . read more

We have not been there recently but enjoyed the meal we had there when visiting family. The food was great, they accommodated our larger party and numerous children. We sat outside. We are planning to return next time we are in the area. read more

These guys took forever for my food dawg like im so hungry and I waited a hour for this

We are visiting Occoquan for the first time. This restaurant was recommended to us so we decided to give it a try. We will not go back the wine for nine dollars a glass was so thick. I feel like I was drinking a bottle of syrup. The crab soup was also ridiculously thick. It was more like a gravy than a soup, and there was absolutely no seafood in it. This restaurant is subpar. It was lovely to be able to sit on the water, but we were told that our service would be delayed because of the choice of seat where we sat. All in all two thumbs down. read more

I waited 20 minutes for a table outside, the rude hostess told me I couldn't sit outside because of rain. It was not raining it was beautiful out. Mean while tables are being sat while they tell me I can't be sat. Manager "Bailey" was extremely rude telling me I could be sat now just acting like it wasn't a mistake. I would think twice about visiting this location. Bailey you need to work on your customer service!! Why are you so rude to your customers ? Why do you feel that we're not inconvenienced? You should be asking what You can do for us. There were so many open tables outside you should be apologizing to us. Rude manager rude staff try a different restaurant if you are in the area. Rude rude rude not worth my business. Look at this dirty bathroom to top it off... read more

Madigan's Waterfront - Bathroom gross - Seafood Near Me - Occoquan, Virginia

Worst meal I've ever had. Prime rib? More like old shoe. I've had better at Boston Market -not joking. I'll take my chances at McDonald's before ever returning to this whatever it is. Please don't waste your time or money. Just walk on by. Plenty of actually well run restaurants in the area. read more

Racist employee ruined our experience and due to lack of respect this will be the last time I'll step foot into this establishment. A older Caucasian male bartender named Jimmy thought it was okay to tell the waitress that her table was the "white girl, black guy". He could've said anything else, perhaps, the table across the stage, the table with no food on it (as there were only 3 tables filled with patrons), the table with the white and peach sweaters, anything. However the waitress didn't stop the disrespect she just led herself to the "white girl, black guy table". Heather, the manager was informed of this incident and without surprise she wasn't sympathetic. read more

First time going-- great ambiance & busy (which explains the slow service, so as a past restaurant server i understand that). the waitress we had was doing her best at keeping up with the pace so i appreciated her service a bunch! she was very kind too. she also communicated allergy needs which is very important! thank you! although, the buzzkill here was the food. chicken wings were alright but very greasy. fried & drenched in plain, bottled hot sauce. nothing spectacular. my main course was a turkey sandwich, which was very very plain. just a croissant roll, lettuce, turkey, and avocado. no sauces, no pepper and mayo-- just slapped the plain ingredients together and called it a day. no flavor whatsoever and was the most bland sandwich i've ever had (minus the bland sandwiches i made as a child). i couldn't believe that a restaurant would serve that type of quality, considering the price too ($14). the fries had a nice crisp to it, but the taste was off. i don't know if it was old oil or just the fries batch but it wasn't the best. they also took 30 mins to bring out another glass of wine. i understand a busy restaurant, but at least communicate with the customers on the delay maybe? idk. my menu & table was also dirty as if it was used before i came. not even wiped down and had sauce slightly dried up & spilled on it. considering we're recovering from a pandemic still-- yikes. i just hope other places at the restaurant are sanitized frequently. read more

Ok, my wife and I go out to eat with the kids every weekend, and we try to go somewhere new. We decided on Madigan's since we were out shopping at IKEA. Unfortunately, the food is terrible here. As in, Everything is either fried or soggy. We ordered the kids' nuggets and a cheeseburger. The burger was decent, and the Nuggets are literally like from a frozen bag from Giant. French Fries with the kids' meals were fresh and probably the best part of the meal. The adults ordered peel and eat shrimp which were soggy. We tried the old bay chips, which were just ok. We got the hush puppies; those were good, but how can anyone mess up cooking hush puppies. For our entrees we got the fish tacos and scallops: Fish tacos were fried mahi-mahi. The mahi-mahi was overcooked and had too much batter. It comes with 3 tacos. I only at 1 whole taco, and that was it b/c the taste was too overcooked. My wife got the scallops. They were overseasoned. You couldn't even taste the scallops--wife ending eating just one scallop. We quickly got our check and bolted. The price of the food is overpriced for the quality of food. One and done. Won't ever come back here. read more

Came here for the first time Saturday night. We had a table of 8 and celebrating a birthday. Ordered a round of drinks. When they showed up to the table one was wrong (a martini was brought instead of a margarita) we let the server know and we also asked for a water. Neither were ever brought. Go to order our food. I ask what kind of oysters. Server had no idea. A buddy asked which fish were in an entree server didn't know. Apps come out. No app plates guess we just eat with our hands. I couldn't even get the servers attention so I walked to the bar and ordered a second round of drinks for the table and brought them back myself. Entrees come out before our salads. Lol then my girlfriend never even got the entree she ordered. Terrible service. Worst I have ever had. I waited tables all through college I generally tip 30-50% and can see when people are overwhelmed they lost me all along the way with this one. No knowledge of menu. Not returning to refill drinks or bringing drinks. Never pre busing the table and clearing off empty glasses. Pace of meal was terrible app then entree immediately after and then the salads after the entrees. Most of us just sent them back. Not even bringing out one of the entrees.. After all this I ask for the manager. He said sorry it's his 3rd day back. How is that my problem as the customer... I will never go back to this establishment and will voice this on every outlet I can to save others the headache. read more

Good view and location. It's a nice place to relax for a bit in a historic town. The food is nothing special, pedestrian American food, nothing fancy or anything. Clam Po'Boys was not that good, couldn't chew; chicken quesadilla was okay. Portions were good, French fries were good, all dishes are heavy, not good for dieting. read more

I came here with a friend the other day. It was pouring raining outside and seafood was the pick of the night. We had the crab appetizers, they were okay nothing too special. I had the crab cakes with mashed potatoes and the vegetable medley. The crab cakes were just average and the vegetables were hard. My friend had the dirty chicken over pasta, and that was good. I'm not a pasta fan but it was tasty. The sangria was also very tasteful as well. read more

We decided to have our first work lunch since the pandemic and this was the perfect spot! We were able to sit on the patio which looks out on the water and it was definitely a peaceful way to take a midday break at. I had the mahi-mahi tacos and they were delicious! Definitely enjoyed the fries and barbecue sauce was a hit for me! They could definitely work on the mixed drinks The Daiquiri was okay for the most part. Definitely great place to escape to if you want to take a lunch break while at work. read more

Madigan's Waterfront - Mahi Mahi tacos with avocado Crema - Seafood Near Me - Occoquan, Virginia

My family and I have been regular customers and have enjoyed for years both the outdoor/indoor dining as well as the Tiki Bar. The food has never been 5 but it also hasn't been packed food. Last night was horrible. Both my daughters wings were burnt and my wife's crab vale soggy and mushy. As a big prime rib guy, I had to go with the 16 ounce. I'm still in disbelief from what was presented to me. It was obvious this embarrassing, anemic piece of meat had just slithered out of a plastic wrapped container. Thin, tasted nasty and at least 1/3 of this pathetic offering was fat/gristle. I understand cutting back due to covid inorder to survive, but this ws ridiculous. Oh?, my wife and daughters said the fries were good. read more

Madigan's Waterfront - Family Time - Seafood Near Me - Occoquan, Virginia

Three of us had dinner at Madigan's a couple of days ago. Our first impression was the smell of disinfectant as we walked in. BTW, the Men's restroom was clean but there was clean toilet paper all over the floor. The dispenser was broken which may explain this but when were they going to clean it up? Our second impression was that the site, right on the river, was very pleasant. Service was friendly and helpful but very slow. I had to ask when our orders were ready. Our son liked his meal; my wife and I not so much. I thought the vaunted crab chowder was more like the kind of gravy you would put on your morning biscuits than any kind of chowder I have ever had. My shrimp cocktail was all right but I have had better. My wife's seafood grill was minus one of the three types of fish as described on the menu (it did have three pieces of fish). Her vegetables were overcooked and the sauce on one piece of her salmon was cloyingly sweet while the other piece had some sort of mystery glop on it. Her piece of haddock was so overlooked, it was virtually inedible. Her glass of Muscadet was all right but so cold, it was tasteless at first. All in all, we won't be going back. read more

When I first started reading these reviews, I wasn't going to give this restaurant a chance, but I changed My mind and rolled the dice. EXCELLENT from start to finish. The previous reviews doesn't do this restaurant justice, maybe previous management. We had a wonderful time and the food was awesome read more

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The very definition of maybe average or maybe even below average. Service, meh, food meh, prices not worth the meh. Plus you have to deal with the horrible parking situation. read more