Great setting with a variety of seating (high tops, low tops & picnic tables) outside. Dogs are clearly welcome. And ours appreciated the pets from our server. It's next to a small playground and new amphitheater, so I'm sure this place gets quite busy on weekends. We all enjoyed our lunches; just unfortunate that it took well over a half hour to receive them. Since we were traveling home to OH, we weren't too keen for a laid back lunch. read more

The Water Dog - Exterior of The Water Dog - New American Near Me - Lynchburg, Virginia

So there were a few good things and a few things that to be improved. Pros - It's in a great location. Terrific ambiance. We got seated much more quickly than we thought. One person in our party said her salad had the best dressing she's ever had. The fried pickles were good. The shrimp was good. One bartender was good. Cons - We walked in and basically weren't sure what to do. There was a woman at we thought was a hostess stand, but she never said anything to us. We finally asked if we needed to check in with her to get seated. We did. But it was kind of weird. One bartender was awful. Never made eye contact. Wouldn't take any orders. Acted like she wanted to be anywhere else. I thought the Caesar salad was ok. It came with lacquered salmon. I would have loved the salmon, but not lacquered. It couldn't be made to order. Ok fine. I ordered it the way it was described. There was nothing lacquered about that salmon. It also was shredded on top of the salad and was maybe two ounces. That's ridiculous. Our server wasn't very helpful and not very attentive. I'm sure many people have had great experiences there, but I'm not sure I would take the time to go back. read more

Walked by and saw 3 open tables. Went in to the hostess stand and told us it would 30 minute wait. Asked a server outside and she was incredibly rude for no reason. Short black haired waitress completely ignored us walking away while trying to talk to us. Not worth it. read more

We sat outside with our dog and it was beautiful weather! A few trains came by and it's just such a cute area of Lynchburg. We started with the chicken nachos. I like them. Didn't love them no think they use a curry powder in the sauce or on the chips and it was a tad too much. I got the avocado smoked chicken wrap and it was really good. I could only eat half. My side was the deviled egg pasta salad. It was meh. My husband had the steamed shrimp and a side salad. He loved it. Waiter was great attentive and brought us a bowl of water for our dog. great casual spot! read more

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It's good, but nothing to write home about. It's a great place to go to after a walk, hike, or bike ride downtown.

Ambiance at 5:30pm was more suited for the 7:30pm crowd. Read the room. When people keep leaving after asking for to go boxes or asking to be moved it's time to ask the drummer to chill. read more

The Water Dog - And this was the view from my table. This doesn't make the food very appetizing. - New American Near Me - Lynchburg, Virginia

Food was great and wide variety of beers on draft. Oysters were delicious and very cheap during happy hour. read more

The Water Dog - Great oyster happy hour! - New American Near Me - Lynchburg, Virginia

We happened to be heading through the area on a trip home and stopped for lunch. The seafood caught my attention so we decided to give it a go. There's quite a bit on the menu. I went pretty simple, the fried oyster po boy and fries. My wife had a Mexican inspired corn dog with sweet potato fries. Po boy is a decent size, good bread, and the remoulade was tasty. I don't always go for mayo-based sauces, but I'm glad I didn't skip it. The location is quite large with a unique layout. Staff was also quite friendly. We're in around brunch/lunch and whole busy, it didn't feel overcrowded. I'd like to sample more of them menu if back in Lynchburg. read more

The Water Dog - Mexican-inspired corn dog and sweet potato fries - New American Near Me - Lynchburg, Virginia

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Love the space. Love the street and neighborhood it is in. Love the beer selections. It has a restaurant area downstairs, bar area and tables on main floor, cool decoration and signage, and a really cool outdoor area near the river. It is a great place to watch sports, with TV's galore. We just stopped by here for a couple of drinks and had a good experience overall. I had the 6th Lord IPA that was local, and it was an awesome local beer. Wife and her sister had a couple of house cocktails for the first one, and then a mixed drink for the second, and they were solid also. The atmosphere is energetic, and the place is unique. I imagine it is a really fun place at night, or on fun days to be eating and drinking outside. I give it a solid 4, as our bar service wasn't as personable as I like to have, and the rotation of bartenders ended up in an incorrect tab. We got someone else's tab initially, and then ours, which was also incorrect. Bad call on my part to note that, as they gladly added the missing drinks in full (could have met us in the middle on a mistake) and ran my credit card twice. But, just being a picky ex-bartender of 14 years who judges things a lot on service received. But, sample size of one. Overall, this is a really cool spot in the downtown area and a very solid 4. Again, loved the space, the area, and the local beer. Definitely recommend stopping by here, and see you there (the next time I am in Lynchburg)... read more

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The location is outstanding and food is usually really good. I have been here at least 10 times and have sort of come to expect that servers will be a) either clearly annoyed that you are there or b) friendly but disorganized and slow. I'll keep going back because it's a lot of fun and the food is good- the service has almost always left something to be desired though. If they did not have the benefit of location I do not think Water Dog would get by with their current service. read more

Go for $1 oysters, $1 off a huge 32 beer draft list and the knock cheese and crab fries. Beautiful location, great service - a home run.

This is our go to place when we wanna eat downtown. My husband loves the oysters and I typically had the burger until trying the chicken blt sandwich...best chicken sandwich in the area! We suggested to the waitresses that it be added to the menu instead of just a special. Service is always great when we go here no matter how busy it is. It's always an overall great experience. Love that they offer indoor and outdoor seating and pups allowed outside! read more

The Water Dog - Chicken BLT with house fries - New American Near Me - Lynchburg, Virginia

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Sat outside and the weather was perfect! Saturday night and it was decently filled, got sat quickly along with orders taken. Started with the garlic cheese curds with marinara sauce, pretty decent and was $10 for 1-2 people. Main dishes ordered were the crabby poppa melt and the po boy ($16 and $18). Both were ordered in the traditional sandwich version although if I were to order the melt again I'd take them up on their option to make it a quesadilla! read more

The Water Dog - Garlic cheese curds - New American Near Me - Lynchburg, Virginia

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I personally loved this place. I had the crab fries, and they were fresh and delicious. It is hard to find good seafood restaurants in the area. The only thing I did not like about it was the seating arrangement, it was a little odd, but our server was kind. read more

Random stop, we loved everything but the bathrooms ( they are a standard "bar" bathrooms), but the beer burger and chips were awesome, and our server Anna was fantastic. The best part was both the dogs could sit with us outside! read more

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We found ourself in Lynchburg for the day and love a good hot dog so we hit this for lunch. It was a gorgeous spring day so we sat on the patio and service was quick and friendly. No drinks since we were driving home but we loved our dogs! They had a lot more we would like to try so we'll definitely be back! read more

The Water Dog - The XOLO Dog - New American Near Me - Lynchburg, Virginia

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My daughter was just in town for a few days and we ended up at the Water Dog two nights in a row. The first night we went rather late as the restaurant is just down the street from where I live. We walked out back and sat at a table after 10 PM. I had a really good very dark draft beer! That beer convinced me we should go back again the next night. We went a little earlier and this time the process of getting seated was a little more complicated. We had to put our name on a waitlist and were seated about 15 minutes later. It was a pleasant evening and the backyard was reasonably busy. I went back for the dark draft and had two this time! Also an order of crab fries, which were not terribly expensive and nice. We had a most attentive waitress and later got to chat with her a little bit as things slowed down. Very enjoyable. read more

The food was good and the atmosphere was very cool. However at the end of the night when it was 10:45. 15 minutes before they closed they started to clean up and count the till which is understandable. However what is not understanding and very unprofessional is to play closing time over the speakers so loud you can't even think. Left a very sour impression of what was originally going to be a great night and review... read more

really great grilled cheese sandwiches and oysters. I don't go much anymore because of the drag shows. I know they're supposed to be just for fun but today's culture sheds a new light on the violence of transgenderism, drag queen story hours in elementary schools etc. just a bad look for a very nice oyster shack. read more

Food is OK when you get service,. What if you want to walk in and get a seat outside, even though you see that most of tables are empty. You go to ask for seats but the host says with an attitude there's a 20 minute wait. For what? Who knows? apparently they don't want any more business is what it sounds like to me. read more

Recently I visited and a lot has changed. And not for the better. I used to enjoy the variety of fresh oysters and beer on tap after walking my dog by the James River. They had nice tables outside and the service was good and the food was on point. But it took way too long to get my waitresses attention and the food also was very slow to arrive. The oysters were also smaller and not as flavorful as I remember. The beer was cold and just fine but the rest just didn't measure up. They weren't very busy for a weekend night and there seemed to be plenty of staff meandering around but just not what I've grown accustomed to. Maybe it was just an off night. I may give it another chance. This place had such potential. read more

Ok. This place is a little over two hours from me and worth every mile. Whenever I am near, we have to make it happen. You should check out the oyster specials. OMG. I have not had a bad meal here EVER. so delicious. The service is amazing. GO read more

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Another amazing experience at the Water Dog! First we had our favorite appetizer, pretzel bites with beer cheese and mustard. The mustard is AMAZING!! We had po' boys, one with shrimp and one with oysters. They also offer tacos with either shrimp or oysters. I've had the shrimp tacos in the past, can't wait to try the oyster ones!! The sweet potato fries were some of the best I've ever had, completely perfect. We had been wanting to try their dessert for a long time, so we came back a few hours later to get dessert for takeout. My husband had the stout brownie which came with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, and candied walnuts. I had the dessert special - pear cranberry slab pie! It also came with ice cream. This was a divine dessert! If you love pie, please order one of their dessert specials!! They serve Homestead Creamery ice cream, which is local and spectacular! The ice cream is so thick and rich it doesn't melt into a puddle of milk immediately. It makes for a great a la mode dessert experience. The service here is always great, too! read more

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The food was disappointing overall. The cookies didn't taste fresh, the oysters had an off-putting fishy flavor, and the hot dog had barely any meat. read more

Nice seafood heavy pub in downtown Lynchburg. I ordered the fried oysters and salmon caesar salad. The oysters were fried well and were served with a tasty remoulade. The salad was generous in size and in parmesan--I'm a cheese fan and there was almost too much for my liking, almost being the key word. The dressing is more lemony than I'm used to in caesar salads, and I really enjoyed it. I had a pleasant dining experience. read more

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Friendly staff. Food was good. Large portions nice atmosphere cant complain. Will be back

My first time at The Water Dog was cool. I took advantage of their $1 happy hour oysters. They were good and a decent size. During HH they have some drink specials as well. The staff / bartenders were all nice. Not overly helpful so that's good for me. Nice patio for outdoor dining. I enjoyed my first visit here. I will definitely be back for more! read more

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This was our second time here. My wife was looking forward to some oysters. Well my beer was not cold, the pound of chicken wings was only six halves (maybe half a pound), her wine was a lite pour. And the oysters had sand in them. So why did I give them a three? Well I did not tell them about the beer since it was cooler than room temp, the chicken wings were good and I did not have a scale (used Google), my wife went to the bar to ask about her pour and the gave her a "little" more, and when we told our server about the oysters she got us a new extra washed order. My problem is why were there issues with everything we ordered? They took care of the issues but we should not have to deal with it. They need to get it right the first and every time. The reason I did not give them a two was they took care of the issues brought to their attention and our server. Marah gets a five! She was great. read more

Small portions and a bit expensive in relation ($18 is steep for a corndog with fries). Not sure why I have to order at the bar when I am seated at a table. Food tasted pretty good at least. read more

So this place was rocking busy on a Saturday at 12 noon . I was stunned as if it had been open for many hours. I was fortunate to have found a spot at the bar... There beer menu is huge.. 30 plus options. I tried pretzel bites..dusted with parmesan and two dipping sauces...these were good enough to soak up a little bit of the beer I was trying. So apparently this is a great place to get oysters ...but I didn't want to chance this do to a long late night drive ahead of me...but I took a chance on the steamed peel and eat shrimp. I was honestly stunned as to how tasty these were and perfectly cooked considering I was in middle of Virginia versus being on coastal waters.. The servers were are trying to keep pace with customers and Jess the bartender was keeping all the orders straight ,mixing drinks and pouring beers for folks. She never sat still and did a great job. A pleasant surprise overall.... go check it out! read more

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The food was actually really good. I had the crab fries on their late night menu. However, I don't see myself ever coming back because of the staff. I'm not trying to be a 'Karen' but when my parents and I showed up to the restaurant there were a bunch of families waiting in the front. My dad went up to the host and asked if they had available seating outside in the back because we had our dog with us. The host said there was unfortunately a 45-55 minute wait before he disappeared. A new hostess showed up and we asked to put our name down on the waitlist and if there were any places we could sit outside in the mean time. The hostess told us we could sit in the adirondack chairs out back. When we got outside there was about 7 open tables so we were confused as to why there was a wait. We still sat in the chairs and waited as people who showed up after us began sitting down at the tables. We were confused but assumed they may have had reservations. After an hour of sitting there waiting, my mom decided to go and ask the hostess what was happening. The (again) new hostess looked so bewildered when my mom explained the situation and she said there was never a wait time to begin with. She also then informed us that their regular menu closed 20 minutes ago and you could now only order off of the late night menu, that had no real meals and only "munchie" foods. On top of that, we were seated at a table that was covered in water along with the chairs we sat in. The waiter also forgot utensils for our meals that required them, never offered dressing for a salad, and brought one napkin for our whole table to share. The waiter was actually very, very kind, I just felt that everyone there seemed pretty incompetent with their jobs. read more

From the dog friendly patio to the restored warehouse and inviting bar with a great selection of beers, The Water Dog was a great stop. I had some of the best service I've ever had in a restaurant and then The Water Dog pushed it over the top with my food! I ordered street tacos with fried oysters, they were simply out of this world! The oysters were perfect, the wasabi aioli was wonderful, and it was all wrapped up in an amazing little package. I highly recommend based on my visit, I was certainly pleased! read more

The Water Dog - Street tacos with fried oyster and fries - New American Near Me - Lynchburg, Virginia

We were looking for a casual local spot for an easy dinner in Lynchburg. The Water Dog fit the bill. They were bopping on a Thursday night at prime dinnertime, and thus only had indoor seating available immediately. Outdoor was an hour wait. The bar area was full, and it was nice to witness some normalcy after so long. We were seated at a standard table next to the bar. I was excited to see flights as an option, so I selected four local tasters. The list was pretty comprehensive - definitely something for everyone. For my meal, I ordered the river dog with only beer cheese (so essentially a beer-cheese hot dog) with pasta salad as my side. There was a bit of a delay between drinks and food (guessing because they were slammed), but once the hot dog arrived, it was hot and tasty. The pasta salad was really macaroni salad, and that was refreshing to have on the side. Our servers (we had two, one was training) were very nice and accommodating. It didn't take long to grab the check when we were done eating. I don't live nearby so I'm unlikely to return, but it's a nice option for craft-beer, hot-dog loving locals. read more

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We happened upon this spot after a walk. Stopped in with my dad and road dog and sat outside. Our server was great! Very attentive even though we were the only guests sitting outside during the lunch hour. I was hoping they would have some more vegetarian options, but the portobello and cheese sandwich was yum! My pop sad the Chicago Dog makes him want to come back and try all the rest of the hot dogs. We also got an order of the warm chocolate chip cookies. They were okay. A bit too crumbly for my taste. About the seating: The outside sitting area is great. They offer dog water bowls, yard games, covered and open seating. Great spot for a large group hang out. read more

The Water Dog - Chicago Dog with fries. - New American Near Me - Lynchburg, Virginia

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Always solid food and a fun downtown vibe. The wait time can be long at times though and use of space could be a little better. Overall though servers are helpful and kind!! read more

I don't typically write a review before I taste the food, but my party has been waiting for the food for over an hour and still waiting...for hot dogs and sandwiches. Also ordered their shrimp bisque, something obviously already made. Also did not bring that out until an hour later. No matter how good the food will be or how cute the ambiance, at this point, the restaurant is NOT worth it. The waitress is friendly but did nothing to help the situation. Would strongly recommend giving customers appropriate expectations prior to sitting them. We were initially so excited about The Water Dog after hearing that it's a Lynchburg staple... A shame that the experience is totally ruined. One hour and forty-five minutes later: paid full price for food in a to go box. Obviously hoping that the food will make up for the disappointment. Let's just say I'd rather get Wendy's. read more

The Water Dog - Watching the moon rise while waiting 1.5+ hrs for food :) - New American Near Me - Lynchburg, Virginia

Really great food! Great ambiance and cool decor. Nice location by the water and downtown. Amazing oyster Bloody Mary! Friendly helpful staff. read more

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I've eaten here a few times and the food is very good. Thst being said, the atmosphere and service don't do much for me.

It is a great place to eat and have a drink just today I had a bad bartender who was very rude and took twenty minutes to take my order and had a attitude. But she help all other people that just walk in when I had been waiting. Can not win them all but over all great place to dine. read more

Great experience all around. The menu had lots of interesting seafood and some land food, the food and service were great, and our pup loved the outdoor space. It's a new favorite! read more