Shanty on the beach at Tolchester Marina. Tucked away but not to hard to find. Limited menu with some excellent choices. Quick and courteous service, good beer and drink selection. Live music was good and not overwhelming. Definitely recommended. 5star read more

We had a great time here two years ago but the watered down drinks really ruined the experience this time.

We love it here. Owners are very nice. The Channel Restaurant is open from 8:00 to 8:00. We love the Shanty Bar on the beach. The bands are great. read more

Beautiful Marina, they have a beach, pool, covered slips, snack bar, and Restaurant on the premises. Food is great, pizza is the best! The staff is friendly and always there to assist when needed. Live music Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. My favorite place on the bay! read more

Beautiful view and great bar. Food? Not so much. Too much fried food. How about pit beef, pulled pork bbq? Something a little fresher? Your service is friendly and your docking is easy because the dock attendants are great. read more

We visited by car for the day and overall was pretty impressed with place. The pros - -They allow day trippers by car too, not just transient or permanent docking boats -They own the beach and have some cool palm trees and plenty of places to take in the view. They allow access to their beach where you can sit and/or partake in eating and drinking from their beachside bar/restaurant if you want to enjoy the day by the water or in it too! -They have on the beach picnic table seating and a few other places under tents you can eat in the shade, so that's very nice. Unfortunately patrons litter like crazy where they eat though, so I'm always picking up straws when I visit... I believe they do have a clean up crew that does it but not sure how often... -Food offerings are what you'd expect for beach fair, and prices are what you'd pay basically anywhere right now. Some healthy choices but they often seem to be out each time I've visited (salad greens). -They allow free boat slip for the day if day tripping by boat The cons- -Large outside bar but No drink menus, so if you're super indecisive like I can be at times, this can be a con if you don't know what strikes your fancy to drink -No outside food or drink as this is their bread & butter so if u're going there to eat and have a special diet, you'll be hard pressed to find a lot as most of the food is fried fare and they're often out of the veggie dishes. -Like everywhere their prices have gone up for the food but the price, but they're inline with everywhere else not. I got the rockfish bites at $15 in July 2023 but they were only 3 small fried fish strips with fries so it was pricey for the small amount of food... I will include pic of my personal meal -The water is brackish and gets a LOT of jelly fish this time of year!!!! They also said sometimes the beach floods out if a large boat comes in, so u may not want to have your gear too close to the water's edge. The inbetween (cold be pro or con): -Pro or con depending on what you're looking for...they have bands playing I think daily from Friday-Sunday. 2 bands, one that goes from 1pm-5pm and the other that goes from 6-11pm close. It's pretty loud so a bit hard to talk if you're going there for that. -If boating and anchoring in front of the bar, you have to swim in, it's pretty deep up to about 3' within where the water's edge is. -Although I've only encountered mostly friendly staff except one bar tender who wasn't particularly friendly, I have heard others complaining about rude treatment from the owner. Apparently she has bad mood days as I've heard complaints the last few times I was there but it didn't affect me or my particular party so I'll let others comment on that on here. It had something to do with her not letting people get ice for their dog(!?) and the owner not giving pool access to a boater who was staying overnite and should have had it until they checked out at 11am the next morning... In summary, cool and unique place out in the middle of the country if by drive and a definite nice stop by if by boat. Definitely check it out, it's worth the trip for the day. read more

Tolchester Marina - Rockfish bites basket that comes with fries $15 as of July23 - Marinas Near Me - Chestertown, Maryland

During a recent visit It seemed the Bartender would have rather been anywhere but there was rude and did not make you feel welcome at all . When I asked for a Bloody Mary at 3:30 in the afternoon Her response was " Somebody needs to get there shit together this is the last Bloody Mary I am making today " I have been here since 8 Am, Not sure what that had to do with my drink but they won't have to worry about myself or my group of 15 to be back anytime soon. Rick T read more

Chill atmosphere- not too crowded most of the times we've been. Love the beach area since we can sit and get away from the crowds. Especially is you're going with kids. Food is ok but it comes out quickly. Drinks are good- not too much variety. read more

this rating is for the Shanty bar only, not the marine. Today was our first visit with a group of 20. we had a spot on the deck, with a few chairs and bench to accommodate our group. midway through our day a woman asked if she could have 2 chairs, when I said we could only let one go, she got an angry look on her face and proceeded to take the bench we had. I said, we are using the bench as well, and she could take 1 f'n chair. she proceeded to angrily put the bench back and said my comment wasn't necessary. I said you're right, but when someone takes something without asking, it's wrong. we were aloud to stay and spend $$ the whole day and it wasn't until we were boarding our boat to leave did the bouncer walk out to our boat to tell meI was barred, as I had a confrontation with owner. we all found it hard to believe that she was the owner, as she acted in an unprofessional manner, and if it was the owner, why not make us leave then, instead of after a day of spending $$ at her place. it was our first and last trip to this place. I never raised my voice or got out of my chair. lastly, we had to wait in line for drinks and food that wasn't worth waiting for, and one of the barmaids was so rude when ordering drinks, she acted as if was an effort to provide us with the drinks we requested. The combination of event turned a great day with family into a train wreck. read more

Even people that regularly cruise the bay and know all the popular dock bars often scratch their head quizzically if you mention the Tolchester Shanty Beach Bar... About halfway between Jellyfish Joel's at Fairlee Creek and the bustling harbor of Rock Hall, you'll find the entrance to the Tolchester Marina. Seasonally operated and somewhat hard to find... The tiny Tolchester Shanty Beach Bar is an out of the way oasis overlooking their small private beach with a wide open vista of the bay. They have a full menu, but they do great crab cakes and the drinks are always invitingly cold. Another nice surprise from a place this small is that they offer live music all summer long on Saturdays. So they truly deserve the designation as a Chesapeake Bay dock bar. If you arrive by boat, the slips are free while you're visiting the Shanty Beach Bar. Or if you want to overnight in a slip with water and power they also have seasonal rates for that as well. read more

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The country music band that opened for Lorrie Morgan yesterday is amazing. Both of the singers (male & female) sing wonderfully. The bass player is great! This band has a lot of energy. The set up at this marina is beautiful. The Shanty bar makes wonderfully mixed drinks. The bartenders and staff are pleasant. Drink prices are very reasonable. I drank French martinis all evening. My friend drank the Tolchester ale and said it was superb. The food! The food! The food! I ordered a crab cake, a pulled pork sandwich and a burger. All were extremely fresh and well made. It doesn't get better than this! Live music, good drinks and food on the beach with a sunset backdrop. I will definitely this little wonderland again. read more

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We love Tolchester Marina. The wait staff, security and owner are so friendly and go out of their way to make sure they accommodate everyones needs. We so enjoy the Shanty Bar and will always go back each weekend to celebrate the beautiful sunsets. Thank you Cathy for always making sure all your guest enjoy their stay. read more

Location is good and the Shanty Bar was fun with our friends. They do get some really good bands to play. We visited with our boat in June and stayed in a slip on floating docks for a weekend. LOVE the floating docks but the bugs at night were RIDICULOUS! When we checked in we went to to the office. Greeted by a gruff woman named Kathy. Her attitude was almost as if we were bothering her. Told her we just arrived and she got up from a desk in the back and walked over to print our bill. When we asked about bands playing that weekend she said she didn't know what kind of music or what their names were... But said "I probably should know". We had to ask for the pool code, and Wi-Fi password. She never offered them. However she was quick to let us know that they had A LOT OF RULES. And she had a whole sheet if we wanted to see the rules. When we went to the pool on Saturday we were greeted by a HUGE SIGN of NEGATIVITY. (I.e. NO coolers, NO drinks, NO NUDITY, etc.! ) Security Guards are posted every where to make sure you don't bring in drinks, food, containers of ANY KIND. OBVIOUSLY they have had major problems with rowdiness, fights, etc. Was NOT a relaxed welcoming feeling. Kathy did NOT set the stage for an inviting atmosphere. Offered no "welcome... Glad you could join us.. Here's what we have going on!" Very cold. They have one restaurant with limited hours. It is OK. Also... They had No trash cans at the end of the docks. You had to walk way behind the restaurant to the dumpsters. Other than the bar, pool and band there is nothing to do. No bikes to borrow or rent, etc. However...KUDOS to the bands they had while we were there. One was Country and one was Pop/ROCK and they were both AMAZING! Might stop by to listen to the bands but won't be spending the night. Great potential... Would just love to know the back story on all the security and tight attitude. read more

wonderful destination by water. marina staff very friendly and helpful. Food is basic backyard barbecue - hamburger etc, so not a top star meal, but the atmosphere , live music and location are well worth the stop! read more

Tolchester Marina - Marinas Near Me - Chestertown, Maryland

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Great place to keep your boat or just spend a day on the weekend. We went down one day this past summer just to check up on our property thinking we would be there for an hour. We had such a good time we ended up spending the day. read more

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