Tony’s Quarterdeck is everything you need in summertime dining
Located in the heart of Lost Peninsula in Point Place, Tony’s Quarterdeck has some of the best views for a local summer dining experience. With a deck overlooking the Ottawa River and windows that allow customers to watch the sunset as they sip margaritas, Tony’s ambiance gets an A+ rating for casual, laid back summer fun.
Andrea Morris Grodi and her sister, Stacy Morris, purchased the place a year ago and opened it up in August. The former occupant, the River Cafe, which had recently closed, had been open since 1986. “We’d been customers here for years,” Grodi said. “So when they put it up for sale, we decided to take it on together. It escalated quickly from there, and here we are a year later.”
Grodi says the restaurant is named after their father, and the “quarterdeck” part of the name comes from a Florida restaurant that she and Morris remember from childhood vacations. “That’s where we got the name— from a little hole-in-the-wall place that, honestly, we probably shouldn’t have been in as seven-year-olds,” Grodi laughs.
The two sisters both work full-time day jobs; Grodi is in pharmaceutical sales and Morris manages student housing all over the Midwest. They also own an ice cream shop on Laskey Road, Tony’s Cones & Coneys. “My dad and his dad always had restaurants,” Grodi says, explaining that it’s just in their blood.
Taco Tuesdays
The most popular items, per Grodi, at Tony’s Quarterdeck are the sweet and spicy shrimp tacos, the perch, grouper fingers, and the chicken chunks (tossed with your choice of sauce).
When we dined at Tony’s— lucky us— it happened to be Taco Tuesday with tacos as inexpensive as $1.99, along with $4 margaritas. One of my dining companions chose the original margarita while I went for the strawberry, which was sweet, but not overly so. They definitely don’t skimp on the tequila at Tony’s, so be ready for a strong drink. The portion was perfect though (we weren’t complaining).
Thinking it might be wise to get an appetizer with our festive margaritas, we ordered the grouper fingers, a seasonal appetizer with crunchy breading served with slaw and a dijon aioli. The breading was just thick enough and the fish was flaky and satisfying. We’d been told that the perch is also a favorite at Tony’s, so we opted for the perch basket (served with fries, tartar sauce, slaw and lemon) and a perch taco to share, both of which were quite good and were served in big portions — we definitely had leftovers to take home at the end of the meal.
Feeling saucy
The three flash-fried breaded seafood tacos we shared all— at first glance— looked like they had the same kind of sauce, but we were excited to discover that they were all different, offering diverse flavor combinations. The Great Lakes perch taco came with spicy mayo, shredded lettuce and avocado, while the grouper was dressed with remoulade. The sweet and spicy shrimp was probably our favorite of the three; the taco packed some heat from its spicy cream sauce, but it was well-balanced with the added avocado and pickled red cabbage, which gave it a nice contrast in texture.
We also had two Asian Shrimp Tacos (part of the Taco Night special), a grilled garlic shrimp dish topped with Asian slaw, almonds, and fried wonton strips, all drizzled in Asian sweet and sour sauce. These tacos less spicy than the breaded sweet and spicy tacos, but still had a nice crunch from the almonds and wonton strips. Both shrimp taco options seemed to be the biggest crowd-pleasers at our table, but everything was delicious. As the sun began to set over the water, we felt satisfied with our meal, relaxed from our margaritas, and glad to be taking home our leftover seafood for lunch the next day.
4-9pm Tuesday-Thursday | 4-10pm on Fridays
Noon-10pm on Saturday | Noon-9pm on Sunday
Tony’s Quarter Deck, 6215 Edgewater Dr., Erie, MI.
734-863-1010 | facebook.com/tonysquarterdeck
