Waterfront Marvel: Dockside Grille

With an expansive waterfront patio overlooking Cottage Grove Lake, the new 340-seat Dockside Grille on Portage Lakes whisks you away. On Thursday and Saturday nights, as well as Sunday afternoons, live music on the patio — from steel drums to yacht rock — helps further transport you.

“You can sit there and have a conversation, and still be listening to great music, looking at the water and having a Vacation in a Cup. It feels like you are somewhere in another world,” says co-owner and chef Steve Baker.

That’s the vibe Baker and late business partner John Logsdon envisioned when they started to plan the restaurant in fall 2025.

“If you’re on vacation, What would you want your menu to be? We wanted our menu to reflect a little bit of that,” Baker says.

Opened in May 2026, John envisioned Dockside while putting his boat in the on-site Sandy Beach Marina in summer 2025, passing the former Ramp Restaurant building, which closed in late 2024. He turned to his Akron neighbor, Baker — who owns the Ido Bar & Grill — for advice. The two became business partners.

Combining both finer dining and casual fare, the lunch and dinner menus have myriad dishes inspired by travels, like Southern crab cakes, fried green tomatoes and a shrimp po’boy, a favorite of John’s. Also discover the Prince Edward Island mussels with chorizo, peppers, onions, a garlic wine butter sauce and grilled ciabatta. Find a variety of Lake Erie fish, including Cajun-seasoned walleye nuggets, cornflake-breaded walleye on a baguette and fried perch tacos with shredded cabbage, fire-roasted salsa and Sriracha aioli.

Dinner brings the blackened cod Hemingway with lemon pepper seasoning, lump crab, shrimp, Mediterranean garlic mashed potatoes, spinach, lemon butter and honey-roasted nuts. Also try a 12-ounce French-cut bone-in tomahawk pork chop seasoned with the Dockside dry rub that features herbs and garlic salt. It’s served with garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, a roasted garlic red pepper drizzle and creamy horseradish sauce.

“The pork chop — people … absolutely rave about,” says co-owner Jen Logsdon, John’s wife, who works alongside their son, manager Jack Logsdon.

Don’t miss the raw bar, featuring sesame-seared yellowfin ahi tuna, peel and eat jumbo shrimp and char-grilled oysters with Cajun seasoning, Parmesan herb breadcrumbs and a garlic butter sauce.

“We get tons of compliments. They’re not overly heavy,” Jen says of the latter. “It’s a nice balance.”

A favorite of Jack’s is the Norwegian grilled salmon, seasoned with Dockside rub, drizzled with bourbon barbecue glaze and served with roasted red-skinned potatoes, fresh green beans and red peppers.

“It just melts,” says Baker. “You can taste the freshness.”

In September and October, order the special clambake featuring clams, mussels, Italian sausage, red-skinned potatoes, shrimp and corn on the cob with a New England-style clam chowder appetizer. The clambake is seasoned with Old Bay and topped with butter.

Drinks with tropical flair add to the ambiance of the restaurant that features blue uplighting, a large overhanging ceiling art piece with a wave mural painted by University of Akron students, black-and-white historic Portage Lakes photos and paddle-inspired fans. A popular one is the mango habanero margarita ($14), served with habanero pepper slices and a Tajin rim — or opt for the creamy Key lime pie martini ($13), garnished with a graham cracker rim and whipped cream. “It’s like dessert in a glass,” says Jen.

John passed away suddenly in mid-July, but his memory lives on at his dream restaurant. “He’d visit almost every single table, talk to every person that came in,” says Steve. “That’s had a huge impact on people, people’s attitudes, everything. It’s just such a positive and uplifting thing. … He was so generous with everybody.”

“When I’m here, I feel like I’m with him because this meant so much to him,” Jen says. “It’s amazing to talk to the customers that he was able to touch.”

During warmer weather, Dockside welcomes boaters with its 24 slips in the on-site marina. Approaching winter, the patio has eight garage doors that can lower to make it a year-round destination. Dockside brings back finer waterfront dining to Portage Lakes.

“To have the combination of relaxation with the water, the food, the service,” Jen says, “I don’t know anywhere else locally you can get that.”

3717 S. Main St., Green, 234-368-9995, docksidegrilleplx.com