The Retreat at Ridgeway: Lake Wateree Dining

This place was an incredible find. The attention to detail is on point. My steak was perfectly prepared, seasoned and presented. The restaurant was inviting and comfortable and the service was excellent. The chef even stopped by my table after my meal arrived to let me know that the mashed potatoes were really hot and to be careful. My waitress was so sweet and attentive and had perfect timing. Best meal of the year.

We didn’t make it in time to eat, which was a bummer since we drove an hour out and got there 30 minutes before closing on a Sunday but it’s understandable when there’s no customers. I would like to try this place again on a Saturday when they’re open and it’s busy. I hate that we missed out on the food, but the atmosphere istop-notch definitely can see this place Being here for a long time .

Wonderful views. Excellent food and service. Nicely priced for Sunday brunch. Our party had the hot dogs, the biscuit with gravy and the bbq quick sandwich. Everything was delicious.

Reservations are strongly recommended. Plenty of parking. Plenty of awesomely wonderful deliciousness! And when it comes to the wonderful savor of Blackened Swordfish, es muy maravilloso ¡no cuales quiera lo ablanda!

First time there for dinner. Fantastic! The staff is like family and love that we can drive right up in our boat. Great fun! Went again for Valentine's. Everything was great as usual. If you don't order the Kentucky Bourbon pie then you don't love your significant other. Best ever!

First time here and we loved it. The service was perfect and the food was delicious. Only thing I wasn’t happy about was that we made reservations for 6:30 and apparently there were a lot of walk ins so when we ordered the filet , they were out of the horseradish mashed potatoes and subbed it for French fries. They said they had run out. 🥲. It was early and we had made reservations. But the upside was the crabcake was amazing, no breading at all. The ambiance and decorations are woodsy and the view from the porch is amazing.

The Retreat always has fresh ingredients, phenomenal food and drinks and a friendly lake atmosphere. You won’t be disappointed with your experience here!! The menu is always changing which is great and they have special events on a regular basis. I was here last Friday for the Oyster Roast and it was amazing. Don’t let this experience pass you by, come check them out when you are in the area!!

Another visit to The Retreat and another fine dining experience. The food has NEVER let us down! The fancier menu items are great, but even their burgers are exceptional. It's so great to have such a nice restaurant right up the road. Truly top notch every time.

First time for my wife and I having dinner here. Thank goodness they had a sign on the way to Lake Wateree state park where we are currently staying at the camp ground. We had Lacie as our waitress and she was amazing. Enjoyed our three course meal. The food was excellent. If you are ever in the area, do yourself a favor and give it a try, you won't be disappointed. Thank you Chef Blake and Lacie. We will be back!

My wife and I drove up from Columbia for dinner and ended up having a wonderful experience. Food was top notch and the view was very nice. Her fish was cooked to perfection and my scallops were amazing. Definitely worth giving a shot and taking the drive.

We recently enjoyed dinner at The Retreat, and my friend and I had a wonderful time! The food was absolutely delicious. I am a sucker for crabcakes, and theirs never disappoint! I am going back next week for Valentine’s Day, and I know it will be the highlight of our day! ❤️

Went there Friday night with wife and her brother. Olivia was our waitress, she was professional, sweet and attentive! I had Ribeye, wife fried chicken and brother-in law pork chop. All entrees were fantastic!

Country style lake setting with very nice choices on the brunch menu. Can’t wait to go for the dinner menu !! We went on a weekend day where they close at 3 and reopen at 5 and we were a group of 8 that was a bit late on our schedule and arrived at 2:20pm. They treated us with kindness and served us at a level that was awesome !! The setting over looking the lake is awesome along with the quality of food was better than expected !!

I LOVE eating here! 😍 It doesn't matter what you order, all the food is great! My boyfriend brought me here on our first date and I've been head over hills in love with this place since. There's a screened in area with the view of the lake that's amazing. The staff is always courteous and helpful. The hours can vary seasonally so IMO call ahead before you drop by. I hope you enjoy this restaurant as much as I do. 😁 Ps. Our favorite plates are shrimp & grits and blackened beef tips & grits. 😉

The Retreat never disappoints! It is our go to for a special occasion, or a casual Thursday to enjoy Local’s Night. Rotating farm to fork menu so selection stays fresh, while maintaining some delicious staples. Friendly, attentive service. Don’t pass up the cookie skillet or one of the tasty seasonal cocktails.

Great destination. Great selection of food. The ribeye was cooked perfectly and the BBQ is the best. This was our 2nd visit because the first was so good and we just had to go back. They have outdoor seating right on the lake with a beautiful view. Its well worth the drive.

I moved to the area 2 years ago. How have I not heard of this place! It popped up on my Facebook randomly so I checked out their site. I made reservations that night online just off pictures and reviews. They got back with me after messaging them about wanting a beautiful view when dining they within minutes answered me and made a note and when we arrived we had the corner table over looking the lake., it was beautiful and perfect.This place has it all going on the food the service and the atmosphere. My husband and I will definitely be returning. Thank you for doing what you do we enjoyed every minute. Ed and Mary

Our first trip since the restaurant changed hands. The service and the food were excellent. The ribeye was cooked perfectly, the seasoning, the char and the tenderness were spot on. The bison short rib melted in your mouth. A great experience.

Had a nice Saturday evening sunset dinner on the porch with husband and 4.5 yr old daughter. Wasn't to crowded but we got there at 8ish. Good food and drinks. We came by boat, easy docking. Read about the chef before coming and eating. Good experience. We will be back, other places on the lake to eat but this one is more fine dining for sure.. Just our speed after busy week.

Excellent Food, Wonderful Experience. Definitely worth our hour drive!! The only thi by missing was the fire in the fireplace wasn’t going. I do wish we’d arrived earlier and had longer to enjoy the porch!

Me and my fiancé came in this weekend. I would have to say we will definitely be back. The food was amazing and the service was great.

This was my family's first time visiting The Retreat. The food was exceptional as well as the service which is expected because you are paying for that. The server was extremely attentive. The views of the lake were phenomenal, lots of windows, with plenty of natural light pouring in. Beautiful. We really enjoyed ourselves and will definitely be back.

We are from Charlotte, NC and frequently travel to Lake Wateree, SC (approx. an hour south). It is a slower pace and beautiful surroundings - great fishing, bird watching, ATV riding, and all the water sports. The Retreat at Lake Wateree opened a couple of years ago and has brought the fine dining you usually only see in more populated areas. The freshest ingredients, seasonally changing and creative dishes, all served in a casual, unpretentious setting as if you were at a friend's house who was also a fantastic chef. From burgers to fish, it is all good. Try a cocktail made with the season's best fruit. Check the event calendar; there is always something new - oyster roasts, cooking classes, and meal packages. They also offer dock-side to-go pick-up in the summer.

Great place on Lake Wateree. Friendly service, good drinks, delicious food. Beautiful view. Come by boat at sunset for a great experience.

Good service and a nice spread for Father’s Day brunch.

The reason I'm giving the food the three stars is because I had the waffles and chicken which I love. The chicken looked delicious but it just tasted okay. It just tastes like they had dipped it in the flour and Friday. There was no seasoning on it for my liking. Great atmosphere. Just a little noisy and it took very long to get the food the way they bring the food out. I don't believe it's a good system. If you have a table full of people and five of them, get chicken and waffles? Why aren't you bringing all of that out first? Or if it's grits and eggs all of that first instead of bringing one plate of food out at a time. Anyway, I didn't like the service that much. Waitresses were great. They were polite. They were good. I guess they can only bring out what is played it for them. It's a beautiful place sitting on a lake.

The food was delicious and well prepared. My filet mignon was fantastically tender and seasoned beautifully with their house sauce. My husband’s pork chop was very flavorfully grilled and pouring with flavors of juice as it was sliced (I had to taste it). The potatoes were crispy and paired well with the pimento cheese dip. The cauliflower appetizer wasn’t the star-based, but it came out hot with crisp to it. Overall, this meal was delicious. The view was gorgeous of Lake Wateree.

Mathew was fantastic!! Great customer service!!! Happy jovial and professional!!! Beer wasn’t that cold and he made sure the next round was chilled perfectly! Make sure you ask for him!!!

I love the location. It's right on Lake Wateree. I also like the atmosphere. It's like a little cabin and it feels homey. There is also a porch outside and a few tables, which is nice in warmer weather. That being said, we enjoyed our food. However, my medium well burger was a bit closer to well I think. It was a decent size but I can go elsewhere and get something similar but more filling especially for $14. In addition, if you want any condiments on the burger, you have to ask for it. Also, for the price point, more than ten fries and/or a second side would be nice. I also think more options are needed for sides, even if it's just adding a side salad. You have two choices and only one was available today. What really bothered me was the difficulty of obtaining a drink refill. Our server came to our table twice after bringing our food--checking on the food and to begin clearing the table. Two of us were almost empty the first time and, when she returned, we were empty. No refills were forthcoming. We finally asked for a refill when she brought the bill. Maybe I'm being picky, but I don't think I should have to ask when I'm still eating and my beverage is almost empty. We were the only people in there until right before we finished, so being busy wasn't an excuse. In conclusion, I'll probably give it another try. I do wish they'd work on the menu and portions a bit though.

Really enjoy this place. Food is very good, nice view of the lake. The portions are generous and the prices are reasonable. I had the shrimp and lobster pasta... never met a shrimp or lobster I didn't like. My husband enjoyed the shrimp platter. Others said the bang bang shrimp were quite delicious. Wait staff friendly and efficient. You will have a wait for a table at this popular place.

I had the grouper and didn't like it at all. The fish had no seasoning and tasted ... fishy. The incidentals were equally not that good. Also, for the price, the portiin size was entirely too small. I sampled the steak and pork chop. Excellent. Staff were wonderful and the restaurant was very eye appealing.

Pricey, but worth it, steak only came with Potatoes, yet we saw Greens on others plates, menu isn't very clear that it's a side order. Steak was perfectly cooked to order. I knocked a star because we came by boat, that'd part of the Charm, the Ambiance... and the dock access, is broken. Had to drop Tha little woman off at the public ramp, and I got my feet wet. That'd not 5 STAR IMO..

So excited The Retreat is finally open again! We missed it! We got in and out pretty quick on the 4th. Dinner was great, staff friendly. Portion sizes were not nearly big enough for the price, though. Need a mid price sandwich section on the dinner menu. You've already got the shrimp, ground beef and chicken breasts... so a burger, a chicken sandwich and a Po Boy. Price it in between the main entrees and the appetizers. Newly reopened so we understand there's a few kinks yet. Still very glad to have another option on the lake!

Had a private luncheon for our family reunion, great top notch food and service, my only complaint was that there were no changing tables in either of the bathrooms. It was extremely inconvenient to changing my 14-month old son, even with my girlfriend who would normally change him if there was only one in the ladies room. Again the food and service was absolutely great

Excellent food, views and people. The Retreat overlooks Lake Wateree and embodies a comfortable, homelike atmosphere with unique and tasty eats along with delicious classic southern cuisine. The ambiance is most often comfortable and romantic but can be diminished if adjacent guest are too loud. Definitely a good spot to frequent.

The restaurant is beautiful! I wish I could give 5 stars but perhaps we experienced an off night. My mother made an advanced reservation to have her 50th Anniversary dinner here. I left feeling a sense of disappointment in a couple of areas that could have and should have been better. All of our meals were tasty, and the presentation was nice. Several of us ordered brisket though tonight and agreed it was overcooked. There was some food temperature inconsistentcy tonight as well. I found it particularly disappointing that our table was serviced by such an inexperienced server. For such a special occasion, a 50th Anniversary, it seems like mgmt would have seated us against the windows for the best views and given us one of the best and most experienced servers on shift. I believe our server was brand new. Again - in this instance. I was also surprised to never notice anyone from management walk the dining room, nor did anyone stop by to speak to my parents, who were footing the bill for the entire dinner party! Our young lady was sweet, but noticeably inexperienced and inattentive. She didn't appear to regularly look towards the dining room because numerous times someone would want to get her attention and couldn't. She offered to go ask mgmt about multiple questions when she didn't know the answer. There are only 5 meals, it's important that all servers know what the food is. It gets too loud for conversation here. (It would be so much better with the installation of sound dampening equipment.) Overall, our expectations were pretty far off the mark tonight. Don't get me wrong, it's a great place, but the dining experience tonight was just not up to what it should have been and most likely usually is. For the price point, the quality of the meals, the so-so service and noise left me feeling like my parents didn't get the experience they anticipated, which is a bummer.

I used speech to text in my car after I left the restaurant speech to text completely mangled my original review as far as grammar and punctuation that is why I've edited the review. I am looking forward to returning and having Dinner at this restaurant. Looked this place up on Google maps pulled up their website reviewed menu and gallery liked what I saw. I drove a little over two and a half hours to have lunch there, when I arrived right after the lunch hour should have started, based on their website,( I did not see that they only opened for dinner at the time I looked at their website) .There was no one around. Iwalked around to the porch facing the lake to the main door. There was a sign saying they were closed that day for a private event they did not update their website(the website on accessed through Google maps) to reflect this. I checked updates by owner and by customers nothing on the website indicated they would be closed that day it was a big disappointment.The views from the restaurant are great, as you can see in the pictures that I will upload.Maybe I'll get another try another day but it would be nice if businesses would update their websites when there are major changes it's really not that difficult to do(this references the website I accessed from Google maps and I generally don't look on Facebook for information about hours of operation etc)

Not for lunch, Sept. 13th maybe they had already brought the off season cook on. The lunch menu limited at best. I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw, they offered no sauce for the pulled pork and slaw quite bad, with slight fish taste. I left half the sandwich and most the slaw on the plate. We were not happy.

I use to always eat here after fishing but now there are no trespassing signs everywhere. It's not really welcoming. I guess it's a private establishment now. Was kinda bummed because this place use to be good.

The food is very mediocre. The drinks were bad. Their strawberry margarita tasted like Pepto bismol. I will not recommend and will not come back.