This Weekend, The Quarterdeck Waterfront Cafe Is Celebrating Christmas in July
The Quarterdeck
The Quarterdeck Waterfront Cafe's casual, family-fun atmosphere and focus on great food and good service makes it one of the most popular waterfront dining spots on Grand Lake.
Popular Starter
The onion ring tower at The Quarterdeck are hand-cut slices of sweet onions are double-dipped and fried to a golden brown before being stacked and served on a metal tower.
Hot Dog Specials
The Quarterdeck has a different hot dog special every week, such as the 'Merica Mac Dog, a colossal, quarter-pound, all-beef dog topped with Ms. Kathy's homemade mac and cheese, bacon and chives.
Give Me Somethin' Tall an' Strong
The Quarterdeck Waterfront Cafe is well-known for its fabulous food, but the full bar serves up some delicious treats as well, including a customer-favorite Rum Punch.
It’s been a busy summer at The Quarterdeck Waterfront Cafe and now they’re getting ready for Christmas … in July.
That’s right, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the family-friendly restaurant overlooking Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees. The patriotic Fourth of July decorations are coming down and Christmas decorations, including Christmas trees, ornaments and garland, are going up all around the deck and cafe.
Beginning Thursday, July 27, the waterfront restaurant will be celebrating Christmas in July for the entire weekend.
“It’s been stupid hot, so we’re going to have some fun,” said Kathy Hensley, the general manager of The Quarterdeck Waterfront Cafe and Tera Miranda.
The festive holiday atmosphere will extend beyond decorations. There will be Christmas-themed food and drink specials, and Christmas music will be playing throughout the cafe.
There also will be prizes awarded for the ugliest Christmas T-shirts. T-shirts because it’s too hot for Christmas sweaters, ugly or otherwise.
“We’ll have a lot of fun with Christmas in July, and it’s all for a good cause,” Hensley said.
During the Christmas in July weekend, The Quarterdeck will be collecting toys to donate to a local children’s charity. Diners who bring an unwrapped toy to be donated will receive a free appetizer.
Family-Fun Atmosphere
Whether it’s Christmas in July or simply summer on Grand Lake, The Quarterdeck Waterfront Cafe’s casual, family-fun atmosphere and focus on great food and good service makes it one of the most popular waterfront dining spots on the lake.
A small ice cream and burger stand when it originally opened in 1961, The Quarterdeck today is a full-service restaurant that offers both lakeside and poolside dining, a full bar and lots of family fun.
“We’re a really good family cafe,” Hensley said. “We love our families. We have large families who come all the time and we do our very best to accommodate them.
“We do have a bar with really good drinks, but we’re a cafe with a bar, not a bar with a cafe.”
The Quarterdecks emphasis on being family-friendly extends to all members of the family, including those of the four-legged variety.
Your family pet is welcome to join the fun at the pet-friendly cafe; however, they must be on a leash.
With its comfortable, shaded decks and spectacular views of Grand Lake, The Quarterdeck is a great place to sit back and relax while hanging out with friends and family. The cafe’s first-rate food is icing on the cake.
‘Worth the Wait’
From burgers, wraps and sandwiches to catfish, salads and first-rate onion rings, the food at The Quarterdeck would be drawing crowds even if the view was a brick wall.
Everything at The Quarterdeck is cooked fresh and to order. Hensley points out that doing so does take time, but it is “worth the wait — come, relax and enjoy the atmosphere.”
The most popular starter is the onion ring tower. The hand-cut slices of sweet onions are double-dipped and fried to a golden brown before being stacked and served on a metal tower.
The onion rings are served with the cafe’s house-made Lake Water dipping sauce, which may or may not contain lake water. Hensley wasn’t saying.
“Our onion rings are phenomenal,” Hensley said, “but our monkey fries are just as good.”
The monkey fries are crisp fries smothered with cheddar cheese, smoked bacon, tomatoes and green onions.
The Quarterdeck’s entrees include something for everyone, from mouth-watering burgers, tasty chicken and catfish to fresh salads and delicious sandwiches that range from the meat & mac sandwich, which the menu describes as “a large portion of pulled pork, mac and cheese bites and topped with our house-made beer cheese dip, served on a toasted bun,” to a local veggie favorite, the grilled portabella sandwich. Served in a wrap or on a bun, the sandwich is a large, fresh portabella mushroom that is lightly seasoned and grilled with honey-sautéed peppers and onions.
The always-popular burgers are getting some competition this summer from the smoked turkey and the Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, Hensley said. All are delicious, so you can’t go wrong with whichever you choose. Adding to the yum factor, all the burgers and sandwiches are served with house-made chips or fresh-cut fries.
The cafe also features a different hot dog special every week. The ‘Merica Mac Dog, a colossal, quarter-pound, all-beef dog topped with Ms. Kathy’s homemade mac and cheese, bacon and chives, was a recent special. Other specials have included a Chicago dog, as well as Cuban and Italian hot dogs.
Don’t miss The Quarterdeck’s breakfast buffet on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Served from 8 to 11 a.m., the breakfast buffet includes eggs two ways, as a western omelette or scrambled, sausage, bacon, smoked sausage, hash brown casserole made from Hensley’s own recipe, pancakes and the Quarterdecks’ famous house-made cinnamon rolls.
Coffee, tea, soda or juice is included with the price of the breakfast buffet.
Don’t Forget the Pool
The swimming pool at The Quarterdeck is as much a part of the experience as the food and the view.
A big draw, especially for families, the swimming pool sits right in the middle of the cafe’s dining decks. Children and adults alike can take advantage of the chance to cool down in the pool while dining at the cafe.
There are chairs inside the pool area or parents can watch their children swim while dining at the tables on the other side of the fence.
Food is not allowed in the fenced-in pool area, and there also is no lifeguard on duty at the pool.
The Quarterdeck Waterfront Cafe is located at the Tera Miranda Resort, 28251 S. 561 Road, on Monkey Island. It is accessible by land or by Grand. There is a courtesy dock with a ramp leading directly to the restaurant parking lot.
The seasonal cafe is open May through September. Its hours are 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.
For more information on The Quarterdeck Waterfront Cafe, call (918) 257-8898 or visit its Facebook page.
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