The best BBQ restaurant at the Lake of the Ozarks is a member of a very prestigious bunch of fantastic dining establishments - the Barrett Restaurant Group. This is made up of ourselves, Wobbly Boots Roadhouse, as well as our two sister waterfront restaurants: Dog Days Bar & Grill and Shorty Pants Lounge & Marina.
Connye Griffin recently wrote a wonderful article about the two brothers behind these awesome places, Mark & Brian Barrett. You can read that article at LakeExpo.com. Today our blog will focus on giving you the details about what makes all of these restaurants similar, yet incredibly different in their own special ways.
The first restaurant that Mark & Brian opened up in the lake area was this incredible waterfront establishment, originally known as Salty Dog. It has grown a lot since it began in 1993. This is a great place to enjoy a nice dinner with your family by the water, join a group of friends for a fun afternoon of dining and drinking, or dance the night away with whatever band is playing on one of their two stages.
Centrally located just west of the Grand Glaize Bridge in the heart of Osage Beach, Dog Days is easy to get to by both car and boat. They have even teamed up with BomBay Boat Rental Company, who has a rental location for boats and jet skis at the Dog Days docks.
It is home to the best live entertainment at the Lake of the Ozarks, hosting popular events including AquaPalooza, the Canine Cannonball, and the Spring MDA In-Water Boat Show. You can enjoy talented musicians nearly every single night there too.
On the menu, you will find a wonderful array of items; steak, crab legs, signature burgers, gourmet tacos, incredible appetizers, amazing entrees, and so much more. Pair any of those with the delicious frozen drinks coming out of the bars, like Pina Coladas and Rum Runners, and you've got a meal you won't soon forget.
Dog Days is also one of the few places in the lake area to offer a late night menu on the weekends, available from 10 pm - midnight every Friday and Saturday night. They also come up with specialty menus many times throughout the summer that are only available for a month or so at a time. Lots of variety and loads of fun, seven days a week, spring through fall every year.
After successfully running Dog Days for years, The Boot was born. We started in a small building, but have since relocated twice due the the fact that people love our hickory-smoked flavor so much, those other buildings simply weren't big enough to contain us!
We now have room to host lots of large groups, as well as smaller ones. Even with the additional space, you may have to wait in line occasionally for a table. Folks that give us a try just can't wait to come back for more. Our BBQ recipes have earned numerous national awards from some of the most prestigious BBQ contests around the country.
This is largely due to our mouth-watering hybrid style of cooking, which pulls inspiration from the BBQ meccas of the U.S.A.: Kansas City, St. Louis, Texas, Memphis, and the deep south. All of our meats are slow-smoked over hickory, and our amazing BBQ sauce is made in house from our own secret recipe.
You won't find a better chicken wing anywhere around, and all of our other hickory-smoked meats are used in a variety of fantastic dishes throughout our menu. These meats include: classic pork spare ribs, baby back ribs, hand-pulled pork, beef brisket, turkey breast, pit ham, chicken, and sausage links.
That's not all we do well though. You will find lots of non-BBQ items on our menu too: the Cowboy Cobb Salad, Smoked Meatloaf, Catfish BLT, hand-pattied 100% black Angus burgers, and every weekend, the best Prime Rib in town.
We have a full bar, featuring 21 draft beer selections and our incredible Moscow Mule creations. While you are enjoying an ice cold beer and some savory BBQ, catch your favorite sports on our 21 televisions strategically placed around the restaurant, including the giant projection screen behind our Wobbly Boots stage. That stage often hosts some of the most talented musicians in the lake area too. The Boot is a great place to hang out with some great people, have an incredible time, and enjoy some of the best food you'll ever eat.
The next to join our little family was another waterfront bar and restaurant in Osage Beach, and this one even came with its own marina. Shorty Pants Lounge boasts a full menu on which most of the items have a true Cajun flavor, featuring rubs and spices straight out of Louisiana. Authentic Creole cuisine served lakeside.
This restaurant is one that the entire family can truly enjoy. They offer a terrific kids' menu in addition to many specialty creations that the grownups will love. A few of the more popular items are the world famous Crab Cakes, Gumbo, Shrimp Etoufee, Shrimp, Catfish, mouth-watering steaks and award winning baby back ribs. Dine next to the water's edge or in the air-conditioned indoor dining room, or kick back by the fireplace outside and watch the game.
The outdoor tiki bar and indoor bar both offer legendary cocktails like hand-muddled Mojitos and their famous Cajun Bloody Mary. There is a full selection of ice cold beers and fantastic wines to enjoy with the new cheese, sausage, and fruit appetizer plates.
A short walk down the dock will bring you to Shorty Pants Marina. Voted the lake area's Best Gas Dock 6 years in a row, you can fill up your watercraft with gas, then step inside to visit the C-store and pick up everything that you will need for a fun day on the water; snacks, drinks, ice, oil for the boat, koozies, sunglasses, Shorty Pants gear, and much more.
You can rent a dock slip for boats up to 56-feet, plus enjoy many wonderful marina amenities while you are there. Need a place to stay while you visit the lake? They also have two fantastic Lake of the Ozarks vacation rentals to stay in right next door the the restaurant and marina.
That's not all!
Those are the three amazing restaurants that you can enjoy at the Lake of the Ozarks, but in 2015 a second Wobbly Boots Roadhouse location was added in Clive, Iowa near Des Moines. Those lucky Iowa residents have their very own taste of the lake, right at home.
The Barrett Restaurant Group also offers catering, combining the delicious flavors of all three of their incredible restaurants. You just give us a call, tell us what you need, and we'll come up with the perfect menu and deliver it to you, hot and tasty.
The next time you are searching for the best restaurant at the Lake of the Ozarks, visit one of the Barretts' marvelous dining establishments. No matter which one you end up at, you can't go wrong. Now that you know all about them, work a trip to each one into your next visit. We can't wait to serve you!
by Lake Lifestyles Readers' Poll!!
4717 Osage Beach Parkway
Osage Beach, MO 65065
573-348-2277
Bar Hours:
11am - 1am, Mon-Sat
11am -12pm Sun
