Dock and dine along waterfront at Ithaca's BoatYard Grill

A big party barge of a restaurant, the BoatYard Grill keeps rolling through the Ithaca summer like a song by Creedence Clearwater Revival. The waterfront restaurant has maintained a large devoted following for more than a decade and a half, while welcoming aboard droves of first timers and once-in-a-while’rs. Whether you arrive by boat, bicycle, or automobile — or even via the recently expanded Cayuga Waterfront Trail — the BoatYard is the ideal place to land for a leisurely lunch, a sunset dinner or cocktail al fresco.

Situated at the tip of a peninsula known as Inlet Island, the restaurant boasts a wraparound outdoor patio, an outdoor fireplace surrounded by Adirondack chairs, and a panoramic view of the Cayuga Inlet.

The just-disembarked are always in the best of moods, and how could they not be? The BoatYard would be worth the trip for its views alone, but thankfully its reputation doesn’t rest on its real estate; indeed, it serves surprisingly good food.

The menu is as elegantly designed as a two-sided music album, the food as appealing as popular standards, and the production sleek and personable as a solid gold greatest hit. Owner Mark Campagnolo describes the design of the menu as “diner-driven,” meaning that he pays close attention to comment cards and customer feedback. The resulting provisions earn high marks for broad appeal, presentation and consistency.

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Lobster lollipops, one of the BoatYard’s many signature dishes, arrive as a pair of crossed skewers on a bed of delicate rice and sport plump shrimp and lobster meat. A customizable matrix of fresh fish empowers patrons to pair salmon, swordfish, Mahi Mahi or haddock with one of six preparations. I found a miso-glazed salmon just glazed enough, coupled with seasonal asparagus and the exact right amount of rice.

There’s a heavy emphasis on seafood, though there are also steaks, chops and other entrees from the town’s first wood-fired grill. That means that the ribeye has the smoky flavor of a backyard barbeque, and the lobster flatbread is crisp and charred, bringing out the texture of the crustacean.

There’s an entire “Lobster Trap,” which in addition to the aforementioned lollipops includes a crabmeat-stuffed lobster tail with corn sauce; I’ve been lucky to have had a bite of the lobster mac and cheese — if you see it listed as a special, snatch it up because it can sometimes sell out.

Catch a cocktail in the massive bar area up front — there’s been a smart recent interior revamp that replaced a lot of the dark wooden with bright off-white paint and drapery (which dampens the sound as well), and eliminated the kitschy ocean décor — the place now feels more like a welcoming yacht club than a touristy lobster trap. Pagers and call-ahead seating streamlines an operation that operates at a high volume, and in an uncommon but much-appreciated custom, the host station is transparent and accurate (there may be a bit of waiting, but I have never seen someone seated after the estimated wait time).

A warm baguette that arrives at your table on a small carving board with a serrated knife and dill herbed butter resembles the sourdough one associates with San Francisco, though is much more mild.

The appetizers are especially strong: a “seafood splash down tower” arrives as a three-tiered platter, sporting a large helping of shrimp cocktail, a generous bowl of lemon and garlicky steamed clams, and what is among the best calamari in town. The portions are generous — some could qualify as light dinners, but a section for small plates features eight nicely sized offerings at happy-hour prices. Some of the salads are also meal-sized: if your jaw doesn’t drop at the size of the Lobster Cobb, with bacon, egg, blue cheese and avocado, and which arrives on a rectangular plate larger than a child’s bodyboard, your stomach needs to have a conversation with your eyes.

Campagnolo brings the dovetailing tripartite skill set of entrepreneur, entertainer and employer to the service industry, and the result is a seamless and whirring pleasure-palace of value-oriented but well-polished dining. “People want a $30 experience for $25,” he told me recently, which sums up the approach to pricing perfectly.

Campagnolo, who also is responsible for the popular comfort casual Italian restaurant Ciao, “basically grew up behind the pizza counter,” and previously served as the steward of Joe’s Restaurant, deftly charting a course to commercial success in the 1990s. The upstream market of Italian sit-downs can be choppy waters in upstate New York, but Campagnolo was so successful he even opened a “Little” Joe’s in Collegetown to brisk business. “I got my start opening many restaurants down in [Florida] for TGI Friday’s and Bennigan’s, so I have brought that operational experience back to Ithaca,” he said.

That means the Hartley Ranch New York Strip is priced almost $10 cheaper than any other place in town. Yet the BoatYard doesn’t feel especially corporate, and I will bet it conjures up romantic memories for most of the visitors who have climbed aboard.

In a sense, the BoatYard has matrimony covered. My fiancée Cassandra and I have found ourselves there many times since we were engaged a month ago, and we’ve enjoyed watching rehearsal dinners, couples sharing anniversaries, and what look like promising early dates. If you have a chance to be seated in front of the patio at one of the half dozen or so tables, you feel, almost literally, on the water.

Save room for dessert, and don’t second-guess the banana ice cream on the sizzling cookie with caramel. Or fall in love with the chocolate cake for two.

Here, the party barge feels more like a cruise ship. Like a tempting vacation, it’s hard not to fall in love with the song of fine food, the staff’s uniformly excellence and exuberance, the place’s professionalism and that view!

Fenchel, a practicing attorney, has covered food and drink in the Finger Lakes region since 2011. Reviews are the result of multiple unannounced visits, and all meals and services are paid for in full. Interviews are conducted to fact-check and supplement the review. Follow on Twitter @IthacaDining and on Facebook at facebook.com/ithacadining.

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If You Go

•Where: The BoatYard Grill, 525 Taughannock Blvd., Ithaca, at the end of Inlet Island. Parking is scarce in front of the building, but on weekends a friendly staff member will pick you up in a golf cart from a further-flung space and take you to the door.

•Hours: Dinner served seven days a week, almost every day of the year. Bar opens at 4 p.m., dinner is served at 5 p.m. Lunch begins at 11:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, and brunch runs from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

•Owners: Mark Campagnolo and Steve Flash. Campagnolo is in charge of the restaurant, Flash operates the dock, and Campagnolo said jokingly, “We meet at the parking lot and go our separate ways.”

•Opened: January 2001

•Website:www.boatyardgrill.com

•Phone: 256-2628 (BOAT). Call-ahead seating available Monday through Friday after 3 p.m. and Friday through Sunday after 11 a.m.

•Cuisine: Seafood and broad-minded American cuisine.

•Don’t-miss dishes: Classic calamari, customizable fish dishes and lobster lollipops, or anything from the wood-fired grill. The sizzling cookie with banana ice cream and caramel sauce is a don’t-miss dish in itself.