At Blue Moon Waterfront Grille, a table along the railing can come with a moving river scene: boats around Rock Harbor Marina, water sliding past on the Cumberland, and the occasional turtle, duck, goose, fish or crane appearing below. It is an unusually relaxed setting for a meal in the Nashville area, set apart from the busier restaurant corridors and city crowds.
The restaurant sits beside Rock Harbor Marina, with the water doing much of the decorating. A meal here can stretch pleasantly beyond the plate. People settle in with a drink, look over the marina, and keep an eye on the water before deciding they might as well order dessert.
Blue Moon is casual rather than formal, built as much for an easy bar stop as for lunch or dinner. Couples can claim a waterside table, while the mix of dining areas also works for families and larger groups gathering for a meal.
Choose Your Spot by the Water
There is indoor dining, bar seating, counter seating and a substantial amount of outdoor patio or terrace seating. Some of the interior is open to the outdoors, so even a table inside can retain the breezy, marina-side character of the place.
The rail-side seats are the ones for lingering over the view. Wildlife is never on a schedule, of course, but diners have spotted a lively assortment of water-adjacent company from those tables. A crane standing near the shore has a way of distracting a person from a basket of fried seafood.
Fans are available in parts of the outdoor seating area, a welcome small comfort on warmer days. Still, the open-air design means weather matters here more than it would at a sealed-up dining room. Warm-weather diners may also want to keep insect repellent in mind.
A Menu That Goes Well Beyond a Fish Basket
Seafood gives the menu its center of gravity, with both grilled and fried catfish, grilled mahi mahi, shrimp and grits, coconut shrimp, fish and chips, calamari and a seafood-focused po' boy among the dishes that have shown up on tables here.
Catfish makes sense in this river setting, and having both grilled and fried preparations gives the meal a little range. The mahi mahi is another good option when a lighter grilled fish plate sounds better than something from the fryer.
Shrimp appears in more than one corner of the menu. Shrimp and grits makes a fuller meal, coconut shrimp adds a sweeter, crisp appetizer-or-entree direction, and the primavera pasta can be ordered with shrimp. Chicken is also an option with that pasta for someone who wants to step away from seafood without abandoning the broad menu.
The shrimp themselves have drawn notice for their size. Pair them with turmeric rice, a side that stands out from the usual plain rice-and-vegetable routine, and the plate has more personality than a generic marina grill order.
Burgers, Pasta and Things to Share
A mixed group does not have to make an all-seafood commitment. Burgers, pasta and a spread of appetizers give the menu enough flexibility for a table where one person wants catfish and another is thinking more along the lines of a burger and a cold drink.
The opening round can be as straightforward or as ambitious as the group wants. Nachos, a dip sampler, fried conch, fried calamari and fried pickles are all in the appetizer mix. Fried conch is an especially fun detour from the expected bar-and-grill starters.
Vegetarian dishes are clearly labeled, though the selection is not extensive. That labeling is useful when a group is sorting through a seafood-forward menu without wanting to turn ordering into a committee meeting.
There is also a kids' selection, another practical reason the restaurant can work for an unhurried marina lunch with several generations at the table.
Frozen Drinks at the Marina Bar
Blue Moon has the easygoing rhythm of a waterfront bar as well as a restaurant. The bar is a particularly pleasant perch for conversation, with the marina nearby and food available when a round of drinks turns into a longer stop.
The Bushwhacker is one of the more distinctive orders: a frozen, chocolate-forward alcoholic drink that can be finished with optional peanut butter or mint chocolate chip floaters. It lands somewhere between a cocktail and a very grown-up dessert, which is not a bad place to be on a warm afternoon.
Mango margaritas are another named favorite, and margaritas come in multiple flavors. Music, live or recorded depending on the day, can add to the loose waterfront-hangout mood without changing the restaurant's fundamentally casual character.
Save Room for Mud Pie
Mud pie is the dessert to know about here. After fried catfish, shrimp, a po' boy or a plate of pasta, it offers a properly indulgent way to end the meal rather than a token afterthought.
It also makes a nice shared order at a rail-side table. The water may keep providing distractions, but a mud pie generally gets everybody's attention.
A Few Useful Marina Details
Blue Moon works for lunch, dinner or casual drinks by the water. The range of seating lets a visit take different shapes: a quick counter meal, a conversation at the bar, or a longer outdoor table when the conditions are right.
Parking is available in a free lot, although finding a space has not been equally easy at every visit. From the marina area, the walk down to the restaurant follows an uneven path that calls for a little extra care.
For anyone planning a meal around a specific dish, the current menu on the restaurant's website is the best one to consult. Online menu listings elsewhere may not always match what is being served.