Madigan’s offers American fare on the Occoquan waterfront

The next time you’re looking for a waterfront meal, and you don’t want to leave the area, head over to Madigan’s Waterfront Restaurant, a restaurant in Occoquan that’s been open for almost 10-years.

Cathy Madigan and her husband started in the restaurant business in Prince William back in 1997, before moving to their current location.

“We had Madigan’s Grille, which was up on Old Bridge Road…from 1997 until 2007,” said Madigan, continuing, “My husband always wanted to have a restaurant on the water. This is really his dream…we’ve lived in Florida and North Carolina for a long time, and we ended up settling at Madigan’s Grille, but when this location [in Occoquan] became available, then we jumped at it.”

Madigan said that their menu consists of American fare with a heavy emphasis on seafood, and many of their seafood items are among the most popular with customers.

“The crab cakes. People love our crab cakes. The stuffed flounder – it’s wonderful – it melts in your mouth. It’s a filet of flounder that’s stuffed with crab meat and baby shrimp, Monterey Jack cheese and it’s topped with a little lemon butter sauce. And then also the Dirty Chicken – it’s kind of one of our signature dishes,” said Madigan.

They have inside dining space, patio seating in front of the Occoquan River, and an upstairs reception area where they host a slew of weddings and special events.

“We try to do special events every month,” said Madigan.

They offer themed dinners for the holidays, and one of their most popular special events is their wine nights.

“About once a month we do a wine glass painting, plus a half a bottle of wine or $35. People love that – they get to paint four wine glasses and enjoy a half a bottle of wine while they’re doing it with their friends,” Madigan said.

An upcoming event they’re hosting is ‘Shots Around the World’ which is run by Fireball Whiskey.

“We’re the only bar in this area that they’ve chosen to have it. This is our third year of doing it,” Madigan commented.

In their patio deck area, Madigan’s Waterfront Restaurant has a Tiki bar that opens in April, which offers local entertainment every night and drink specials.

The Madigan family does community outreach for charities, using the restaurant to host charity events and donations of food and gift certificates to charities.

“We donate a lot of gift certificates to charity events. We’ve had different [charity] events here at the restaurant. We have a yearly event for leukemia – a golf tournament. We’ve had the Wounded Warriors, where they took over the whole downstairs [for an event],” Madigan said.

According to Madigan, a big part of their success in the community has been their employees.

“We’re very fortunate – we have wonderful employees, that are very loyal,” Madigan commented.

The restaurant will celebrate its tenth year anniversary this October.