Drifters Marina & Grill

Such an awesome summer hang out!!! My whole family loves it there… Great food, great drinks, great view, and great people… Right on the water… Under cabana umbrellas… What’s not to love…:)

Last weekend of the summer. Love Drifters for an ice cold beer, shade and a wonderful view. The staff is great and only work for the sunny part of the year, so tip them well.
They work hard for every penny.

Love the ambiance, food and cocktails! Burgers and pizza are awesome! The calypso bay cooler is to die for!

We used to love this place. But went there for dinner and paid higher prices but the quality has deteriorated. Just such a pity because it used to be a great place to eat. You could tell the salsa came out of a jar from Family Dollar, the lime in the beer was brown, and the nachos tasted stale. It is clear that they are trying to make higher margins but cutting back on food quality. We will never go again. Felt totally ripped off.

Average food that you can get basically anywhere and they charge $ 1.00 for extras on your sandwich (jalapeños) I would recommend anywhere else in driving distance.

Wow these guys really now how to bring the summer alive.
The cocktails are delicious and the staff are both friendly and quite attractive.
I only wish the gas pump was slower so I had an excuse to stay longer every time I fill up. Thanks Drifters for keeping the lake alive.

This is my First Review. Drifters is a great place to stop and get a drink or grab a bight. I must comment on some of the negative reviews. Like every place it can have its ups and downs. During normal hrs of operation the service & the food is awesome. The place is small and intimate
So it can get real busy especially on 3 day weekends. So if your in a hurry or have a large party its best to get there early. It’s a lake life «atmosphere» place so don’t go expecting your gonna have your food in 5 mins. Get a drink enjoy the view, have a conversation with the people next to you & «CHILL OUT» if you want cheep fast food then drive your self into town and go get Taco Bell. I like this place for the fact that the Hillbillys don’t wanna pay for a pizza or burger here and they stay home. Some people like myself don’t mind paying a bit more to enjoy a nice place with a great vibe.

I actually live on Lake Tulloch and enjoy supporting local business whenever possible. Not only does this place not deserve my business, I’m pretty sure it wont be long until their gone.
We ordered a couple of beers and waited a bit before they were served. Another person came to our table carrying dirty dishes and asked to take our order. She was older, not cute and did not write anything down. We ordered fish tacos and a chicken sandwich on ciabatta. She said that they were out of ciabatta rolls (1pm ?) and I said as long as on french roll that’s fine, I told her I specifically did not want on hamburger bun. She said fine but again wrote nothing down. 20 minutes later food arrived, total mess. Not only was chicken sandwich on a hamburger bun, but we got fish and chips instead of fish tacos. We had waited so long that we said to leave the order, she did offer to bring the correct order out, but figured we had wasted enough time here and wanted hurry up and get going. She apologized for getting the order wrong and said that the next round of beers were on her. She came around again and said that I was ready for another beer and said that she would watch for when my partner was ready for hers. 10 minutes later she brought out my girls beer, we thanked her and finished our lunch. BTW, fish and chips incredibly greasy, fries were cold and chicken sand just ok. I reminded our server that we were only to be charged for two beers, the other two were on them. She disappears and then returns and says «we have a problem» She says that she can only comp us one beer and that we were being charged for the second one. I reminded her of our conversation and that they screwed up the order. She said again that she was still charging us for four beers total. The last beer she brought was untouched so I told her to take it back. She did and we she brought the bill we were still being charged, now for the undrunk beer. We got into a heated discussion where I told her several times that this was embarrassing and to keep her voice down. She continued to argue with me and I finally said just leave the bill and I would pay for the bogus drinks. I also advised that I would pay for the beer but they should comp the fish and chips that wasn’t ordered. She disappeared again and this time brought the bill that reflected only two beers. Deserving no tip of any kind, I wrote «Corona» on the tip line and gave them $ 6 for their beer we never drank.
Don’t waste your time with a place that clearly doesn’t care for your business. The owners are Bay Area posers that come up to rip off tourists and locals. They do nothing for the community and just care about profit.
The sad part is they are within walking distance, I will gladly get into the boat and go to South Shore for a burger or the car and go into Copper to keep from giving these ungrateful owners another dollar. I suggest you do the same.

What a disappointment. I have been to Lake Tulloch to many times to count, and drifters has always been a great stop to enjoy a little break off the water. Well the service was so poor I wish I could have tipped myself for getting my own drinks. The staff has no class, and they actually will talk about customers and encourage other patrons to start physical altercations. Needless to say this place is classless and won’t be long until it’s closed. Save your money and enjoy different areas of the lake. If there was less than 1 star I would give that. The moment the servers were on the patio encouraging men to hit women I realized I had hit the trailer park lotto. The best part about drifters marina is one girl wore so much make up she looked like a clown. Her actions supported the look. As well as one other server mentioned her anger management lol. Needless to say we had a 2 year old, 4 year old, grandpa, grandma, and a few friends! Real out of control group obviously.

We spend our vacations at Lake Tulloch. We have for 35 years. We also love to come to Drifters Marina for a little break off the lake. It has changed many times over the years. Unfortunately our resent visit we were greeted very rudely. The server even said «she hated serving people like us». I guess she was talking about paying customers. We ordered our drinks and the server didn’t even bring it to our table. She set them outside the window and left them there. We noticed them and went and got them ourselves. We then tried to order food. When it arrived it was cold. She didn’t even bring us plates, we had to ask for them twice. She said we were being loud. We were outside laughing and trying to enjoy ourselves. Our group consisted of 2 bartenders, 4 servers, a firefighter, an Airman, grandparents and two children.
I suggest that the owner talk to there employees and teach them that they are in the hospitality industry. If they don’t like there jobs or people, they should try a different occupation. Needless to say we won’t be back. Lucky for us we have a home on the lake and employees and ownership change every year.

Absolutely terrible service!!! The girls working were very rude. One was cursing and talking poorly about us in front of us. When asking if she was referring to us and she said yes we had asked to get our tip back we had left her. They dumped some of our drinks out the window and had their boyfriends at the bar staring us down then proceeding to follow us on the doc to fight! These men had also put hands on the other women I was with trying to fight them! ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE! Awful customer service and in no way were the employees nor their boyfriends professional. TACKY!!!
This is the nicest review I could have possibly written for the situation. They should get 0 stars. Not happy and they will be hearing more complaints.

Very fun place! Great view of the lake, very friendly staff. We had a wonderful service with a smile. We just had appetizers and cocktails but we had absolutely no complaints.

What a great off-​the-​beaten path restaurant! This was totally a random find thanks to Unilocal.We were on our way from Yosemite to Napa Valley and needed a quick lunch. I found this on Unilocal and thought it would be neat to eat by a lake. But otherwise I didn’t really have high expectations.
When we got there, I was pleasantly surprised how absolutely gorgeous Lake Tulloch was. Drifters is right on lake and we had a great view of the marina with pontoons and people enjoying the water. We got a table with an umbrella so we didn’t fry on the patio. And we got there just in time, since the place was packed when we started eating. The music put us in the mood for lakeside dining.
The restaurant is also pet-​friendly. They have bowls of water on hand for the dogs, but make sure to pick a table with a lot of shade so they don’t get overheated.
The service was slow because they were so busy. Although the waitresses were nice, we waited at least 20 min for the food and waited a while for the check.
The food and the view made up for the slow service. I had the best-​tasting fried cod tacos I’ve ever had. The cod was perfectly cooked, and it came with a mango salsa. I bet the fish and chips are just as fantastic. Hubby had the Blunion, which was meaty and delicious with tri-​tip beef, blue cheese, and carmelized onions – on a toasted french roll.

Hit or miss with service. I usually love Drifters, food is decent, but the employees could be a little nicer. Maybe they were having an unusually bad day, but this last time our family went, we were met by rude people at the register. My friend and I asked for a drink along with our order. I ordered a sangria. You would have thought we asked for the moon. I saw one of the employees drop the orange slicer, in which she was going to slice my citrus anyway without washing it off. When she saw that I saw her, she threw the slicer in the back room. When I got my Sandra, it had strands of her hair in it? Needless to say, I wouldn’t order any mixed drinks there anymore. However, we did receive our food quickly, some of our fries were hot and others were stone cold. When my friend asked the girl who brought our food to take a group picture, she rolled her eyes and had all she could do to take the photo… oh and we were the only people there, so it is not like they were having a lunch or dinner rush. When you add up that you do not really get table service, have to order inside, get you own non alcoholic drinks, are paying $ 10.00 for a sandwich, does not deserve more than two stars this visit. I think I’m being pretty generous too

I have been a frequent summer visitor of this local hotspot on Lake Tulloch. They have always had good burgers and great pizzas, however, my last couple of visits have been complete disappointments! The food comes out cold, half the order is incorrect, and no one seems to have any customer service/​restaurant skills. As I stood in line to place my order, I was disgusted to watch one of the owners lick some sauce off her hand as she prepared to make pizzas and cut celery! It used to be such a great place to visit after a hot summer day on the lake, but I definitely won’t be back!

Drifters is by far the best place to eat in Copperopolis and one of the top restaurants in Calaveras county. There food is amazing, best burgers and the BLT is to die for. If you’re on Lake Tulloch come by boat otherwise you can come by car. Great food, great people and great service =) Two thumbs up!

So glad Drifters is back open for the summer! Best restaurant on the lake! It’s a nice family oriented atmosphere, just what Lake Tulloch needs. We went to the lake last weekend since the weather was so nice, and drifters was a great addition to our weekend. Great food and the staff is warm and friendly.
I guarantee if the guy who said his fish was not cooked properly would have said something, they would have made it right somehow. I know from experience from going to Drifters for the last two years since their renovation, that they are just those kind of people. And are you kidding me? 7 – 11 type of place? Obviously that guy never saw it or experienced drifters before the renovation. Before the renovation they actually had a hot box that you could grab hot dogs out of, just like 7 – 11. I think they have classed up the place since then to say the least.
Drifters Marina and grill is a place where everyone knows your name, no shoes, no shirt, no problem type of place. Love it.

Love this place! We rented a house on the lake and looking for a dinner location for the family to take a break from cooking. What a find! Décor is relaxing, island feel on the patio with plenty of shade. Views of the lake and sunset are a plus!
Staff was friendly each time we visited. Food is good and selection of beverages is plentiful.
If you are in the area it’s worth a stop! We’ve rented a house again this year and look forward to returning.

This place rocks! Appetizers and beer on the lake… park your boat, walk in, and there ya go… can’t beat that! Place is done very well… great for kids… great beer on tap… great appetizers, oh and don’t forget… GET THE PIZZA!!! Thats right, they have a real pizza oven and the pizza is fantastic. Matt and Carley are super nice, friendly, and they allways make you feel welcome. Great place that I highly recommend and I hope you get a chance to check it out!

Great Find! Husband and I shared the Blue Cheese Burger and a pizza (about 8″) with everything. Thoroughly enjoyed both. The burger came with sweet potato fries, not normally a fan, these were quite good. The veggies on the pizza were obviously FRESH and the the crust was thin and cooked perfectly! The service was good, the staff was friendly. I got the feeling the place is frequented by «locals». The deck is «pet friendly».