Deep Water Grille — Restaurant in Ashland

Finding the place at night is a bit tricky. There is no obvious, easily visible signage outside! They have two tiny thin horizontal banners hanging up high with the name on them.

First impressions are everything and that starts with the decor. Deep water grille has a nautical theme representative of a fish house. The interior is open and has nice woodwork woth various nautical wall decorations. However, it's somewhat drab looking at night and the booths have red neon rods above them which is confusing when you look at the menu and see gourmet items. I'd expect to just see fish-n-chips, clam chowder, po-boys, etc. Although I love neon, it doesn't fit the menu.

Next is the host/hostess. We arrived at 8:45 and they close at 10pm. We were greeted with a look of "oh great, another table" And an unenthusiastic "Hi" which gave us the impression the staff wanted to get out of there ASAP on a Friday night. I said "table for two please" and the hostess replied "ok" turned and just started walking. She didn't ask if we prefer a booth or table, she just sat us and walked away. We even nocticed our server made an "uhg...sigh" expression as if to say "not another table!" and there were only four tables in the dining room. Our server was nice but gave off a strong vibe she really wanted to get out of there. We ordered an appetizer, two entrées, and a desert. All the food came at once. Except the desert of course.

The Cajun fish tacos were delicious. The Creole whitefish and shrimp with asparagus and rice was delicious as well. But, came out Luke warm. The asparagus was cooked perfectly. The wild rice chicken spinach salad with grapes and hemp heart was odd and unappetizing after four bites.. It was almost ice cold which muted the flavor and made the wild rice really firm. The items on top of the salad would have been more palatable at room temperature. 90% was left untouched. I do not recommend this salad.

The server did not come back to ask how our first few bites were. When she did return to clear out plates, she did not ask if we wanted a Togo container for the salad which was barely eaten. She immediately stacked the empty plate on top of the salad and asked if we wanted anything else. We ordered desert, a molten chocolate cake with ice cream and fruit salsa. The desert was was good except the addition of fruit salsa, which was basically fresh fruit cocktail without the sauce. The fruit (halved grapes and cubed mellon) seemed very out of place with this desert. Almost as if the chef thought "this plate looks too empty so I should add something to fill it up." It was a rather wide rectangular plate, which I liked. Overall, the food was tasty. The demeanor/training of some of the staff needs improvement and the decor could be updated to be more inviting. It looked slightly unkept. Would I return? I'm not sure because I don't know what to expect if I ordered something else. Give it a try and decide...

Bring your windbreaker! Lol it's not far from the lake (maybe a block away)and it's quite windy walking to the restaurant. I didn't drive around much but we parked on the street.

Kind of a supper club vibe. It was recommended by a local. Jessie! We started with the sugar shack beer. The beer is delicious!

For an appetizer, we got the curry shrimp stuffed mushrooms. If you are not a curry lover, there isn't much for curry flavor. The shrimp I believe are the tiny salad shrimp and you will get around half to one little shrimp per mushroom. There is a red sauce that is somewhat sweet and has a nice microgreens mix with it. I probably wouldn't get these again.

Both of us got the Lake Superior white fish sandwich because of the location to the lake. I had the cajun flavor. It was broiled and on the flat top? I don't know that's what the server said. I am guessing just the flat top but who knows I didn't cook it. The flavor was not that great. I tasted like they didn't clean the cook top beforehand. I had chunks of burnt either seasoning or fish all over. It was heavily seasoned but not with any salt. The fruit was very fresh and delicious! The pickles were also very crisp and juicy. The baked fish was very well prepared and seasoned properly. Over all, the baked was a 7 out of ten and the Cajun 3 out of 10.

For desert we ordered the rumchata cheesecake. This was very well executed. The consistency was there throughout. It is very dense and rich. Perfect amount of caramel drizzle and the crust was perfect. This I would come back for.

The server was alright. Not personable at all (absolutely not required) but isn't someone I would ever request if I were...

Stopped by on late Saturday afternoon (8/1) and we were overwhelming surprised by the wonderful interior of the restaurant, the food and craft beers selections were awesome. We are so glad we found this place.

My wife had the Cajun Shrimp Stuffed Mushrooms and I had the Buffalo Chicken Wings with house made blue cheese dressing. Man! - everything was excellent, wings cooked perfectly - crispy, great cayenne buffalo sauce, awesome blue cheese dressing, and the mushroom were big, stuffed and fresh! She order a flight of their craft beers - the stout, nut brown, pilsner, northern lights ale (I had my own drink - but after trying a few sips - I wanted more - great beers!).

We were planning only on apps and drinks but once our server, Catlyn, talked about a few of the items on the menu and our mouths wanted more - I went for the Greek Pork Tenderloin Kabob (I am not a fan of cous-cous, but DWG did an awesome job on the lemon herb flavors), which was very tender and had lots of flavor. The wife chose the Smoked Ribeye, medium-rare, it was worth the wait. Get this - DWG smokes a whole prime rib roast, then slices it to order and grills it to perfection. Shout-out to the cooks in the kitchen, boy!, they know what they are doing and take pride in their food service.

Everything was great, - our server Catlyn, - the bartender bring us drinks when Catlyn was busy, - the cooks in the kitchen preparing a wonderfully delicious meal. If I lived in the Ashland, WI area, I would eat at the DWG a couple times a week. I love the place so much, I am willing to drive from the Twin Cities just to enjoy...