The Lakeside Tavern — Restaurant in Chelan

You only get one chance to make a good first impression, and the team at Lakeside Tavern missed that mark. Starting with the pros: • Atmosphere was amazing! Fantastic music, the vibe was banging, and the energy was flowing. • The drinks were on point! Every drink had its own flavor profile with tons of different options ranging from canned beer, craft cocktails to mocktails, and family-friendly drinks. • The dining area was big with plenty of seats with silverware that worked well with the dishes • Plenty of parking!

The cons: • Slow service. Due to this being a new restaurant, it seems like they aren't established well enough yet to get the tables turned over fast enough for the crow. Additionally, the waitress took a bit too long when it came to either checking in on us or delivering the que'd up drinks. • The food. I had the steelhead hash coming in at just about $26, which is slightly high, honestly, for the quality of food that was served. The fish was dry, the potatoes were under seasoned and felt reheated (but were perfectly cut), and the asparagus was both overcooked and under seasoned. Additionally, the bell peppers that were served were placed under the steelhead. With such a beautiful array of color available to the dish, having the bell peppers diced and thrown into the potatoes woildve been the smarter route to go. Lastly, why wasn't an egg served with the hash? It would've added a level of complexity that the dish was so craving.

Overall: Drinks receives a 4.8 out of 5 The atmosphere receives a 5.0 out of 5 The food receives a 2.3 out of 5

Would i go back? Yes because everywhere should receive a second chance, but ill be going in with...

The service was absolutely horrible! We were sat down at around 2:45pm and asked what we wanted to drink. 5 minutes later we got our drinks and ordered our food. That was the last time we saw our server. 45 minutes after ordering, we still had not received our food or seen our server.( we could see her walking , but she never again checked on us) The place was fully staffed (3 servers and a bartender)and there were people there, but it wasn't full. We finally received our food about 50 minutes later, a burger and Mac and cheese with pulled pork (it was over cooked). A different server brought our food, and we immidetly asked for a to go box because we had to go. He brought our boxes but no check. We had to hunt someone down for our check for another 10 minutes. At this point, our server still had not come back to check on us. When my husband went to pay our bill, she was standing at the table next to us, having a conversation with an old friend (they gave each other a hug when they saw each other). I absolutely would not go back. As the food wasn't great and service was absolutely atrocious.

Overall, It was a cute place, but overpriced. The tavern burger needed seasoning and the fries were under cooked. My Mac and cheese was good, but the pulled pork was crispy and over cooked. The price of the meals were high. The service was slow or...

I’ve been very eagerly awaiting my chance to visit and I already can’t wait to go back. I stopped in for cocktails and an appetizer and sat at the bar.

The cocktail menu is very well thought-out (I liked seeing the “class” of each cocktail indicated which made it very easy to quickly scan for a type you typically enjoy), and expertly prepared by Austin. I first tried The Breakfast Club (bacon fat washed bourbon/rye? yes please!) which was one of the most mouth-watering flavor combinations in a cocktail I’ve had in a very long time. After that, I went with the margarita-inspired Vote for Pedro, which did not disappoint (the use of honey adds a richer smoother flavor here), and ordered the deviled eggs. The eggs were creamy with a great crunch from the bacon and house-made pickles, and were served on top of a drizzle of chili oil that gave the combination just a touch of warmth that added a unique surprise.

The bar was full, but drinks came up quick and the service staff was friendly and had food orders handled promptly. I enjoyed overhearing the staff talking with each other to plan for the impending dinner rush they were expecting.

I’m already looking forward to visiting for dinner, a look over the menu left me with a serious dilemma about what I...