Iron Range Eatery — Restaurant in Crosby

I have been staying in the Crosby area since January. With this said, I have dined in at Iron Range Eatery four times. Personally, I had two great experiences and two very negative experiences. The negative experiences came from the service we received. However, in all four of my dine in experiences, the food was great, except for the Walleye one time which was overcooked and dry, but still edible. The service in my two negative experiences at the restaurant was awful. Last night we had a reservation and were seated as soon as we arrived at the restaurant. My group sat there and chatted for 15 minutes before we even spoke up that we had not yet been served water or had a drink order taken yet. They were busy at the time. However, we watched several other tables get served their water and drinks from the bar. It took an additional four or five minutes to get water to our table. At this time, we placed our order. Two pizzas and an order of the pork belly ram don and two mojitos. As we were waiting, all of us drank all our water, and not once did a server check on us. Our food arrived in what was an acceptable amount of time. About twenty minutes. However, when it arrived there was no mojitos. A server then addressed that situation and made them up. I asked for water and never received it. After we received our food, we did not get checked on one time and it was far less busy inside the restaurant at this time. On top of this all, it was unusually hot inside the restaurant.

With all of this said, I would recommend not dining at this restaurant when they are busy. I would choose anywhere else in Crosby or Aitkin before choosing to dine in at Iron Range during busy hours. They offer pizza pickup during busy hours and that might be your best bet during these hours. I would prefer Croft pub and grub for great service and a good burger (pretty hard to mess up a burger) or Block North in Aitkin if you're looking for a great dine in experience with...

The Bananarama Pizza we had was excellent. The drinks were okay for the price, a little weak but inexpensive, so no complaints there. The decor and ambiance was also great. It is, however, a very small space, and apparently very popular, so it feels cramped and is noisy.

All that said, our server was--and by her own admission--'Too busy gossiping' with her coworkers to effectively do her job. Granted it was busy, but it took about 10 minutes from the time we were sat (party of 2) until we received our waters; another 15 before she hastily took our orders; another 10 before we received our drinks; and another 15 minutes--this part, I'm sure, was by no fault of her own, but instead due to the overworked kitchen staff--before we received our delicious pizza. About 10 minutes later, she did a lap to ask how the food was and to let us know she'd be back to refill our waters (which never happened) when we asked her for some crushed red peppers. It literally--and no, I don't mean figuratively--it LITERALLY took her five minutes to reach from where she was standing (perfectly centered in the seven feet of space between our table and the condiment counter), to pick up a container of pepper flakes, pour some into a condiment cup and hand it to us.

Might she have done this faster if she weren't so invested in the incessant conversation with her fellow server? Perhaps...

Could we have rooted through the counter to get it ourselves? Definitely, but, these days, one never knows how people are going to react to randos touching things...

But I digress, the takeaway here is that the food was awesome, the service subpar, and the overall experience was...

First off, this is one of those rare places that would actually deserve a sixth star. We were immediately greeted at the door by the host. Behind the bar lawford, ask to choose our seat anywhere.We wanted to. Ordered a couple of sides to split. Ordered the poutine and the roasted vegetables.

Iron rage eatery has a very impressive take on a poutine with French fries and an awesome brisket along with Red onions and a fantastic sauce with crumble cheese and basil(?). Have never seen a take on poutine done this way before, but the Iron Range Eaterery pulled it off. Very delicious and awesome blend of flavors.

Now. As to the roasted vegetables. Wow. A delightful assortment of Cauliflower, Onion, Eggplant, Mushrooms. Carrots, and Red Peppers. Roasted to perfection, tender and not overdone.

My companion also mentioned how good the chimirchurri sauce was, and how it added a zing that made the veggies perfect. The veggies also came with a side of ranch.

The service was excellent too. Our server was friendly, helpful, fast, and gave us plenty of time to decide what we wanted. Just simply fantastic service all the way around and an enjoyable customer experience.

I agree with other Posters that there is a great vibe here just like others have stated.

You would do yourself well to visit the Iron Range Eatery, in my opinion this makes Crosby MN a destination if you want great food and excellent service. Oh, and the portions are massive, and the prices very affordable. Its worth the gas!

El Gato's Opinion: Top Flight, Highest Rating, plus 1 Star,...