Iron Duck Restaurant — Restaurant in Howard

First time dining at Iron Duck. My husband and I and another couple decided to give it a try last night. The online information looked interesting, and they have the ability to make an online reservation, which was a positive in my book! When we got there, we were charmed by the train/boxcar design, which continued inside with subtle and classy train-themed decor inside. Overall, the ambiance inside is very warm and inviting. We were seated right away, even though we were about 15 minutes early for our reservation. Our waitress came right over with water and menus. Immediately my husband was enthralled with the unique cocktails available. He ordered their signature Post-Modern Margarita - it was phenomenal. Other cocktails enjoyed throughout the evening included the End Paragraph and The Gentleman. We all tried a sip of each and all agreed they were really good. We also had a nice bottle of an Italian Red Blend wine with dinner - very reasonably priced and also very good. Caleb, the owner, brought over his bourbon/spirits menu (we had asked to see it)...and that launched a very fun evening speaking with him about the restaurant, the alcohol options, his vision, etc. We learned a lot and really enjoyed our conversation with him. For food...we started with the bread service, bone marrow and caprese salad (this last one was a feature -- they have their own garden out back, and the heirloom tomatoes came from it...so good!). For dinner, our party had the chicken sandwich, filet, jambalaya and duck tacos with squash fritters (these last two were both appetizers, which my husband put together for his meal). Everything was delicious, with impecable flavors. It was honestly hard to chose what we wanted to eat, because everything on the menu looked very good. For dessert, we ordered all three available -- chocolate bundt cake, summer berries and gelato/cookie. All three were gluten free, which was nice to see -- in fact, the menu overall has a ton of gluten free options (I believe I heard the waitress say they have a separate GF fryer in the back, for things like the fried chicken sandwich, which was fantastic to hear). The only "criticism" I can offer on the food was I expected the jambalaya to have a little more sauce to it, which would be more in line with traditional jambalaya. This dish was more like the consistency of fried rice --- that being said, it was still very delicious. Just enough spice and very full of flavor. The summer berries were magnificent and the gelato was among the best we've every had. We also tried their signature barrel Whistle Pig (and each couple ended up leaving with a bottle to take home). All in all, we were delightfully surprised to find this hidden gem....we absolutely, 100%...

A culinary experience! HIGHLY recommend this spot - super unique for the Green Bay Area.

The space. Felt like we were in a mountain town or something. Cozy, with lots of wood walls, decor, accents. Unique space because they up cycled shipping containers for dining areas - but you'd never know! It's definitely a dinner date vibe type place.

The drinks. I'm still day dreaming about the Moderne Margarita. There are literally no works for this drink. The server brought out the drink and I was confused as hell - it came with a large single nice cube, tahin rimmed glass - but it was CRYSTAL CLEAR. What is the sorcery is this magic?! I have never had a margarita that was crystal clear - it was confusingly wonderful. I was skeptical until my first sip. Wow. Just wow. Probably the best margarita I have ever had! It was refreshing, crisp and not sugary. I could have sipped on several more. All of their cocktails were super unique and I can't wait to go back and try more. Another awesome thing? They have a mocktail menu! And the mocktail my wife tried was DELICIOUS. You'd never know you weren't having a cocktail. If I had one word to describe their drinks - sophisticated.

The food. First and foremost - one of the most gluten friendly places in Green Bay! All of their fryers are GF. And they offer A TON of naturally GF menu items. Including a Wisconsin staple... cheese curds! They serve them with 3 different, delicious sauces. Highly recommend. We got the Teres Major Steak and the Pork Belly for dinner - both were delicious. Unique flavor combinations. Party in my mouth. The most disappointing part of the meal was dessert. I'm not sure if we got a bad batch, or if that's how they do it - we got the crème brûlée and it just disappointed on every level. First and foremost, the consistency of the crème brûlée was totally off. I'm used to a very smooth custard. This was curd-like, very firm. Plus, it was super chilled - I'm more used to not so cold custard part. I want to come back here to see if we got a bad batch, or that's just how they do it there. I'm hoping it was just a...

I made reservations for four and when we got there no one was at the desk. Told bartender we had reservations and he just wanted to know what we wanted to drink. We were here for my boyfriend’s birthday. He ordered a nonalcoholic beer. I told the bartender again that we had reservations and he called the witness over. She wanted to seat u by the bar and I told her I requested a table in the back away from the bar. She got irritated and said it wasn’t set up and would take awhile. My boyfriend asked for a second nonalcoholic beer and was told they only had that one. This was 6:00. I ordered a thousand island dressing on my salad and it looked grey and had poppyseeds in it. My boyfriend’s ribeye looked grey and had a lot of gristle in it. I was eating my mashed potatoes and pulled out a piece of plastic. Called the waitress over and she said she didn’t know how that happened. I moved some more of my potatoes and another big piece of plastic was there. She took my plate and said she would get me a whole new dinner and we wouldn’t have to pay for it. By the time I got it everyone was done so I asked for a box to go and she said she couldn’t do that because of the virus. We finally got a box but it was card board and we asked for something in the bottom. She brought the bill and it had a charge for $3 for using a credit card. I asked why it was on there because I was using a gift card. She didn’t ask how we were paying. She took the card and brought the receipt back and said I still owed $6 plus. She waited while I was getting more money out to pay and my boyfriend said how could that be because my dinner was free and the bill was $44.31. The gift card was for $50. She said oh yes we still had money on the card. Our bill was ok. We left but the birthday dinner was...