The Waterfront Restaurant and Tavern — Restaurant in La Crosse

After a 20 year career with The Mirage and officers's privileges in all restaurants, sign my name and pick up the tip, I've been horribly disappointed with very other purported gourmet restaurant in the area. The wife has been trying to convince me to try WR&T, but until she wanted to go on our 39th anniversary, I managed to avoid it.

Last night I had my first meal there. It was a good as any room I'd visited in Las Vegas. The price was about equal to the cost of tipping in a Las Vegas room. Garden/sea fresh Cioppino in La Crosse! I couldn't believe my ears. I hadn't had a decent bowl since Buzio's in The Rio in 2006. The reviews in that year were stellar! The steamed clams were very good and the breads were well made. Not spectacular, but who can compete with Steve Wynn's Italian bakery? The overall portions were definitely midwestern and quite large.

The decor was extremely well maintained. 20 years of Wynn's detail has made a monster out of me. But I didn't find a single flaw from ceiling to baseboard.

Wait staff was very professional. Her wine pairing was spot on and she served with aplomb. The support staff needs some work, and fell down and left minor requests to the server. She deserved more focused support. Regardless the experience was a real pleasure. I rolled over in my sleep and woke up with the delightful flavors from the meal. The prime beef was in fact prime and very nice. We prefer grass fed but the lovely was happy. Out terrier was even happier that the portion was quite large.

Appetizer, salad, cioppino, tenderloin with shrimp, a perfect old school martini, two stems of nice wine, with tip 20%, $140. I was shocked by the value!

We'll be back in August for an escape night at the Radisson and a birthday dinner with...

RUINED MY BIRTHDAY DINNER !!! The worst "upscale" dining experience of all time!! My Husband and I have dined here before and this place has most certainly gone down hill!! From the awful wait staff and poor information to the lack of Proper Presentation and food quality this is the last place I would ever choose to come again!! Clearly both the kitchen staff and the waitstaff do not know the importance of presentation in a place like this. Furthermore they most certainly do not know the differences in cuts of meat and their USDA Grading!! When your online menu and in person menu don't match up and then you lie to your customers about how ALL STEAK ITEMS ARE USDA CHOICE, and the waitstaff states that not all of the steak entrees are not USDA, you have lied to your customer, both on you website, open table and on your in-house menu. Also the cut of steak my husband ordered was clearly not the cut presented at the table along with the entree being cooked wrong. Also, the waiter paid ZERO ATTENTION to our table and My Chicken (Belle & Evans) Dish was over cooked in what appeared to be a sauce that was not reduced what so ever and was uneatable. This was not even the Beginning the waiter we had was RUDE, ARROGANT AND CONDESCENDING. Lastly, the waiter that we had did not recognize my birthday as an individual or refill our beverages without request, nor did they acknowledge my questions regarding an accommodating dessert menu and was quick to cut me off while I was speaking. I have had many Fine dining experiences allover the country and this takes the cake for the WORST EXPERIENCE...

Went a little bit later on a Friday night. We enjoyed sitting on the patio outside. It was a little buggy, but it was outside and and later in the evening. But it was a nice and calming view. The service was spot on. The Oysters Rockefeller were superb! I haven't had them that delicious in sometime. Kudos on you! But the main courses were, disappointingly, lack luster.

The first was the Pork Shoulder with eggplant and pickled cucumber. The cucumber was succulent, crisp, tangy and wonderful. The eggplant was also perfectly done and just delightful. But the Pork Shoulder was so tough, fatty and just chewy. I don't really recall the flavor as I was too busy chewing and gnawing on gristle.

The Tenderloin Filet on the other hand was a great cut of meat and it was well prepared. Cutting was like cutting butter. The flavor... heavenly. I won't keep going as we've all had a wonderful steak and this is in the top ten for me. The potatoes were lackluster. Fairly flavorless. Disappointing. The broccoli florets weren't really cooked. Infact they weren't cooked really at all. After two bites of eating raw broccoli, I gave up.

I would honestly give this place two stars, but the service pushed the stars to three. It was a place to try out. Would I go again? No. Not for the price you're paying for subpar food.

I hope this...