Root River 102 — Restaurant in Lanesboro

A nice location, that is it. Very limited menu that does not fit the area or the clientele that flock to this town to bike, fish or tube down the river. Not really the charcuterie plate, kind of town. Bacon samples with bourbon ?Nope. The only thing I thought sounded good, was the burger. However, the description of the $14 burger was much better than the burger itself. The cheese or the so called, "bacon jam" gave it a funky barnyard flavor. The fries had no parmesan or garlic, as advertised. I asked for it to be cooked medium and the thin patty was pretty much rare. My wife had a salad that was supposed to have a citrus vinagrette dressing. I think the 16 year old in the kitchen forgot to add the vinegar. It was watery and tasteless. When we shared our concerns with the owner, she did not apologize even. She acted angry and had the kitchen re-make my burger. It was cooked more well done but still about $8 short of a $14 burger. The owners are from Chicago I learned and have never owned a restaurant so, that explains part of the problem. Well, too bad, we won't return again. Take a pass on this place, go across the street or take a drive to...

Really, really wanted to love this place as the menu looks amazing. The outdoor seating was nice and the service was fantastic but mistakes and the food fell a bit short and cost a star. I was about to only go 3 stars but the service and dedication of our server earned one back.

We ordered a cheese board as an appetizer and it took about 35 minutes to come out. Seemed a bit long for something that requires no cooking, and it did not appear to be very busy. The server kept stopping by saying it was on its way, which was nice of her. Once it did arrive it was wrong, and they had to take it away and fix it, which they did. Once we had the cheeses we ordered it was delicious, in fact the best part of our meal.

Unfortunately our entrees although very creative were somewhat bland and uninspiring. There are other menu items I would like to try, so I would still go back, as I believe this place has what it takes to be a nice spot, perhaps we caught them on an off day. We will give them another chance next...

My one top suggestion of something that stuck out to us was the music - just pop music, latest hits playing on the radio and it just felt like it threw off the ambience. For the beauty of the building, the cozy setting in the town, the wine-bar feel, felt like the atmosphere would be perfect with light classical music playing, or Frank Sinatra, James Dean, or something like that. Otherwise the entrees and wine were delicious, the building was a fun design. The waiter was super kind, and although it was his first week he did his best to find answers to any questions. It was great! The only things that threw it off a bit were the charcuterie plates were incredibly basic, felt like something you could have thrown together at home with club crackers. Not a huge deal though since they weren't too terribly expensive, but felt like with such delicious wine a quality charcuterie board...