The Wildwood Tavern — Restaurant in Mahtomedi

I’ve been a loyal customer of Wildwood for quite some time—this was even my wife’s favorite restaurant in the city for years. Unfortunately, our recent experiences have been anything but satisfying. We gave them a pass on a couple of minor hiccups in the past year, but our latest visit sealed the deal that we likely won’t be coming back.

On our most recent trip, I was part of a group of eight coworkers and was the first to order a simple burger and fries. Incredibly, it took an hour and 40 minutes—yes, 100 minutes—before my food finally arrived. Meanwhile, a table that was seated after us received their meals, finished, and left. Even another table was seated after them at thier table, got their food, and was almost out the door by the time my burger showed up. We asked our server multiple times, and each time we were told it was “coming right out.” When the burger finally arrived, it was barely mediocre—definitely not worth the excruciating wait.

The only reason we didn’t leave sooner was because this was a coworker happy hour, but after this last straw, we won’t be back. It’s disappointing to see how much Wildwood Tavern has declined from the days when it was my wife’s go-to spot in the city. I hope they address their service issues soon, but sadly, I don’t see us giving it another chance.

(original review over 2 years ago). 10/10 recommend! Staff were all pleasant, Mara was awesome. Sweet corn fritters were okay but the sauce they were in was amazing. Chicken Caesar salad was honestly one of the best I have ever had. Mediterranean chicken sandwich was extremely flavorful. Cheese cake was very tasty. Will be coming...

June 2025 update. We were very pleased when the manager reached out to us to discuss our earlier visit. I had the opportunity to meet my mom and sister again, as they were in the cities for appointments. Wow! What a difference from our first visit. All 3 of our lunches were very good. Mom and sister liked the BLTA sandwich. I enjoyed my burger. Service was great. Condiments were filled. It represents the quality of food and service I had experienced last year and since they opened. Thank you.

Good news.. steak frites steak was perfect. Sadly, Garlic parmesan fries had dried up parmesan on a couple of fries. Reuben was ok. Meat too thick, not much sour kraut, but excellent bread. Fish and chips.. not edible. We asked about it and were advised that it was cod with a good beer batter. Nope. Rectangle cut pieces of cod in what could be described as overcooked heavy breading and panko. Also.. 2 nearly empty ketchup bottles (even after asking) and no refills on water. Sad, because I haven't been there in a long time, and we really had good service and food last time. I also really try and support our local businesses. Update.. the manager reached out to me with a complimentary lunch. I hope to...

The wait staff was wonderful and friendly!a It was really nice that they offer free popcorn! Unfortunately the pull tab guy was so rude! My girlfriend and I met there because it was 1/2 point. We had a table right by the pull tab booth and were playing as well. We saw a lot of people playing and winning and never screaming it to the whole bar that they won. When my girlfriend and I opened a big winner the pull tab guy yelled at us we had to cash it in right away and tell everyone we won! We were not even finished opening our stack of pull tabs yet. I said to him we at least are going to finish opening the rest of our stack, that is when he threatened to have us thrown out of the bar. We had also gone outside to have a smoke and left our 2 beers, water glasses, popcorn, money and E-tab machine with 200.00 dollar credit on it, only to come back to our table and have it totally cleared off and cleaned! The waitress apologized and did bring us another beer and my friend got her e machine back with the credits still on there. It felt like if you do not live in that neighborhood, you’re not welcome there! We definitely will not be meeting...