Northwoods Brewpub — Restaurant in Osseo

The only reason I had a good time here was because of the people I was with. I would not recommend this place at all! A few comments: confusing when you walk in. You're supposed to order everything at the bar (including food). While that would be okay for a more casual snack-type food, these are real, full meals and ordering everything at the bar is incredibly inconvenient (think: if you want a refill of your water, order at the bar. Want a glass of water in the first place? order at the bar. Want more napkins? Walk back up to that bar.) Reeeeeeeeeally slow service. We got half of the meals at one time then they brought the other 3 out about 10 minutes later. Then, one of those later meals was made incorrectly. It took two more times of returning it to finally get the correct meal. The people bringing our food were also not very friendly. They don't know what medium-rare vs. medium vs. medium well is. Those who ordered medium well got medium rare and vice versa. Order the opposite of what you want and I guess you're good to go. They were out of SO many of their beers. We'd go up to order a drink and end up with our third choice. The jerky bartender would say "look up at the screen for the current/updated list" but haha no. Wasn't current. The beers were 2/5 at best. Very small menu. Appetizers were VERY small for the price. $9 fried pickles and you get 5 pickles. Pros: really cool building. Relatively...

S.. L.. O.. W.. service. Food is okay, but it's quite cool/cold by the time you get it. Ordering at the bar idea is meh - noticed some bartenders ignore patrons approaching the bar. Three different types of their own beers that our group initially ordered were out. That's great if you're so popular that you run out of beer....but you ARE a brewery, so that kind of seems ironic. Tipping is weird because you pay before you receive your food/service- I felt guilty doing less than a 20% tip because I didn't want to come off as a cheapskate, but then afterwards, I kind of wish I got about half of that back. I'm a former waitress, so I know how grueling it can be, but to drop off food and pick up plates (no check backs, drink refills, follow-ups in between) no, I'm sorry, it wasn't worth the 20%. $70 for 3 burger-type meals & 2 kids meals + 3 beers. Yikes!

Not sure if they are slow because of low staff, few kitchen cooks/help, or because the staff has to wander around to search for the table they are looking for to deliver food. I REALLY was excited to come here and I REALLY wanted to like it, but it's just more of a hangout, drink beer, and stand around kind of place. Which is great if that's what you're out for, but we were on an 'out to dinner' trip and this isn't the place unless you want to sit and wait...and wait...and wait.. our total time here was 2 hours - just...

Unique, historic & spacious building houses this micro brew and eatery. Was suprised and slightly disappointed to learn that the restaurant does not have wait staff. You order your food at the bar, pay for it at the bar and then take a number. Kitchen staff bring your food to your table. End of service. Menu is pricey for the small serving size you get in return for your hard earned dollar. Food presentation and quality was not all that i expected, nor was it close to what use to be served at the Northwoods Eau Claire locale. Pizza was just ok. Heavy on the crust and sauce, light on the toppings. The french dip was tasty, but was small in proportion. The home made fries were blah tasting and soggy. Chicken sandwich was also tasty, but the associasted homemade fries were also bland and soggy. Side salad brought to table was also soggy and wilted. We returned the salad and a fresh, crisp salad was returned. Makes me wonder what they were thinking bringing out such a nasty salad in the first place, considering they had fresh salad on hand. Cheese curds were phenominal, just darn expensive for the proportion received. Now let's get onto the beer. One thing that Northwoods does not disappoint in, is their local, in-house beer options and their large and in charge bloody marys. Come for the beer and drinks but eat elsewhere would be my...