BoomTown Woodfire Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Rice Lake

I've visited this location 3 times. Our first visit was awesome, with an excellent server and food. We visited again, about a week later... and our experience was dismal. We made a reservation... however, even with a reservation with a note to request a table (not a booth) due to party size, we had to wait nearly an hour for a table. When we did get sat, we were put at a table in an "overflow" room of sorts, and basically forgotten about. Drinks went unfilled, our appetizers were not served. The menu, while seemingly great, is not that great because several items our party attempted to order were not available (lamb chops, bread pudding, to name a couple). We chalked it up to an off-day. A few months later, we tried again. Again, made a reservation... when we arrived we were told the only table option available is the table outside the bathroom. Nothing like the smell of urinal cakes while you eat. (Gross!). The service was subpar and the food, while presented decently, was not great. In fact, my pasta bowl was stuck to the serving tray... with a healthy pile of mashed potatoes (ew!). The dill-salmon pasta is wayyyy too much dill. The salmon was served with several ounces of oil also on the plate... a burger bun was completely soggy from grease, to the point where they couldn't even pick the bun up, it fell apart. (Hint: rest meats before plating?) We asked about a couple menu items, but were not available... and the server even commented they haven't had the bread pudding for months. We skipped dessert and went elsewhere for dessert. While one bad experience can be a one-off, after having a second, the consensus seems to be our first experience was the anomaly. I will not return after this...

I recently visited Boomtown, located on Rice Lake Road and Martin Road, and I must say, it has become one of my favorite places to dine in Duluth. In fact, over the last year, I have eaten there 2 to 3 times a week! The staff is incredibly polite, and the service is exceptional. They make you feel at home from the moment you walk in.

But let's talk about the food - it's top-notch! If you're having trouble deciding what to order, don't hesitate to ask the staff for recommendations. They are more than happy to help you choose the perfect dish to suit your taste buds. The menu offers a variety of options, including some unique ones that you won't find anywhere else in town.

Boomtown is also a great place to sit at the bar and enjoy the beautiful Minnesota snow outside its large windows. The atmosphere is cozy and welcoming, and the beer and signature drinks are everyone's favorite. I highly recommend trying something new and breaking out of your comfort zone. The blueberry wheat beer and whiskey mule are my personal favorites - they're delicious!

Finally, I must mention that because I have visited as a regular so often, all of the staff greets me warmly and treats me like family. It's a testament to the exceptional customer service and the quality of food and drinks they offer. Overall, I highly recommend Boomtown to anyone looking for an exceptional dining...

Edit:

We’ve been back several times now and tried out several other dishes. The poutines are good, the Chipotle dry rub wings are delicious (though a little overpriced) and they’ve stopped doing the weird room temperature water thing. The Double Shift burger is WAY too tall and needed to be eaten open faced, but was good. The Grilled Halloumi and Cauliflower salad was less salad and more roasted cauliflower on a cutting board but it was very good. So far we’ve been pretty pleased and will keep going back to try out new dishes.

First review: 3-stars

Nice building, good atmosphere. Out of the way and food flavor & quality did not match the price.

I ordered the 16oz Garlic Ribeye and was unimpressed. It was cooked well but the meat quality wasn’t great and it didn’t taste for much, despite coming with an enormous glob of steak butter. The asparagus that came with was well cooked but over salted.

We also ordered the Short Rib Mushroom Gnocchi. It was decent and an acceptable value.

There was room temperature water and glasses at the table when we were seated so we poured it and had a few sips while we waited for the server. The first thing the server asked us was if we wanted some ice water. I would have preferred ice water to begin with. Who likes room temp water?

I’ll go back to try their poutine but I likely won’t be ordering any steaks...