The Freight House — Restaurant in Stillwater

Where to begin. We tried entering several ways, and numerous doors were locked. Had go back outside to be helped by the host (to then be brought back inside again) which is fine except when we went to leave, several of those doors on the inside were marked with the lit fire exit signs and were locked- I'm pretty sure that is illegal since they are in fact lit and lead you to dead end locked doors.

Regarding the experience. First, I want to start off by noting that this establishment has elected to charge the new 4% mn surcharge for benefits- this law isn't mandatory and rather than the owners being responsible human beings (like ANY other business in the US) They have elected to directly pass this on to the consumer as a moral obligation to YOU as the guest- as noted on the tab. This is a dealbreaker, in my opinion. Every other business finds a way to take care of their employees, and I am not buying into this tax. The reason I am emphatic about this is that at the freighthouse, a sandwich w/ a 1/2 pickle (no side or chips or fries) is 17.99- A salad is 19.99. All entrees are $27±. The food in no way is worth this value. They had better damn well be taking care of thier employees charging those prices, not further passing it on to me. The price is not indicative of rural small town MN - more representative of eating in downtown Minneapolis.

The food itself is fine - the onion stings are good but at $11 a pop. Cheese curds are more expensive than the state fair by 2x. My wife had the southern fried chicken, which was good, and my son had the chicken tenders... for $20!!! I had a different chicken entree and the bun was not toasted well enough so the bottom disintegrated requiring me to eat it upside down as an open faced sandwich and later with a fork by my daughter (see below) My daughter ordered the chicken tacos. The server warned us that they were a "little spicy"... which is a gross understatment. This was NOT Noted on the menu, which was disappointing because my daughter really wanted them, was set on having them after mulling over the menu, and after reservation, she gave them a try. They were excessively spicy (but just spice heat with no flavor), and to make it worse, it was brined and smoked in essentially the same mixture as smoked salmon. So, it basically tasted like salty, over spiced cayenne smoked salmon, which was virtually inedible. I gave her my sandwich.

Lastly- for upscale pricing, I do not accept a roll of paper towels for napkins and cheap disposable clear beer cups as acceptable beverage implements. That may sound petty, but you can't have it both ways. Very...

When my mom brought me to the Freight House I was pleasantly surprised! With the great view and delicious food, this is an amazing place to eat.

The Freight House has a wonderful variety of food to eat! They offer street tacos,mushroom swiss burgers, walleye sandwiches, chicken chop salads, and more. You can get a giant pretzel for an appetizer, you can also get cheese curds, pulled chicken nachos, and artichoke dip! The Freight House also has a wide selection of drinks, they have lemonades, slushies, and drinks inside of pineapples! My absolute favorite thing to get at the Freight House is the walleye sandwich! The walleye is cooked perfectly, and it tastes so fresh. Their homemade tartar sauce brings the perfect amount of tanginess to my dish. The long warm bun is soft, and doesn’t fall apart with every bite. They added a lemon on the side, and I chose to squeeze it over my sandwich, and my lemonade. The lemon brings the sandwich to a whole new level of tastyness! The walleye is always cooked to perfection,you can taste freshness in all of the ingredients, The freight really does have the best walleye sandwich! The Freight House’s history dates back to the 1800s. It all started when Stillwater became a trade center for miners, trappers, and people who build railroads. Eventually, people decided that Stillwater needed a freight depot. So the people started to build the depot. It had two foot thick limestone walls, 30 foot tall exterior walls, and flooring was put in place. Finally, the strong trusses were installed, along with a solid slate roof. The construction was finally finished in 1883. The depot had a telephone office, and received about 75 railcars each day. After a few years of that Curtis feed, and coal farm service operated at the “freight House.” In 1970 the agency shut down, and the building was sold. Then, in 1979 the historical significance of the building was recognized, and it became the first building to be put on the national registry of historic places. It still stands today as the original building, as the freight House restaurant! What I love about The Freight House is the diversity of the menu, the amazing tasting food,the rich history of the building, and the outdoor seating. The atmosphere of the building Is awesome. I really enjoy the outdoor seating, because I get to stare out at the St. Croix River. All of the workers are really kind, and the chefs bring out the food fast. I think that the taste, the freshness, atmosphere,the staff, and the rich history make the Freight House one of the best...

Unfortunately, I think there’s new ownership of the freight House in the last eight years since I’ve been there I was unpleasantly surprised when I saw that the food was so cheaply made. The two street tacos for $17 were really disgusting. They were quite soggy and the shell was, so wet it falls apart. Also, it smelled like bleach and chili powder. I got hamburger to share with my husband and the toothpick was pushed so far in it I choked on the toothpick. We did talk to the manager about that they took off our burger, I was like OKAY!! Usually I miss half like that with me and at least the burger was free. That was very dangerous. I’m glad that it didn’t poke into my throat too hard. At the end, you have to sign the tip in front of the waitress you just sits and hold it while you choose the tip. I really don’t like that. Our waitress wasn’t that great and didn’t really run back for refills at all for me. Also, she put my friends cheese curds on our bill so we got charged extra for that. They also do a 4% surcharge that they never had told us about before we started eating so that just gets tacked on. Normally prorate with that surcharge because some of that goes towards the waitresses / waiters. The chips that came with the nachos my husband had were soggy to the touch right away when they arrived. It just was not a good experience with the food. A burger comes with no side and it is $17 almost every entrée $17 we tried my friends pretzel across the table and it was hard. It is not a good Bavarian pretzel the cheese tastes weird as well. Try McGovern in St. Paul for a comparison, Patrick McGovern’s. Definitely for A Bavarian pretzel with amazing beer cheese. We won’t be going to the Freighthouse again. The food is just horrible and the prices are outrageous. I’m assuming they’re just making money on drinks at this point I asked about the wings because I used to get them and they smoke them so not baked in sauce anymore. You can just get buffalo wings or something so I was just pointed that because their wings used to be what I came for. Oh, when we first got there, they tried to set us right against the building when there was plenty of seats closer to the water we asked for the closer to the water seats, but we were not treated very well when we wanted a good view that was the only thing we liked so I am thankful we got that. Oh the fries were actually good!! That was the only thing. The fries are 6 dollars that was fair. My friends cheese curds were $13 and you barely...