Black Woods Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Two Harbors

I am on the line of 2 to 3 stars. We stopped at 2 harbors restaurant for lunch. The server we had was attentive and nice. We were larger party of 9 and were sat in the back. It was a quiet atmosphere for us which was nice. The number of flys buzzing around was a nuisance when you are inside away from all doors. I wrestle with the star rating purely on food. Some was good, some was mediocre and some just meh...with our group I will start with the good, kids burger was huge and for 6 was great value, the buttery noodles went quick. The waffle fries were standard, nothing g to write home about. Now our table got walleye and fries which was good, nothing great, comment was kind of greasy, which means oil was to cold, not adequately lowing temp to get back up between cooking. The Rubin was really good, I would recommend it. Thousand island was nothing special, the corn beef was tender and delicious sour kraut was nothing special and the bread was thick and held up to the meal. It was good, worth it if u like, but rustic inn by grand superior lodge was far better.the salmon sandwich was good, the salmon itself was great, highly recommend it was light flaky and good fresh taste, getting anything with the salmon would be worth it. The salad I did not eat, but shad the same salmon on it would be worth it as it is a full filet. The shroom burger was not good. It was ordered pink, came out well done, which if you tell me which the server did, the burgers and salmon are both great, they better be. The burgers we got were all over cooked and not very flavorful. The shroom burger had potential, but fell flat. I had 4 mushroom caps, which crimini, or otherwise known baby portabello are not great as a whole cap. They make it a bit thick and odd, need to be sliced a little, then the grilled onion, got none, which would have at least added flavor to my dry bland burger, the meat itself is under seasoned, needs a hit of salt and maybe pepper, but at least salt to bring out some more flavor, maybe it fell victim to the well done factor, dont know, never get well done. The all in all I would say it feels like it once was a small homemade joint that expanded and simplified and the food fell with it. Is it fine, sure, worth the cost, no. I would say that the detail to food prep and cooking needs tweaking, friday lunch time on holiday weekend you shod have your staff able to prepare a meal correctly when it is half full when the place is about to be slammed. Missing ingredients and over cooking a burger is just disappointing. If I ate there again, I would stick to a dish with salmon. The rest...

Ordered curbside takeout off of their website. When we got there, there were multiple other vehicles waiting in the curbside spots for their food. Our food was never brought out to us, so we eventually had to run inside and grab it after seeing the other curbside customers doing the same. Not a big deal, but would have been nice to know that we have to pick it up inside when their website says it will be brought out to your vehicle and even asks for a vehicle description.

We ordered the chicken pot pie, which is supposed to come with a side of cranberry chutney, fresh-baked cornbread, and housemade sweet butter according to their website. We also ordered the thai chicken tender melt and upgraded the side to sweet potato fries and added a side of ranch to go with them. When we got back to our hotel we found that the "flaky, golden pie crust" on the pot pie was burnt and that we did not receive the cranberry chutney, the cornbread/butter, or the side of ranch. Tried to call them multiple times to explain the issue and see what they could do since their kitchen was closing soon, however no one answered the phone. My husband ended up having to drive back to the restaurant to get the missing items from our order. The hostess was friendly and offered to have them make a new pot pie after seeing the original one and to provide the missing items. Once he returned to the hotel, he realized that he still didn't receive the cranberry chutney, which was disappointing but he really should have double checked before leaving the restaurant for the second time.

While waiting for the food to be remade, my husband noticed that the phone was ringing off the hook and no one was making any attempt to answer it. There was only one employee working the front, so not sure if they were short staffed or what the issue was, but seems like bad business practice to not answer the phone, especially at a restaurant where people could be calling in to place orders.

The thai chicken tender melt with the sweet potato fries and the replacement pot pie were very good, however not sure we would return again after...

This place is going underwater… they just don’t know it yet (or maybe they do). I understand staffing shortages, it is a crisis everywhere… but please be honest with your patrons.

The business was there, but the staffing was not. We saw over 20 people in the time we were there walk in and try to get a table then walk out due to staffing problems.

It’s sad to see someone’s dream or hard work fall apart because of staffing issues.

Website hours (also posted on the building) said 4-9pm on Mondays. We stopped at 7pm figuring there was 2 hours left before it closed. Reviews looked like a great place for food.

Hostess wasn’t really welcoming, seemed bored, like she didn’t want to be there. We were told there was a 10 minute wait although no one was seen in the lobby and most of the dinning room was empty. The hostess disappeared for the next 10 minutes. Meanwhile, other groups of patrons arrived with no one to greet them as they clearly became frustrated and stood near the hostess stand. We saw several groups of patrons walk out after they waited for a while but no one to greet them.

We were told it would be another 5 mins (now 30 minutes into our 10 minute wait). Hostess disappeared again while more patrons entered the business. In the end we waited about 40-45 minutes (from when we arrived) before the hostess came up and told us the dining room was now closed due to staffing shortages. We were offered to sit at the bar but decided since it took 45 minutes just to be told they didn’t have staff to run the dining room. (It sounded like they only had 2 waitresses).

Wish we could have tried the food… the menu looked like it had good choices, but we never...