The Boat House Restaurant — Restaurant in Winona

Cute restaurant right along the river and basically in the park. Very near the bridge. Pretty decent food but it's basically self-service. Here's a pros and cons list: Pros: -Great fish Tacos! My boyfriend said they are the best he has ever had. -inside and outside seating -Tables are spaced out well (they look close together but when you actually sit down you can't hear the other tables) -chef was very accommodating (I can't have batter right now and they seared and beautifully seasoned my shrimp) -great place if you want to be by the river -food seemed super fast for everyone (my steak took awhile)

Cons: -not a ton of parking if they are busy -you walk in and have to stand there and order off two huge boards right when you walk in, no menu books available, very small waiting area with only one seat -it's self service. You get your own water and silverware and find your own table. For the price of the food, this is kind of outrageous. Then there is the next bullet point down.. -**when you order right when you walk in, they ask for a tip right away. I don't feel comfortable doing this so I said on the card reader no tip. I think this greatly affected how we were treated. Everyone else's table was checked on but ours. I did a self service water, but my boyfriend did a coke and the female host who checked us out never came once to see if he wanted more while the other tables had their drinks checked on by her. After I had my yummy food, I went up to the Register and did another transaction for a tip. The sweet bartender helped me out and was very grateful. It's just not right to ask for a tip right away in a restaurant. -I ordered the flank steak entree and ordered it medium and it was pretty brown in the middle and not as juicy as expected. Still good but wanted a little bit less done. -things are fairly expensive there. My flank steak entree, fish Tacos (came with chips), and an app was $82. They don't list prices on the boards for everything. It's nice for a little bit pricier date night. But isn't a fancy atmosphere so.. -The skillet cheesecurds were hard to eat with the bread pieces, it kind of all molded together. Good but interesting trying to get it all on the bread. Very greasy. -The windows were full of cobwebs. We say inside but would have loved a web free view of the river.

Overall 3/5. If you don't like tipping before you try your food or get to experience the service..not for you. Or if you don't like standing and ordering off a menu right away. If you want a riverview, then go for it....

Not from Winona. Went to visit our son at WSU for the day. We also looked up a place to bring our daughter for her 15th birthday. Our Family is all about water and boating so this place sounded great. After reviewing the menu and looking at the pictures provided on the website that showed white linen tables, organized and a clean facility we decided to call for reservations. While making reservations, we also asked info about the amenities. Everything sounded great so we booked. When we got to Winona, we took in the sites and WSU football game. After game we headed to the Boat House for a special birthday diner. So we thought! Upon arrival, the place is small. As we entered, we were met with flys and a Messy unorganized first impression. During seating, white linen was nowhere to be found as had been shown in the websites pictures. Tables felt grimy and we notice the view of the river was clouded by the spotted, cobwebbed windows, and more flys. Bathrooms were outside too. Getting to the menu, it was typed on crumpled paper (no big deal) and to see the specials, you had to get up and go back out to the entrance and take a picture with your phone to then review while seated. Menu offerings were limited and expensive. Cheese curds apps are not what you think. They did offer a 12 oz Filet with asparagus for $32 but if the steak is anything like our amenities first impressions were, we dared not order it. Four of us instead settled on the chicken parm and side salads. Decent, big portion and was able to share between 2 people which was perfect. I thought the taste was a little plain as I tried my daughters. I settled on the steak tacos. Not bad. A little spice but expensive. Drinks were ordered too. 6 once margarita was $9 and tasted like lime juice. Not good and WAY to small for that price. Same with the Mojitos. Bill came to $106 plus tip for 3 plates, two sides, 3 alcoholic drinks, 1 water, lemonade and a pop. The place wouldn’t have been bad if the website actually portraid what you were getting and the sever was forthright in her comments. My thoughts, add this place to your choices (towards the bottom) and temper your expectations, don’t expect white linen or cleanliness and be ready to spend a lot for...

I have wanted to go to the Boathouse since it opened, and it wasn't until just recently that I finally did make it. It is not a place I would ever want to go to again.

The river view in Winona is beautiful, but not easy for businesses to capitalize on; this is the only restaurant in Winona on the river. The view could not be beat! It is an amazing location! Unfortunately, it is not a good restaurant. The restaurant itself seems to not know what it really wants for a vibe. It was actually very dirty; not in the way that is just got dirty that day, but there was old, dry food on the walls, the table was very sticky, and there was a fair amount of dirt and dust on the floor near the walls.

Normally the look of a restaurant isn't something that really concerns me, but I judge more on the wait staff, which was absolutely bad. It took an unusually long time for a waiter to come an take our drink order in the first place, and after that, he didn't come back on his own. We had to approach the host and inquire where the wait had gone. The host did seem shocked that the waiter disappeared, so I don't think this is a usual occurrence. What made the matter worse was that when the wait came back to our table, he outright admitted that he forgot about us... There aren't many good things I could say in the way of the wait staff.

As for the food, I ordered the Lucy Burger, without the truffle oil, and one other in my party ordered the Black Bean Chilli. The Burger was a decent as a whole. It was true to a Juicy Lucy style of burger, but the meat was not seasoned at all, it may have been rubbed with salt once the patty was formed, but that does not season a thick burger. The burger was cooked to well done (we were not offered a choice in the cooking process, which is a shame, as there could have been more flavor had it been cooked medium or medium-rare), but was still very juicy, however, because of the lack of seasoning, the juicy was just a warm liquid. All of the other components of the burger seemed fresh and flavorful.

All in all, I do not regret going to The Boathouse, but I will never go back there again. There was a small menu, with no really impressive items, and overall, even the chilli was...