Northern Taphouse- Woodbury — Restaurant in Woodbury

It was very busy on a Friday night and we didn’t have a reservation, but thankfully we were able to find seats at the bar!

I’m glad we did since we had a great dinner! The staff were super friendly and helpful, especially the bartenders.

My husband really liked his Bloody Mary and the root beer that was on tap was great.

For food we tried the Ellsworth cheese curds (so good with the sweet chili sauce!), grilled cheese (comes with a little dipping cup of tomato soup!), chicken wings (MN mean and sweet chili sauces), the Mac and cheese, and the waffle fries with seasoned sour cream. All of the food was delicious! The grilled cheese was good and gooey and I liked the soup to dip it in. The fries and sour cream were super tasty. My husband liked his wings and said the MN mean wasn’t very spicy, but tasted good!

They only have a couple of vegetarian options (the usual black bean burger and salad option, that the grilled cheese was solid) I would love if they added cauliflower wings to the menu so I can try the wing sauces too.

I think we will be back! With a reservation! 😅

Came back for a second time. Tried the ahi tuna bites, those were super yummy! Got the fried pickles and they were not my favorite, husband and I decided the texture was off and they weren’t very pickley. Husband said his burger was just ok. I tried the French onion soup and was confused by the flavor. It mostly tasted like thyme, which was unexpected in French onion soup. The...

A chain posturing as local. This is MNs version of Applebees but with a much worse waitlist.

The extra star is for the beer list which includes some out of state gems you cant find most other places. The food is bar food. Its decent but not special.

The servers have been nice but are obviously stretched thin. The first time we went they brought us the wrong beers and then peaced out for an entire hour. Second time… wrong beers again.

The low stars are dedicated to the waitlist system and hosts at the front. Like why even bother? One hour means two every single time. Being 1st in line on the list means you get bumped backwards if someone else complains or the hosts friends happen to show up, and then you wait another 35 minutes when you expected to be next. It’s happened to us multiple times, and idk if they don’t think we can see/hear everything in the front but we can. We know exactly why that party of four who wasn’t even on the list got a table before us and everyone else who’d been waiting.

Staff is often eating fries and things at the desk, which is a pretty rude thing to do right in front of a bunch of waitlisters you’ve been toying with for hours. The repeatedly reused bucket of water and rags on the floor in the host stand is also an off-putting choice.

Anyway, if you’re wondering if it’s worth the wait, it is not. You can get a burger and some greasy curds literally anywhere else, and not pass away in the...

UPDATE: Went again and the service was really amazing. The beer selection is great and the atmosphere was really good. It might just be they are taking some time to reach their full potential! The food is still just good bar food but I think it will continue to get better!

Old Review:

This was our second time here and it was about the same as the first. We were with a bigger group this time so that made it a bit confusing for the server.

The food was just ok. My son ordered the chop chicken salad and it was not what we expected. Barely any chicken and the greens didn’t seem fresh. Would be better off going to Crisp and Green down the road for a salad. We were bummed because it was the first time my son had ordered a salad when we had gone out to dinner and it wasn’t great. Also it took forever to get the salad after the rest of the food was brought out.

Wings were ok - both boneless and bone in - but nothing special.

They do have a great beer selection and the apps seem good. Good atmosphere for watching sports. Server was good and everyone seemed friendly which was a huge plus.

This could be a really great place to go eat for families and groups especially if they want to watch sports together but right now it’s just ok and there are a few places I’d rather go that are just operating at a higher level. Might give it another shot down the road and see if it...